Welcome to opalholicsanonymous.com where opal season lasts forever.

Here's the cabbing machine I built back in 2010, I'm actually now refurbishing it because it took a real beating over the past 5 years, lots of rough went through that unit!

It's pretty ugly right now, I tore the trays out, and am putting rubber mats in instead as the sealant all leaked under the trays and started leaking everywhere. I used truck bed liner stuff to line the inside of the unit thinking it would last forever, but alas, it eventually broke down and water got in behind it and made a big mess!



Here's a flat lap I built, it's not pretty, but it works great, I was gonna attach a faceting head to it, just never got around to it, maybe one day:

Your cabbing machine looks quite professional, Chris. I read about your experience with the truck liner to Steve because he wanted to use it to make our hot tub functional again, since it's so old the wood is deteriorating quickly, but I wouldn't let him since it's not meant to be sat in in hot water. He was a bit annoyed with me, but after hearing what you said he's glad he didn't spend the money on it.

I love show and tell. Thanks guys.

I don't know if I'd like to soak in water that is sitting in that truck bed liner stuff anyhow, I'm sure some nasties leech out of it over time, especially when heated!
It was really toxic stuff to work with, I had to wear a respirator, and after 5 years of it being dry, when I pulled it off the wooden surface of my cabbing machine, there were STILL wet uncured patches of that stuff that still stunk!

I won't be using that stuff for anything anytime soon!
Chris

Nice looking machine Chris. Wish I still had access to a vacuum table. I used 3/16" abs plastic to form a set of pans & hoods for my first home built cabber. As far as I know, the person I passed it on to is still using it.

Yeah, vacuum tables are kewl, wish I had one too.
I watch that show called "Face Off" and they do some neat stuff with those tables.
I might buy a store bought cabbing machine one of these days, but then again, maybe not
As long as my health allows me to tinker, I will

The vacuum table I got to play with was a little bit larger than the one on Face Off. It would take a whole 4' X 8' sheet of ABS. The vacuum chamber itself was 6' long X 3' diameter. Huge vacuum pump would pull 28" of vacuum.
I broke down & bought a Genie back in the early 90's. Still using it, but I'm going to set up some 8" Poly arbors to run SC belts.
As with you, I'll keep tinkering with things until my health won't allow it. At 73, I may still have a couple of good years left in me. LOL

Yeah, Chris, I couldn't believe he ordered 2 big containers of the stuff without asking me, and then announced he was going to line the hot tub with it. I told him you can't heat water in it and not expect chemicals to leech out, and that I wouldn't be sitting in a toxic soup, so he got mad and was going to forfeit the $150 he spent on it until I made him cancel the order. Sometimes I wonder what parallel universe my husband lives in.

There must be some kinda latex rubber type sealant you can get that is meant for a hot tub isn't there?

If you were here, you could just buy a couple cans of good old fashioned dory paint!
LOL