QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 12, 2015 18:40:22 GMT -5
Are you asking about 220 SC hard wheel and 280 SC Belt on Expando? If not what is the set up configuration you mean? Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 12, 2015 18:32:46 GMT -5
The number of cabs one can get per SC belt or disc varies depending on the several factors. Size, hardness and shapes of the cabs matters, plus not all brands of SC are equal either. Back when I first learned to cab all we had were SC wheels. The common set up was 100gt & 220gt hard wheels for shaping. Then 400gt, 600gt for sanding and then a worn 600gt for pre-polishing. Then on to the polishing surface and oxide or choice. After using diamond I would never want to have to go back to using SC. Even though diamond is more expensive it is a much better value, not only in time saved, but in the number of cabs finished per dollar invested in grinding wheels and sanding belts/discs. Diamond is also much cleaner and produces less contamination issues than SC. If you like cabbing with SC you will LOVE cabbing with diamond! Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 12, 2015 18:17:00 GMT -5
I'm no expert on Opals by any stretch. But I have cut several over the years, mostly Australian. Not only does location of the source seem to play a role in how stable opals are, but also how they are handled after they come out of the ground. Most precious opals have a high water content when they come out of the ground. Some miners slow dry their opals before selling to prove stability, while others put them straight into water rather than go through the drying process. Putting them straight into water bypasses any responsibility of first seeing how stable their material is before selling plus keeps the weight a little higher. When I have bought rough opals I have kept this in mind. I will not pay as much for opal sold wet as I will for equivalent quality opal sold dry. When I have bought opals that have been stored in Jars of water I always slow dry them out before reselling or cutting. I place the wet opals in a small zip lock bag but do not seal it and then place the small unsealed zip lock bag with the opal in a larger sealed zip lock bag for several weeks. Some of the moisture will evaporate from the small bag of opal into the larger sealed zip lock where it is trapped so the opal doesn't dry out too fast. After a few weeks I unseal the larger zip lock and let the moister slowly evaporate from both. I've seen other people dry larger quantities like this using Rubbermaid or Tupperware containers. IMO taking wet opal straight from a jar of water and then cutting is asking for trouble. As for dopping, in the early days I ruined my share by over heating. Not only can over heating crack opal but can also turn is chalky white. An alternative to conventional dopping I saw an old cutter use to avoid heat all together was to use Durham's Wood Putty powder mixed with water to adhere the stone to the dop. After the wood putty dries it can be coated with shellac to water proof it while cabbing. After cabbing the opal scrape the shellac off the wood putty with a x-acto knife and then soak it in water to dissolve the Durahm's Wood Putty. But I would think this process may rehydrate the opal and require slow drying it out again. I have not tried this process myself yet so can't personally verify how well it works.
As for storing rough opal in oil I have never heard of doing this and would never buy opal that was. Oil is too often used to hide defects in other gemstones and I would be highly skeptical of any oiled opal rough being offered. That said, back in the 70s I remember Jewelers used to tell their customers to rub their cabbed opal stone on the side of their nose once in a while believing that the body oil from their noses would keep the opal from cracking. I know this sounds weird but that was a common practice back then. I store my dry opal rough in air tight sealed jars or small sealed zip lock baggies.
As for storing already cabbed Opals, I've never had problems with small cabs being stored for long periods of time in paper sleeves or gem jars. But I did buy some very large cabbed Australian opals as part of an old collection that had probably been cabbed for twenty years before I bought them. I stored them in the same paper sleeves they were in when I bought them but after a couple of years they began cracking. I don't know if this was due to the atmosphere being drier where I am or if there was some other reason. Either way it's a sick feeling when it happens.
Larry C
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 9, 2015 17:02:51 GMT -5
The Lortone ST-10 was an earlier version of the LS-10. I'm not sure when they stopped producing the ST-10 but they stopped producing the newer LS-10 version around 2007. Kingsley North still had them in their 2006 catalog complete with blade and motor for $870. IMO the ST-10 and the LS-10 were the best 10" power feed slab saws ever made. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 8, 2015 23:33:22 GMT -5
Reminds me of a couple of small pieces of highly agatized stromatolite I have with blue agate mixed in, but not as purple as yours appears to be. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 5, 2015 15:15:49 GMT -5
The gravity feed might be what I need to do some cutting of my copper pieces. I have been warned about auto feeds and copper. Slow is ok and a feed that won't power into heavy copper might be what the doctor ordered. I wonder if the Cutoff saw blades used for cutting metal might work better than a diamond blade for that purpose? They are inexpensive enough. Home Depot has a 12" one for $5.97. Has anyone here tried these for the native copper in matrix minerals? Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Feb 2, 2015 1:33:48 GMT -5
Nice find! It's like I keep telling my wife, "One can never have too many slab saws...just not enough shop space to keep them all, and not enough dedicated circuits/outlets to plug them all into"! I've been wanting to upgrade from my 18" Lortone so have been on the lookout for a good 18" HP or 18" Frantom for a while now. Over a year ago a guy (a former part time rock dealer) listed one on our local Craigslist and I went to look at it. He had painted a Lortone 18" up silver to resemble an HP and was trying to sell it as a Highland Park. When I called him out on it he claimed he had a friend do the listing for him and that his friend made the mistake. I guess "his friend" was the one who painted it silver too [sarc]. Yet two weeks later "his friend" had never corrected the add. Here in the Southeast good used larger saws don't show up for sale very often. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 28, 2015 12:19:48 GMT -5
Very cool cab! Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 23, 2015 19:27:52 GMT -5
Very nice saw!...And shop! Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 23, 2015 2:55:19 GMT -5
Just recently got myself a nice Highland Park 18" restored by cigar box rocks in Bend OR. They do nice work.How can I post a pic of it? Congratulations on your saw acquisition! To post pictures of your saw here you need to first post your photos on a picture hosting site. There are some free picture hosting sites out there. I use photobucket. I tried flickr but never could get it to transfer to here. But with photobucket I was able to do so by following RTH member Iant's instructions found about half way down the page on this page link: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/22977/posting-pics-instructions?page=2Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 23, 2015 2:41:31 GMT -5
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 9, 2015 23:54:37 GMT -5
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 8, 2015 2:09:29 GMT -5
[/quote]...That being said some utilities want 'proof' that all of there oil has been handled properly so they contract with a certified disposal facility to handle all of there transformers, regulators, etc. The only paperwork is from the disposal company stating the received said oil, transformer, etc. The responsibility is on that company then, and not the utility. I am sure the good company's do the 'right' thing but those on the edge maybe not so much.
