rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Jun 22, 2009 13:27:20 GMT -5
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cornorstone
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2009
Posts: 19
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Post by cornorstone on Jun 22, 2009 16:54:53 GMT -5
Oh. 'K. Thanx.
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10thumbs
spending too much on rocks
I want to be reincarnated as a dog.
Member since March 2009
Posts: 480
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Post by 10thumbs on Jun 23, 2009 13:48:55 GMT -5
I keep the flat edge against the line and cut straight everytime. Thanks for the great tip, jcinpc. I know a truly great piece of advice because it hits like an epiphany and makes my say "Why the he11 didn't I think of that?!" Perhaps this day marks the end of my sloppy slabettes! Update: I went back through all my slabbettes. Hardly any of them have parallel sides. Dang it!
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cornorstone
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2009
Posts: 19
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Post by cornorstone on Aug 10, 2009 9:01:34 GMT -5
Soooooooo, I really didn't have much luck with the plaster of Paris thing, seems like I created more of a mess than I was trying to correct. I guess it finally sunk into my rock-thick skull & petrified brain that I am using the wrong tool for the right job. If I am understanding things correctly, that Covington 10" saw, model 1510 i think, will give me the control for uniform slabs via that crossfeed thing, and yet will still allow me the luxury of hand-feeding if I so desire. Could one of you experts out there let me know if I'm on the right track or not? Thanks much.
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lparker
fully equipped rock polisher
Still doing too much for being retired!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 1,202
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Post by lparker on Aug 10, 2009 20:14:46 GMT -5
I noticed that you said you are cutting geode slabs. What size geodes? A round ball is almost impossible to clamp into a vise and cut more than half way. And you can't re-clamp the other half. BTW, geodes are hollow, nodules are solid.
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ksk
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2008
Posts: 69
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Post by ksk on Aug 11, 2009 6:58:43 GMT -5
I picked this tip up somewhere here in the slab section (while asking about the plaster of paris method):
You clamp your rock to maximize the number of slabs you can cut without taking the rock out of the vise. After cutting as many slabs as you can, you take the recently cut flat face and glue it to a small piece of wood using Gorilla Glue. Use some type of solvent to clean the wood and the rock first. I find about a 2" length of 2"x2" (actual size about 1.5"x1.5") works pretty well. After the glue dries overnight you clamp the wood portion of the assembly into the vise - carefully aligning the flat portion of the rock parallel with the saw blade. Continue to cut slabs all the way to the wood. If you leave the last slab glued to the wood, cut away the excess wood as needed, soak in warm water, and the remaining wood will pop off after a period of time.
Good luck!
It's a bit of extra work, but it works very well.
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highplainsdrifter
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,266
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Post by highplainsdrifter on Aug 13, 2009 9:05:13 GMT -5
jc, that is a great idea!
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