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Post by joe on Mar 23, 2006 0:12:10 GMT -5
Here's another pet wood piece. No matter how much I ground it down there was always another hole or fracture line. Gonna have to look at that stone stabilization a bit closer.  Here's a cross that I made on the grinder.   I'm not quite sure how far the definition of "cabochon" goes. Do these items I make on the grinder belong in this section or back in the pics section? Sorry if I put them in the wrong place! |
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Post by driftwood on Mar 23, 2006 0:19:15 GMT -5
Looks like that grinder is paying off, great work !
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Post by rocklicker on Mar 23, 2006 0:45:33 GMT -5
Lookin good! I know the feeling of finding new fractures and pits. I was just doing that tonight with a piece of jasper. I kept finding pits no matter how much I took off. In the end, the preform turned out to be 2/3 of the size it started out as. Then I got a hold of some pet wood and learned what a soft spot was. Augh! Pain in the butt, but as you found out, the results are worth it in the end.
I like the crosses. Those must have taken a long time. Very nice!
Steve
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Post by stoner on Mar 23, 2006 1:12:08 GMT -5
Hey Joe, try some of that agate slab I sent you. No pits or fractures in that piece and it will take a mirror shine. The crosses came out great and I really like the job you did on the golf tee!!!
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Post by deb193 on Mar 23, 2006 1:14:50 GMT -5
I did some playing with Opticon on some plume agate that was showing little pits. I don't think I wiped off the exces well enough and I got a thing film coating. It may have been fine on a grinder, but when I put it in the fine tumble, it got water under it after about a day. Or maybe I needed to clean the rock better first.
Anyway, I need to wait a couple of weeks before any serious tooling, grinding, stabalizing ... pretty much anything except the Lot-O because I have a serious deadline in about 10 days.
You might also be able to fill pits with Hot Stuff crazy glue.
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Post by rockds on Mar 23, 2006 18:10:04 GMT -5
fractures I can deal with but pits - they wear me out
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Post by joe on Mar 23, 2006 20:24:04 GMT -5
Thanx all!  I love just freeforming a stone with no real plan at the start, just doing it. Yeah, the pieces of rock I start with are much bigger than the finished piece. That spooge bucket under the unit carries out a lot of stone dust! I'm out trying to shine some new stones now, including some of your agate Ed. Well, not right now. Right now I'm taking a break 'cause my back is achin'! I'm up to the 1200 belt now and I just gotta see that shine tonite. I am having trouble with some belts that walk off the drum when any pressure is applied. My 220 belts are real bad with this and the 600 goes at times too. The other belts hold on like they've been glued on. So it goes... When I try the stone stabilizing I will try the glue first. The opticon sounds kinda difficult to me. I following Kim's thread on that to see if she posts pics of how to do that. (Hint hint!!) |
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Post by stoner on Mar 23, 2006 20:38:57 GMT -5
Hey Joe. Does your arbor have different size pulley's for different speeds? Could be that the expanding drum isn't spinning fast enough to grab the belts. I had the same problem when I first got my unit. It went away when I sped that sucker up. Just a thought.
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Post by joe on Mar 23, 2006 20:53:06 GMT -5
No, there is only one pulley size in there. Lortone also supplied the correct size motor pulley for my motor. (2.5") The motor spins at 1750 rpm. Also most of the belts stay on. I used one of your old 400 belts earlier and it holds on great. Your old 220 belt hangs on great while my 220s walk off. I wonder if some of the belts I bought are on the upper level of the allowed tolerance for these things. When I order a resin belt I will try getting some more of my "problem" size belts and see if that helps.
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Post by joe on Mar 23, 2006 23:35:12 GMT -5
Todays results are a mixed bunch. The two on the right are gift stones from Ed. So far I haven't hit the shine on them. Gotta go back and try again. The flat areas are giving me a lot of trouble especially on the belts that walk. It's just not much fun to stop the machine constantly to readjust the belt so I "finish up" on those belts faster than I'd like to. The cross is from some stone that was used in a friends countertop. They call it granite but since granite is defined as a light colored rock it's not that. Maybe a diorite or gabbro? That one is trouble also and needs more work. On the top left is a piece of local gneiss. It shined up pretty good. Under it is another piece of pet wood. I don't know what the egg shaped one is. It's softer than all the other stones so it shaped up easily but doesn't quite shine. The piece of agate on the bottom middle shined up great. Methinks this is because the flat area was rather small. Ok. I'm way tired, a little more experienced, and happy. All in all it's a good day!  |
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Post by stoner on Mar 24, 2006 2:15:40 GMT -5
Those look great Joe. The honey agate is what I use to make tropical fish out of. Nice shapes. It looks like your having fun.
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 24, 2006 12:25:13 GMT -5
Nice work there joe- The walking belts concern me- they should not move at all (unless you stall the motor) If they are a bit stretched then try slipping an worn out belt under em- but Man I take my belts down to the fabric and I have never had one walk off the drum- Also (and it seems stupid but I got to say it) make sure the drums are on the arbor crrectly- they are made to spin in a cetain direction- so if they are on backwards they may not be expanding fully
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Post by joe on Mar 24, 2006 23:20:19 GMT -5
Thanx, this IS fun! I've looked at those directional arrows more than once wondering but the drum is rotating correctly. Either that or I have a severe reality dysfunction going on! Also, most belts stay tight, so I know it rotates correctly. When I put the belts on the drum it is obvious that the offending belts are a bit bigger. I tried putting a walker belt on over another belt but it just won't fit. It's sooo close but it is different. I will try those grit belts from another supplier and hope they are tighter. I also want to look into a plate to screw into the tapped ends of my arbor shaft. You know, to try to do flats with. What do they call such a plate? I don't even know what to search for. |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 29, 2006 17:21:25 GMT -5
Ummm those are called spin on (or screw on) disc (I think- CRS stricks again) now the ends of your arbor are tapped??? geez mine are threaded but not tapped-
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Post by joe on Mar 30, 2006 0:13:19 GMT -5
Yeah both ends are threaded and tapped. I found the flat lap plates on the Lortone website but they are $42.00 for an 8" plate. Maybe later. I just ordered some resin belts and some 220s from Kingsley. In addition to another item... or two...
I finally got my 220 belt to fit over one of Ed's old belts. It holds on much better now.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 30, 2006 10:36:30 GMT -5
Where did you get the belts that were slipping??? Oh and did you get my PM?
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Post by joe on Mar 31, 2006 1:02:35 GMT -5
The big belts came from SanteFe. I bought the drum and all the belts at the same time. I've learned there is more than one 8x3 belt size. The Lortone drum is slightly different (3"x25-1/8")from the expando drum belts (3"x25-7/32). Here is the page that has them both www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/search_results2.php?catID=180&keys=&start=0&count=8look at the bottom item on the page then go to next page and see the other size. There is also an error on their web site (in those two ads). It confuses things a bit. Perhaps SanteFe sent some of the larger sized belts with the drum? Sounds stupid but dumber things have happened to me. The last PM I received from you Stef was on 3-21. |
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I love just freeforming a stone with no real plan at the start, just doing it. Yeah, the pieces of rock I start with are much bigger than the finished piece. That spooge bucket under the unit carries out a lot of stone dust! 
