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Post by stardiamond on Feb 27, 2020 16:34:52 GMT -5
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Post by MsAli on Feb 27, 2020 17:01:33 GMT -5
Have fun!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Feb 27, 2020 17:08:42 GMT -5
Ahhh yea, you’re gonna have fun with those. Great looking stuff.
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Post by miket on Feb 27, 2020 17:49:50 GMT -5
Can't wait to see what you get- it's like Christmas!
Gorgeous rocks.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 27, 2020 18:55:18 GMT -5
I should get 8-9 1/4 inch slabs from the HC assuming I get the thickness right. The piece isn't square and is 44/16 at the narrowest.
The blade has a .065 kerf, so I am assuming 5/16 a cut but am not exactly sure how much more the blade will eat and barring fractures it will be almost all usable. That's a lot of cabs.
I won't know the yield on The Willow Creek until I am done slabbing.
I'm almost done completing the restocking of material. I used up a lot over 15 years and today was almost like Christmas. I recently got some nice Tahoma slabs and have another slab arriving next week and the seller is adding some free end cuts.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 28, 2020 10:56:43 GMT -5
Holy Moly you will be having some fun! Enjoy!
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Feb 28, 2020 17:09:06 GMT -5
Liquid glass?
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 28, 2020 19:37:33 GMT -5
Sodium silicate is also called liquid glass. It is a water soluble adhesive used to seal floors and is inexpensive and easy to find.
I never received any training on using a slab saw and the vise is square and rocks aren't. Once I can get a flat surface on a rock, I glue it to a piece of 2x4 and now have a square surface to put in my vise. I can tilt and angle the board to adjust the cut. I cut with oil so the liquid glass doesn't dissolve. When I am done cutting, I soak the board in water and some detergent until whatever is left on the board comes off and then I can reuse the board since the oil has been cleaned off. I tried carpenters glue but it takes much longer to dissolve. I'm waiting until Saturday for the water glass to dry and not worry about the rock coming off the board. I cleaned a few boards, glued some small pieces of rough and pruned some rose bushes. I really wanted to put the saw to work today.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 29, 2020 14:12:55 GMT -5
The Willow Creek is cut and the saw had indigestion. Cuts were let right, top bottom. The last one is the best and the first 3 have fractures. Also a slab left on the board with out fractures and less usable area. Two heels; one from squaring an end.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 29, 2020 16:55:14 GMT -5
I started on the Horse Canyon Moss. I cut a few small labs of interesting colored Horse Canyon (not moss). The piece of HCM was uneven so the smaller slab is uneven. I took the pictures now because by the time I'm done cutting it the lighting won't be good.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 29, 2020 19:40:50 GMT -5
I finished to Horse Canyon Moss. Six 1/4+, one 1/4- slightly uneven and two 1/4+ tapering to narrower. About 8 full 1/4 inch thick slabs worth of material. Enough to make about 50 cabs.
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 1, 2020 13:05:18 GMT -5
I'm happy that the look of each slab is different so the cabs will look different.  |
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