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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 8, 2015 13:10:57 GMT -5
I made the mistake of selling a 24" HP saw a few years ago. Wish I'd kept it. Been kicking myself ever since. Been thinking about building a big drag saw, Just need a shed to set it up in.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 8, 2015 12:18:20 GMT -5
Don, you are a hoarder! Two 6"ers, AND two 10"ers! Are all your saws and all your arbors in working condition? I think you win the hoarder medal Who, Meeeee ? Nah, one of my 6" saws is the Genie option. I use it indoors. The other 6" is mounted on one end of a movable stand. The other end will get the Beacon Star cabber I'm rebuilding. I'll be able to role it outside to work on nice days. Both 10" saws are mounted on movable stands & can be moved outside to keep mist out of my garage. The 16" is mounted on its own wheels and also gets rolled outside to use. That leaves the little 3" saw. Blades for it are ultra thin and nearly impossible to find. It only gets used to trim very valuable material. All of the Poly arbors are usable but presently out of commission. I don't have room to set them up. The Genie sits on the kitchen breakfast bar & gets used in the kitchen. The Beacon Star cabber is nearly ready to use. I'm converting it to a 5 wheel X1/2" thick convex wheeled carver for doing inside curves on freeform cabs. And the Loretone arbor gets switched between 2 hard diamond grinding wheels & 2 expando drums, depending on the need at the time. Then there's the vibro lap, 2 stone drills, An Inland 8" lap that I barely use, a jewelers buffing lathe and a little machine with slitting blade to do groove wrapped cabs. Also a little 2 head sphere machine to cut spheres up to just over 1", and a 3 head sphere machine which I should finish building this winter. A rockhound can never have enough rocks or toys with which to play with their rocks.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 8, 2015 10:13:37 GMT -5
Collect saws ? Nah. Lets see, I have a rare 3" saw, two 6" saws, two 10" saws and a 16" saw. Saws are like rocks. We hoard them. Actually my 10" and 16" are all power feed and I can have them all cutting at the same time as I'm trimming a cab on one of the 6" saws.
You might ask yourself, why do people have more than one cabbing machine ? Myself, I have my Genie, a Loretone 2 wheel arbor, four 8" Poly arbors, one 6" Poly arbor, and I'm rebuilding an old Beacon Star 6" cabber.
We're not collectors. We're hoarders.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 8, 2015 9:21:05 GMT -5
Welcome aboard Jeff.
What Ed just said with a couple of additions.
First is patience. Don't try to rush through each stage. I've been known to leave a load in rough grind for a month or more. In fact if you start out with 80 grit, you can leave it in that grit right up to the semi polish stage, as long as you don't add fresh grit. The grit will break down into finer grains over time. At about 2 months you can take your rocks out & clean them, and find that they are already at the semi polish stage.
Cleanliness. At the end of each stage, wash your tumbles and barrel real good. Keep your tumbles in a bucket of water & don't let them dry out. After cleaning everything, put your tumbles back in the barrel with water and a little Tide or Boraxo soap and run them for a day. Rinse your rocks and barrel again and proceed on to the next grit stage. Do the wash at the end of each stage.
Machine to buy. Get the best that you can afford. Shy away from cheap Harbor Freight or other cheap brands. You get what you pay for.
Good luck. And please do post pics of your rocks. In the rough we can help to identify them, and advise you about which will tumble & which to avoid.
Don
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 7, 2015 9:00:43 GMT -5
Welcome aboard Oregon.
I have my own method for removing oil from slabs. I live out in the boonies surrounded by farm fields & gravel roads. When I start cutting it's usually several days straight. I have several of those old fashioned toast racks that folks used to set on their breakfast tables, and a big drip tray. I wipe excess oil off the slabs back into the saw. Then I stand the slabs on edge in the toast racks and leave them sitting in the hot sun. In a few days all of the slabs have a heavy coat of road dust on them. Heat from the sun brings the oil to the surface, and the road dust soaks it up. In a week or so I scrape the dust off the slabs & give them a quick rinse. I seldom have any more oil seep out of the slabs.
