Just an update on two issues that I licked without resorting to a fabricator. Issue number one is the 90 degree angle. Once you remove the brass fine tuning cuff on the mast the manipulator sits about 15 degrees below the table. This can be fixed with simple steel washers. I'm using washers with a 15mm inner diameter which fits the mast perfectly. The washers are 2.5mm thick so it takes about 4-5 of them to get above the table. Add more as needed for the size of your stone. Issue number two is getting the pen to move freely when making a girdle. All this requires is removing the steel bit that fits into the tooth wheel. Just be careful to keep all the pieces together for when you want to use the wheel.
Great video, I appreciate you sharing all this information. Very cool setup, nice equipment with your modifications. I love how you used your pressure water container for your water drip feed, so smart, I will have to use that method here soon!
I love how you did all your work arounds! So if you get the pieces you need to facet, are you willing to give that a go too? Im glad you got it at a good enough price to use it as a flatlap. Thats awesome. As long as its working for you! Nice work station! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lisa!! I'm really interested in learning to facet, I had a long career as a concert and theatre lighting designer and im fascinated with how certain stone react and bend light. My gem club has 5 VJ Faceting machines on order that i cant wait to have a play around with too.
the one i got smells. like burning rubber hope it brakes in ? runs hot to. seller said it was normal . i dont think so ! i have to use outside because of smell was out of town .for the 30 day return so .i have to keep it. need lots of work to up grade. barely works out of box........
Hello @offyarocka I recently got this same machine, i love your video and it is helping me set it up properly. however, the digital display does not turn on, and i am not sure how to provide energy to it, is it battery operated? if so, how do i open it to put batteries in? i appreciate your help.
Hi Omar, thank you for the kind words. Yes the digital display takes a watch battery that goes in at the top. You will need a set of needle nose plyers to pull the battery holder out. ✌🤠✌
I have been wanting a gem faceting machine for a while , I want to learn how to make dice , cause besides being a rockhound I am also a nerd LOL and want to make my own dice for RPG's
Sir, can you give me your emal? I have pictures of a plan to renovate this machine. Including the mechanism for limiting the angle and Up-down adjustment of the girdle polishing. it is not so hard.
A couple ideas to stop the thread from working it's way out. If there is room add a thin jam nut. Removable Loctite. Form a perfect fit, break it loose and maybe there's enough friction to keep it in place. Take a hammer and flatten the to outside diameter. Or use a pair of vice grips to crush the O.D. Leave the threaded bolt inside to prevent over crushing. Force the threads to have a slight interference fit. Tks!
Thanks for sharing those ideas, I am a big fan of loctite, used to use it alot when i worked as an engineer. The system im using now is really good, the spray bottle holds 5lts vs 300mls of the canand the irrigation tap is really good for getting the water levels just right. I got the idea from a bead maker that Lapidary Dave put me onto, www.youtube.com/@lopackistoneandmetal3955
@@offyarocka OK, you upgraded the water system better than the original! I like his use of the hand pump sprayer, very nice! What type of engineer are you? I've watched some of Daniel Lopacki videos before. Specifically the home made flat lap. I would love to try hand polishing some 'pearly' shaped gem fire agate like the ones Daniel has (~10 carats). I don't care much for the brownish ones, but I'll practice on the inexpensive ones. Do you know anyone with some still in the rough? Daniel also mentioned the location that he thought they were from. But I couldn't understand what he said. Do you recognize where they came from? th-cam.com/video/s-Zu18OdMgM/w-d-xo.html Thanks for the tip!
The last disk is 3000grit then i use a dremel/rotary tool to finish off the polish. Once i get my workshop decked out making those kinds of videos will be easier
There is a cheater.. it’s the brass knurled now that has a concentric circle setup in th shaft…. It is primitive but you can loosen that nut and adjust.
The manipulator arm is useless out of the box. It requires a fabricator to fix if you can find one that will work on it. The machine is only really useful as a flat lap like the Diamond-Tech. For all those asking there aren't any replacement arms that work with the machine. You will need to save up for a better system or have a friend with a lot of machining tools if you want to facet.
