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Post by helens on Mar 7, 2012 0:08:44 GMT -5
I finally got my tile saw running (the new pump was useless, so running means smacking the old pump every 2 minutes against the wall til it started again for another minute:)), and got to cut some of the thundereggs I got from Christopher. Nothing big, but got quite a few done: Some of the eggs up close: Odd black drusy?? More odd black drusy?? Odd solid drusy Multicolored jasper with more black drusy I'm going to hand sand polish these, because the cuts were so rough, but some of them sure are wild looking!
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Post by roy on Mar 7, 2012 1:46:49 GMT -5
nice work on those eggs
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Post by geoff on Mar 7, 2012 1:52:40 GMT -5
Mmmmm eggs. Look great so far, next up polish?
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Post by helens on Mar 7, 2012 4:03:13 GMT -5
Thanks Roy and Geoff, I know the cuts are rough:P. My tile saw kept running dry because the pump wouldn't work the whole time. Roy, the top right little slabs are one of your owyhee rocks:).
I know they need polish... what do you think of my polishing plan? I ordered a set of 7 grades of 4" wet/dry sandpaper polish pads. I was going to glue them to a board in a row... and just rub each egg face down the row so they 'sand up'. I just thought that might be easier than using a dremel because of the larger rock face, and I'm not sticking my fingers on a running orbital sander (I just lost a hunk of skin tonite off a knuckle accidentally touching a dry grinder I wasn't using while grinding my cab. OWWWW!).
It might take a little longer to do them by hand that way, but the other options seemed less practical. Think that would work?
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rockingthenorth
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2012
Posts: 1,637
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Post by rockingthenorth on Mar 7, 2012 4:23:33 GMT -5
you did a good job
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Mar 7, 2012 6:57:22 GMT -5
Looks like you had a grand time, except for your pump acting up on you!
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Mar 7, 2012 9:54:38 GMT -5
Looks like you had fun in spite of the pump!
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cabjunky
has rocks in the head
Regency Rose Plume
Member since November 2008
Posts: 683
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Post by cabjunky on Mar 7, 2012 12:33:00 GMT -5
Nice first cuts with a tile saw, too bad the pump isn't cooperating.
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Post by Rockoonz on Mar 7, 2012 22:20:33 GMT -5
Nice eggs. Be careful, running the blade dry will kill it pretty quick, but more importantly you shouldn't be breathing the rock dust.
Lee
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Post by helens on Mar 7, 2012 23:22:43 GMT -5
Thanks guys:).
Lee, I wore a mask the whole time, because I knew it might do that, and I learned my lesson the first time we ran it (and the pump died). This saw is pretty useless for cutting anything bigger than 2 1/2" anyway. My best bet will be when the rock club gets their new saw blade, then I can cut more:).
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jcinpc
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2009
Posts: 722
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Post by jcinpc on Mar 8, 2012 22:18:57 GMT -5
awesome, isnt it great to be able to cut now? good job now we need to find you some local rock to cut
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Post by paulshiroma on Mar 8, 2012 23:04:55 GMT -5
Right on, Helen! Great looking pieces. Fun, isn't it? Cutting those is like opening Christmas presents. Each one is unique and pretty in its own right. Paul
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Post by helens on Mar 8, 2012 23:37:04 GMT -5
JC, I still want to know where you are finding those florida agates!! Paul, it IS fun! But trying to get the tile saw pump to work wasn't fun:P. I REALLY wanted to cut some of your bigger rocks too. The tile saw won't make it:(. Also, the clearance might be a bit too low for bigger rocks, so I'm taking some of those to the rock club next week, and hopefully I'll get some kewl Yermo slabs!!! I did tumble some of your smaller rocks... they are coming out really nifty. I think I wasted the tumbling, because I will probably end up trying to cab some of them anyway. Your rocks all have this really wild waxy texture that's hard to describe. They are not very colorful... but the textures are WONDERFUL on them, and I like them very much, not so much visually, but definitely tactile. I'm planning to make a few worry stones from them eventually, it's the perfect use for them! You will see them when I do:).
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Mar 9, 2012 1:27:10 GMT -5
Helen,
If you check the hardness of the black druzy, you might find it to be calcite. If Christopher sent them, they're probably Hauser bed eggs (which is what they look like), and those are known for the black calcite crystals that can be found inside them.
Looks like you had fun opening them all.
My next display is going to be Thunderegg based. I love these things. Thanks for sharing your cuts.
Lowell
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hh5
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 136
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Post by hh5 on Mar 9, 2012 1:59:48 GMT -5
Hi Helen,
Nice job on those thunder eggs. What is the Green material on the bottom right of your pic?
HH
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Post by helens on Mar 9, 2012 17:32:13 GMT -5
Thanks Lowell:). The Thunder eggs are neat, thanks for helping me put a name to them. I'm always trying to figure out what something is:). It WAS fun opening them!!! Now I have to figure out how to polish them... my plan - gluing sandpaper to a board - was terrible. I ordered a 'set' of polishing pads, and found out I have to have a wet grinder/polisher to use them... argh!! Now I'm not sure what to do. HH, the green stuff was what I thought was a small Kambaba jasper rock Paul sent me with his 'odd cuts'. Now that I look at it, the top right rock was Paul's too, I thought it was a piece of owyhee, but it's not from Roy's. Maybe it's not owyhee?? The piece you are talking about was the beige piece to the center left of the below photo. It had orbitals on the outside beige skin, so I thought it might have orbitals inside too. I was quite surprised to see the inside with no orbitals, which were only in the beige layer, but the color and striations are really neat! Paul sent 3 pieces of it as you can see, and all 3 have that beige orbital 'skin'. Some of the green did too as you can see. But once you cut into it, it doesn't have circles. I actually don't know what any of the 3 sliced rocks to the right are now...
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leadbelly713
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2011
Posts: 104
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Post by leadbelly713 on Mar 9, 2012 18:35:53 GMT -5
I like the 6'th one down, looks like the tunnel to ghostville. You would need to be a fan of cheesy spook movies to get the off the wall impressions I sometimes suffer from. anyway! you've got some nice looking stuff there.
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Post by beefjello on Mar 9, 2012 20:56:39 GMT -5
Cool cuts Helen!
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