stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jul 9, 2014 7:59:06 GMT -5
My forum handle is my full first name... stephen + the first letter of my last name "t". Easier to remember and I have little to no imagination. And never let my operating system or browser "remember" any log-in names or passwords....I gotta keep it simple for my old brain. Others I use in other places are my Amateur Radio callsign...w5set or a combination of name and callsign. I probably should have used another handle/name I have thought of since signing up here... "Collector-of-Leaverite". Good thing the old adage "One (wo)man's trash....another (wo)man's treasure" will cover me <--being politically correct there, transpose as needed for gender. My former wife always suggested I use "stubborn-as-a-mule--almost-as-smart" as a handle...she suggested it enough.
Steve
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jul 7, 2014 10:09:16 GMT -5
Usually better then set-screws and/or keys. Way better "usually". Makes the centering of the pulley/belt a bit trickier by a slight amount, but not much. I just spray the "holding apparatus of any pulley" area well with penetrating goop after wire brushing well and a lick er two of emery cloth on the shaft and try to remove. But even taper-locks after 10-15 years sitting and rusting in the same place on a motor shaft....some will make ya say bad words....multiple times. And, almost universally, they were on a roof of a multiple story building. But I still like um better then keys/set-screws...by a country mile! And exposed to rock dust n goop they should work better for removal then set-screws. Good engineering jamesp.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jul 2, 2014 22:04:01 GMT -5
Wow... I guess I left a small retirement fund out on the river bank the other day.. Probably 25-30 pound chunk. But highly weathered and looked almost like it had been encased in limestone. One side had been broken off almost end to end.. rings were super visible...and splitting/cracking badly on the ends. About the same color as the one on ebay. The bark-ish contoured outside looked like a conifer...with a couple of knot holes and all. I did take a big rock and whop it a couple of licks ..had left the rock hammer in the trunk.. cracked off 2 layers of rings, and the inside didn't look any better. I decided it was all leaverite. But..heck.. I would go back and pick it up and ship it to someone for a measly $500 .. just think of the Ebay profit! Sure didn't know pet wood was worth so much!.... (now looking for the tongue-in-cheek emoticon button)
All was not lost though, The way smaller pieces of pet wood I found (and brought home and sawed) are more conventional looking, but only gray/brown/black/with slightly orange-ish tones.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jul 2, 2014 12:08:56 GMT -5
Stones look good! As far as the oil goes...it "might" go rancid sooner or later, depending on what rock dust is in it. And will it solidify at much below 25F. If it continues to work well for you... and keeps from smellin like an old boot. Go for it.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jul 1, 2014 1:56:30 GMT -5
Unfortunately it's going to be a decade before some of the currant problems can be worked out so the fracting (fracking?) can be done without problems. I figure it will get done. We do need energy and I dang sure don't see all the Prius's and Hybrids curing that "want" anytime soon. Burying the earth under trash won't help either....except for some folks a million years or so in the future mining the waste dumps. But unlike spitting the used toothpaste out... fracting does cause problems now sometimes, instead of waiting for the 50 million gallon rinse level. linklinkwww.scientificamerican.com/article/groundwater-contamination-may-end-the-gas-fracking-boom/But I have little fear fracting will end.. it's an effecient way to produce more Natural Gas in less time and energy expenditures. I don't want it to end. But it needs to be done in a safe manner...NOT just to the drillers and fracting crews. I have friends working in the oil/gas patch. I like them. They are usually safe...except for the odd stray lightening bolt that hits the drill towers. The drilling folks have a decent safety record...ditto for the crews who fract. And then leave all safe and snug and there's a mess creeping up from underground in a very few places. <--one is too many for my tastes. Gravity "use" is another cop-out...if it is kept down there so well... how come from 20% to 40% is coming back out of the well to be recovered or disposed of? Maybe 40,000 plus psi of fract pump is overfilling a hole with uncompressible substances? Sand and "mostly" water with some "insignificent" amounts of toothpaste and common house use dry cleaning fluids? We have to have a lot of energy on tap...and at a safe way to do it too. It's a modern quicksand shifting sticky problem... but it will get sorted out eventually.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 30, 2014 19:58:38 GMT -5
And we are back to spitting and brushing our teeth....thought the subject was fracting//waste disposal. Point...even the Federal EPA doesn't regulate what's used under the ground to fract with outside of using an atomic bomb. Point...I don't pour hazardous wastes out on the ground. If the oil/gas folks do spill (outside of the containment area) a "small" amount of what they fract with and *get caught*..they are fined! If it's so damn easy on the environment, why is it regulated above ground?
Please...comparing fracting fluids to someone brushing their teeth is asinine...why don't you brush your teeth with some? Smoke and mirrors.
