Post by NatureNut on Jun 15, 2011 11:35:43 GMT -5
In my last Cabbing Section thread, Amy asked to see my traveling rock set up, so I took some pics to show how I organize, stow and set up for rock fun on the road while we travel the US as full time RVers.
Here's our rig, we upgraded last February from a 31 foot Cougar with 2 slides to a 37 foot Cameo with 3 slides.
When our wheels are turning, everything must be stowed away and secure so having an organized but accessible system is key to being able to work with rocks. Here's a pic inside of the main room. Kitchen with island is near right, TV far right.
The overhead cabinets above the leather chairs on the left is all mine. We'll call it my jewelry cabinet. Here I have my findings, beads, finished cabs, wire, wire tools, glue/epoxy, projects in progress, and finished jewelry. I keep the things I need to grab right away handy like my Ryker boxes.
I recently had to expand to another cabinet so the top left one above the TV became my packing/finishing cabinet. In it are waxed leather cording, jewelry boxes, padded envelopes, tissue papers, gift wrapping and tags.
The couch is my main inside work area, although I also work at the island standing up or on the floor with all my jewelry making paraphernalia spread out all over. Inside the couch, I have a metal and plastic fold up table that I can use inside or outside if there is no picnic table. I also have an artist's light box in there for jewelry designing inside with bad light (cloudy, wintery days or if we're in hot climate with A/C on and shades drawn. I keep a sheet over the couch just to protect it.
This pic is taken from the kitchen looking through the bathroom at the bed room, which is in the front, over the hitch. When rockin' on wheels, you really have to carefully consider weight. Normal living means you need lots of 'stuff" and the less you have, the better off you'll be (mechanically, on your axles, that is). Behind the mirror is a closet and that's where I have 1 box of slabs, 1 box of cut preshapes, and 2 more boxes of small rough to be worked. Way more than I could work in a year, LOL. It's all over the hitch, so the weight is distributed to the tongue, not the axles.
Also in here amongst the boxes, I keep a snazzy photographer's folding lightbox with lights for when I take the final pics of my finished pieces for my ETSY store.
Lastly in this closet, I keep a small bucket of preshapes and one cab wonders that I can just grab and take outside. This is helpful because when working with weather, you never know how long you have to work and how quickly you'll get shut down.
I use alot of baggies to organize my stones into potential projects and try to label them with marker so I can remember what I had in mind, LOL.
I almost always use a dust mask and ear plugs for cutting and rough grinding.
Before I show you outside stuff, we'll make a stop at the bathroom. Here is my "captive audience" display of leather artwork and choice slabs stuck up with 3M Command poster strips. (and they've all held)
My latest indulgence was a heavily discounted item from the clearance shelf at Rio Grande during my visit a few weeks ago. Yes, that's a QT12 running on our bathroom counter. ;D It was like new and I couldn't resist.
Can't tell you how good it feels to be tumbling again.
Okay, on to the outside... I seem to have claimed another compartment for my equipment. This short little one takes up the whole back and has three access doors. Our huge electrical hookup cord goes in the other side, but the rest is all mine! Because it's the tail end of the trailer, I have to again consider weight, so no rocks are in here. I have two backpacks, one for rockhounding and the other for metal detecting.
The rest is my machines. I keep them in carryable groupings so I can just grab something once and carry it to my work area (either a picnic table, my folding table or the tail gate). You never know how the footing will be at your campsite and you could be standing on a gravelly steep slope getting this stuff out. (the plants live on the kitchen counter, not the compartment, LOL)
This is my Dremel stuff. At first I thought this was going to be a luxury in case I wanted to do some carving, but I'll tell ya, this has saved us in so many cases, even for fixes on the RV. I just used it the other day to grind a hole int he back of a stone to counter-sink the head of a tie-tack backing. This is one tool I'm really glad I included.
Here's my little 4" trim saw. Just got this from Ralph and Mary Ann last January. Underneath, I have spare thin and thick blades and in the baggie are a couple of dressing blocks. I can't cut slabs from fist sized rocks like I could with my WF saw, but it's been really good to me.
It's good to have a way to store the big rocks, or have a rock buddy who will cut some slabs for you from rock you send them. Lots of times I run across rocks I want to keep and not cut, so I send them to someone close enough to our storage unit for us to pick them up again and get them stored. This is another area where you'll have to practice discipline. When we first embarked on this adventure almost a year ago, I wanted to pick up every rock that was different than the ones at home... now I'm way more discriminating, LOL, (thank goodness).
