L.L.
starting to spend too much on rocks
Great Pyrenee?s Lover Extraordinaire
Member since January 2008
Posts: 135
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Post by L.L. on Mar 2, 2008 0:27:42 GMT -5
I was just wondering if any body else uses an air hammer to break up their rocks for the tumbler. I'm so limited in my physical abilities that even using a 4 lb. hammer to break up stuff was to much on me, so I tried my air hammer out of some softer stones today and it worked pretty good. I'm curious about how it's going to work on the harder stuff, especially agates which always cause me trouble. Anyone else do it this way?
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Rockygibraltar
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,404
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Post by Rockygibraltar on Mar 2, 2008 0:39:09 GMT -5
I have never tried it but I don't see any reason that it wouldn't work. It may be hard on your air hammer chisles though. I say give it a shot on something inexpensive and see how it goes.
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 2, 2008 1:47:02 GMT -5
Agatemaggot uses one to get them small enough for his saw.
Says it works good to split them in half.
Tony
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L.L.
starting to spend too much on rocks
Great Pyrenee?s Lover Extraordinaire
Member since January 2008
Posts: 135
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Post by L.L. on Mar 2, 2008 17:32:23 GMT -5
I was in Harbor Freight last night and they have their cheap hammer on sale for 4.99 so I picked up one to save wear on my good one.
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Post by BAZ on Mar 2, 2008 20:22:09 GMT -5
I have used my (also cheap) air chisel on lava rock which works good except my small air compressor can't keep up. Haven't tried it on harder stuff although I would think you would want more precision work with valuable material.
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mike4bears
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 275
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Post by mike4bears on Mar 2, 2008 21:36:04 GMT -5
i know i don't have to say this. but for goodness sakes use a face shield. there i said it mike
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L.L.
starting to spend too much on rocks
Great Pyrenee?s Lover Extraordinaire
Member since January 2008
Posts: 135
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Post by L.L. on Mar 2, 2008 21:53:18 GMT -5
You sure don't, but glad to see someone safety conscious. I always wear safety glasses and a shield when doing this typ of stuff. I did learn my lesson the hard way about gloves though. I put my hand down on a shard of agate when I was busting with a regular hammer a few weeks ago, and it gashed my hand so bad I thought I would have to have it stitched up. Finally after a few hours and some butterfly bandages I got it to stop bleeding to bad, but I sure left a lot of bloo in the floor of my shop. I wear heavy leather gloves now.
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 2, 2008 22:20:55 GMT -5
I hear if you want to learn the finer arts of breaking rock there is a camp called leavenworth where they teach that.
Tony
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L.L.
starting to spend too much on rocks
Great Pyrenee?s Lover Extraordinaire
Member since January 2008
Posts: 135
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Post by L.L. on Mar 2, 2008 22:35:50 GMT -5
I like that, but I don't think I'd last long it that place. I normally carry a gun for protection , I don't think they'll let you carry in there. Maybe they should allow it. There would probably be a lot less prisoners to take care of though if they could shoot each other.
By the way, I tried the air hammer on some harder stuff tonight and it worked pretty good on what little but I did. I'm running a 6 hp, 40 gal compressor so it can pretty well run the hammer forever with no slowing down. I just wish I could say the same thing about myself. I managed a whole 15 minutes and my back was screaming, so I spent longer in the hot tub than I did breaking rocks. Of course 15 minutes is better than the 0 minutes I've managed most of this week.
Lee
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Mar 8, 2008 13:30:22 GMT -5
If I had to carry a gun for protection... I'd move.
SirRoxalot
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L.L.
starting to spend too much on rocks
Great Pyrenee?s Lover Extraordinaire
Member since January 2008
Posts: 135
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Post by L.L. on Mar 8, 2008 13:59:07 GMT -5
Only on the road . Don't even need to lock the doors where we live, plus with a 100 and 150 pound Pyrs nobody would come round the house with bad intentions anyway. Anyway, I really love breaking rocks with the air hammer. It's a lot easier for me.
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oriongal
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2007
Posts: 96
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Post by oriongal on Mar 8, 2008 14:13:51 GMT -5
I did learn my lesson the hard way about gloves though. I put my hand down on a shard of agate when I was busting with a regular hammer a few weeks ago, and it gashed my hand so bad I thought I would have to have it stitched up. Finally after a few hours and some butterfly bandages I got it to stop bleeding to bad, but I sure left a lot of bloo in the floor of my shop. I wear heavy leather gloves now. I learned this the hard way as well - sliced open my index finger almost the entire length on the underside, picking up a piece of broken-up tree moss agate and not noticing the sharp edge until it had gotten me. [Actually I made it worse myself - I picked it up and felt the cut, and my instinctive reaction was to drop it again - and in doing that, the sharp edge that had already pricked me traveled along my finger and continued to cut as it left my hand). Same thing you're describing, I probably should have gotten stitches but I got it to stop after a while and didn't go to the emergency room. I was running the agate through the saw at the time so I wasn't wearing gloves. For me gloves represent the same kind of hazard when using a saw that my long hair does - just another thing that could inadvertantly get into the rotation and pull something more vital in along with it. I have small hands and I have never found any work gloves, whether made for women or not, that will fit my fingers and not leave extra room at the ends of some of the fingers. So I tie my hair back, wear safety glasses, and don't wear gloves. But I'm *very* careful how I pick up any broken agate pieces now... On the positive side of that, I found out that the new Band-Aid Activ-Flex bandage works unbelievably well for cuts like that - not only in keeping the edges closed without stitches and protecting it while it heals, but also in preventing scarring. Despite the length and depth of the cut, there was no scar at all. |
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