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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 25, 2021 22:35:43 GMT -5
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 25, 2021 22:41:47 GMT -5
Holy smokes that first Crater Agate is the bomb!  That petrified wood is no joke either!  |
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Post by fernwood on Apr 26, 2021 5:19:42 GMT -5
The crater agates, oh my!
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lunker
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2021
Posts: 430
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Post by lunker on Apr 26, 2021 7:40:08 GMT -5
Awesome
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Post by Garage Rocker on Apr 26, 2021 7:49:12 GMT -5
Very nice! I agree, that crater agate is something special.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Apr 26, 2021 7:56:36 GMT -5
I love the interiors of that first batch of crater lakes! That must have been a fun one to cut open.
The patterns in the garnet slabs are cool! It’s neat to see the crystal structure of the garnets affecting the surrounding patterns.
Finally, those petrified wood slabs are beautiful! Nicely done!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 26, 2021 9:06:40 GMT -5
The crater agates are amazing! I don't care what you say, this here is a fabulous picture! 
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 26, 2021 9:48:24 GMT -5
Sorry, I had made a typo in my thread. Thanks for catching it. The crater agates are truly amazing and I wish I'd picked up more when I had the chance. The vendor had some beautiful condor agates as well. Those were fun to cut and I've got a few more on the vib lap now (seven years later, LOL).
The petrified wood is interesting in its own right with the wood grain showing up.
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 26, 2021 9:59:35 GMT -5
I love the interiors of that first batch of crater lakes! That must have been a fun one to cut open. The patterns in the garnet slabs are cool! It’s neat to see the crystal structure of the garnets affecting the surrounding patterns. Finally, those petrified wood slabs are beautiful! Nicely done! The garnet block was interesting but a really difficult polish. I ran it thru a couple of additional stages and that was as smooth as I could get the surface. I kept one slab to see if I could get a better surface. We'll see what happens. |
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 26, 2021 10:00:12 GMT -5
The crater agates are amazing! I don't care what you say, this here is a fabulous picture! Thanks! Everyone once in a while, I can get the camera to function, LOL! |
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JR8675309
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2019
Posts: 807
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Post by JR8675309 on Jul 26, 2021 8:08:30 GMT -5
Those are stunning! What type of vibe lap do you have?
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Post by perkins17 on Jul 26, 2021 11:27:47 GMT -5
Wow! Those rocks look great!
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Post by paulshiroma on Jul 26, 2021 17:05:16 GMT -5
Those are stunning! What type of vibe lap do you have? Hey Buddy, I use two Covington 16 inch vib laps. Messy and somewhat frustrating at times, LOL! but the results can be great. Paul |
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Post by paulshiroma on Jul 26, 2021 17:05:46 GMT -5
Wow! Those rocks look great! Thanks! It's been fun getting back into the hobby after a hiatus. |
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JR8675309
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2019
Posts: 807
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Post by JR8675309 on Jul 26, 2021 17:26:07 GMT -5
Those are stunning! What type of vibe lap do you have? Hey Buddy, I use two Covington 16 inch vib laps. Messy and somewhat frustrating at times, LOL! but the results can be great. Paul Awesome paulshiroma. I'd really like to get one for my t'eggs. I hear keeping them wet/damp is a pain but also heard someone rigged an IV to drip on the pan... which I think is hella cover. |
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Post by HankRocks on Jul 26, 2021 17:37:51 GMT -5
Hey Buddy, I use two Covington 16 inch vib laps. Messy and somewhat frustrating at times, LOL! but the results can be great. Paul Awesome paulshiroma . I'd really like to get one for my t'eggs. I hear keeping them wet/damp is a pain but also heard someone rigged an IV to drip on the pan... which I think is hella cover. I don't find that keeping the pan with adequate water to be too big a hassle. I don't run at night so I only have to add water maybe twice during the day, and maybe once to start the morning. That's during the summer when daytime temps in the garage reach mid 90's. In the winter the evaporation rate is lower. My struggle is with flat rocks and un-balanced rocks with weights attached, and with any cut that is not a nice flat cut. Those do happen. Just caulked 5 rocks this morning, that will hopefully be ready for the next run in 5 or 6 days. |
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JR8675309
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2019
Posts: 807
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Post by JR8675309 on Jul 26, 2021 18:26:10 GMT -5