Here's my little 12 pound Ameritool Grinder that I got from John at JSGems and has been sooo good to me. I keep a length of rubber tubing and an extension cord right with it. One thing I did was to super glue the washer to the top thumbscrew so it's all one piece (thanks Rockmanken) and I also glued three washers together for a spacer for when I use the plexiglass backing plate because it's slightly thinner than the black plastic backing plates.
You'll also see there my (FRB, LOL) box of sanding disc toppers. They're all in labeled ziploc bags to keep them clean and hopefully free from contamination. Be sure to let them dry completely and I spray the metal discs with silicone spray before sealing them away to keep them from rusting. I also keep a little container with my washers, some Super Glue and some cabs that have been an on-going challenge (like Tony W's BO, LOL) so I might pull them out and work them a little while doing a batch. Also have my diamond pastes and Silicone Spray that I use for extender.
Here are my topper discs. Got way many because some get worn, but I never throw 'em away (still good on softer material). You wouldn't believe how many times a worn disc has been the answer. I have a felt pad with 14,000 mesh diamond paste and a leather pad with 50,000 mesh diamond paste. I also have a couple of CO polishing pads for faceting. I used to glue the toppers to the backings, but now I just switch them, they don't go anywhere, especially if you put a little water on the bottom of the topper before placing it. Love the colored rubber diamond discs from Ameritool.
Here's my picnic table set up. Usually turn it so I sit but did it this way so you could see it. I have that rubber tubing attached to my drain to drain out onto the ground. Don't have a problem if I flush and wipe out my machine after I'm finished every time. I use a pitcher and walk over to fill it up to keep my drip cup filled. I swear I'm gonna work out something soon to have a constant source of water, but I can never count of a good water source on account of how our sites and hookups are always different, with some being better than others. So, for now this is fine.
I try to work a group of cabs at a time so I'm swapping the top for the whole set. Got my mask and earplugs and Super Glue handy. Use a paper plate to keep my new beauties clean. Got my bucket of next victims right there to pull from.
This is one baggie of slabs I have marked for some bolas to go in settings that I got from the traveling rock box in the last round. I'm just itching to get to them.
To manage my rock weight, I have 3 buckets in the back of the truck with rough that I carry around to work and share. That way, we can unload them at the campsite. They work great for holding down our outdoor rug in the wind.
As far as connectivity goes, we have satellite TV with a dome on the roof and a wireless card on 12V hooked to a router that makes our rig a WIFI hotspot... even while driving in the truck. Most campgrounds have free WIFI, but you can't count on them.
So... I think that about covers my mobile rock world. Hope you enjoyed the tour.
Jo
Here's our rig, we upgraded last February from a 31 foot Cougar with 2 slides to a 37 foot Cameo with 3 slides.
When our wheels are turning, everything must be stowed away and secure so having an organized but accessible system is key to being able to work with rocks. Here's a pic inside of the main room. Kitchen with island is near right, TV far right.
The overhead cabinets above the leather chairs on the left is all mine. We'll call it my jewelry cabinet. Here I have my findings, beads, finished cabs, wire, wire tools, glue/epoxy, projects in progress, and finished jewelry. I keep the things I need to grab right away handy like my Ryker boxes.
I recently had to expand to another cabinet so the top left one above the TV became my packing/finishing cabinet. In it are waxed leather cording, jewelry boxes, padded envelopes, tissue papers, gift wrapping and tags.
The couch is my main inside work area, although I also work at the island standing up or on the floor with all my jewelry making paraphernalia spread out all over. Inside the couch, I have a metal and plastic fold up table that I can use inside or outside if there is no picnic table. I also have an artist's light box in there for jewelry designing inside with bad light (cloudy, wintery days or if we're in hot climate with A/C on and shades drawn. I keep a sheet over the couch just to protect it.
This pic is taken from the kitchen looking through the bathroom at the bed room, which is in the front, over the hitch. When rockin' on wheels, you really have to carefully consider weight. Normal living means you need lots of 'stuff" and the less you have, the better off you'll be (mechanically, on your axles, that is). Behind the mirror is a closet and that's where I have 1 box of slabs, 1 box of cut preshapes, and 2 more boxes of small rough to be worked. Way more than I could work in a year, LOL. It's all over the hitch, so the weight is distributed to the tongue, not the axles.
Also in here amongst the boxes, I keep a snazzy photographer's folding lightbox with lights for when I take the final pics of my finished pieces for my ETSY store.
Lastly in this closet, I keep a small bucket of preshapes and one cab wonders that I can just grab and take outside. This is helpful because when working with weather, you never know how long you have to work and how quickly you'll get shut down.
I use alot of baggies to organize my stones into potential projects and try to label them with marker so I can remember what I had in mind, LOL.
I almost always use a dust mask and ear plugs for cutting and rough grinding.
