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Post by pauls on Aug 5, 2022 0:54:00 GMT -5
This is a pretty handy thing for finding impact sites, www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/New%20website_05-2018/Index.html I am loath to call Aussie impact sites craters because most of them have been eroded so much that very little remains. We have a few nice craters Wolf Creek is in my opinion the best. Interesting side track, Greg Mc clean the director of the movie Wolf Creek was my neighbour when he was a kid, nice kid too, never would've thought he would do a slasher movie.
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Post by pauls on Jul 30, 2022 18:22:33 GMT -5
The speed would be a big factor in your chipping problems, the rocks need to slide rather than get to the top and fall. Slurry too sticky can do it as well. The best way to cure the falling is to put more rocks in.
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Post by pauls on Jul 23, 2022 17:29:38 GMT -5
I have tried polishing Kyanite and have not been at all successful, Not tumbling but I tried cabbing it, I started with a decent solid nice dark blue piece, inch long 3/4 wide, ended with a small piece about the size of half a pea. It has different hardnesses depending on the orientation with the crystal. Arghh. Then quite some time later when I had forgotten the trauma of that I thought I would see how it faceted, bad move.
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Post by pauls on Jun 28, 2022 2:34:09 GMT -5
It is Calcite. Travertine Calcite from cave formations flowstone and stalactites that sort of thing. It is commonly mis labeled Onyx or Mexican onyx which is just pure marketing hype. It is soft can be scratched easily and because of this softness is often carved into souvenirs. Onyx is type of black and white Agate, Sardonyx is the Brown and white version of the same. Agate is very hard and can be made into things like mortar and pestles because it is so hard and tough.
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Post by pauls on Jun 27, 2022 0:25:57 GMT -5
It depends what happened in your first go in polish that stopped the rocks from shining. If they bruised from rattling around too much then you need to take them back a couple of stages and rerun through the stages. Same if you had a cracked rock that scratched things up. You shouldn't need to recharge with polish, just let it go.
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Post by pauls on Jun 21, 2022 23:38:20 GMT -5
I'm glad you are aware of subsurface fracturing, it is a big issue when faceting but can certainly ruin your day when cabbing expensive rough. When faceting I do most of my cutting with 600, if I have a lot of material to remove I drop back to 220 but stop well before I am anywhere near the final size and move to 600. A lot has been written and talked about how hard Quartz is to polish, it is mainly subsurface damage coming out I believe.
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Post by pauls on Jun 21, 2022 19:22:44 GMT -5
I do the heavy work on a 80 grit sintered, it has developed a few bumps over the years so leaves quite deep scratches that the soft wheels take a while to remove, I also have a 600 grit sintered that I use to remove the deep scratches which works but is also slow, yesterday the postie bought a brand new sintered 220 grit wheel which I am in the process of figuring how to fit it on the arbor. A couple of (my) home maintenance jobs have dropped into the schedule so bathroom exhaust fan gets moved to the top of the list, sigh. Ah well, thinking about cutting rocks while playing around with the bathroom makes the tedious go quicker.
I have been in the habit of shaping with the 80, removing scratches with 600, going to soft wheels shaping and removing flat spots with 220, then just progressing through the normal sequence. I always add a step of giving a finish polish with Tin oxide on felt as I feel it is a better polish than the 50000 soft gives.
Sintered wheels are expensive initially but if you can afford the cost they are much much more economical.
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Post by pauls on Jun 14, 2022 17:12:35 GMT -5
Have you completely given up making hearts Ed? A little faceted ruby (or whatever) set in a heart might be really nice.
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Post by pauls on Jun 14, 2022 17:09:59 GMT -5
I spend far too much time working on stuff that should be in the garden being forgotten, Sometimes it works out, mostly it starts out rubbish and ends up as nicely shaped and polished rubbish. I don't really care, it's the thought that I might wake up sleeping beauty that fires me up.
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Post by pauls on Jun 13, 2022 1:10:05 GMT -5
I suppose for .50 cents each it could be worth a gamble, If you have a use for them, but dunno, it really is a gamble.
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Post by pauls on Jun 12, 2022 21:47:59 GMT -5
My 2 cents worth as far as ID. The red cloudy ones are Ruby (probably) the clear red are probably synthetic corundum, purple is probably Amethyst, clears could be anything really, Topaz, clear Quartz, glass who knows. If you are buying these I think I would insist on having IDs before committing to buying.
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Post by pauls on Jun 12, 2022 17:15:30 GMT -5
Small/tiny stones are easy, they are quick and the tiny facets are easy to get a quick polish on. As long as your eyes are good. What you said about Rubies is not right, being hard makes them easy, soft stones are the difficult ones.
