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Post by liveoak on Jul 6, 2023 9:26:09 GMT -5
Just finished a cab last night & now would love to know what exactly it is
My crude hardness test shows somewhere over 7.
My grinding/polishing I would agree with that- otherwise no clue.
Any guess ?
Thanks,
Patty
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 6, 2023 9:57:54 GMT -5
Nice cab, Patty!
Black plume agate, but can't tell from where.
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Post by liveoak on Jul 6, 2023 10:12:43 GMT -5
Thank you Robin hummingbirdstones . I was pretty happy with the cab & that I even pulled it off in one night , after dinner. A gain for me
Patty
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,751
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Post by khara on Jul 6, 2023 11:49:32 GMT -5
I’m impressed with your trim saw work. How did you do that?!
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Post by liveoak on Jul 6, 2023 12:24:17 GMT -5
I’m impressed with your trim saw work. How did you do that?! We converted a mostly aluminum, inexpensive woodworking bandsaw, to use a standard length diamond blade with coolant. Pays for itself in rocks.
Patty
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,751
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Post by khara on Jul 6, 2023 12:38:39 GMT -5
Very cool. I was thinking either band saw or laser cutter of some sort.👍👍 Great idea. Looks cleaner and way more efficient.
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Post by liveoak on Jul 6, 2023 12:55:15 GMT -5
It works pretty good, a little dirtier looking now, a couple of years later, but I'm on my second diamond blade & still going strong ! I highly recommend one.
Patty
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 13, 2023 22:43:07 GMT -5
Wyoming black feather agate?
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,623
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Post by QuailRiver on Jul 13, 2023 23:46:24 GMT -5
Maybe Medicine Bow Agate? If so not necessarily slabbed in the direction to best exhibit the full plume profiles. Still makes an interesting cab though.
And kudos for your band saw conversion! We would love to see separate thread for that!
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 14, 2023 0:23:55 GMT -5
Maybe Medicine Bow Agate? If so not necessarily slabbed in the direction to best exhibit the full plume profiles. Still makes an interesting cab though. And kudos for your band saw conversion! We would love to see separate thread for that! Medicine bow would be my other guess.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 14, 2023 5:28:07 GMT -5
Beautiful cab! I was thinking Medicine Bow, too.
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Post by liveoak on Jul 14, 2023 6:53:52 GMT -5
Thank you all - rock names can definitely be confusing.
Of course all 3 : Black Plume agate, Wyoming Black Feather Agate & Medicine Bow agate all look similar.
No clue how you'd tell the difference, unless as Robin suggested, that I knew where it came from.
I purchased it as a slab so no clue on that.
I do know, that it's a nice plume agate .
QuailRiver , I'll have to see about taking more photos of my bandsaw conversion. Nothing real fancy going on - but it works & was inexpensive Thanks for asking.
Patty
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 14, 2023 9:24:34 GMT -5
Thank you all - rock names can definitely be confusing.
Of course all 3 : Black Plume agate, Wyoming Black Feather Agate & Medicine Bow agate all look similar.
No clue how you'd tell the difference, unless as Robin suggested, that I knew where it came from.
I purchased it as a slab so no clue on that.
I do know, that it's a nice plume agate .
QuailRiver , I'll have to see about taking more photos of my bandsaw conversion. Nothing real fancy going on - but it works & was inexpensive Thanks for asking.
Patty
Do you already have a thread for the bandsaw conversation? I’d honestly like to try that out. The more I look at the names of all the plumes, I’m pretty sure they are all the same material, just being called by different names. I’d go with medicine bow since it’s most well known.
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Post by liveoak on Jul 14, 2023 10:30:13 GMT -5
Do you already have a thread for the bandsaw conversation? I’d honestly like to try that out. The more I look at the names of all the plumes, I’m pretty sure they are all the same material, just being called by different names. I’d go with medicine bow since it’s most well known. I'm mentioned the band saw a couple of times & shown a picture here but never showed what we did.
