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Post by Peruano on Nov 8, 2019 9:40:23 GMT -5
The "guide on a stick" as you call it is a fence. It should help you cut consistently similar slabs when adjusted to the thickness desired. Cutting by hand is feasible, but patience is a virtue. Crowding the saw and not keeping the trajectory on a straight course will bind the blade, cause overheating, and shorten the life of the blade as well as produce crappy slabs. I'd recommend practicing with small rocks and work your way up as you gain confidence. Me, I'd use oil (you don't have to drain it daily, no rust, better cooling, and if softens your hands, (but its messy if you overfill the tank and don't have an appropriate work area). Others will argue for water so follow your own instincts. You can improvise a bit of an aid to slabbing by gluing your stone on a 2x2 or 2x3 block just so the lowest edge does not protrude below the block. Then you can slide the block on the saws table as you address the blade and this will prevent wobble and help maintain that straight trajectory. Use wood glue, glue to a clean flat surface of the rock, and let it cure overnight before trusting the glue. You definitely will need a vice to adapt to a gravity feed but after you use the saw awhile you'll know whether you want to enhance this saw or jump to another slab saw. Good luck. BTW sanding will not hurt the fence and once cleaned up it won't rust unless you use water. A WD-40 spray down will be useful for blade and table if you do use water in my opinion.
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Post by Peruano on Oct 24, 2019 10:27:25 GMT -5
Unless your bearing has an obvious grease zerk, I'd guess that there is not a lubricant to be replaced. Saws do run with mineral oil or water lubricants but these are mostly to cool the blade and material and to wash away rock grit, and not to my understanding essential for maintaining the rotating surfaces. My slab saw has grease zerks and takes a bit of standard grease once in awhile. The worm gear runs in a bath of thick gear oil, but these are special cases. I'd guess that most saw bearings are sealed to protect them from the grit and contamination inherent in sawing. Enjoy your saw and get it dirty.
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Post by Peruano on Oct 7, 2019 0:46:29 GMT -5
Yes nice condition too!
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Post by Peruano on Oct 6, 2019 10:40:46 GMT -5
Your saw probably never had a power feed but could ha e or in the future be rigged with a gravity feed.nice work but saws are supposed to get dirty and fail in beauty contests.
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Post by Peruano on Oct 2, 2019 10:25:58 GMT -5
I' d have a problem with multiple stones in the same block. You would have minimal control over where you slabbed individual stones . I'm not a random slabber although I never know exactly what I will get. To secure a special stone I might do it but not for simultaneous multiples.
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Post by Peruano on Oct 1, 2019 1:46:37 GMT -5
I posted a schematic of the Covington clutch ( at least as my friend and I envisioned it. A search should turn it up. Good luck with your repair
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Post by Peruano on Sept 24, 2019 8:55:41 GMT -5
Just to clarify "is there any camping". Desert Gardens where the rough and "rough rockers" sell is an RV park. So you can be Catmandewe's neighbor if want. It sweet to walk out of your rig and stroll the lines before the crowds or after your nap. Dogs too seem to be permitted. When you see the Q, you will understand. '
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Post by Peruano on Sept 24, 2019 8:49:15 GMT -5
That's great. I traditionally glue to the end of the 2x2 or 2x3 or 2x4. The end is rougher and has more grabbing power. Plus a longer stub is easier for me to clamp in the vice on my saw. You don't have a vice but it would be fairly easy to rig one with carpenters clamps or ? My only other comment would be having multiple rocks on the same glue=-up could cause extra work because the first slice position might vary between rocks. You almost have to cut each on the same trajectory. Be sure and let the stones/glue cure for at least a 24 hour period and protect them from freezing temps (freezing makes it easier for them to pop loose). Removal of wood glue mounted specimens can be done with a long soak in water, but if you sawed the wood very close to the stone the water penetrates evenly and faster so an hour or at most an overnight soak is enough. Good thinking there. Slab on.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 18, 2019 15:04:13 GMT -5
Ideal would be an 80 or 100 wheel, a 220 wheel and an expando wheel that could take silica-carbide or diamond belts depending on your work load. Don't = I said don't use that wheel with the piece missing. It could fly apart on you and be lethal or at least tragic. You can use new silica carbide wheels but diamond stuff is better if it fits with your budget. Talk to Johnsgems a local California dealer. He might be able to fit you up as cheaply as anyone else. I think its Jsgems .
