Highland Park Lapidary makes some of the best equipment money can buy.
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If you make a purchase through any of the Highland Park Lapidary links on this website a small portion of the sale will go to helping my small business, on checkout use coupon code ChampionMineral for 10% off!
Affiliate link to all Highland Park Items --> Don't forget the coupon code!
The Highland Park 6" Trim saw is excellent for cutting small stones or trimming slabs. I chose this saw for my own cutting needs due to the metal construction, large motor, and belt drive. It produces a very stable spin with minimal vibration. When evaluating the competition I didn't like the amount of vibration in direct drive saws with plastic bodies and no drain dump. I also didn't like how the plastic deck's would flex - flexing and vibration increases the chances of breaking your stone. This is a solid saw built to last a lifetime.
The Highland Park 10" Trim saw is excellent for cutting medium sized stones or trimming slabs. I reserve the 6" for trimming slabs, and I use the 10" for cutting stones too big for the 6". If you compare the all stainless steel construction to the competitions all plastic construction, this saw is a steal for the money, especially if you remember the 10% off coupon code and free shipping! You can also add on an optional feed clamp for clean straight cuts.
The Highland Park Wet Belt Sander is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment you can own. Many vendors sell belts that will fit this machine so there is a wide choice of grits and surface types to choose from. I've shaped and polished stones as soft as variscite and septarian, and as hard as agatized wood. I keep my bull wheel on the side charged with Zam, so this one machine can take you all the way from rough in to polish in a compact foot print compared to a large cabbing machine.
The Highland Park 20" slab saw is a serious piece of equipment. My very first saw was a four inch tile saw - it got the job done but it was awful on the stone. From there I converted a compound miter saw to a 12" water saw, it also got the job done but was dangerous and made a mess of the stone. Later I picked up a very old 16" oil slab saw, I rebuilt it and then my eyes were opened, the ease and quality of cuts that oil saws produced can't be matched. Often my old 16" came up just short for the size rocks I was trying to cut, and the blade could not be adjusted. When polishing slabs I had to run for days on 60/90 to get the saw marks out, I was wearing out lap pans way too fast! I decided to make the leap and go to the 20", the most bang for buck of all the sizes. With the highland park saw it produces cuts so smooth I can go straight to 220 grit right off the saw!