Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2014 21:43:06 GMT -5
Today while visiting clients; my lead list had an odd one. "Glass Art" or some such company name is not my normal XYZ Mfg. or ABC Machine shop... . BUT, never one to pre-judge I walked in. I walked into my first professional lapidary shop. Dude cuts full round slabs from pet wood logs for Jim Gray in Holbrook, AZ. Here is an example of his work. .jpg) The first thing one sees is a giant wire saw in the middle of being restored. Sorry no pics. I was working. I did get him to show me his home built rocksaw. He has three of these. All built by him. 48" segmented blade, adjustable rate screw feed. He said there is a dude in Texas making these for $40,000. He built his for less than $10K.    Now, the reason for my post. I asked him, "How do you stabilize the wood?"He hands me an empty bottle of "penetrating" cyanoacrylate glue. That is the slowest acting and thinnest grade there is. $32 bux a pound at amazon.com Just pour it on, it wicks into the fractures, and polishes up real nice. The amazon link is the exact product he is using. TRhe super glue must work good. He is using $2000++ blades he needs to protect.I think the results speak volumes: .jpg) Last note on the 48" saw. The blade is 0.280" thick. Two cuts a day, ten cuts a week, three weeks yields about 40# of rocksnot. Think about it. What would an 18" diameter by 1/4" thick slab weigh? Every three weeks he turns 30 of those into rocksnot. He mucks every three weeks. He uses bio-diesel for lube. |
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Jul 21, 2014 22:28:51 GMT -5
Excellent. Thanks for posting this Scott!
Sometimes work can have fun surprises, huh?
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bsky4463
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2013
Posts: 1,696
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Post by bsky4463 on Jul 21, 2014 22:36:57 GMT -5
Awesome. Great link, thanks Scott. Cheers
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quartz
Cave Dweller 
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,359
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Post by quartz on Jul 21, 2014 23:51:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the show and info, fun to see. We looked at a 36" some years ago {not to buy, got some other stuff}, it took up one space in a 2-car garage. Those things must be huge.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Jul 22, 2014 2:04:25 GMT -5
Great info. Very interesting. I heard that the bond between two pieces of glass using super glue is one of the most powerful glued bonds known.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 22, 2014 8:51:51 GMT -5
First off, Holy crap that is one honking big saw! Secondly, got to get me some of that glue for using on my more fractured Hornitos Poppy Jasper slabs. That seems like just what I need. Very cool.
I went by old Bill Leslie's Shafter. CA rockyard one day and saw his stabilization process. He's a real pet wood nut and will sell anything form his rockyard "except" his wood. First words from his mouth are always " stay away from my wood"! He had a huge fractured long in his big saw, a real blade breaker. His stabilization process was to wrap wire around the log on either side of the cut. He also used diesel for coolant and smoke was pouring from the saw. Whatever works I guess *S*......Mel
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 10:34:04 GMT -5
Excellent. Thanks for posting this Scott! Sometimes work can have fun surprises, huh? Indeed. Truthfully, I never know what I am going to walk into. Dude is a real nice guy. Totally happy to talk biz and rocks and polishing and such. Each saw is the size of a golf cart. He forklifts the wood into the vice. |
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Post by Peruano on Jul 22, 2014 12:23:49 GMT -5
The stuff works, but . . . Grandma gave you the ingredients for her famous cake, but she did not tell you quantities, how long to stir it, or how high the temperature had to be to get it perfect. Seriously, I believe its important that 1. All cracks be clean and dry; NO OIL. 2. You probably apply the glue in several volleys rather than dumping it in in one dose; 3. Allow it to dry real well before trying to cut or polish it; and 4. Still be lucky. Some of this glue is best stored in the refrigerator if you don't use it all in one setting. Ain't if fun the folks you run into when you are not expecting it. Cheers, Tom
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 19:52:10 GMT -5
The stuff works, but . . . Grandma gave you the ingredients for her famous cake, but she did not tell you quantities, how long to stir it, or how high the temperature had to be to get it perfect. Seriously, I believe its important that 1. All cracks be clean and dry; NO OIL. 2. You probably apply the glue in several volleys rather than dumping it in in one dose; 3. Allow it to dry real well before trying to cut or polish it; and 4. Still be lucky. Some of this glue is best stored in the refrigerator if you don't use it all in one setting. Ain't if fun the folks you run into when you are not expecting it. Cheers, Tom Hi Tom; Thanks for the post. I will concur our CA glue vendor says warranty only applies if stored at <40F when not in use. The shop I wrote about takes fresh logs from the wilds of Holbrook, AZ pressure washed them with tap water, sets them in the sun to dry and, when dry, just pours the glue on. One go, it wicks into the fractures and in less than a minute the piece is stabilized. |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 25, 2014 9:06:25 GMT -5
HOLY MOLY and WOW!!!!!!!! Great pics and story...
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