I have a question for you... how long was it before BP admitted responsibility for the Caribbean crude spill when all involved knew what had happened? I will give you the 2 days before everyone was SURE what had happened..and where.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 29, 2014 13:35:17 GMT -5
Countering tree hugger protests with mis-direction and wandering off the subject of fracting fluid contents is as much BS as the tree huggers put out. By the article's own definition of using 3,000,000 gallons (a minimum around here!) of "fracting fluids" with 98% sand and water and *only* 2% of proprietary "we don't have to divulge" fluids..with tops of 40% coming back up (I'm leaning towards being nice here)..seems to leave 36,000 gallons of "some proprietary fluids" stuck? from 1000 to 1500 feet down here. Per WELL! They normally drill from 2 to 4 wells on the same pad area here. Mehhhh...it's legal..right? And sodium fluoride? Give me a break..that's one of the known lesser problems. I personally don't want much Methanol in drinking water...none would be best. But it's a damn terrific carrier fluid..right? Mixes well with water or other alcohols so nice. The cleaning fluids explanation about it being used in dry cleaning (with close to 99+% recovery...not so much by the oil/gas drillers and made BY oil companies) ***but that stuff is being banned in most states in the next 5 years or so *** but "possibly" still used for fracting is a cop-out misdirection of the lowest order. Bottom line.... it's still legal...right? The gas companies drilled right down to a known anomaly (to them...not USGS or Arkansas geologists at the time) and put injection wells right on top... Mehhhhh...it's legal..right? And glossing over 2R to 4R earthquakes is total BS! I can tell you from experience that a 4.0 will jar your teeth..break glasses and crack sheetrock. The 2 day later 4.7R (please feel free to gloss over the *logarithmic* aspect of the Richter scale) will put you on the ground hoping it never ever ever gets worse! That little 4R was felt over 150 miles away...the 4.7R had folks over 200 miles away saying WTH? Creates minor to no known problems?... really!? Injection site produced Earthquakes only create little to no known admittances of liability in fact. BUT...it's legal...right? NOT here now thankfully!
Responsible? not when it's only the bottom line that's cared about. It's just legal bullying...and pure and simple money grubbing in the cheapest most efficient at the time --damn the torpedoes-- way that's available and quasi-legal. We need gas production..and lots! of oil production (there is some known oil under and in this shale I am sitting on top of and "some" of the chemicals are for releasing that oil). But the oil/gas industry has had a general clean up of their habits only by force...not by the goodness of their hearts. We need priorities in place and laws (obviously by past actions) in place that will keep from having more multi-billion dollar Superfund sites all over the world, and still meet energy needs somehow. Mindlessly preventing drilling or fracting will lead back to everyone living in huts and caves....so can mindlessly allowing anything and everything a business can dream of doing...but as long as it's legal...now...right? Beancounters are not visionaries nor environmentalists. They just grub right along and companies will take advantage as long as they are "minimally responsible". So do their company shills and PR folks...and lawyers...let's not forget the battalions of lawyers needed for doing some environmental goodness purely from the purity of the corporate heart.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 28, 2014 23:45:37 GMT -5
Puddin is a big cat I guess... everyone says she's big! I don't notice since I've had her from 5 weeks old when my daughter brought her out to live with me in Sept 2011. We sit out on the front porch and watch the sun come up and drink coffee about every morning. She's well fed...but not fat...she's quite athletic.. runs around at top speed and goes straight up a tree at the same speed. She catches an occasional slow witted bird, but usually prefers to just watch them. She's given up on ever catching a Hummingbird...she just looks at them like they are something possessed and leaves them alone. And only likes to be petted when she *wants* to be petted. Like a cat she's indifferent, aloof, and still a big baby. Keeps dogs away..other cats too. Only thing she keeps away from is coyotes...for good reason I guess.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 28, 2014 23:29:15 GMT -5
Mini-grinders are one way to start with getting some stones in better shape to tumble quick.. linkor linkLook in the Home made Equipment section... there's more. And since one of these links is what I built...I use only about 5-7 days in coarse grit now....then on to the other stages. But a couple of those rocks you posted pics of looks almost like brick chunk(s). Rather porous looking. That might grind down to nothing before it ever got solid. But a lot of those stones you posted pics of look very good. Depending on what you expect from polished stones...more time will "usually" give smoother stones. I just got tired of using almost a pound of coarse grit to finish a few pounds of stones to first stage, so I built the little stacked 4 1/2" diamond blade trimmer-grinder. It shortens the first stage grit grind down to a week....or less.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 28, 2014 23:12:23 GMT -5
Here's a pic of my cat Puddin. That's a 7" diameter bowl she's eating out of. She's a yard cat...stays outside all the time. Almost 3 years old now. And unlike most of the women I know, seems to be a bit perturbed with me taking her picture.. lol And I just this this is funny.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Scapes
Jun 27, 2014 22:44:10 GMT -5
Post by stephent on Jun 27, 2014 22:44:10 GMT -5