@@offyarocka They just offered to replace it. Not sure what "it" is. The whole machine? The mast assembly? Dunno...but I said "If it fixes the 90 degree issue then sure!"
@@CarlDi3trich Ive been thinking of making a Jambpeg system for mine. But until then, my lapidary club has some new Hall machines that are alot of fun.
@@offyarocka So they sent me a whole brand new machine. No charge. But it's exactly the same as the old machine. So I sent support a mail outlining that the issue isn't that the machine is broken. The issue is that it's built wrong. I also sent them pictures and recommendations on how they could have manufacturing fix this issue simply ( raise the table by 2.5 inches ).
I bought one of these brand new while living in China (where it is manufactured) Great for a flat lap only I had the manual mast (no digital dial) that had the protractor measurement settings It has a lot of “play” and is difficult to set the exact angle as the pointer is not fine pointed enough to measure correctly Yes I cannot cut 90 degree girdles either (without modification of the machine) This is very disappointing and I feel like I wasted my money on this machine I would recommend not to buy this machine if you want to learn facet cutting sapphire/diamond Only buy for use as a flat lap (Wish I never bought it, currently looking for an upgrade) Great video Than you for sharing
Dont waste your money. Its fine for cabochons, but useless for facetting. the bearings on the swing bit are to loose, and no way to set and keep an angle.
@@offyarocka My brother made me a lock so that was fine, but when trying to zero angle it was not consistent. We even made a v block to put quill in and zero, but the moment you moved to cutting angle and back zero would be off by up to 3 degrees.
@@offyarocka Possibly, but another problem is getting the girdle round, you cant move the mast back far enough to get at 90 deg. Different mast might be ok if there are some s/hand or broken machines about that are cheap enough. I gave up and saved up got a V5 arriving next year.
@@stephenslater3312 You can stack two master laps to bring the lap height up for girdles. The main problems with these particular assemblies is wearing surfaces, tolerances, and micro-adjustment. Even if there is no play out of the box with use there will be due to metal against metal wear. The worst place to experience wear is the index lever, no angles are repeatable and step cuts won't be aligned. The quill is not removable, making proper inspection of the stone difficult during all stages. The front quill bushing will wear quickly due to rotation and from both the sweeping motion and pressure applied during use. The wearing surfaces on the mast sleeve will also lose tolerance. A handy person can bore each component and press in bearings, but without a protractor assembly this particular machine won't be of much use except for cutting cabochon girdles.
Totally useless for faceting. You can't cut a girdle at 90degrees. There isn't enough room. The one I purchased seized the bearings the fouth time i used it and there was a lot of rust.
I agree totally, i was a little dissapointed i couldnt facet stones with this. That sucks about the bearing going to have a look at mine to make sure that doenst happen to me.
Has vevor responded to the fact, this machine is useless for faceting? I’m about to purchase one but won’t if it’s not any use. Any advice, appreciated.
@@aeonsmiffy I did contact them about the fact you can not facet with this machine and because I baught it from ebay and not their online store the were less than helpful. i even tried to get the part needed to lock in the angle on the mast from them and the were actually pretty rude and would not help. The response I've gotten from the Facebook groups I posted this video in from other people who have baught one has been the same, its an ok flatlap if you get it for half price but rubbish for faceting. I hope this has helped . Im planning on making another video were I use it as a flatlap in the future.
Like a lot of cheaper products............it looks like the real deal but is garbage. Some items are ok, others not which is why these reviews are good. Let someone else try it first lol. Im considering the vevor propane metal smelter as the reviews seem to be something I could work with. As far as this facetor.....I suppose if you were a machinist, tool and die maker etc you could probably do something with it but ill pass.
It has turned out to be an good flatlap. I have cut quite a few rocks on it and the have turned out great. I've been looking at those vevor smelters too, i'd love to try out some casting.
Most of the money is in the mast, and I can understand why as it is a precision tool, but flat laps are in escence are just a friggen motor with sanding discs 🤪🤪🤪
Just an update on two issues that I licked without resorting to a fabricator.
Issue number one is the 90 degree angle. Once you remove the brass fine tuning cuff on the mast the manipulator sits about 15 degrees below the table. This can be fixed with simple steel washers. I'm using washers with a 15mm inner diameter which fits the mast perfectly. The washers are 2.5mm thick so it takes about 4-5 of them to get above the table. Add more as needed for the size of your stone.