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Post by pauls on Jun 11, 2022 16:42:21 GMT -5
It would be very strange for that not to have a bearing, since you are refurbing it see if you can press the shaft out and have a look. You will need to do this anyway to check what the grease is like. Don't hammer the shaft out, if it doesn't come out easily hammering it will damage it and make it impossible to put back together. If you haven't got a press take it to an engineering shop, they will press it out for you for peanuts.
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Post by pauls on Jun 6, 2022 0:28:33 GMT -5
Find a safety equipment supplier, they are specialist stores that sell Industrial safety gear, Hi Vis vests, Helmets, steel toe cap boots and ear muffs etc. They will be able to advise you. Or just rock up to your local hardware store and buy the first pair you see, they are probably designed for weekend warriors with lawn mowers but will still work . I have several pairs, one pair always hanging on the lawn mower, another on the chainsaw, a couple in my workshed in case one pair disappears under the mess and one pair close to the trim saw.
Industrial deafness sucks big time, don't damage your hearing.
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Post by pauls on Jun 5, 2022 16:56:04 GMT -5
I don't add ceramic to anything, why waste money for grit on grinding away ceramics, if I need smalls I put in small rocks.
As to your Question about the clump of grit, try adding less, when you have a bit of a slurry happening to carry the grit around add a bit more. Or you could opt for a quick slurry by adding a little lump of clay.
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Post by pauls on Jun 4, 2022 17:38:34 GMT -5
To me it looks like Chrome plated, maybe Nickel but who knows. Here's a plan of attack, Don't rebend it for a start as I think that will end up messy. Try to cut the loop (of the loop and hook) off cleanly, see if you can loosen the wire loops that go around the main bracelet wires to free up the two pieces of wire that go through the middle, if you can then just slip the old loop further down the two wires and solder it in place. If that fails then you can separate the two bracelet wires and use them to form a new identical to original loop further down.
That sounds as clear as mud, I hope it gives you a starting point anyway.
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Post by pauls on Apr 6, 2022 18:59:01 GMT -5
Mark, if your machine has the same motor as the one in the picture try having a look at the brushes, They will be under the little buttons either side of the motor, the buttons usually have a screwdriver slot in the top and come out with a quarter turn. If it's the speed control that needs replacing then a light dimmer will usually do the job. You can usually get brushes from places that repair power tools. Also check that the motor (and other) bearings turn freely, something sitting around for 20 years probably has grease turned to concrete.
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Post by pauls on Mar 5, 2022 21:11:25 GMT -5
That's a great effort, Try this site for some really good modern cuts. www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Faceting_DesignsI say modern cuts because some of the old designs are truly horrible, I inherited a stack of old designs that a friend was collecting from early Lapidary magazines, some were OK. Some were cuttable but were dead. Some were impossible to cut without a lot of modifications in Gem Cut Studio. gemcutstudio.com/ . I didn't cut any of them physically just in the software. Don't beat yourself up about cutting down onto a fracture with your Amethyst, it happens to everyone. The last two stones I did ended up with fractures that weren't noticeable in the rough. A nice piece of clear Moonstone ended with the grand canyon across the table, second was a Zircon that had a chunk fall out of the crown when I took it off the dop. I am cutting a largish piece of lab Spinel at the moment and every level is just two facets, a complicated design with 99 facets and a level change after every second one, I was just finishing up and the last facet cut down onto a black speck of something in the material, ah well, back to square one, I had just enough spare girdle to cut the facet down to get rid of the dirt but I am now about a quarter of the way through recutting every facet.
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Post by pauls on Mar 3, 2022 20:58:00 GMT -5
Jim. Welcome to RTH from Australia.
I doubt the speed is what is eating up your disks, Fast is good. Cheapish plated laps like used for faceting don't last long, The Chinese ones are usually OK. Having been the maintenance man at a club I can tell you that pushing hard will destroy wheels and laps and saw blades quicker than anything. We always tell newbies to just let the diamonds do the work, but as soon as you turn your back they are pushing as hard as they can. As for your wetting agent, try a few drops of dish detergent.
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Post by pauls on Dec 12, 2021 21:00:47 GMT -5
Awesome stone! I would get into faceting but I agree with NDK, my brain would melt 😂. It really is not hard, there is as much maths there as you want, I prefer there to be no maths as I have always struggled but can easily design and cut stones without even thinking of sin and cos. There is really great software available, have a look at Gem Cut Studio, there is a fully working trial available, new software, it is very user friendly, Gem Cad is the original software a bit of a steeper learning curve. With Gem Cut Studio you can take a diagram say from www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Faceting_Designs and just have a play and test cut on the software. The actual hands on business with a faceting machine in front of you is also easy. My wife has a nerve condition where her hands shake, like Parkinsons but it's not. She can't cut cabs but has no problem with faceting.
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