the DVD is using lexan, and you would have to do a lot of work to make that work
this on the the other hand goes at a good speed (over 5000rpm), with a ULTRAFLAT aluminum or glass platter...
a tiny bit of mineral oil, diamond dust and voila... your faceting small stones on a surface so flat you can use it as a mirror in a telescope
Platters are typically made using an aluminium or glass and ceramic substrate.
As of 2015, laptop hard drive platters are made from glass while aluminum platters are often found in desktop computers
i have old ones with aluminum platters which are not much different than the soft copper platters of a faceting base
anyway, "we are never so inventive as when we invent reasons to say NO"
we will even event a no for technology that exists...
if you can glue paper onto the disk and take it off and use the machine till the bearings go, you have a way to do things you didnt before
HARD DRIVE (HDD) Diamond Grinder Conversion
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg6qHqzWC2U[/youtube]
take a look at this hack.
the point is you get a super flat non vibrational motor that runs on 5volts with mounts..
you can find some examples if you read slovak or russian as a way to do things without access to things
7,200 RPM Hard Drive Sander/Grinder - DIY Project
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE5F8n9lcwg[/youtube]
Power a hard drive motor without a speed controller
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6XVDd4eHIQ[/youtube]
tell you the truth... some really good glue, sandpaper a disk, glue on some leather, and you can use it to polish stones!!
I figure since you can get a hard disk for nothing sometimes, and power supply from trashed computer
one could build a tiny lapidary of sorts... would not be much different than the flat disks people use to cab
and if your doing opals (read soft), you can easily use sand papers to do most of the work by just changing them
water proofing isnt too hard either...
most motors are too "loose" in that tehy dont turn well enough to cut a stone becuase their loseness causes uneven pressure
you probably cant press as hard as a disk, but pressing isnt the point... pressing is about time, not work..
the hardest and i think really tough part is some way to hold the dop and turn it at the right angles consistently (and be adjustable)
ever see movies of professional diamond cutting machines...
almost none are done by hand any more
The Israel Diamond Technology Center (IDT)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mH0qh-OOj0[/youtube]
New diamond cut machine: Smile and double smile
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4_usT7uQGE[/youtube]
Full Automatic Gem Faceting Cutting Machine(Machine Update & Line Suggestion)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oloIWUQY8w[/youtube]