Post by 10thumbs on Apr 22, 2009 16:36:17 GMT -5
My daughter and I went out to a local club's annual show last week end. It was pretty heavy on completed works and mineral specimens but I was able to pick up a few chunks of Picture Jasper, Polka Dot agate, and Bullseye Rhyolite from their club table.
Their kids section was an absolute highlight. My daughter bought three $1 grab bags containing rock and crystal specimens, completed a rock identification scavenger hunt, created two "rock buddies" by gluing googly eyes, foam, yarn, etc on some rocks, dug in a little sand box for rock specimens, and drew a dinosaur picture for a contest. I was able to jibber jabber to my hearts content with the craftsman at the demonstration tables while she kept herself busy. I really liked that aspect of this show. They had people doing lapidary, faceting, different kinds of bead work, smithing. There was even some people forming chain mail into bracelets and stuff. Pretty nifty.
The other highlight was the owner, founder, and CEO of Inland Lapidary was there with a display of all his companies products. I talked to him for a while about how he developed some of his equipment with earnest feedback from the local rock club. I talked specifically with him about some of the issues that were brought up about the SwapTop here on this forum. He's worked with his motor supplier to increase the power and quality. He demonstrated the cause for the issue with laps sticking and I confirmed with one of the demonstrators that it's largely user error. I ended up buying some 2mm diamond drill bits and a sintered diamond grinding bit for my dremel, more because I appreciated the time he spent with me than anything else.
He also showed me how the "grooving" bit works for the shaping attachment on the SwapTop. It looks pretty slick. My next acquisition has to be a slab saw but after that I would strongly consider a SwapTop to add a horizontal cabbing tool to my arsenal. I saw some young kids cut cabs with the Indland Diamond band saw too. They were easily able to do tight circles and shapes. It seems like a very strong option versus doing straight cuts on a trim saw and having to clean up the edges on a wheel. I didn't get to try it myself as the kids were hogging it.
The lowlight was the vendor selling overpriced slabs and minerals like obsidian for $10/pound that I could walk up to the club table in the next room and pick up for $2/pound. He had some neat stuff too. I really liked the "Crocodile" jasper but the slabs were wafer thin and overpriced in my opinion. I could get a FLB of loot for the price of four or five of his slabs.
Their kids section was an absolute highlight. My daughter bought three $1 grab bags containing rock and crystal specimens, completed a rock identification scavenger hunt, created two "rock buddies" by gluing googly eyes, foam, yarn, etc on some rocks, dug in a little sand box for rock specimens, and drew a dinosaur picture for a contest. I was able to jibber jabber to my hearts content with the craftsman at the demonstration tables while she kept herself busy. I really liked that aspect of this show. They had people doing lapidary, faceting, different kinds of bead work, smithing. There was even some people forming chain mail into bracelets and stuff. Pretty nifty.
The other highlight was the owner, founder, and CEO of Inland Lapidary was there with a display of all his companies products. I talked to him for a while about how he developed some of his equipment with earnest feedback from the local rock club. I talked specifically with him about some of the issues that were brought up about the SwapTop here on this forum. He's worked with his motor supplier to increase the power and quality. He demonstrated the cause for the issue with laps sticking and I confirmed with one of the demonstrators that it's largely user error. I ended up buying some 2mm diamond drill bits and a sintered diamond grinding bit for my dremel, more because I appreciated the time he spent with me than anything else.
He also showed me how the "grooving" bit works for the shaping attachment on the SwapTop. It looks pretty slick. My next acquisition has to be a slab saw but after that I would strongly consider a SwapTop to add a horizontal cabbing tool to my arsenal. I saw some young kids cut cabs with the Indland Diamond band saw too. They were easily able to do tight circles and shapes. It seems like a very strong option versus doing straight cuts on a trim saw and having to clean up the edges on a wheel. I didn't get to try it myself as the kids were hogging it.
The lowlight was the vendor selling overpriced slabs and minerals like obsidian for $10/pound that I could walk up to the club table in the next room and pick up for $2/pound. He had some neat stuff too. I really liked the "Crocodile" jasper but the slabs were wafer thin and overpriced in my opinion. I could get a FLB of loot for the price of four or five of his slabs.
