rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Apr 11, 2016 23:01:25 GMT -5
You can use a Dayton 3M573 or 3M576 on the 20" Lortones. Pretty much a direct replacement and they're what I use on mine. You can get them at Grainger or Zoro Tools. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Nov 4, 2015 7:46:29 GMT -5
Bump...
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Sept 14, 2015 13:58:15 GMT -5
Hi, all - been a while since I was here. I modified a 20" Lortone jiggle pan (vibratory lap) to have a quasi-reciprocal motion rather than the random-ish motion of the original, eccentric load design. Does a good job eliminating up/down hopping of the rocks and no more "orange peel" surfaces on rocks like obsidian.
I got an offset shaft that a member here - "cpdad" I think - made for me that was great. It has - if memory serves - a 2 or 3mm offset. The new design grinds and polishes much better than the old one. One "problem" is that it takes a bit longer and can have trouble getting the rocks moving when they are polishing on a new felt pad. I want try a larger offset and hope I can get one made. I had, initially, been scared away from a big offset after seeing a U-tube video demonstrating the Reciprolap. Just seemed too violent and I felt it could slam the rocks/slabs against each other too hard. I want to try a somewhat larger offset and see if it speeds things up. If anyone can help, let me know. Thanks! Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Dec 7, 2014 22:56:06 GMT -5
Yeah, I've only seen it called Raphael Swell Agate or, sometimes, Grape Agate. Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Dec 1, 2014 0:33:10 GMT -5
Yo, captbob - Chill out, man - Nowhere in this post did it say that this was found in Michigan. I was just tryin' to help out and didn't need you to be slamming me for it, boy... Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Nov 28, 2014 0:32:46 GMT -5
That's some agate from the San Raphael Swell, in Utah... assuming the colors are really that bright. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Nov 28, 2014 0:28:08 GMT -5
What you have there appears to be Dallasite, from British Columbia, Canada. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Oct 21, 2014 20:53:18 GMT -5
The best way to shine nodges that big would be a vibrating lap. 3-4 days in a 60/90-220-600-Polish sequence. I hear people bandying about 2-3 hour grinds on jiggle pans and I very much doubt those numbers, though I sure wish they were real. Heck, it takes *time* for the grits to wear down to the next finer one in the process. If you try to hurry things up and go through the grits without putting in the time it takes *them* to be ready, you end up with a really inferior polish, methinks. It's not all about how long it takes for the pencil grid to disappear. The 60-90 rough and the 600 final grinds need to go long. You need time for the 600 grit to wear down to at least 2400-3000 unless you add a 1200-1500 grit SiC stage after the 600. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Sept 17, 2014 22:22:09 GMT -5
I believe this stuff is called Gunnery Mountain (or Point) Jasper. And I think it comes from Arizona. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Sept 17, 2014 22:19:05 GMT -5
Looks like Polka Dot Agate to me. The reddish brown swirly and pearly blue/white backdrop are a dead giveaway. Lots of PDA has no PD's at all but is still very cool and VERY hard. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Aug 31, 2014 22:25:29 GMT -5
The slabs in the first pic are appear to be pet wood. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Aug 25, 2014 1:01:13 GMT -5
Make sure to watch out for the seriously intense fumes if you warm up the rock b4 sealing it! It's really bad. My take on this is not to do it because I'm thinking that it makes the glue sorta evaporate and set up too soon before it can penetrate as far.
And just remember to be patient and seal each sawn face before making the next cut. I was using water with a bit of antifreeze, so drying in the oven was all I needed to do. If you're using oil, you'll have to do a really good job degreasing the sawn face before gluing. Acetone would work well. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Aug 21, 2014 21:40:38 GMT -5
Get some cyanoacrylic, one part epoxy glue like Hot Stuff, Zap-A-Gap, etc and apply a liberal amount to any and all cracks visible from the outside. If the glue flows down into a crack and disappears quickly, kepp adding to it immediately so that it won't set up and will keep going deeper into the crack. Seal porous looking areas, too. Then do the faced side where you already cut, as well.
I had some Flowering Tube Onyx that kept breaking when I slabbed it (spendy stuff!) and was able to get a good many intact slabs from the chunks I had by doing this. What I found that I had to on some chunks was to seal the faced/flat surface between every cut as the glue didn't seep more than a quarter inch or so into it. A little tedious but it was well worth it as each of the slabs that I sold from my hoard garnered a pretty good selling price on ebay with no complaints. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Aug 20, 2014 17:29:56 GMT -5
Well, it turned out that I didn't really need to do anything more than polish the slab in my vibe lap. I was just being WAY too picky since it was somebody else's slab. Once I really looked at it, the darn thing was actually VERY well polished. The "softer" parts, too. I think because the grain of them goes one way and the chatoyant parts another, it was sort of an optical illusion. The owner of the slab was very well pleased with it and has even sent me some more that he wants me to polish. ... I think these will certainly take a LOT less time than the month I spent fretting about the first one! lol C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Aug 10, 2014 21:34:43 GMT -5
Looks like a limb cast... Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 30, 2014 21:25:54 GMT -5
K - PM me when y'all get it figured out. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 26, 2014 23:05:53 GMT -5
I just did a huge slab of Kabamby for my collection. It would fit right into my rotation as tin oxide works great on it. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 20, 2014 19:09:16 GMT -5
I can do them. I have a 20" jiggle pan (vibrating lap) that works super well. I've done slabs up to 14" across with it and get a great polish on most rock species. I use tin oxide polish. What type of rocks are they? I ask because, for softer stuff, I'd have to dump my pan of SnO and install a new pad and get some aluminum oxide polish like Rapid Polish #61. C-ya, Rick
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 20, 2014 19:04:04 GMT -5
Nifty "jaggates"!
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 19, 2014 22:35:04 GMT -5
Definitely Morrisonite. Carrasite rarely, if ever, has a brecciated pattern. C-ya, Rick
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