As I said it's pretty basic stuff- but maybe it'll inspire someone else. So I'll see about taking some pictures ( when the rain stops).
Thanks about the names- Medicine bow sounds as good as any
Patty
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Post by liveoak on Jul 14, 2023 11:33:57 GMT -5
realrockhound QuailRiver
So I thought before I put together a separate post I'd look up current costs.
My 9" Craftsman (mostly aluminum) bandsaw has gone up in price so truth be told I think I'd probably suggest to look at the ready to go Inland saw DB-100.
It comes with the diamond blade, and coolant & the housing is plastic, so no rust issue.
A bunch of people have it at $ 359 which at current costs is about what it would take +/- to make a woodworking saw like mine capable. Keep in mind I had to buy a $100 diamond blade, rig up a cooling system, arrange the saw elevated for drainage above the motor & I have a willing and capable husband.
With the inland you don't have to monkey around with anything, except unpack the box.
It would be different if had a suitable saw already.
Hope this helps-
But I absolutely recommend a bandsaw for pre-forms - it can pay for itself in saved slabs.
Patty
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 14, 2023 12:59:07 GMT -5
realrockhound QuailRiver
So I thought before I put together a separate post I'd look up current costs.
My 9" Craftsman (mostly aluminum) bandsaw has gone up in price so truth be told I think I'd probably suggest to look at the ready to go Inland saw DB-100.
It comes with the diamond blade, and coolant & the housing is plastic, so no rust issue.
A bunch of people have it at $ 359 which at current costs is about what it would take +/- to make a woodworking saw like mine capable. Keep in mind I had to buy a $100 diamond blade, rig up a cooling system, arrange the saw elevated for drainage above the motor & I have a willing and capable husband.
With the inland you don't have to monkey around with anything, except unpack the box.
It would be different if had a suitable saw already.
Hope this helps-
But I absolutely recommend a bandsaw for pre-forms - it can pay for itself in saved slabs.
Patty
Much appreciated. I don’t browse all the channels, so I might have missed other posts. But super smart idea. I think I’ll go the same route.
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Post by Starguy on Jul 14, 2023 13:18:21 GMT -5
I’ve got a great big chunk of dendritic opal that looks similar. It’s too big for my saw.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 14, 2023 13:24:19 GMT -5
realrockhound I have considered finding a die filer and converting to wet use, just cut a bandsaw blade into pieces the same way I used the one at work with jewelers saw blades. Rust would be a bit of an issue though, seems they all are cast arn.
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Post by liveoak on Jul 14, 2023 15:42:26 GMT -5
As I said my band saw thing was easy enough - It's a 9" Craftsman that has an aluminum table, aluminum wheels & plastic doors.
But the thing to remember is that all these 9" bandsaws use a 62" X 1/8" blade and you can buy a standard made diamond blade in that length (although the price now is $ 120 !).
Only other thing is to get coolant to the blade & keep the water away from the motor.
I have a magnetic base lock line & a drip feed with the saw in a plastic tub elevated on blocks that drains to a bucket.
Simple but effective- the motor never gets wet- so it hasn't been an issue.
Engineering is needed for this procedure
Patty PS- Just found out that my guide thrust bearings are worn out & they were standard bearings available on amazon
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,539
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Post by rockbrain on Jul 14, 2023 16:21:35 GMT -5
liveoak , hey Patty, I'm really interested in your bandsaw. I saw a post about it before but somehow didn't realize you were cutting preforms with it. Is it fairly fast to cut a preform out? Wondering how it compares to a trim saw for speed. I've cut some crosses out on my stain glass ring saw and you have to go painfully slow. They have a lot of cheap 9" saws on Amazon that have 2 speed induction motors. I thought that might be a nice feature too. Most have aluminum tables but have no idea on the rest of the machine. Looks like a blade can be acquired for less than $40 if you're willing to wait on shipping from china. I've been looking for a real lapidary trim saw to replace my 7" table saw but I'm thinking seriously about going this way. I absolutely hate cutting a sab into smaller pieces to get one cab out of it!
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