Issue number two is getting the pen to move freely when making a girdle. All this requires is removing the steel bit that fits into the tooth wheel. Just be careful to keep all the pieces together for when you want to use the wheel.
That's awesome to hear Carl, thanks for sharing this info, any chance of a video for everyone to see these work arounds?
@@offyarocka No but I did send two pics too your FB account showing what I did. Cheers!
@@CarlDi3trich Thanks for sharing!!!! I had a look and you have nailed it!!!! So simple it hurts hehehehehehehe
@@offyarocka Happy to help. Thanks for posting!
Great video, I appreciate you sharing all this information. Very cool setup, nice equipment with your modifications. I love how you used your pressure water container for your water drip feed, so smart, I will have to use that method here soon!
Thanks Nic, its nice to be able to give something back to the rockhounding community as i have learnt so much from them here on TH-cam!!!
Whoa, this is really cool! I'm excited to see what neat stuff you'll be cranking out with that machine! Nice setup too!
Thanks heaps Will, I got a mountian of rocks to process from earlier this year that im very keen to get stuck into 🙂🙃🙂
TY for your presentation and review
Thanks John!!! It was great chatting in the live stream today!!!
Hi, I like your set up.🌟👍
Thanks Johnny!!!
Really enjoyed watching your lovely video. Really hope you are well and having a great Monday. Many thanks from Chris and Jane 🎉
Glad you enjoyed this, thanks heaps for checking out this video ✌🤠✌
I love how you did all your work arounds! So if you get the pieces you need to facet, are you willing to give that a go too? Im glad you got it at a good enough price to use it as a flatlap. Thats awesome. As long as its working for you! Nice work station! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lisa!! I'm really interested in learning to facet, I had a long career as a concert and theatre lighting designer and im fascinated with how certain stone react and bend light. My gem club has 5 VJ Faceting machines on order that i cant wait to have a play around with too.
Thank youbfor this. Im pissed that ive been searching for this video on youtube by its exact title and never seen it. And ive maxed out my results too
I hope it was helpful nonetheless ✌️😎✌️
Good product !
Its not bad, thats for sure🤪🤪🤪
That pump is a brilliant idea!!👍👍😁
I think so too!✌️😎✌️
the one i got smells. like burning rubber hope it brakes in ? runs hot to. seller said it was normal . i dont think so ! i have to use outside because of smell was out of town .for the 30 day return so .i have to keep it. need lots of work to up grade. barely works out of box........
eeeek, that doesnt sound good, maybe try adding sewing machine oil to the bearings
Where did you get the precision scale, because that digital scale is driving me crazy
Sadly you can not buy it just by itself you need to buy a whole new mast with one on it or alternatively make on e yourself 😒😒😒
41 👍
Beautiful sharing friend 💐
Thank you so much 😊
Luar biasa mantap batu-batunya teman,,,, hadir dari Indonesia 🇮🇩,,, sukses selalu,,,
Terima kasih
Hello @offyarocka I recently got this same machine, i love your video and it is helping me set it up properly. however, the digital display does not turn on, and i am not sure how to provide energy to it, is it battery operated? if so, how do i open it to put batteries in? i appreciate your help.
Hi Omar, thank you for the kind words. Yes the digital display takes a watch battery that goes in at the top. You will need a set of needle nose plyers to pull the battery holder out. ✌🤠✌
Beautiful share this 😊
Thank you! Cheers!
I have been wanting a gem faceting machine for a while , I want to learn how to make dice , cause besides being a rockhound I am also a nerd LOL and want to make my own dice for RPG's
That is an AWESOME IDEA!!!! D100's for everyone even a D20 would be fun
@@offyarocka That was my though D20's seem like they may be hard to do ... I will start at the D4 and work my way up LOL
@@huntingrocks 🤪🤪🤪
Pretty cool😎👍
Thanks guys!!!
to bad it dosent keep the angles , looked like it did everything else pretty good , those stones are looking good , thanks for the info
Apparently there is also and issue with being able to cut a girdle with that mast which is a bit disappointing. But it goes ok as a flatlap ✌️✌️✌️
Hey could you please explain more about not being able to make 90 degree cuts on this machine?