Awesome paulshiroma . I'd really like to get one for my t'eggs. I hear keeping them wet/damp is a pain but also heard someone rigged an IV to drip on the pan... which I think is hella cover. I don't find that keeping the pan with adequate water to be too big a hassle. I don't run at night so I only have to add water maybe twice during the day, and maybe once to start the morning. That's during the summer when daytime temps in the garage reach mid 90's. In the winter the evaporation rate is lower. My struggle is with flat rocks and un-balanced rocks with weights attached, and with any cut that is not a nice flat cut. Those do happen. Just caulked 5 rocks this morning, that will hopefully be ready for the next run in 5 or 6 days. how many days completes the entire process for one piece? |
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Post by paulshiroma on Jul 28, 2021 15:00:29 GMT -5
Hey Buddy, I use two Covington 16 inch vib laps. Messy and somewhat frustrating at times, LOL! but the results can be great. Paul Awesome paulshiroma. I'd really like to get one for my t'eggs. I hear keeping them wet/damp is a pain but also heard someone rigged an IV to drip on the pan... which I think is hella cover. , Actually, if you get the slurry consistency correct before dropping the rocks in, it's considerably easier to manage. Sounds really elementary but it is important. I usually let the grit and water get to a nice slurry before putting anything in. Use a spray bottle to help with that so you don't pour too much in. Once the rocks are in and moving, you can periodically spray them to make sure they're smoothly moving around the pan. For the final polishing stage, I've purchased a bulk roll of low pile outdoor carpeting, cut out circles to fit the pan and replace them pretty regularly. It's the only stage where the pad is required as it helps hold the aluminum oxide or cerium oxide and give the materials a non-metallic surface to around slide on. not sure if I'm describing that quite right but you get the point. I keep separate pads for the aluminum and cerium oxides. The latter, I've only needed for high mohs-rated rocks, like the garnet. Otherwise the AO suffices. Total time depends a great deal on the Mohs hardness and the weight of the rock. Using agates as the midpoint (say 10 days total, start to finish), I find things like the garnet slab took closer to 20. Flowstone and softer items (mohs <6) took considerably less, only around five to six days total. The weight makes a difference too. Large, heavy agate blocks and large chunks of petrified wood moved faster simply because the additional weight helped smooth out the material faster. Hope that helps. These vib laps have been a favorite addition to the tools, particularly since I have zero talent when it comes to making cabs (haha). |
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JR8675309
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2019
Posts: 807
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Post by JR8675309 on Jul 28, 2021 19:59:17 GMT -5
Awesome paulshiroma . I'd really like to get one for my t'eggs. I hear keeping them wet/damp is a pain but also heard someone rigged an IV to drip on the pan... which I think is hella cover. , Actually, if you get the slurry consistency correct before dropping the rocks in, it's considerably easier to manage. Sounds really elementary but it is important. I usually let the grit and water get to a nice slurry before putting anything in. Use a spray bottle to help with that so you don't pour too much in. Once the rocks are in and moving, you can periodically spray them to make sure they're smoothly moving around the pan. For the final polishing stage, I've purchased a bulk roll of low pile outdoor carpeting, cut out circles to fit the pan and replace them pretty regularly. It's the only stage where the pad is required as it helps hold the aluminum oxide or cerium oxide and give the materials a non-metallic surface to around slide on. not sure if I'm describing that quite right but you get the point. I keep separate pads for the aluminum and cerium oxides. The latter, I've only needed for high mohs-rated rocks, like the garnet. Otherwise the AO suffices. Total time depends a great deal on the Mohs hardness and the weight of the rock. Using agates as the midpoint (say 10 days total, start to finish), I find things like the garnet slab took closer to 20. Flowstone and softer items (mohs <6) took considerably less, only around five to six days total. The weight makes a difference too. Large, heavy agate blocks and large chunks of petrified wood moved faster simply because the additional weight helped smooth out the material faster. Hope that helps. These vib laps have been a favorite addition to the tools, particularly since I have zero talent when it comes to making cabs (haha). paulshiroma, thanks for the super detailed information. I am assimilating all of it. Right now I'm evaluating the types of laps and the brands. Some of the double deckers look cool, but it could be overkill. A reciprolap sounds super capable, but also could be overkill. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I read more posts and watch more videos. One that jumps to mind is how noisy it is. Thanks again! |
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