quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Oct 8, 2016 22:49:46 GMT -5
Super knife, nothing beats hand made. The knife and point of the same material really make it.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 4:03:07 GMT -5
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 4:16:00 GMT -5
Solid material best. 1-2 pound rocks w/zero defects hard to find. Both of these run at 55 RPM. SiC 30 changes every 12 hours. Extreme and a bit too violent. But got polish and no frosting. Both of these lace agates and not the hardest nor most homogenous in hardness. Factory speed tumblers perfect speed for these big rocks. 15 to 30 RPM perfect. Changing pulleys to 28 RPM with 6 inch diameter barrels. Friendlier 24 hour grit additions/changes. Gentler roll. Rocks on 28 RPM shafts also grinding very fast. Heavy rock a game changer, faster grind on media tumbles too, win win. Mohs 7 rocks-not probably obsidian. Sawn face. Was dead flat. Tumbling cuts softer areas faster distorting image. Part of the game. Same sawn face, distortion not very noticeable
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 4:33:59 GMT -5
SiC 30 grit effect on media rock. Penciled to show deep grind marks at 3 hours. After 12-24 hours surface much smoother. The grind game. Mohs 7, 2 inches across. Constant deep pit cycling, more grit changes makes more deep pit cycles = wear.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 11:54:08 GMT -5
coral moving along wet, after grinding, polyps not so visible wet, after 12 hours dry after grinding dry, after 12 hours Might be cheap diamonds on this $110 wheel. Seems to be wearing fast. Korean made. Note feathering of sinter on trailing edge on left. $49 Harbor Freight diamond cup seems much slower wearing. Has lasted many hours.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 12:07:04 GMT -5
Another big rock sawn and rolling. Sumatra Flame from Indonesia, thanks Roy. Only slight edge rounding with grinder. Good candidate for tumbling because it is so solid. Hardest agate I have ever encountered.
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Post by captbob on Oct 9, 2016 12:19:12 GMT -5
Wow, that wheel is wearing fast! Like 5 or 6 rocks ground on it?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 12:40:49 GMT -5
Wow, that wheel is wearing fast! Like 5 or 6 rocks ground on it? Yes, about that many. The saddle wears in fast on all of them Bob. Will see how it wears from here on out. Guessing over a hundred hours(like 200 medium rocks) on the $49 Harbor Freight 7" cupped wheel. Still has 60% left. Can't kill it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 12:41:07 GMT -5
Softer matrix holding diamonds ideal for agates. Softer exposes diamonds faster as plastic-like agate grips stretches and breaks diamonds faster than other materials.
Softer does wear faster though.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 12:58:09 GMT -5
Softer matrix holding diamonds ideal for agates. Softer exposes diamonds faster as plastic-like agate grips stretches and breaks diamonds faster than other materials. Softer does wear faster though. I hear you Scott. Must say the seemingly harder matrix in the cup cuts at very similar rate. I like grinding on this horizontal config but unequal wear causes bounce. Cup much less vibration. Cup being turned at 90 degrees from shaft rotation seems to minimize out of roundness/unequal wear. Unequal wear at top of 7 inch cup. Again, wish diamond band was 2 inches wide instead of 7/8 inch.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 13:13:34 GMT -5
Could be junk. Lol
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 9, 2016 13:55:26 GMT -5
That tool is made to do the light duty of wallowing out a hole drilled in granite countertop after core drilling for drain or holes for plumbing access. Maybe it is soft sintered for easy material removal as you mentioned earlier.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2016 5:33:18 GMT -5
The 7" cup is impressive in the longevity department. Guessing 200-300 tile saw blades. Probably more like 500. The Harbor Freight 4" cup similar to the 7", one long lasting grinding blade. Also have a 4" cup imported by Grandquartz. Also bulletproof. Three actually, coarse-medium and fine. Medium and fine useless if you tumble. Ganged saws good for marble. Serpentine. Chalk. Butter. Rio's and coral eat them alive. Kidding aside, I bought high end (Dewalt, other brand) tile blades and got very little life out of them(me and my coral). And always used water with them. They lasted well with rhyolite and obsidian. And am serious about the diamond cup replacing several hundred tile saw blades. The difference in tile saw blades and cups are the design pressure. And diamond size. Cups made for 3 HP angle grinders(7"@5000 RPM with a man's shoulders bearing down hard on them. Heat dissipation often assisted by high heat conducting aluminum backing plates. Tile saw blades are made for slow feed rates and soft pressure. Slower rotational speeds. Smaller diamonds. Concrete blades may be a different animal. No experience with them. They have higher feed rates, speeds and pressure ratings than tile blades. They also cost a bunch. I don't see economic advantage. I have used a chain saw powered concrete cutter before come to think of it. The rental store charged me X for the saw. Measured the diamonds on the saw blade and charged me Y for the reduction in diamond height. I have also used the diamond blades that fit a Skill saw. -dry- They are cheap. I cut gobs of sheet metal and quite a bit of concrete with them. After about 2 minutes I had to let the blade cool because it was warping badly from heat. Are the 7" Skilsaw blades the ones you prefer on your sphere cutters ? Guessing you use water.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2016 6:15:02 GMT -5
This coral started in the vibe yesterday in AO 80.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 10, 2016 8:28:32 GMT -5
Great looking large tumbles. Really liked that sumatra flame. Tried to find some on ebay but didn't see anything.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2016 9:24:13 GMT -5
Great looking large tumbles. Really liked that sumatra flame. Tried to find some on ebay but didn't see anything. Check Yahoo images. Then click on the image and you may get a link to a supplier. Or better yet, contact roy and see if he has more to sell.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2016 9:37:06 GMT -5
Dang. Tried Borax instead of sugar and AO 80 starting yesterday afternoon. Already have a pre polish finish from a nasty SiC 30 finish. Faster than sugar. AO 80 broke down from 80 to about 1000 in 18 hours. Skinned of the SiC finish too. Again, heavy rock cracking grit down fast apparently in the vibe too. Will clean out vibe and finish with AO 14,000 about mid-day today. Getting work out. 13 ounces, but run with 15 ounce rock in rotary. May/may not see slight impact damage, but not on edges. Hard to tell. Only started tumbling 5 days ago after pre-grind. 4 days rotary/18 hours vibe. The mix in the rotary:
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Deleted
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Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2016 11:16:51 GMT -5
Gang saw blade for what? Agate does what? The 8" gangasaw/supergrinders at class have been in use for over a decade. Weekly use, 3- 4 hours solid, for the spheremakers in the group. All types of stones. Agates to serpentine and everything in between. Mostly japsers and agates. Have to use segemented blades (not electroplated like tile saw blades) with spacers between each blade. Vertical downward rotation safe as it gets. Stack more blades for wider surface. jamesp
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2016 12:05:42 GMT -5
Gang saw blade for what? Agate does what? The 8" gangasaw/supergrinders at class have been in use for over a decade. Weekly use, 3- 4 hours solid, for the spheremakers in the group. All types of stones. Agates to serpentine and everything in between. Mostly japsers and agates. Have to use segemented blades (not electroplated like tile saw blades) with spacers between each blade. Vertical downward rotation safe as it gets. Stack more blades for wider surface. jamespI'm interested. Where do get the correct blade ?
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Post by captbob on Oct 10, 2016 12:11:45 GMT -5
Why segmented blades Scott? Those that I have seen were continuous blades. I read, maybe here (?), that segmented blades aid in faster waste removal, bit don't understand any benefit other than that.
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