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 Post subject: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:22 pm 
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I have an old ultra Tec and need some dops, but can't find any reasonably priced unkeyed dops for an ultratec. Any suggestions? Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 2:36 am 
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Location: South Africa
'Cheap' dops are not a good idea. They could be either too tight (jamming in the chuck) or too loose (tilting because of the set screw on an old model UT). Get rid of worn dops that are either too thin or not straight, and buy properly machined brass dops. These are precision components of what one hopes is still a precision machine. I recommend brass because I have had a slightly oversized aluminium dop seize in the chuck (aluminium and steel don't get on well), and steel dops don't transmit heat well in the transfer process, getting too hot, too slowly.


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 Post subject: Re: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:14 pm 
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Location: Vancouver, Canada
Just a word of caution - there is a vendor on eBay based in Greece who's selling dops and other faceting equipment going by the name steftom or patuna.patuna

I ordered 10 sets of 7.62mm dops from him for my Omni-e. What I received were dops that looked nice but they were ranging in diameter from 7.44-7.58mm, with no two dops having the same diameter in the entire set. What this means is when in the jig, the transfers will be off every time.

I also ordered one of his anti-dops, and found that at the butt end it was 7.52mm and at the other end of the shaft was 7.58mm. Again he said this wasn't a problem.

When I raised this with him, he first said that it was only fractions of a mm and it didn't matter. Then he said I was causing trouble for him, before he refunded my purchase. But he didn't pay for shipping as he was supposed to, and my mistake was shipping them back to him before he paid for the shipping so eBay said there was nothing they could do.

Interestingly enough, eBay wouldn't allow me to post negative feedback on steftom after all of this, even though I phoned them up twice and walked them through the experience.

So, long story short - buyer beware.

-Allan

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http://www.omnifaceter.net <- Omnifaceter is back online!


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 Post subject: Re: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:57 pm 
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Wouldn't graves dops work? They are pretty inexpensive.


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 Post subject: Re: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:10 pm 
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Location: Vancouver, Canada
One option would be to source 0.25" precision ground brass rod and cut as required. It's pretty readily available from various sources.

The hard part may be drilling out the inverted cone for the pavilion, as well as machining the diameter to what you want. But even taking the rod to a shop to have this done will be cheaper and more accurate than someone turning a brass blank into 0.25" dops.

Good luck!

-Allan

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http://www.omnifaceter.net <- Omnifaceter is back online!


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 Post subject: Re: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:11 pm 
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Thanks, the used one I bought came with the cones that I need, but not the flat dops for the size. I think I will just grind out my own dops, what size are the old unkeyed dops again? Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: Where to buy cheap, unkeyed dops?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:13 pm 
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Where would one get Graves dops? The company is closed/unresponsive and I actually bough ultra laps from them, but had to get a refund through my credit card company. It left a bad feeling in my mouth and I don't think I will ever purchase directly from them again. Thanks


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