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Post by tims on May 20, 2016 17:58:20 GMT -5
A few naturally exposed teepees that were fractured long enough ago that they're building up a new coat of lime. I don't have the heart to break nodules so these are what I come home with ... 
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Post by orrum on May 20, 2016 20:51:32 GMT -5
Slab them, rip em, cut em, let's look inside!!#LOL
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Post by tims on May 21, 2016 17:19:51 GMT -5
Might have found a small saw, fingers crossed.
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Post by beefjello on May 21, 2016 18:00:17 GMT -5
Nice! That clear fortification to the right looks promising!
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Post by tims on May 26, 2016 21:20:08 GMT -5
Hrmmm, my buddy said he had a 10" lapidary saw but turns out it's a generic 7" tile saw. Not sure if it would even be worth investing in a good blade to try it, there's only about 1.5" of cutting depth which would be really limiting even if I flipped and double cut everything.
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Post by Toad on Jun 2, 2016 10:50:26 GMT -5
Many folks here use a tile saw...
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Post by Peruano on Jun 2, 2016 11:09:04 GMT -5
You can cut a lot of rocks on a 7" saw. And you can explore the edges of many larger rocks with that same saw. In fact all you have to do is cut into one or two good rocks to have the excitement needed to justify going out to buy a bigger saw that will let you go further and through bigger rocks. Many of the folks here started out thinking they would just explore the hobby.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Jun 2, 2016 12:00:17 GMT -5
I don't even use a tile saw, just a 1mm blade on a pendant from a grinder.
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Post by tims on Jun 2, 2016 13:37:15 GMT -5
My saw project is coming together and I'll try cutting one of these over the weekend. I'm afraid to cut the one with the nice fortification showing, it looks like that exposed face is right in the sweet spot. Maybe i'll use the dremel or something just to try and clean that one up.
Thanks for the encouragement. I tend to be intimidated by new things but the ideas here always make me feel more comfortable experimenting.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Jun 2, 2016 14:06:19 GMT -5
I used to use the 50mm diamond blade on a dremel, but it just goes too fast and all the diamonds disappear in a fire-storm of sparks. I then tries a pendant off a dremel-equivalent: not too bad, but burns the dremel (equivalent) motor pretty quick. A £25 ($40) grinder with a pendant that I picked up seems to stay cool, have adjustable speed (slow enough) and enough torque to overcome the resistance of a slot if I pick up the speed a bit once the blade is deep in.
Of course, keep the stone / blade wet. I do this by just dabbing my finger in every now and again and transferring a few drops to the blade.
Good luck and let us see how you get on. Some of my attempts are quite experimental and there's no harm in showing how things don't play out as we would prefer. It's all grist to the mill.
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Post by tims on Jun 3, 2016 1:33:36 GMT -5
I've got an old dremel with adjustable speed which should work to clean the crust and matrix away from the agate face. Need to find a good diamond wheel for it still. Thanks for the reminder to keep it wet, i probably would have overlooked that unless it was marked on the packaging or something.
And what is a pendant? Is that just another name for flexible shaft?
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Jun 3, 2016 12:42:24 GMT -5
And what is a pendant? Is that just another name for flexible shaft? That's it. |
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Post by adam on Jun 3, 2016 19:37:52 GMT -5
Exquisite blue agate, very lucky find.
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Post by tims on Jun 3, 2016 19:53:02 GMT -5
Here's the bottom-left one split with my saw project and the one on the right cleaned up a bit with the dremel:
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Post by orrum on Jun 3, 2016 20:33:21 GMT -5
Nice dude vera nice!!#
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mloganrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 153 
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Post by mloganrocks on Jun 4, 2016 0:27:20 GMT -5
Here's the bottom-left one split with my saw project and the one on the right cleaned up a bit with the dremel:
Wow cant wait to see them polished, very nice material and thank you for sharing! |
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Post by tims on Jun 4, 2016 1:37:08 GMT -5
Yeah, polished ... i don't really know how to get there yet. What's a cheap, portable hack for a flat lap? Or is that even what i should try? Each step the water seems to get a little deeper. And thanks orrum. Probably wouldn't have happened without your powers of persuasion. |
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Jun 4, 2016 5:05:38 GMT -5
Whoa! They're amazing!
Wet bench grinder.
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Post by adam on Jun 4, 2016 5:18:49 GMT -5
Eye candy. Cab it up and polish?
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Post by orrum on Jun 4, 2016 6:15:01 GMT -5
Wow that's serious purty there, glad you showed us the inside! Cheapest wsy is to cut some up in slabettes and put them in a tumnler. Research tumble cabs on here. A small rotary tumbler is affordable. You can finish filling the tumbler with driveway gravel etc as filler. Tumble cabs are quite attractivem
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Nov 15, 2024 17:44:51 GMT -5
Nov 15, 2024 17:44:51 GMT -5