Before I show you outside stuff, we'll make a stop at the bathroom. Here is my "captive audience" display of leather artwork and choice slabs stuck up with 3M Command poster strips. (and they've all held)
My latest indulgence was a heavily discounted item from the clearance shelf at Rio Grande during my visit a few weeks ago. Yes, that's a QT12 running on our bathroom counter. ;D It was like new and I couldn't resist.
Can't tell you how good it feels to be tumbling again.
Okay, on to the outside... I seem to have claimed another compartment for my equipment. This short little one takes up the whole back and has three access doors. Our huge electrical hookup cord goes in the other side, but the rest is all mine! Because it's the tail end of the trailer, I have to again consider weight, so no rocks are in here. I have two backpacks, one for rockhounding and the other for metal detecting.
The rest is my machines. I keep them in carryable groupings so I can just grab something once and carry it to my work area (either a picnic table, my folding table or the tail gate). You never know how the footing will be at your campsite and you could be standing on a gravelly steep slope getting this stuff out. (the plants live on the kitchen counter, not the compartment, LOL)
This is my Dremel stuff. At first I thought this was going to be a luxury in case I wanted to do some carving, but I'll tell ya, this has saved us in so many cases, even for fixes on the RV. I just used it the other day to grind a hole int he back of a stone to counter-sink the head of a tie-tack backing. This is one tool I'm really glad I included.
Here's my little 4" trim saw. Just got this from Ralph and Mary Ann last January. Underneath, I have spare thin and thick blades and in the baggie are a couple of dressing blocks. I can't cut slabs from fist sized rocks like I could with my WF saw, but it's been really good to me.
It's good to have a way to store the big rocks, or have a rock buddy who will cut some slabs for you from rock you send them. Lots of times I run across rocks I want to keep and not cut, so I send them to someone close enough to our storage unit for us to pick them up again and get them stored. This is another area where you'll have to practice discipline. When we first embarked on this adventure almost a year ago, I wanted to pick up every rock that was different than the ones at home... now I'm way more discriminating, LOL, (thank goodness).
Here's my little 12 pound Ameritool Grinder that I got from John at JSGems and has been sooo good to me. I keep a length of rubber tubing and an extension cord right with it. One thing I did was to super glue the washer to the top thumbscrew so it's all one piece (thanks Rockmanken) and I also glued three washers together for a spacer for when I use the plexiglass backing plate because it's slightly thinner than the black plastic backing plates.
You'll also see there my (FRB, LOL) box of sanding disc toppers. They're all in labeled ziploc bags to keep them clean and hopefully free from contamination. Be sure to let them dry completely and I spray the metal discs with silicone spray before sealing them away to keep them from rusting. I also keep a little container with my washers, some Super Glue and some cabs that have been an on-going challenge (like Tony W's BO, LOL) so I might pull them out and work them a little while doing a batch. Also have my diamond pastes and Silicone Spray that I use for extender.
Here are my topper discs. Got way many because some get worn, but I never throw 'em away (still good on softer material). You wouldn't believe how many times a worn disc has been the answer. I have a felt pad with 14,000 mesh diamond paste and a leather pad with 50,000 mesh diamond paste. I also have a couple of CO polishing pads for faceting. I used to glue the toppers to the backings, but now I just switch them, they don't go anywhere, especially if you put a little water on the bottom of the topper before placing it. Love the colored rubber diamond discs from Ameritool.
Here's my picnic table set up. Usually turn it so I sit but did it this way so you could see it. I have that rubber tubing attached to my drain to drain out onto the ground. Don't have a problem if I flush and wipe out my machine after I'm finished every time. I use a pitcher and walk over to fill it up to keep my drip cup filled. I swear I'm gonna work out something soon to have a constant source of water, but I can never count of a good water source on account of how our sites and hookups are always different, with some being better than others. So, for now this is fine.
I try to work a group of cabs at a time so I'm swapping the top for the whole set. Got my mask and earplugs and Super Glue handy. Use a paper plate to keep my new beauties clean. Got my bucket of next victims right there to pull from.
This is one baggie of slabs I have marked for some bolas to go in settings that I got from the traveling rock box in the last round. I'm just itching to get to them.
To manage my rock weight, I have 3 buckets in the back of the truck with rough that I carry around to work and share. That way, we can unload them at the campsite. They work great for holding down our outdoor rug in the wind.
As far as connectivity goes, we have satellite TV with a dome on the roof and a wireless card on 12V hooked to a router that makes our rig a WIFI hotspot... even while driving in the truck. Most campgrounds have free WIFI, but you can't count on them.
So... I think that about covers my mobile rock world. Hope you enjoyed the tour.
Jo