Absolutely awesome setup and design. Love the idea of a longer shaft allowing 8 plus wheels with plenty of space around each one. The diamond blade is also a great added extra. Drive and motor setup also excellent thinking. Well done and thankyou for sharing. Why buy a cabbing machine when you could do your own setup like this meeting all your needs 👌 Simply awesome!
I have a question. Can you go over where the shaft came from and the drive bar and bearings. And are there bearings on the ends? I think this has got to be the best looking cab machine I've seen. Great job.
Thank you Konstantine, I think as long as you can keep the chips and the shards away from the polishing side it’s much easier having it all on one machine. Keen to see your build when it’s finished if you’re keen to share
Hello from Omaha Nebraska ! 😂 Damm nice machine sir, I bet if one like that was available to buy it’d cost darn close to $5k here in the USA. Maybe more depending on the wheel set. I’ve really been considering getting into lapidary with main interest in opals. I’ve always been fascinated with Opal and the multitude of patterns and colors in the gems. I think the faceted stones are boring. Do you have a set of plans one could work off of to build a machine like that ? I really REALLY want one to get started but I don’t have the funds to buy a new machine outright and as I understand it Gemmasta doesn’t ship to the USA. I’ve looked at some used machines on the market but they are either so used they’re junk or the people selling them want brand new prices for used equipment. But seriously, nice work my man, very nice work indeed.
Thanks heaps for the comment! I don’t have plans for this machine as I just made it as I went along. The main part you need is the shaft. This one is stainless steel 1” diameter. Get a machine shop to put threads on the end with some nuts and a recess for the pulley key in the middle. Standard bearing holders, search for ‘flange bearing’ on ebay. The wheels you can also get from eBay and find some plastic tube with 1” inside diameter and cut it to space out the wheels. The nuts on the shaft hold them in place nicely with a little tension. The motor you can also get online, just look for one with low rpm. The rest you can put together to suit your needs. I’m planning to strip this one down and paint it, I’ll try do another video with the build process and post here
Hi thanks! I reckon around $1500 AUD without the wheels. The expensive parts were the 1” shaft ($750 including machining), Steel tray and lid ($400), Motor ($300)
@@theopalproject Wow ok sweet, thanks for the reply. I have been thinking about whether or not I could build my own machine too but I think I haven't got the skills so i'll probably end up purchasing one for about double the price. Oh well! Good luck with your cutting! :)
@@aaronvoel yeah it worked out to be a bit more expensive than I thought. Good fun though I’d probably save up and buy a Gemaster or similar if I were to do it again. Good luck when you get your machine!
Hey Peter, thanks heaps! I’ve been in Aus for over 15 years but only caught the opal fever on a trip to Lightning Ridge a couple of years back. Been a fan of gold prospecting for many years now too
Absolutely awesome setup and design. Love the idea of a longer shaft allowing 8 plus wheels with plenty of space around each one. The diamond blade is also a great added extra. Drive and motor setup also excellent thinking.
Well done and thankyou for sharing. Why buy a cabbing machine when you could do your own setup like this meeting all your needs 👌
Simply awesome!
I have a question. Can you go over where the shaft came from and the drive bar and bearings. And are there bearings on the ends? I think this has got to be the best looking cab machine I've seen. Great job.
great job. are you able to provide the measurements of the bar and shroud
Great job getting everything you need on one machine. Fantastic.
I'm building one myself.
Thank you Konstantine, I think as long as you can keep the chips and the shards away from the polishing side it’s much easier having it all on one machine. Keen to see your build when it’s finished if you’re keen to share
Hello from Omaha Nebraska ! 😂
Damm nice machine sir, I bet if one like that was available to buy it’d cost darn close to $5k here in the USA. Maybe more depending on the wheel set.
I’ve really been considering getting into lapidary with main interest in opals. I’ve always been fascinated with Opal and the multitude of patterns and colors in the gems. I think the faceted stones are boring.
Do you have a set of plans one could work off of to build a machine like that ? I really REALLY want one to get started but I don’t have the funds to buy a new machine outright and as I understand it Gemmasta doesn’t ship to the USA. I’ve looked at some used machines on the market but they are either so used they’re junk or the people selling them want brand new prices for used equipment.
But seriously, nice work my man, very nice work indeed.
Thanks heaps for the comment!
I don’t have plans for this machine as I just made it as I went along. The main part you need is the shaft. This one is stainless steel 1” diameter. Get a machine shop to put threads on the end with some nuts and a recess for the pulley key in the middle. Standard bearing holders, search for ‘flange bearing’ on ebay. The wheels you can also get from eBay and find some plastic tube with 1” inside diameter and cut it to space out the wheels. The nuts on the shaft hold them in place nicely with a little tension. The motor you can also get online, just look for one with low rpm. The rest you can put together to suit your needs. I’m planning to strip this one down and paint it, I’ll try do another video with the build process and post here
That’s a really nice setup do you have any videos on how you use that saw to cut stones I want to put that feature on the one I am building
You did a really good job
Thanks Cailley
Freaking cool is what this is. Are the water jets used for cutting or cooling the machine?
I think the water cools and also washes away the ground up stone from the diamond wheel prolonging the life
That looks great
awesome machine! how much did it cost you in total to build roughly?
Hi thanks!
I reckon around $1500 AUD without the wheels. The expensive parts were the 1” shaft ($750 including machining), Steel tray and lid ($400), Motor ($300)
@@theopalproject Wow ok sweet, thanks for the reply. I have been thinking about whether or not I could build my own machine too but I think I haven't got the skills so i'll probably end up purchasing one for about double the price. Oh well! Good luck with your cutting! :)
@@aaronvoel yeah it worked out to be a bit more expensive than I thought. Good fun though I’d probably save up and buy a Gemaster or similar if I were to do it again. Good luck when you get your machine!
Good job on your machine. How long were you in Australia before you caught Opal fever?
Hey Peter, thanks heaps!
I’ve been in Aus for over 15 years but only caught the opal fever on a trip to Lightning Ridge a couple of years back. Been a fan of gold prospecting for many years now too