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Post by stardiamond on May 25, 2023 19:58:19 GMT -5
Where are Sigfried and Roy?
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Post by stardiamond on May 25, 2023 18:08:18 GMT -5
I bought a small piece of gem Owyhee from Tony on Facebook Full Moon in August. I did a partial face with my trim saw (top slab) so I knew the orientation of the cuts. Must be a lucky rock.
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Post by stardiamond on May 25, 2023 16:47:15 GMT -5
The clutch spring broke a while back on the saw. I waited a long time for the part to arrive from China. I attached itand there wasn't enough tension to advance the carriage. Either Tony or Roy suggested adding another spring. I had enough trouble installing the first one and decided to order a HP 14 and hire a handyman to fix the 10 along with some other stuff I am unable to do.
My 14 arrived this year and is still in the box. I needed to take down my Covington and clean up my work area in order to set it up. I bought some plastic storage boxes at Costco and today transferred oily tools into one box and oily rocks into another.
I then had an idea. The Covington uses an alligator clip to advance the carriage. The original clip wore out and I got a heavy duty replacement from Covington. I took the clip and put it on the feed thread of the HP behind the clutch...and the saw is cutting slabs.
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Post by stardiamond on May 24, 2023 14:56:36 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 24, 2023 14:53:18 GMT -5
I found the listing and question it's validity. The seller has one feedback. The rle in the title refers to ronsrocks which is a legitimate seller with over 35,000 feedback.
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Post by stardiamond on May 24, 2023 13:22:21 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 23, 2023 15:02:58 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 23, 2023 14:19:09 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 22, 2023 13:29:37 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 21, 2023 20:21:29 GMT -5
I bought 3 slabs from the seller since he charges $15.95 for shipping. I can use all three but you can buy one if interested.
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Post by stardiamond on May 21, 2023 19:53:29 GMT -5
top
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Post by stardiamond on May 21, 2023 17:58:43 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 21, 2023 17:41:18 GMT -5
For over two years I haven't been 100% and not able to do yard work. I needed to take the electric weed whacker to 1500 square feet of tall weeds outside my living room. I did it over three days. I am not ready to do heavy organizing and taking apart the 16 inch Covington. I found some scraps and preforms to work on next. Top row is the scraps and the bottom row is from my preform pile.
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Post by stardiamond on May 20, 2023 12:03:44 GMT -5
yes.
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Post by stardiamond on May 19, 2023 13:17:19 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 19, 2023 12:33:30 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on May 19, 2023 11:26:11 GMT -5
It might be my dop sticks, but it wasn't an effective method for me. Leaving the dops in the freezer for a long time produced cabs that separated themselves, some with almost no force and stubborn ones. Even the ones that required little force occasionally produced divots. I sometimes had to remove glue residue.
What I do now can be done immediately after finishing the cab and doesn't damage the cab.
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Post by stardiamond on May 18, 2023 22:04:50 GMT -5
The nail works well with the torch. I don't have a torch.
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Post by stardiamond on May 18, 2023 20:37:14 GMT -5
This is my star diamond machine aka the beast. I bought a bunch of old equipment from a local lapidary guy. It came with two very worn diamond wheels. The wheels had cup spacers against the wheels which were probably for the original silicon carbide. The process was to use the 80 grit and 220 grit to shape and a lapidary belt sander with a worn 400 grit belt and then finish with tin oxide on the leather pad. Some cabs came out ok and others undercut. I was enjoying the hobby enough to buy a Genie. I later decided to retrofit the stardiamond with new 8 inch 80 and 220 hard diamond and 280, 600 and 1200 Nova wheels. I would finish the cabs on the Genie. Thew picture doesn't show it but I bashed a hole in the face so I could slide in trays and use geysers instead of overhead drip.
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Post by stardiamond on May 18, 2023 20:13:39 GMT -5
Do you undop with acetone, or freezer method? I’ve been using acetone. It works but I don’t like the goopy mess left from the partially dissolved glue or the white film that can be left on the cab, I think from the dissolved glue in the acetone leaving a really thin layer on the stone. It seems to wipe/wash off but I keep thinking maybe it’s not great for the stones. The freezer though also sounds not great for some stones. I gave up freezing. I gave up on popping them off (occasional divots). I use an x-acto chisel blade and put the flat side against the cab and tap on the x-acto holder with a utility knife until the cab separates from the dop. My dops are made from dowels with a nail on chair glide. When the cab comes off, I use a q-tip and acetone to loosen the glue and then scrape it off with a chisel blade.
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