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Things you need to make a Cabochon.

Things you need to make a Cabochon

The list can be a little long, but this list can be changed quite a bit. Their are many kinds and a wide verity of equipment to choose from. This is a list of mostly what I have to make my Cabs. We will start with the beginning with the rough material (rock) to the finished cab.

1. Slab Saw – Something to slab up the rock to make cabs from. A 10 inch saw or bigger and most saws will only 40-45% of there size. So a 10 inch saw will cut a 4 to 4.5 inches diameter rock and a 20 inch saw will cut an 8 to 9 inches diameter. The saw is called a 10 inch saw because it uses a 10 diameter saw blade, which will be made with diamond on the rim. Usually these saws will use some can of oil (like Pella Oil or Lubri-Kool) in the saw to keep the blade cool and lubricated. I have a 12 inch slab saw.

2. Template or Decals and Pencils / Markers – Next you want to draw an outline on your slab to be cut out. You can use a Template or decals if you are going to make a standard size cabochon. Or whatever you can find for a freeform cabochon. I have an assortment of aluminum and plastic templates.

3. Trim Saw – A saw to cut out your cab from the slab and trim off the excessive material around your outlined cab. This saw can be a 4 inch to 10 inch diamond saw. I use water in my saw but you must remove the water and dry your diamond blade after you finish or it will rust your blade and the diamond will fall off and the blade will be useless. I use a 10 inch trim saw.

4. Electric Dop Pot, Dop Wax, and an assortment of Wooden Dowels – The electric Dop Pot is used to heat the stone and melt the wax. You want an assortment of sizes of dowels, because the dowels must be smaller then the finished diameter of the cab. I use all the above.

5. Grinding / Polishing Machines – Here is where you have a lot of choices, this is a few of them – Wheel of flat laps units, Silicon Carbide or Diamond wheels or discs, combination or stand alone units, and on and on… So let’s talk a little about them. Everyone has there favorite equipment to use. So here is mine! To me Diamond is the only way, vs. the silicon carbide wheels and discs to me! Diamond is faster and easier to use. Grinding wheels and disc are used to shape up the cabochon normally are 60 to 280 grit, you need two at least, one around 80 grit and one around 220 grit. Polishing wheels and disc are from 220 to 100,000 grit. They normally have a foam / rubber backing under the cutting material this aids in conforming to the contour of the dome on the Cabochon; this reduces flat spots on the cab. I like the wheels better then the discs. But I do use both units. The flat laps are normally cheaper but you will have to change disc often. The best setup is a wheel setup with 6 different wheels like the Genie made by Diamond Pacific.

You can spend thousands of dollars on new equipment or be lucky and find some good used equipment. You can buy material already slabed, so you would not need a slab saw. But I hope this helps if you want the make Cabs from your own rough.