Cutting and polishing stunning agates

[@SissyMchill1]

Outstanding polish. I must get a flat lap. I have rocks tumblers, rotary tools, and a cabbing machine. On my cabbing machine I struggle but mostly fail to get a flat surface and darn sure don’t get that kind of shine. I’m a beginner but watch a ton of rock content on KZbin. I’ve never seen anyone use a flat lap like yours. That is by far the best shine I’ve seen with the exception of channels that only show the rocks finished and not how they got it to that point. I enjoyed your video thank you for posting. I’m now a new subscriber to your channel 😊

[@lapidarydave]

great video i love those laps that you have to charge with grit :) they are not often used in the USA but i like how gentle and obvious the results are with the agates your cutting Thank you so much for sharing this video I just liked and subscribed.

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

Thank you Dave! This method, to me, is undoubtably the best way to get amazing results by hand. No striping, no scratches, only beautiful mirrors😁

[@denisshavaliev1849]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I use the same technology and I believe it’s the best way to polish the rocks, especially big slabs where you need to work with large surfaces

[@michaelc6817]

Very nice! Straight forward and simple to beautiful agates!

[@pavolulicny6332]

super

[@MichiganRocks]

That was a really good video. I have never used a flat lap like that. I have a very old, homemade flat lap, but I use laps with silicon carbide or diamonds in the lap, rather than brushing on my grit. It's not very good at polishing large, flat surfaces like you're doing. Have you ever used a vibrating flat lap? Your method looks better, but I was wondering if you'd done both so you could compare the two.

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

Using a vibrating flat lap produces roughly the same results, you just need some more patience, as the first grit might take a week to finish, before you can move on. Using a rotating flat lap is difficult to start with, but when you get the feel and experience, it is very satisfying and as you can see produces a water/mirror polish😁

[@bernardthongvanh5613]

I don't understand, I got into faceting and contamination is a big issue, but you use the same lap for every grit, how is that possible?

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

Faceting is a very different sport alltogether. I use a cast iron disk in combination with several grit sizes. I usually do more than one agate at a time. For example, I grind 20 agates with grit 150 to make them flat. Then I clean the disk very well and do all of them on grit 360 or 400 to smoothen. This way the disk gets primed for that grit in the meantime. Afterwards when I get to 800, the first few agates usually get scratches. After that, most will turn out perfect. The ones with scratches just go another round. So, yes, you can use one lap, as long as you use the same grit for longer, so your disk is ground down to the same roughness

[@SRLGemstone]

The disk you used for polishing reminds me of a pottery wheel machine. What are the chances of it doing the same thing. If it does, I must find it in the warehouse. Beautiful stones and great polishing. Thanks for sharing.

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

Thanks! I think a pottery machine will not have enough power. It needs to have some speed, but also enough power to not get slowed down when you push a bit. You can try to do some research. The disk I use is polyurethane. I polish with cerium oxide;)

[@SRLGemstone]

@@tonnyvanhemert9826 You have made the right points. Yes, I hadn't thought about the power thing, thank you.

[@AvalonDreamz]

I really love the Indonesian moss agates that look scenic. I never see them being cut and polished though and wonder do they just not have good access to it? Java Island seems to be the spot, but the clarity of the agate that allows you to see all the beauty going on inside, all the colors just amaze me.

[@denisshavaliev1849]

To me it will be interesting to see the design of you lap. Especially the way how the disk is driven by motor and spindle mechanism.

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

It's not an insanely difficult design. It's a ste frame with an electro-enginge mounted to the back. A pulley with snare drives a centre pulley which holds the disk:)

[@jacobortiz4244]

can you resource me how to get a polishing table and the stuff to polish it?? i want to polish my agates!!!

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

It's quite difficult. This machine was also hand built. For flat polishing you would need a machine that rotates a flat steel disk with grooves in it. On that you use Silicon carbide grits to grind. Another disk goes on with polyurethane or felt and you polish with Cerium oxide. Hope this helps a bit

[@randomgrinn]

Awesome! But I have never seen that flat-lap. If you bought it, please give link to where I can buy it. If you made it, link to video where you show how it was made.

[@marcdevries9361]

Nr 1 polisher from the Netherlands

[@ronaldhoppus9015]

Very nice results with this system. Thanks

[@leahwelch3158]

Great video. Thanks for sharing. I would love to learn more about this method and the machine you are using. I've been searching for someone using this method. I'm starting Lapidary, but everything has been diamond wheels. Thank you again. Beautiful polish.

[@telessiajones7041]

Wow those are beautiful

[@laurat5143]

That always comes out so beautifully done. Thank you for sharing your amazing rocks and polishing them up. 😊

[@laurat5143]

Thanks for the ♥️

[@Badr_agate_kech]

I'm from Morocco

[@kevinunger433]

Wow look at agate 2

[@JulieZatsick]

Hello Tony, very nice work Where did you get the flat lap machine and what does it cost Thank you Carl Zatsick Farmington Michigan

[@tonnyvanhemert9826]

It was not bought at a store. I was lucky to have a contact who knew someone who built them himself. So, I can't really tell you where to buy one, but for a machine like this you should think in the 1500-2000 range:)

[@serratededges3003]

Awesome vid

[@donnaboyle669]

Exquisite

[@ruththomas6816]

😅😅😅😅😅😅