Some GEM Lapidary Equipment You Should Have

I didn’t have anyone to tell me what I needed, so I started doing a lot of research into lapidary equipment. I figured out that, at the very least, I would need a Trim Saw and a Cab Machine.

A Trim Saw is used to cut down rock slabs (flat pieces already cut from rough rock) as close as possible to the shape of the cabochon. This is a basic machine that uses a blade, and has a water reservoir, used to cut stone. Nothing fancy is needed. You just want to be sure that the surface area on the machine is about 4-5 inches on each side of the blade.

A lapidary cabbing machine is used to shape and polish the cabochon. Here, I made a mistake. I found three different machines with very different prices, from $336 to $1600. I decided to go in the middle, and selected a machine that cost $795.

The description said it was all I would need – but what it didn’t say was that you had to change out pads and wheels every few minutes, and had to take off all the wheels to change the saw blade! That was fine for the first day or so, but I quickly realized this was going to be a nightmare! I returned it; top-of-the-line, here I come!

I got a Diamond Pacific Genie with 6 wheels and a totally separate machine for cutting the slabs, and it was well worth the extra money! When it comes to cabbing equipment, I don’t recommend cutting corners, because you will end up wasting a lot of your time. See more at Jewelerstoolsmall .

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