Barranca Diamond FIREBALL 2 AXLE SPHERE MACHINE - Manual (Page 11)

Barranca Diamond Products Phone: 310-523-5867 www.barrancadiamnd.com 11
SPHERE POLISHING
The sphere grinding phase will require the most attention as it is the users inspection of the material and
shape that determines if the sphere is ground to his or her satisfaction. On soft materials (i.e. travertine,
serpentine, fluorite, etc.) the time to “rough out" or grind the preformed block into a sphere shape is
significantly less than the time to grind out a sphere of hard and dense lapidary materials such as jasper,
jade, agate, quartz, etc. Therefore, experience from trial and error will dictate how much time the user must
devote to rough sphere grinding. High grinding velocities do not necessarily yield shorter rough sphere
grinding time. The user will have to closely monitor the sphere block during course grinding to determine if a
sphere has been obtained.
Once the sphere material is ground to the user’s satisfaction and the cups are changed to the Velcro lined
resin pad holder cups, the first diamond resin pad that should be placed in the holder cup is dependent on
the severity of scratches and marks that need to be removed from the material and its relative hardness. For
example, a soft material like travertine can be rapidly polished to remove scratches from the grinding cups
using a 120 and or 220 grit pad wedges. Harder materials like agate and jasper require more aggressive pads
(i.e. 30 or 50 grit) to remove stubborn grinding phase scratches and high spots.
Once the stubborn scratches are removed with the resin diamond wedges in the Velcro lined holder cups
in the 30 to 220 grit range, the final sequence of polishing to a high mirror like finish will be performed in
the diamond grit range of 400, 800, 1800, 3500, 8500, and 13,000 mesh resin diamond wedges. An even
higher final finish can be obtained with cerium, aluminum, or tin oxide polishing compounds if felt wedges (not
included with machine) are used. For most lapidary material the use of the 13,000 grit diamond pads will yield
a satisfactory polish.
FINAL TIPS ON USE OF DIAMOND RESIN WEDGES FOR POLISHING
The following tips should be adhered to by the user to obtain the highest mirror polish on the sphere material:
1) Rinse and clean each diamond resin wedge with a tooth brush and clean water after each use. Be sure to
dry pads after cleaning and store in a sealable plastic bag.
2.) Do not reuse water from collection pan. Only pump clean water to nozzle from a 5 gallon bucket.
3) Rinse clean completely the slurry catch plastic pan after each grit size change. The pad holder cups
should be cleaned as well between pads with a toothbrush and clean water.
4) Ensure resin diamond wedges are placed securely inside the holder cups and that the Velcro is in good
condition and affixed securely to the cast iron inside of the cups to prevent the pads from shifting or falling
out during polishing. Periodically, the user will have to remove the Velcro strips and replace with new
Velcro strips (super glue epoxy is recommended to hold the Velcro strips securely).
Velcro pad holder cup