jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 15:13:58 GMT -5
Took a while to get the cement/grout thing figured. Mapei brand at Lowes sand-less grout dries strong and uses poly fibers instead of sand as aggregate. Tilted saw by shimming legs on one side. To get the saw oil to a minimum volume for concern about polluting it with portland. And used cheap kerosene mixed 25/75 with 10W-40. These pebbles were tumbled in SiC 30 to expose some of the agate within for grading. Rios covered with patina. Best to not tumble since the mortar holds them tighter with a rough surface. Sometimes a small heel would rotate, but never jammed the blade. These cast in an 8 inch nursery pot. Early in development. This is grout with sand. Note sand trails. Sand-less grout leaves smooth cuts, less abrasive on saw face too. 18 inch saw : Stack of sawn pebble slabs used as subjects in this thread. Sawed about 50 pounds of slabs using this method. Makes great cab preforms, tumbles. Saw is about as efficient as it gets for making smaller rocks. Pebbles 1-2 inches. Grid on wash rag 30mm X 40mm for size reference. Sorry about the incandescent light. close ups of the lot And a bunch more: www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/albums/72157663161484949It took time to pour, but it saved time producing well sawn slabettes. Long slender rocks could be poured longways making a lot of slabettes. And peculiar shaped slabs from thin and oddly shaped rocks. Each slab was a rush. Lots of variety.
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micellular
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Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
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Post by micellular on Jan 23, 2016 15:45:18 GMT -5
WOW! What an efficient way to make lots of cuts on otherwise obnoxiously small rocks. Not to mention how incredibly gorgeous an assortment you have to work with.
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Post by DirtCleaner on Jan 23, 2016 15:51:03 GMT -5
Strong work. Maybe making the next batch in an old square milk carton would make it easier to clamp?
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 16:13:34 GMT -5
Strong work. Maybe making the next batch in an old square milk carton would make it easier to clamp? 2nd generation DirtCleaner. A form that maximized cut, biggest size the 18 could cut. Usually did 2 instead of 3 blocks since it fit width wise. 20 pounds of pebbles/rocks per pour. Agate Slabettes Incorporated Best fun I ever had doing lapidary.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 16:16:14 GMT -5
WOW! What an efficient way to make lots of cuts on otherwise obnoxiously small rocks. Not to mention how incredibly gorgeous an assortment you have to work with. Every slab cut was quite an adventure micellular.
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droseraguy
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Post by droseraguy on Jan 23, 2016 18:26:32 GMT -5
Strong work indeed. One suggestion though, photographic evidence of Momma's wash rag is not advisable. Not when the dish towel incident is still fresh. Your a brave men.
I'm taking your idea and running though, there's half a bag of grout left over here somewhere. Now just need some warm weather.
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potter
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Post by potter on Jan 23, 2016 18:48:47 GMT -5
Great idea! What kind of concrete saw are you using?
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 19:02:35 GMT -5
Strong work indeed. One suggestion though, photographic evidence of Momma's wash rag is not advisable. Not when the dish towel incident is still fresh. Your a brave men. I'm taking your idea and running though, there's half a bag of grout left over here somewhere. Now just need some warm weather. Safer collecting with gators and the Mexican cartel droseraguy. Element of danger good for the blood flow. Pack those rocks in good and it does not take a lot of grout. Best to add a layer of rocks then grout alternating and tamping in to avoid air holes. Mix grout well.
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Post by orrum on Jan 23, 2016 19:05:45 GMT -5
Wow great instant preforms James!!!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 19:06:23 GMT -5
Great idea! What kind of concrete saw are you using? It's lapidary saw with a lapidary blade potter. Has a power feed that feeds the rock slowly into the saw. It seemed to not have any issues traveling thru. Welcome to the forum. It's fun spot.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 23, 2016 19:28:28 GMT -5
Not your first rodeo,is it James-seen you do this a few years ago too.....Nice idea and nice turn out! By the way,get your shoes back on,your smelling up the joint!!! LMAO
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 19:45:12 GMT -5
Not your first rodeo,is it James-seen you do this a few years ago too.....Nice idea and nice turn out! By the way,get your shoes back on,your smelling up the joint!!! LMAO I checked the wind. Your safe. ha Gonna get back to doing this. Cutting sledge broken coral came up with some crazy shapes. Long and skinny, crooked. Those pebbles you get out of those river bars are great candidates.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 23, 2016 19:58:22 GMT -5
Super neat! I used a similar technique to saw plume biscuits. Got to say the slice in the last closeup shot is off the charts cool....Mel
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2016 20:08:05 GMT -5
Super neat! I used a similar technique to saw plume biscuits. Got to say the slice in the last closeup shot is off the charts cool....Mel Same issue with plume biscuit Mel. Tricky to clamp. ID on that last one ?
