electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 6, 2011 21:00:16 GMT -5
Thought I would say a quick hello and give a big thanks for such a wealth of information and talent in one place Our family of four is just getting into lapidary and jewelry work, haven't even finished making my bench yet. Picked up a 20" used Hillquist saw locally and started cutting before we even realized how much we were going to love it. The garage hasn't looked the same since and we are staring fall in the face wondering if we are going to get the work space ready before it gets too rainy. I don't want to be still setting up in November We are getting ready to head off to the Ochoco's (Prineville area) Sept 21-24 with our boys for our first rock hounding expedition! Can't wait! Hope to be participating more in future, I am sure to have more questions than insights in the months to come but such is the nature of any new endeavor. Cheers! Erik Vancouver, WA
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Post by tntmom on Sept 6, 2011 21:39:30 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH Erik!!!
~Krystee
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 6, 2011 22:03:43 GMT -5
Welcome aboard Eric & family. If you're just getting into this great hobby, I must say that a 20" saw is a great starting point. We like pictures on this site. Lots of them. So if you want to post pics of your finds, or saw, or your workshop in progress, we'd love to see them. Don
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 6, 2011 22:19:45 GMT -5
Welcome aboard Eric & family. If you're just getting into this great hobby, I must say that a 20" saw is a great starting point. We like pictures on this site. Lots of them. So if you want to post pics of your finds, or saw, or your workshop in progress, we'd love to see them. Don Once I have my work space organized I surely will, right now it is way too haphazard and everything is "in progress"...while I bury myself in rough lol We also bought a new Covington 10" with power feed as well as a pair of trim saws, one is a Star Diamond, the other a "Poly products" with some jury rigged guard and shield attachments. Bought a used Highland Park unit that has two inner wheels, two side flat plates (laps?) and a "thumper" that I have no desire to use. Will eventually replace that thumper and side plate with a hood system and a couple of smaller radius wheels (that is the plan as it stands). Have a pair of poly arbors that I bought along with 4 expando drums, going to buy 4 Lortone hoods to use with those arbors and we should be set. Also have a bull wheel polisher that we bought from a local fellow that makes them for a nice price. Already had a Lortone tumbler though I now realize that I need more drums, already have cross contaminated them with grit so will have to use the two I have for coarse stuff and buy some more for finer grades, live and learn (which I learned right here in a tutorial on tumbling!). This started out as a chain mail jewelry hobby, made about 10 necklaces, bracelets and whatnot for my wife. She did a bit of lapidary in high school and then never had another chance. Now the jewelry is going to be "stone oriented" so lapidary is a must. I used to be a finish carpenter and currently work in robotics and am dying for something creative to do. Tools and machinery are my comfort zone, the best part is when the tools become an extension of myself and the creativity just flows....Zen and the art of the slab saw? The current project that is holding up the works is my jewelers bench. I am finding that I am a perfectionist (who knew?) and my bench is bringing out the latent woodworker in me. What started out as a "bomb proof" hammering table has snowballed into a 1 1/2" thick birch plywood top with a 2x6 leg system and hickory nosing around the whole shebang....and then I have to polyurethane the lot so the rough 2X6 needs lots of sanding and prep....annnnnnd here comes Fall and I am not done yet, LOL On a positive note I have been selling off a lot of crap that we haven't been using in favor of stuff that is fueling creativity so at least we are on the right track! Can't wait for the first cabs, should be sometime before Nov 1 I imagine....well maybe ;D Edit to add a photo of one of my necklaces, the beads I bought locally but the metal work started out as bulk sterling wire (since I don't know the photo rules here yet, is the image too large?)
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 6, 2011 23:07:55 GMT -5
The size of your pic is great. The first saw I owned was a second or third hand Star Diamond 10". When I bought it, the company was still in business, and I managed to order a weight feed vise for it. About 1-1/2 years ago I passed that saw on to a friend who was just getting started in the hobby. The 10" I'm using now is an old Covington from the 60's or 70's, and still cuts great. Don
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unclestu
Cave Dweller
WINNER OF THE FIRST RTH KILLER CAB CONTEST UNCLESTU'S AGUA NUEVA AGATE
Member since April 2011
Posts: 2,298
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Post by unclestu on Sept 7, 2011 6:25:21 GMT -5
Pull up a stone or perhaps some dino bone and welcome aboard Stu
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Post by rockrookie on Sept 7, 2011 6:49:54 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH !! --paul
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Sept 7, 2011 7:23:48 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH! I see that you are already rockin'-n-rollin' with all the equipment you have bought. Good luck getting it all set up & ready before it gets too rainy. I lived up that way some years back & know how that weather can be!
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Post by roy on Sept 7, 2011 8:58:31 GMT -5
welcome to the show
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 10, 2011 0:02:04 GMT -5
Welcome, Erik, good to see (read?) you here.
Lee
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 14, 2011 21:50:12 GMT -5
Good to meet you and welcome to the forum! Paul
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Post by montanamuskrat on Sept 29, 2011 0:59:32 GMT -5
Welcome Tom
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