80 - 85 deg weather ? Been in the 60's here in South Dakota. This morning there was frost on the grass. Snow will soon be here, and I ain't looking forward to it.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 6, 2015 22:27:31 GMT -5
Tractor Supply also has oil dry in 40 lb bags, and runs specials 2 or 3 times per year.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 6, 2015 21:33:39 GMT -5
Heat can be your friend for removing that oil. Get one of those plastic shoe boxes. Put a layer of kitty litter or oil dry in. then a layer of slabs, a layer of kitty litter, another layer of slabs etc, until the box is full. Snap the lid on & set the box out in the sun. A day or 2 of combined heat & kitty litter should draw almost all oil out. Then give them a quick wash in Dawn & hot water to remove kitty litter dust.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 6, 2015 10:31:56 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 6, 2015 9:28:07 GMT -5
As orrum said, it can be cabbed. Work it wet, just like cabbing a rock. Wear breathing protection when cutting and sanding, as the dust is toxic. It won't take a high shine, so a good grade of paste furniture polish is needed to bring out that glow. Mojave desert iron wood.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 5, 2015 10:47:48 GMT -5
What a bunch of light weights. This is what my buddy Bob, mtmadman on here uses to haul his rocks. He had around 800 lbs onboard when this was taken, all from my rock shed.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 4, 2015 14:29:52 GMT -5
Yup, I looked it up. Gonna get a can. Also want to try their cleaner on an antique barristers bookcase that I store my rock books and some minerals in.
Oh, sponge is a type of coral. That's what I'm thinking you have.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 4, 2015 12:47:33 GMT -5
Quote --- I more or less finished the coral, I soaked it in CLR for a couple days, scrubbing it every once in a while. It came a bit cleaner but not much. Instead of using baby oil I heated the coral under a heat lamp and then melted Ren wax on it. Not sure if its as good as baby oil but it will harden and nothing should stick to it. If its good enough for the British Museum its good enough for Tom These are the finished images taken with a real camera this time. Tom, I haven't tried Ren Wax yet, and it may be different from most waxes. The reason I use baby oil is that I've found that most waxes tend to turn yellow with age. I'll have to look up Ren Wax & see what they say about it.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 4, 2015 11:28:51 GMT -5
Came out great Tom. Without something like soda blasting they won't come out much cleaner.
I'm still going with coral, regardless of what the "experts" say. I've seen lots of South Dakota agates, but never seen one with that many eyes.
I'd take it with you to the next big rock show in Rapid City, or to the South Dakota School of Mines. Let the real experts have a look at it. I can see that piece causing a lot of excitement.
With it cleaned & waxed, many of the fortifications do look like Fairburn patterns. Like I said, let the real experts look at it. A piece like that could be worth a small fortune.
Whatever you do, don't let anyone talk you into cutting that beauty.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 4, 2015 9:33:37 GMT -5
Gotta love it when you pick up a rock to look at, only to find it's looking back at you.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 4, 2015 9:30:39 GMT -5
Happy B-day Mike, and many, many more.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 3, 2015 22:03:03 GMT -5
Not all wood is beautiful or colorful. I've kept this piece of fern wood just because it's an ugly duckling.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 3, 2015 10:45:23 GMT -5
Welcome aboard McKenzie. --- Bakersfield ? Where to hunt ? LOL, just take any road out into the desert. Park & walk up a dry wash. Nice stuff is everywhere around there. Just don't pick up any of those buzzing sticks.
Don. --- Ex Riverside guy.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 3, 2015 8:59:11 GMT -5
Yup, no doubt about it. That's coral. Those geologists think they know it all. I have a trucker buddy who travels all over the country. Whenever he has a day or 2 break between loads, he goes rock hunting. He's constantly finding things in places where they "don't exist".
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 2, 2015 18:06:32 GMT -5
Me too. Swiped #2. Gotta keep the Dems on facebook fired up.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 2, 2015 16:06:52 GMT -5
Democrat brains on the hope & change Coolaid.
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