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[liveoak]

OK, my hubby is treating me to a new KN Cabber 6 unit ( being delivered today ! )
It comes with 6 wheels - up to 3000, a Diamond flat lap on the left & a cerium oxide disc on the right.

I'd like to be equipped to do a variety of stones, and so I'm thinking to get a couple of extra polishing discs for the right hand side.
Does any one have any recommendation for some basic disc types I should start with.
The KN catalog is overwhelming me.

I know it's great to have them all , but I'm looking for suggestions for a few different disc types.
Is that advantage here to finer diamond or to start with should I just stick with traditional polishing compounds ?

Thanks for any advice,
Patty

[vitzitziltecpatl]

That's good enough for getting started, and learning how to get rid of all the little scratches. Invest in a lighted loupe when you can, so you can really see the surface of your stones. I like this one: https://www.sciplus.com/10x-triplet-loupe-47885-p

Soon enough, you'll want to add 8,000, 14,000 and 50,000 grit diamond discs on foam backers for the right side. Eastwind is my favorite brand, and KN lets you mix-n-match grits to get their discount. Those grits give you a great finish, with Optical Cerium (white) as a final polish if you want. The optical cerium is in the 80,000 grit range. Think polishing telescope mirrors... .

If you ever cut harder stones you might want to add 0.3 micron alumina for a polish. The alumina is Mohs 9, and you might hear it called Sapphire Powder in some circles. For polishing corundum... . Leather - elk if you can find it - for the polishing compounds.

Have fun!

[liveoak]

Thank you Vince that's EXACTLY the kind of info I was hoping to get.

Looking forward to it - I have a big slab pile I'd like to start working on.

Thank you again,
Patty

[charles]

You have gotten some good advice, however it wasn't clear if you were just interested in the KN unit. So I have to ask the question do you have a trim saw? I am guessing you must however.

[liveoak]

Actually I have a pretty nice rock saw and diamond blade band saw, and I've been working with an old Craftsman Flat lap, but honestly I haven't been able to get good results.
Hopefully the vertical wheels will be more intuitive for me .
Thanks,
Patty

[lithicbeads]

The most important diamond pad is a 1200. The 1200 allows very quick repairs to areas not done properly and when well worn take quartz based stones to a high prepolish.

[irockhound]

I personally like the flexible nature of a wide range, I use 80 220 steel and then 280, 600, 1200 and 14k in Resin.  I keep a 50k on hand also for those tricky stones but find for most the 14k is as high as I need.  I don't do as much Opal as I should, and if I did, I would probably dip into the 50 more often.  Main thing and probably already mentioned but for polishing pads they are cheap and keep a variety and keep them separate and off the machine when not in use in their own baggies to keep them from getting contaminated.  I keep, Canvas, rough leather, smooth Leather, denim (works better on a few things like Obsidian) and felt.  I know some people who also use cork but I never have.  Then for abrasives you'll want to keep another variety like Cerium Oxide, Optical Cerium Oxide is another and I swear by it but either are great for agates, Chrome Oxide for your Obsidian, Jade, Rhodonite etc, Some Tin Oxide and some Micro Alumina.  Those are my go to's but there are more but I find 99% of my polishing needs are handled by the Cerium's, Chrome and Tin.  Also for people working Turquoise many recommend Zam polish on felt.

Hope that wasn't a rehash of what's been said.  Polish is cheap as are the pads and Never change the type of polish on a pad!, each pad stick with one type of polish on it.  For instance on the Soft Leather I keep multiple soft leather pads each with a different polish on them.

[liveoak]

Thank you all, lots to learn, and I appreciate any and all input.

I read that about being sure to focus on the pre-polish, so hearing that was a good confirmation that it's something to pay extra attention to.

I have a good arsenal on hand of compounds & pads as I've equipped my 8" flat lap. And seeing as that's on an outside work bench, I think I'll leave it there. Always wonderful to be able to just hose out everything in between. But thanks for the reminder on storage, etc. & the extra tips on what works.

The diamond discs are new for me, and I ordered up some for the right hand end from Arrowhead, and even splurged for 3 separate discs so they each have their own.
I don't feel very trusting, long term, that the PSA will keep working if you try to swap discs all the time, and somehow using the glue just sounds annoying ( but then I've never used it).

Nice thing will be that using diamond pre-charged discs won't be messy, since I'm hoping to have the new unit in my indoor shop - so I really appreciate the recommendations, since I was originally looking at pads & diamond paste :-O

Thanks again
Looking forward to getting started !
Patty