When I pull small garlic plants when I'm outa dried stuff.... I chop as much of the green part too as isn't turning yellowish and too dry or tough and put it all in my dishes I cook. The washed roots and decently sound but yellowing tops I use for veggie stock. Ain't much on garlic you can't make something out of. I even use the papery husks from "properly" (that's the ones I raise) dried garlic bulbs in stocks I drain before use.. Ditto for onions. That's a good lookin crop.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 27, 2014 22:32:08 GMT -5
First thing I would do is lose that can of WD-40 and get some real penetrating oil. There's a lot of *real* penetrating oil out there. Knock-er-loose is pretty good. Ditto for several others. I use an "L" type allen wrench and spray heck outa the setscrew...put allen wrench in hole and tap the bend part with a hammer while turning in the "loosen-up" direction...righty tighty...lefty loosen.. If it doesn't move..squirt it good and tap again and let it set for 10-15 minutes...try again. Tap..while turning and spray. Repeat for 3-4 times. They should come free. Tapping and patience usually wins. IF ya have a decent penetrating spray anyway...WD-40 is not.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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IRS
Jun 24, 2014 23:02:31 GMT -5
1dave likes this
Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 23:02:31 GMT -5
I'm going on the assumption that those never existed to be destroyed or lost...our leadership would never go so far as to destroy evidence.. would they? I mean..they would purposefully have to go through several backups and a couple of server mirrors to get that done. That would take several weeks or more. And/or... "The dog ate my emails"...pick one.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 22:54:48 GMT -5
I noticed *after* I posted ...you had already posted some pics... sometimes I'm a bit slow on the draw.. Welcome to the forum.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 22:27:44 GMT -5
I don't think 1000 grit AlOx is a fine enough polish..that's barely under a pre-polish. Scrounge up some Cerium Oxide polish and have one more go at those and I think you will find a bit glossier shine there.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 20:54:55 GMT -5
Create a Photobucket account. Upload pics there. There's other pic hosting sites but this is the way I do it. When you want to post here...go to your Photobucket account and that pic brought up ...click on right side where it says "Direct Link" ..it will copy to your clipboard. Go to your RTH page where you need to post pic...up on top bar is the little image link box..click that and then a box will pop up.. insert your photo link there. Ctl + V keys or right click and paste or however you do a copy/paste. Please try to keep pic size reasonable. some folks have slow internet service. A stock photo at 5K x 3K will take a lot of time to download for some folks. Resize if they are big. Most monitors will display 800x600 easily without browser scrolling...but that's getting to be a large pic size to download.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 14:05:33 GMT -5
The last batch of "quartz-ish" and jasper stones I did were 8 days in 120/220 with one grit add at 4 days into...a week in pre-polish and a week+ in polish. Skipped the coarse 60/90 entirely too. Bit I ran the nicest stones across that whizzer-rock grinder I built to shape them somewhat before tumbling them. I added some shaped but not polished all the way out cabs (stopped at 600 grit flatlap disks) at the pre-polish stages on too. Foaming is not so bad...it's the end of the barrel bulging from excess pressure that will make the tumbler have fits...or puke the contents out. I have had foaming from using liquid soap in pre-polish and polish stages on softer stones and it only carried grit better. As long as it doesn't bulge the barrel ends...let er rip. Those stones of yours are getting there.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 13:37:05 GMT -5
But...but...but ...Scott!.... o.O You can keep your healthcare plan if you like it! Read my lips...NO new taxes! I will balance the budget! (just pick any from the last 15 years and NO...Billy boy Clinton did NOT in fact balance the budget...it was fudged as bad as his cabinet members tax records) We can stop illegal aliens from coming into this country! (by changing the name from illegal aliens to undocumented immigrants)
Political promises are usually to get elected...neither legally binding nor even close to reality. I see no reason to put the future of my kids or grandkids offspring to any "Exalted Officials" arbitrary decisions of who should live or reproduce. Their track record has SUCKED to say the least! Remove the monetary incentives to sit on lazy asses and the rest will be history made.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 13:13:40 GMT -5
Govt inspired? Selected by the govt? I think not. It would be "controlled" just like O-care..any major govt officials and lawyers exempt..ditto for friends. Most large political contributors exempt. Fair? ummmm..rethink "fair" and equitable. Far too many at the top now that think they are exempt from anything now. Einstein wasn't quite all there ya know...he had a lot of quirks that would have landed him in the short "snip line". Stephen Hawking would have been euthanized. If ya start with just "less desirables" it will end as well as Hitlers little experiment. And it would depend on just which or who was in power at the time...if all the tree huggers gained absolute power...all of YOUR picking up fossils and pet wood would stop...so would your future off-spring. It's a total huge boulder rolling down a long and steep mountainside....hard to stop. Instant bringing of Orwellian 1994 into play.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 11:22:13 GMT -5
Use more plastic beads in pre-polish and polish cycles....less stones. Fill to 80%-85% full. Use a cup of sugar in mix to thicken slurry. And welcome to the forum.
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