That was something another viewer brought up as being an issue about cutting the girdle but as I could not lock any angles I didn't get that far
@@offyarocka dang I was really looking forward to using this machine to start me off in the hobby thanks for the response!
@@heyaytlgno3951 it does make an OK flatlap, I've gotten a fare bit of use out of mine. It's done a good job on alot of stones
Sir, can you give me your emal? I have pictures of a plan to renovate this machine. Including the mechanism for limiting the angle and Up-down adjustment of the girdle polishing. it is not so hard.
please feel free to send them to my FB, facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086773008239
A couple ideas to stop the thread from working it's way out.
If there is room add a thin jam nut.
Removable Loctite. Form a perfect fit, break it loose and maybe there's enough friction to keep it in place.
Take a hammer and flatten the to outside diameter. Or use a pair of vice grips to crush the O.D. Leave the threaded bolt inside to prevent over crushing. Force the threads to have a slight interference fit.
Tks!
Thanks for sharing those ideas, I am a big fan of loctite, used to use it alot when i worked as an engineer. The system im using now is really good, the spray bottle holds 5lts vs 300mls of the canand the irrigation tap is really good for getting the water levels just right. I got the idea from a bead maker that Lapidary Dave put me onto, www.youtube.com/@lopackistoneandmetal3955
@@offyarocka Fantastic.
@@offyarocka OK, you upgraded the water system better than the original!
I like his use of the hand pump sprayer, very nice! What type of engineer are you?
I've watched some of Daniel Lopacki videos before. Specifically the home made flat lap.
I would love to try hand polishing some 'pearly' shaped gem fire agate like the ones Daniel has (~10 carats). I don't care much for the brownish ones, but I'll practice on the inexpensive ones. Do you know anyone with some still in the rough?
Daniel also mentioned the location that he thought they were from. But I couldn't understand what he said. Do you recognize where they came from?
th-cam.com/video/s-Zu18OdMgM/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the tip!
@@pigeonbloodruby5330 I was a systems engineer for the entertainment industry for about 20 years
@@pigeonbloodruby5330 for the fire agate check this guy out he has an ebay page too
www.youtube.com/@FireAgateMark
How much final polish disk grit🙏 please make a video thank you so much sir 🙏🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
The last disk is 3000grit then i use a dremel/rotary tool to finish off the polish. Once i get my workshop decked out making those kinds of videos will be easier
Where is cheeter for left and right
there isnt one 😕😕😕
There is a cheater.. it’s the brass knurled now that has a concentric circle setup in th shaft…. It is primitive but you can loosen that nut and adjust.
@@hitechdiversions3160 thanks for sharing that info ✌🤠✌
The manipulator arm is useless out of the box. It requires a fabricator to fix if you can find one that will work on it. The machine is only really useful as a flat lap like the Diamond-Tech.
For all those asking there aren't any replacement arms that work with the machine. You will need to save up for a better system or have a friend with a lot of machining tools if you want to facet.
Yep that is the guts of the review right there. Did you get any kind of refund or discount on yours?
@@offyarocka They just offered to replace it. Not sure what "it" is. The whole machine? The mast assembly? Dunno...but I said "If it fixes the 90 degree issue then sure!"
@@CarlDi3trich Ive been thinking of making a Jambpeg system for mine. But until then, my lapidary club has some new Hall machines that are alot of fun.
@@offyarocka Jampeg looks fun. Never seen anyone work with that sort of machine.
@@offyarocka So they sent me a whole brand new machine. No charge. But it's exactly the same as the old machine. So I sent support a mail outlining that the issue isn't that the machine is broken. The issue is that it's built wrong. I also sent them pictures and recommendations on how they could have manufacturing fix this issue simply ( raise the table by 2.5 inches ).
