Thanks ViperTX,
The dop sticks are aluminum rods about 5" long and 5/16" dia. using 5 minute epoxy to adhere the stone. These are adequate for the stones that this machine will be cutting, everything except for diamonds because I would have to start over with a different machine and then try to find and purchase rough facet grade diamonds.
I have a Raytech Shaw machine that I have had since 1985, and it has only cut 200 stones, mostly sapphires and garnets, a few turmolines and some amethysts (quartz). Most of the cutting and polishing is done at low speeds 200 rpm and less, for example, Sapphires take a nice polish at around 5 rpm on a ceramic lap with 100,000 grit diamond.
So this will be a big modification of an existing machine.
I would really like to see those cnc faceting machines, that would make my designing so much easier.
Thanks
Dave |