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Post by Peruano on Sept 18, 2019 14:56:05 GMT -5
Work with three grades of hardness. 1 scratched by a pocket knife but not a file; 2. scratched by a file as well as the knife; and 3. not scratched by either.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 18, 2019 6:53:37 GMT -5
You may want to check out the quartz page (just google it) and learn all of the variants of the quartz permutations. Wildly guessing, I'd say the rock illustrated is either a chalcedony (not colorful enough to be jasper or agate), or very fine quartzite. You would need to study how it chips and surface texture. Check the edge of your cut or hold a thin slice to a bright light to check translucency. No matter what it is; the price was right, is interesting, and you are having fun. That's a great combination. Oh. and show us more of your finds please.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 15, 2019 17:43:49 GMT -5
Treated/stabilized is far different from dyed. Untreated turquoise is more likely to be soft or at least vulnerable to wastage. It would have to be something really special for me to prefer untreated turquoise, but like the man says, its not my specialty. $5/ct is not outside the ballpark for cabs that don't need major rework
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Post by Peruano on Sept 11, 2019 7:45:28 GMT -5
Rockstock, Now you've done it. You are firmly addicted to looking inside every rock with even a smidgeon of potential. Its like Christmas. Welcome
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Post by Peruano on Sept 5, 2019 21:53:42 GMT -5
There is a famous Mexican short story entitled Una Carta a Dios (a letter to god). I'll try to summarize it. A little farmer man came into the post office and requested a pencil and paper so he could write a letter. After a bit he returned to post a letter, and it was addressed to God. The Post Master was perplexed, what to do with a letter addressed to God. . . so he opened the letter and found that the man was asking God's help with the provision of 100 pesos because his crops had failed, his pig had died, and he needed money for seed to replant or sons would go hungry and his daughter would be forced into servitude or worse. The Postal official decided he needed to help so he contributed a few pesos, and collected a bit more from each of his employees. Together they managed to collect 84 pesos of the 100 requested. The money was placed in an envelope to await the return of the letter writer. When he came back he took the envelope, went away to open it, and eventually returned to ask for another loan of the pencil and paper to write another letter. Once he posted his letter, the post master was confronted with another letter to God. He opened it and found the man was thanking God for answering his request, but warning God to not use the post office next time because only 84 pesos of the 100 had arrived and everyone knew the employees of the post office were thieves. No good deed goes unpunished. The post office folks deserve our thanks.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 5, 2019 21:40:22 GMT -5
On Sat 31 Aug, I order the movable jaw for the vice on my 14/16" highland park slab saw. The original had cracked and nearly blown out due to overzealous tightening at some time over the year or two that I have had the saw. To my surprise the ordered part appeared in the mail on 5 October, 5 days after the order was submitted. I rushed to the shop and checked the fit of the part and I'm a happy camper. Yes, I've heard the comments about parts not fitting, delays in delivery, and shoddy workmanship but I'm here to say that it didn't happen with my order. Highland Park allowed me to replace a part rather than trying to cobble a work-around. Thanks HP for helping us keep those old machines going , even tho you sell new ones.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 4, 2019 6:04:48 GMT -5
You have a handy saw. As a chop saw without a cover, it may fling some spray around (irrespective of whether oil or water). I hate rust and hence use oil in my trim saw under most situations. Water only when oil might penetrate a porous stone. You may want to build a containment screen around the saw depending on where you are using it and how much it ejects. Gluing stones onto 2x2 wooden blocks may facilitate clamping them in the vice and hence avoiding their twisting during the cut. Starting the cut gently and perhaps taking some of the pressure off as the cut is near the end may be useful. The start is to keep the blade from skating sideways on a sloping rock; the latter is to reduce breakage as the cut approaches the end. My best advice would be to cut small, slow, and soft until you have a feel on what the saw, the blade, and your situation will allow. Enjoy.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 3, 2019 18:04:42 GMT -5
Being into lapidary is permission to have hundreds of unfinished project in progress. Confession is good for us all, but you have done it a bit more publicly (and in an organized fashion) than most of us. That last preform is a marvel.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 2, 2019 14:20:39 GMT -5
There is no reason why you can not shim something between the blade and the flange washer (are you sure you have it on correctly (concavity on the side toward the blade on both sides). Are you using a shim/bushing that is keeping your flange washer out from the blade. The flange washers must push against the blade on both sides to keep it straight and to keep it from spinning independent of the arbor rotation. Check this out. It will be something easy. Trace everything back to see where the slippage is. Is the arbor spinning?. Is the flange washer spinning? is the blade spinning but not in synch with the arbor. Can you make the blade slip when you hold the arbor/belt or what have you (not with motor running please)?
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Post by Peruano on Aug 31, 2019 7:16:30 GMT -5
Congratulations. You don't need any stinking template. Let your mind's eye and the rock, and the tumbler determine that shape that pleases you. The wood is a pretty one. That yellowish tint in delightful.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 31, 2019 7:01:47 GMT -5
rjbud1That's great that you have the tools and experience to be working with stones. I started tumbling after picking up innumerable beach stones and expanded from there. One word of caution on working up that piece of shell -- most people caution against breathing the dust from shells so wear a mask, use water when you are grinding it, and clean/wipe out the water trays so that they don't generate shell dust once they dry. Oh, . . . and show us your stuff with a quick photo upload.
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