I would think that any utility that gives or sells there oil has had it tested and it is at 0 ppm or they are taking a huge risk!...............MrP [/quote]
Interesting! Makes me wonder if that may have played role in our local Power Company's decision to only sell to China. Maybe the Chinese don't mid a few ppm of PBCs in their oil. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 7, 2015 16:52:01 GMT -5
I used to use used transformer oil too and liked it. But our local power company won't sell it to their power customers anymore. Instead I was told they are selling it all to China now. Larry C. hah! they send us melamine in dogfood so we send them pcb's in the transformer oil. Sounds fair! But actually pcb's have been banned from transformer oil in the U.S. since the 1970s or 80s. Now they just use an Industrial/Food grade Mineral Oil like what is used to lube food processing equipment. So now when those power transformers blow or leak they don't poison the local creeks and ground water. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 7, 2015 16:18:16 GMT -5
If a person can find the post we had on this very discussion a few months ago,it would give another education for us all....... I use mineral oil from recycled oil from the electrical transformers,they use for big power... Most places that rebuild the transformers,might sell it on the side...I pay $20.00 for five gallons...Works great,no health risks involved either... You supply your own bucket... I used to use used transformer oil too and liked it. But our local power company won't sell it to their power customers anymore. Instead I was told they are selling it all to China now. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 7, 2015 1:52:29 GMT -5
check the price difference on the hp14 at the link i posted By posting the link to the HP14 saw on Barranca's site I wasn't suggesting that he should buy directly from Barranca. Just wanted to show the saw so we didn't have the same confusion between Barranca's HP14 saw and the new Highland Park saws like we did on a similar thread a couple of months ago. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 6, 2015 21:45:40 GMT -5
The price was certainly right! Some lubricants can get nasty in mist form when breathed. Not saying that transmission fluid is one of them but just to be safe I'd try to find out how the manufactures' MSD sheets rate it for health issues before I used it for sawing. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 6, 2015 17:59:49 GMT -5
Aren't you near Birmingham? There's a 18" Lortone listed. Kinda pricy at $1800. If you will buy used, you should be able to stay around 1000 bucks with not too much problem. I'd watch craigslist and eBay if you're not in a hurry. You are probably gonna hear of some other good options from folks here. Everything I've read about Panthers mentions the fast feed rate which doesn't seem to be good with harder rocks. Yes the powerfeed motor that comes from the factory on the Lortone Panther is too fast. I replaced mine with the slower powerfeed motor that they use on their 12" saws. The other problem I have had with my Panther is the cheap Chinese made JBC bearings Lortone now uses. They don't last very long if you do a lot of slabbing. I replaced the JBC bearings on mine with some NOS (new-old-stock) U.S.A. made SealMaster bearings I found on eBay and am getting much better service from these. Also I don't like the 303 blade that comes stock on these saws. Some dealers will let you upgrade to the 301 blade for a reasonable fee. But if I were going to buy a new 14" saw today I would buy the Barranca Highland Precision 14" saw. www.barrancadiamond.com/lap/saw_hp14.html . If I were going to buy a used 14" saw I would try to find an old Frantom or Star Diamond saw. Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 3, 2015 1:16:47 GMT -5
What a great way to start off the year! Beautiful cabs! Larry C.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Dec 22, 2014 23:26:52 GMT -5
To help protect the items in my Shop building from getting coated with oil mist I bought a 10' wide roll of plastic and made a long curtain in two directions by stapling the plastic sheet to the wooden rafters. Also I have to drape large rags over the lid seams of my Lortone 10", 12", and 14" saws, but not on the 18" Lortone. Also have to on the 20" Covington. The saws are in the same building as my kiln so I haven't been able to fire my kiln since I started sawing in there for obvious fire hazard reasons. So I've been thinking about building a lean-to shed on the side of the building and putting an exhaust fan to pull air and mist out on the far end. And maybe some type of air filtering system similar to what they use in spray booths. I should have just gone ahead and done this years ago once I realized slabbing is an untreatable addiction! Larry C.
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