I bought one of these brand new while living in China (where it is manufactured)
Great for a flat lap only
I had the manual mast (no digital dial) that had the protractor measurement settings
It has a lot of “play” and is difficult to set the exact angle as the pointer is not fine pointed enough to measure correctly
Yes I cannot cut 90 degree girdles either (without modification of the machine)
This is very disappointing and I feel like I wasted my money on this machine
I would recommend not to buy this machine if you want to learn facet cutting sapphire/diamond
Only buy for use as a flat lap
(Wish I never bought it, currently looking for an upgrade)
Great video
Than you for sharing
Thanks for stopping by and checking out this video. Another way you can get into faceting is through your local gem and mineral society club
Dont waste your money. Its fine for cabochons, but useless for facetting. the bearings on the swing bit are to loose, and no way to set and keep an angle.
that was my biggest issue with the mast was not being able to lock in the angle. Thanks for stopping by
@@offyarocka My brother made me a lock so that was fine, but when trying to zero angle it was not consistent. We even made a v block to put quill in and zero, but the moment you moved to cutting angle and back zero would be off by up to 3 degrees.
@@stephenslater3312 that would be so frustrating.I wonder if getting a better mast might help, like a non vevor one?
@@offyarocka Possibly, but another problem is getting the girdle round, you cant move the mast back far enough to get at 90 deg. Different mast might be ok if there are some s/hand or broken machines about that are cheap enough. I gave up and saved up got a V5 arriving next year.
@@stephenslater3312 You can stack two master laps to bring the lap height up for girdles. The main problems with these particular assemblies is wearing surfaces, tolerances, and micro-adjustment. Even if there is no play out of the box with use there will be due to metal against metal wear. The worst place to experience wear is the index lever, no angles are repeatable and step cuts won't be aligned. The quill is not removable, making proper inspection of the stone difficult during all stages. The front quill bushing will wear quickly due to rotation and from both the sweeping motion and pressure applied during use. The wearing surfaces on the mast sleeve will also lose tolerance. A handy person can bore each component and press in bearings, but without a protractor assembly this particular machine won't be of much use except for cutting cabochon girdles.
Totally useless for faceting. You can't cut a girdle at 90degrees. There isn't enough room. The one I purchased seized the bearings the fouth time i used it and there was a lot of rust.
I agree totally, i was a little dissapointed i couldnt facet stones with this. That sucks about the bearing going to have a look at mine to make sure that doenst happen to me.
Has vevor responded to the fact, this machine is useless for faceting? I’m about to purchase one but won’t if it’s not any use. Any advice, appreciated.
@@aeonsmiffy I did contact them about the fact you can not facet with this machine and because I baught it from ebay and not their online store the were less than helpful. i even tried to get the part needed to lock in the angle on the mast from them and the were actually pretty rude and would not help. The response I've gotten from the Facebook groups I posted this video in from other people who have baught one has been the same, its an ok flatlap if you get it for half price but rubbish for faceting. I hope this has helped . Im planning on making another video were I use it as a flatlap in the future.
@@offyarocka thanks for the detailed response. I haven’t bought one. 🤓
Drugs are bad for you.
Hahahahahahahaha indeed they are 🤪🤪🤪
@@offyarocka
wiping discs and wiping arm are very necessary can you help me in this regard...
@@Ismail-dd7oi sadly, no i cant
@@offyarocka
agate stones are beautiful
I have the existing agate, does anyone want to buy it, where will we sell it?
@@offyarocka
agate stones are beautiful
I have the existing agate, does anyone want to buy it, where will we sell it?
Like a lot of cheaper products............it looks like the real deal but is garbage. Some items are ok, others not which is why these reviews are good. Let someone else try it first lol. Im considering the vevor propane metal smelter as the reviews seem to be something I could work with. As far as this facetor.....I suppose if you were a machinist, tool and die maker etc you could probably do something with it but ill pass.
It has turned out to be an good flatlap. I have cut quite a few rocks on it and the have turned out great. I've been looking at those vevor smelters too, i'd love to try out some casting.
Id love to know the actual material costs of an ultra tech.....They sell for $5000 but i bet the material costs would be shocking.
Most of the money is in the mast, and I can understand why as it is a precision tool, but flat laps are in escence are just a friggen motor with sanding discs 🤪🤪🤪
hello dear ya rocka..
I need a facet processing arm. Do you have one? Do you have any idea about this?
@@Ismail-dd7oi sadly no i dont