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Intheswamp
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Post by Intheswamp on Jan 23, 2016 22:52:12 GMT -5
Fantastic, James! Those are the max size that I would be able to work with. Unless I win the lottery (one of these days I'm gonna by a ticket...really!!! ) a 7" tile saw will be my largest saw. I figure I could make some smaller pebble cakes and run through it. Only one pebble deep but the cake should hold them in place and I could cut a half dozen slabettes in a run. I see that you're using the sand-less grout. Seems I recall reading that sand is an enemy of diamond blades...is that correct? The sand-less mixture makes sense in this case. What 'm seeing though, is that the sanded mixture fills larger spaces. The blurbs on the Lowes website says that the sanded mix can be used for "joint widths from 1/8-in to 5/8-in". For the sand-less mixture it states for "joint widths from 1/16-in to 1/8-in ". It appears that the fiber-reinforced grout works fine in sealing the gaps between the rocks....even though the gaps are definitely larger than 1/8"....correct? How long do you let the blocks cure before starting to cut them? Do you keep the conglomeration damp while it's curing? You've got some great rocks to work with, too! The first three closeups and the last one are really, really nice. You are an inspiration, James, but...what Fossilman said, have pity on those poor souls in South Carolina...
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 24, 2016 0:13:48 GMT -5
Sand-less grout is for thin joints Ed. As you said less than 1/8. Not sure the grout would hold up being hand fed though. Always ran the power feed slow. Usually let it set for 3 days minimum, and used dark grey to avoid white in cracks. Let it cure in the shade in hot weather.
Wind was blowing in your direction Ed.
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Intheswamp
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Post by Intheswamp on Jan 24, 2016 8:50:28 GMT -5
Ah well, it was a thought about trying to do multiple cuts using the grout. Maybe an experiment for a slow day... Dang, and I thought the gut truck from the chicken hatchery had driven buy!!!!
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 24, 2016 10:03:24 GMT -5
ID-wise James, I guess I'd call that one moss or plume. Problem with the Rios is there are just a multitude of types from everywhere in SW Texas and northern Mexico. I'd guess Mexico for that one as it has characteristics of a lot of the N. Mexico moss/plume types. I suspect a lot of the agate types in the Rio ravel are even from extinct deposits that have long ago eroded away from the surface and into the gravel beds. As such, a particular type location might not even be identifiable.....Mel
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 24, 2016 11:12:05 GMT -5
ID-wise James, I guess I'd call that one moss or plume. Problem with the Rios is there are just a multitude of types from everywhere in SW Texas and northern Mexico. I'd guess Mexico for that one as it has characteristics of a lot of the N. Mexico moss/plume types. I suspect a lot of the agate types in the Rio ravel are even from extinct deposits that have long ago eroded away from the surface and into the gravel beds. As such, a particular type location might not even be identifiable.....Mel Makes perfect sense Mel. No telling how many micro formations are out there. Darwin Dillon collects where I collected. His fine specimens really display more identifiable agates like the rare Marfa plumes and Mexican fields. He also has a lot of knowledge of agates in so many of those upstream agate fields. Telling that those Marfa's probably came from Marfa and ended up way south. Or fine Flower Gardens may have (only)formed on the Woodward fields, as they are commonly found in S Texas. I see your point about ancient deposits. Being unearthed and moved. Complicating matters. I am mesmerized for 3 years now going thru that big pile of Rios I bought home. Still have about 1/3 that have not been tumbled or sawn to make/guess ID. Have learned a lot about the wide variety of agates upstream from S Texas without having to travel to the individual agate sources. I intentionally collected so many small sized agates for tumbling. Which really increased the amount of variety/pound. By the end of 12 days collecting I knew how to read the patina of those rascals: PS Sabre52-The really purple stone with red specks to right and center is quartzite. Does quartzite normally occur in such colors out west ? That was one of the most beautiful stones I collected out there, and a handful of others like it.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 24, 2016 19:23:32 GMT -5
James, The Uvalde Gravel beds, which I've read are the actual designation for the Rio gravels, have a lot of colorful quartzite, especially in the western extension of the beds ( towards Uvalde, TX). There is also some really awesome and super colorful stuff that seems to be quartzite that is much denser and almost appears like agate. Often it has a spider web or brecciated appearance and the colors are as nice as AZ petrified wood with lots of reds, purples etc. Don't really know how to classify that material but it's pretty. Definitely not mega quartz as the structure is very compact and micro crystalline.
I'm always amazed at what the kids bring by from Carizzo Springs. Definitely some plume from those west Texas ranches, Needle Peak etc but other types are totally not familiar to me and I've been collecting for years and years. The big surprises to me are the relative abundance of orby and spotted types, the totally weird Jaspers ( many of which are dead ringers for Indian fancy jasper), the Montana type agates often with fortifications and tubes, and the coquina shell type materials that are totally replaced with flower garden colored agate. Never, ever seen that one before and I love it cause I'm a big fan of fossil stones in general.
You are totally right too. The real variety is in the pieces that are only a few ounces or so. Probably because of the amygdule nature of the agates which tend to form mainly in smaller vesicles in the basalt and the fact that after rolling for hundreds of miles, the small nodules are worn down to the core of really "good stuff".....Mel
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