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Post by HankRocks on Jan 13, 2020 16:56:39 GMT -5
About a year ago I picked up this Palm Wood slab from my friend's shop. It was laying in the corner almost covered up. Finally decided to polish it on the Vib Lap. It measures 14 inches across by 12 inches high and 1.5 inches thick. It took 7 cycles through coarse to remove all saw marks, after that it went through the normal time for each steps and about 30 hours to polish. I will probably end up selling it as displaying it would be difficult. Apologize for the picture quality as it's been a cloudy/misty day.  DSC_0439 by Findrocks, on Flickr |
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Post by captbob on Jan 13, 2020 18:28:51 GMT -5
That works! Is it really purple? Where is it from?
What size vib lap are you using?
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Post by HankRocks on Jan 13, 2020 19:45:55 GMT -5
No purple in it, must be the lighting in garage or maybe the sky just outside the garage door, or I did have a gray shirt on. It was either East Texas or Louisiana Palm, my friend could not remember.
The Vib Lap is a 20 inch model. I was always under the impression that a Lap would not polish any rock greater than half of the Lap's diameter. Not sure how that idea got into my head, obviously it was incorrect.
My friend does have a whole Palm Bulb on his porch that probably weighs 150 plus pounds. Would love to see what's inside.Two problems, getting it home and then cutting it. I will see if I can remember to take a picture of it next time I am up.
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whyofquartz
spending too much on rocks
So, Africa is smaller than I expected...
Member since December 2019
Posts: 318
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Post by whyofquartz on Jan 14, 2020 13:00:51 GMT -5
are those "poppyseeds" a defining characteristic of palm? that is to say if you are looking a Pet wood and you see those dots you are probably looking at Palm? I ask because I cut into a simi-circle of petrified wood I collected off the coastal plains of Texas and it has "poppyseeds"
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Post by HankRocks on Jan 14, 2020 19:17:24 GMT -5
are those "poppyseeds" a defining characteristic of palm? that is to say if you are looking a Pet wood and you see those dots you are probably looking at Palm? I ask because I cut into a simi-circle of petrified wood I collected off the coastal plains of Texas and it has "poppyseeds" The "poppyseeds" are actually the ends of the reeds or rods that run through Palm Wood. You can cut Palm to either have the ends or the reeds showing. In some cases the reeds can be a darker color, in other cases they are a lighter color. Either is attractive. I have several 10 to 20 pound pieces of Palm that I need to get on the saw, they show good pattern and color. Henry |
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Post by MsAli on Jan 14, 2020 21:32:39 GMT -5
Beautiful piece Henry!
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Post by HankRocks on Jan 17, 2020 9:18:05 GMT -5
About a year ago I picked up this Palm Wood slab from my friend's shop. It was laying in the corner almost covered up. Finally decided to polish it on the Vib Lap. It measures 14 inches across by 12 inches high and 1.5 inches thick. It took 7 cycles through coarse to remove all saw marks, after that it went through the normal time for each steps and about 30 hours to polish. I will probably end up selling it as displaying it would be difficult. Apologize for the picture quality as it's been a cloudy/misty day. DSC_0439 by Findrocks, on Flickr One word of warning to anyone who attempts to polish a large piece on a Vib-Lap, be sure you have two pretty strong hands/arms. As the coefficient of friction decreases between the rock and the pan, the rocks tend to glide along the pan. The surface of the rock gets smoother with each stage, pulling them off the pan requires more force. For smaller rocks, it is not an issue, for larger rocks it takes more force. I did notice that just pulling this large piece off of the pan even after the coarse stage proved difficult. That was a warning that it would be more and more difficult as the stages progressed. Almost had to get help pulling it off the pan after the 600 SiC stage. One problem was the pan was sticking to the rock and coming up with it. Had to use one hand to hold the pan down an one to pull the rock. I was very close asking for some help, when it finally let go. There was no issue with the polish stage as the pan has a porous carpet surface, no clinging. This would have not been an issue with a grooved pan. |
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Post by captbob on Jan 17, 2020 11:44:14 GMT -5
Try adding a bunch of water to the pan/slurry with the lap running and that may help break that suction to the pan. That seems to work for me anyway, but I have the grooved pans - which still get that suction.
Worth a try?
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Post by beefjello on Jan 19, 2020 16:44:24 GMT -5
About a year ago I picked up this Palm Wood slab from my friend's shop. It was laying in the corner almost covered up. Finally decided to polish it on the Vib Lap. It measures 14 inches across by 12 inches high and 1.5 inches thick. It took 7 cycles through coarse to remove all saw marks, after that it went through the normal time for each steps and about 30 hours to polish. I will probably end up selling it as displaying it would be difficult. Apologize for the picture quality as it's been a cloudy/misty day. DSC_0439 by Findrocks, on Flickr Most excellent job!!  |
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whyofquartz
spending too much on rocks
So, Africa is smaller than I expected...
Member since December 2019
Posts: 318
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Post by whyofquartz on Feb 5, 2020 14:23:09 GMT -5
are those "poppyseeds" a defining characteristic of palm? that is to say if you are looking a Pet wood and you see those dots you are probably looking at Palm? I ask because I cut into a simi-circle of petrified wood I collected off the coastal plains of Texas and it has "poppyseeds" I actually managed to answer my own question by going back and looking at my rock and seeing that i had a Knot in it. Palms don't have knots  |
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