sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jun 17, 2013 12:13:48 GMT -5
I put off trying to polish my thunder eggs long enough and finally tried today. My problem is, how do you polish them using a wet polisher? All my slabs that I polish, I just lay flat on rubber shelving cover and they stay in place. The only way I could do this was to put the egg in a little cup, put some floral paste on the bottom of the cup and "pasted" it to the table. It stuck but it wobbled all over the place, not the best situation for a good polish. I got what I deserved.
How do y'all polish your egge\s, particularly those with wet polishers? All others, please tell me how you do it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2013 13:01:22 GMT -5
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jun 18, 2013 23:32:34 GMT -5
I use my Lortone 20" "jiggle pan" (vibrating lap) to polish t-eggs. They shine up super nice with tin oxide. c-ya, Rick
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 19, 2013 10:07:38 GMT -5
I had forgot about that idea (shotgunner)..I'm going to try it,just got a bunch of thundereggs in a trade..
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jun 19, 2013 11:02:18 GMT -5
I use my Lortone 20" "jiggle pan" (vibrating lap) to polish t-eggs. They shine up super nice with tin oxide. c-ya, Rick I just sold mine two days ago because I wasn't happy with how long it took to do slabs. I never thought about thunder eggs. lol
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jun 20, 2013 1:44:09 GMT -5
Bummer - jiggle pans are hard to come by. I recently modified mine to use an offset shaft for an oscillating motion. I measured the amount the stock lortone seemed to be wiggling and made the shaft offset twice that - 3mm. A guy from Georgia on this forum made it. Jiggles a lot more now and, importantly, only side to side. No hopping up and down like the stock setup is so prone to that makes for orange peel texture and slows grind times way down. And the amount of motion, though it's more now, the oscillation isn't as wild and drastic as the video I saw of a Reciprolap on You Tube. Which is how I intended it since the R-lap looks like it could really smash rocks together hard. It's cut my grind times from the by-the-Lortone-book 14-16 hours to around 6 hours per stage. I can do a batch in a little over 24 hours. C-ya, Rick
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jun 20, 2013 8:25:01 GMT -5
Bummer - jiggle pans are hard to come by. I recently modified mine to use an offset shaft for an oscillating motion. I measured the amount the stock lortone seemed to be wiggling and made the shaft offset twice that - 3mm. A guy from Georgia on this forum made it. Jiggles a lot more now and, importantly, only side to side. No hopping up and down like the stock setup is so prone to that makes for orange peel texture and slows grind times way down. And the amount of motion, though it's more now, the oscillation isn't as wild and drastic as the video I saw of a Reciprolap on You Tube. Which is how I intended it since the R-lap looks like it could really smash rocks together hard. It's cut my grind times from the by-the-Lortone-book 14-16 hours to around 6 hours per stage. I can do a batch in a little over 24 hours. C-ya, Rick Your last sentence is exactly why I went to a wet polisher!
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Post by Rockoonz on Jun 21, 2013 18:39:12 GMT -5
By wet polisher you mean a wet angle head grinder like for stone counter tops?
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jun 22, 2013 8:58:04 GMT -5
By wet polisher you mean a wet angle head grinder like for stone counter tops? It's something like that but adding the word "grinder" probably gives it more capability than it really has. Here is a link to what I have, the Rotoblast MK-100, www.rotoblast.com. I should also add that Johnsgems also sells an excellent one that is designed specifically for lapidary work. Much more expensive but excellent tool. If this one ever wears out, I'll probably guy that one as a replacement. In the meantime I'm happy with the job it does.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2013 13:04:44 GMT -5
By wet polisher you mean a wet angle head grinder like for stone counter tops? Based on Sheltie's link, yes. Sheltie look at Jamesp's setup for grinding using a similar shaped grinder. Jim, you have a link? or an image?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 18, 2013 19:28:43 GMT -5
Bump!
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deserthound
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 390
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Post by deserthound on Mar 23, 2014 20:21:00 GMT -5
After reading this post i bought a rotoblast. i talked with Sheltie after i bought it. so far i'm liking it, i did get a grinderhead which works great for making a level surface on some display stand-ups pieces. like pet wood . i have done some limbcast, and slabs and eggs the eggs went in a lil shopmate table top vise same as the slabs...i must be getting better as i dont get as wet anymore..lol..it can be done keeping semi-dry i think...it really opens alot of new avenues on what you can polish and how big seems unlimited...i saw today i can get a 100,000 grit, it came with a 10,000...disc was 7.95.. a set of 8 is 60.00...cheap way for me to get into polishing for sure....i gona try doing a cab soon see how thats gona work for me...oh and for 69.00 i could get a 2" core bit for it..thinkin polish the slab punch the cab out with a core bit..sure someone has tried it..
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lparker
fully equipped rock polisher
Still doing too much for being retired!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 1,202
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Post by lparker on Apr 19, 2017 8:22:58 GMT -5
I see deserthound hasn't been online in two years. Does anyone know the best way to hold a thunderegg using a rotoblast grinder?
Lee #1
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 19, 2017 9:46:32 GMT -5
Was trying to find some video with Jason Hinkle doing his magic on thundereggs......He is on F/B with his videos.. I did find this video of a guy polishing eggs.... Some use a flat top polisher,some Poly's,some with the Richardson polisher and now the new polisher (huge bull wheel),that I see Jason and Roy have.... Jason is the Thunderegg King,has great videos and advise... He is also a member on here,but doesn't get on much...
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 19, 2017 9:49:25 GMT -5
I have many eggs and just started to teach myself how to sand and polish eggs......its work,but will get it soon enough.....
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 19, 2017 9:54:54 GMT -5
I see deserthound hasn't been online in two years. Does anyone know the best way to hold a thunderegg using a rotoblast grinder? Lee #1 The only way to explain it,it to practice Lee......I started out with some flying out of my hand..LOL But finally got the feel of the egg and pressure points with the sanding....It doesn't take long to get it figured out...
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lparker
fully equipped rock polisher
Still doing too much for being retired!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 1,202
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Post by lparker on Apr 19, 2017 18:41:08 GMT -5
So that's holding the rotoblaster horizontally with one hand and the rock with the other? Doesn't sound too much different than cabbing on a flat lap only upside down not being able to see what you're doing at 4,000rpm. What could possibly go wrong
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unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
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Post by unclesoska on Apr 19, 2017 20:46:46 GMT -5
Lee- How 'bout a Black&Decker Shop Mate
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lparker
fully equipped rock polisher
Still doing too much for being retired!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 1,202
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Post by lparker on Apr 20, 2017 6:14:46 GMT -5
YUp, read about using that. Hoping for input from someone that used it.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 20, 2017 8:55:42 GMT -5
So that's holding the rotoblaster horizontally with one hand and the rock with the other? Doesn't sound too much different than cabbing on a flat lap only upside down not being able to see what you're doing at 4,000rpm. What could possibly go wrong Zoom!! Bam!! Smash!! LOL
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