sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Feb 17, 2019 21:36:16 GMT -5
Wahoo noreena. Some of that with the purple is great.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Feb 3, 2019 22:41:11 GMT -5
Can’t wait to set this puppy up. Frantom is the best.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Dec 7, 2018 0:40:41 GMT -5
Lee is correct 100 dollars an inch is ok for a good condition hp or frantom. But if your looking closely and often you can do better. I’ve seen frantom 24 go for 3000 and a lot of high asking prices. The work that a 24 can d can justify up to that. If it’s being used every now and then you may consider a royal or even Hillquist. I see them for less still good saws
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Nov 21, 2018 19:01:30 GMT -5
Wow thats a lot of arbors. I survived for around 50 years with just two until recently. one arbor had a grinding wheel and the other end was sanding disks that I swapped, the other arbor at the far end of the shop was the polishing disks, lots of them with various oxides and buffs that could be swapped. I recently upgraded and bought some soft wheels and because I wasn't sure which way to go a few expanding drums as well, half way through building the arbor I decided to complete the set of soft wheels which meant I had spare expanding drums and belts, so another arbor required and a full set of drums and belts there as well. I am loving it, for some reason I seem to prefer the expanding drums, no idea why I just use them more. I am still mulling what to do about grinding wheels, I have a 80 sintered for roughing out and a 600 plated on an old arbor, I badly need a 220 in the mix though. (I have a badly worn 220 that I can swap in but it's nearly useless) I have a feeling I will end up with two grinding arbors with 80 sintered and a 600 and another arbor with a 220 diamond perhaps plated perhaps sintered, with a 220 Silicon Carbide on the other side, I shape the SiC wheels for doing oddball shaped things with. A super grinder would be good, I have the blades just that it's another arbor, possibly a portable one so it can be dragged outside. I find a surprising amount of material doesn't polish as well as I would like with just diamond so still use the assortment of buffs I have accumulated with various oxides, not everything, some it's the other way, get a decent shine with diamond touch it on the oxide and have it horribly undercut, start again. Leather, canvas, felt, wood, with Tin Oxide, Cerium Oxide, Aluminium Oxide, Chrome Oxide, thats a lot of buffs. So there's another how many arbors. Saw blades? depends what you're cutting, opals, faceting material, other expensive stuff get some of those really thin Chinese blades, they are cheap as chips but no good for tougher stuff. What other blades you get really depends what material and what size you are cutting, lots of options. Thank you for your input.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Nov 20, 2018 23:07:35 GMT -5
Ok I have about 10 different frantom arbors. I am restoring all of them. I wanted to ask for input, wisdom for setting these units up for a variety of lapidary shaping , grinding, polishing. From hard wheels, soft wheels, expandos with diamond belts, silicon carbide belts, and what ever I can put on these machines to be able to Finnish any kind of stone, including buffs cotton, or felt. Some of the arbors have three positions up to six positions. Some of the arbors have saws attached. Which blades thick or thin should I consider? I know there are a lot of different applications but I want to cover as much as I can. All input will be considered. Thank you RTH PEEPS.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Nov 20, 2018 20:28:05 GMT -5
Hello I can entertain you with how I do them. First I have to know if a collector wants a natural stone sphere in its raw form or filled. Some stones look amazing with the voids and imperfections. Some do not. So what I’m saying is if you want them natural keep it that way. If you want or need to fill then fill.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Nov 19, 2018 19:00:41 GMT -5
Ps if you decide you like hp better we should talk about frantom. Also what are you going to do with the poly?
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Thulite
Nov 12, 2018 20:47:53 GMT -5
Post by sphereguy on Nov 12, 2018 20:47:53 GMT -5
I did a sphere out of it and diamonds polished wonderfully.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Thulite
Nov 12, 2018 15:41:30 GMT -5
NRG likes this
Post by sphereguy on Nov 12, 2018 15:41:30 GMT -5
Central northern Washington
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Nov 12, 2018 0:49:29 GMT -5
I am looking for information on the paint color code for frantom. I see a lot of people using cobalt blue. But I want the original code to have paint mixed. I do know I can go to the paint store and have the computer match paint. Also looking for more frantom equipment.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Oct 17, 2018 22:20:26 GMT -5
Thank you for the information
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Oct 16, 2018 19:02:24 GMT -5
Any of this material out there stil?
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Sept 8, 2018 21:24:53 GMT -5
As dye seldom penetrates very far into the stone, you'll only want to work with pieces that have already been polished to their finished state. Mostly one sees agate dyed, and rock crystal quartz tends to take dye much slower. If you want to try, I suggest starting off with agate, quartzite or similar using fabric dye (such as RIT). You can follow the same process, but slowly heat both the stone and water to the same near-boiling temp and allow them to sit for a month or more in the dye before removing and washing (maybe longer for rock crystal). Unlike fabric, dumping rock into hot water can both crack the rock and immediately lower the temperature beyond what you want. There are other methods involving some more toxic chemistry (see the articles here), as well as coatings (CVD, etc.) and diffusion that are beyond what most hobbyists would want to try. Thank you. Much appreciated
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Sept 8, 2018 20:16:59 GMT -5
I am inquiring about how to or processes involved with quartz rough or finished tumbles. How to get them to the funny colors that you see at retail outlets. I have a 55 gallon drum of semi clear crushed quartz. I have tumbled about thirty lbs to a good quality polish but want to dye them to marketable colors. Any solid input would be appreciated.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Aug 26, 2018 23:37:02 GMT -5
The saw is probably from 1946 to 1950 saw arbor looks like it’s off an old frantom probably 1950s just an educational guess as there is not much paper trail on frantom s.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Aug 25, 2018 23:15:55 GMT -5
It is a highland park but the arbor has been changed it resembles the first frantom arbors used.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Jun 25, 2018 1:13:53 GMT -5
Looks as it could be an old star diamond
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Mar 23, 2018 10:06:11 GMT -5
I do a lot of spheres and Brazil’s ar in my opinion the biggest pain to do. If you do decide to sphere it I can appreciate your doing so, there tough to cur tough to grind and tough to shine up. However when there done there very beautiful.
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
|
Post by sphereguy on Feb 19, 2018 0:45:58 GMT -5
6=Indian paint stone
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sphereguy
having dreams about rocks
Hello all I've been lurking for months now
Member since March 2017
Posts: 73
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Post by sphereguy on Jan 26, 2018 20:19:57 GMT -5
Those are some beautiful spheres.
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