Automatic Cabochon Machine
A Tutorial for the Automatic Cabochon Machine (aka, the American Cabber)
Little Red Store has prepared a great tutorial which shows how to set up and use the venerable American Cabber, an automatic cabochon making machine. When we say "automatic", we mean that once the machine is set up properly, you can make dozens of identically-shaped Cabochons, one at a time, by directing the partially-shaped rock against a grinding wheel.
Once the basic shape of the cabochons are formed on the Coarse (80-Grit) wheel, you then have several choices to finish your cabs: (1) they can be processed in a Rotary or Vibratory tumbler until they have a brilliant shine, (2) they can be manually hand-finished on the remaining wheels using the Cabber Dop Stick, or (3) they can be "automatically" finished by moving the Cabber from wheel to wheel until they're done. Using this last technique, some cabber operators are able to make 25 finished cabochons per day!
Unfortunately, we were not able to copy this tutorial, with it's many photos, into this new website. It is still available, for free, via E-Mail. Just send us an E-Mail requesting the American Cabber Tutorial, and we will attach it to our reply back to you. And be on the lookout for our American Cabber video series, which will allow you to see this highly productive machine in operation.