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Post by Peruano on Aug 18, 2021 12:09:09 GMT -5
Win All of your older photos fail to load when I view this thread. Did you move or delete them?
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Post by Peruano on Aug 18, 2021 12:02:19 GMT -5
Congratulations. I"m assuming you both consider yourselves luck to have chosen well and adapted when necessary. I'm at 54 but committed to try for the 60 mark like you all.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 18, 2021 11:41:40 GMT -5
I'll take the contrarion opinion. The vibe will remove a lot of that rind and what it leaves might add character or can be removed with a lap or wheel. The rumor is that vibes can't handle coarse grits and that's true if you are tumbling broken sharp edged rocks and trying for smooth. But its not the coarse grit they can't take, its the rough rock tumbled with coarse grit for long periods. But I almost always run a day or two 60/90 grit in my raytech vibe 5 and have used a couple of my bowls for several years. You are running beach stones and would be fine with a raytech. BTW one of the most economical and readily available vibes. But if you have an arbor and can do a bit of pre-grinding a few minutes followed by use of the vibe will replace weeks of rotary action. Tumbling beach material is a great sport. Tumble on.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 17, 2021 12:33:31 GMT -5
I'll post a photo of one of the hawks, but the young tend to hang in the shade and thus my photos are inadequate. I do have one photo of a bird on a wire. Maybe RRs are too big for the Coopers, but mine don't know it. Or maybe NM Coopers are tough customers. The RR's are extremely alert to the squeaks of the young in the Ponderosa trees above and near my patio. They are probably aware of the adult calls as well. Things have quieted down recently in terms of hawk vocalizations, but the RRs are still watching the sky. Tell me if its not a Cooper's Hawk. I'm no bird guy - bifocals and binocs don't mix.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 16, 2021 16:00:11 GMT -5
Following the saga of new Cooper's Hawks, I'm tempted to include how nervous our crop from this year is making the roadrunners that we feed as they are nesting and or rearing young. As I've mentioned before, while they are normally quite calm feeding on hamburger balls rolled to them across the patio, now that the hawks are nearby and vocalizing, they are much more wary and spend time watching the sky. A few days ago, one roadrunner ate a morsel and suddenly froze with this head tilted for a view of the sky above. Literally he sat there for 2 - 3 minutes, frozen like a mime watching for that threat. So far no RR lost to the hawks, but I do spot a remnant of white winged dove, wings and skin on the neighbor's roof. It pays to be aware of things above. !!!
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Post by Peruano on Aug 16, 2021 15:48:15 GMT -5
I'm biased, but I would eliminate the rotary and go for a vibe for the entire process. You don't need shaping, you need smoothing and polish. I've had good success tumbling beach cobble in a Raytech Vibe 5 and or Mini-sonic. You will be surprised what you can produce in 5 - 7 days.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 15, 2021 16:56:18 GMT -5
No, I don't.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 15, 2021 16:53:37 GMT -5
Just make sure you are turning the nut the correct way. Normally things on the right side of the arbor shaft are right handed (counterclockwise to loosen) and those on the left side of the bearing/arbor are left handed (clockwise to loosen). To remember (right is right = counter clockwise to loosen) and left is wrong (not the normal counterclockwise to loosen). I've never figured out what righty-tighty has to do with life but everyone under 30 who watched Sesame Street uses it to figure out the right handed threae ordeal. I subscribe to a motorcycle forum in which at least 30 % of the participants don't even do righty - tighty when they are trying to change their oil. Go figure.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 14, 2021 6:59:49 GMT -5
The beauty is in the stones. They often need only to be shaped, sliced, sanded, or polished to bring out their color and patterns. Reading about stones is a great way to find what most interests you. Where are you located? What kinds of stones do you find nearby?
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Post by Peruano on Aug 11, 2021 17:20:18 GMT -5
I see why you are attracted to the stone. Lots of color, pattern, and contrast. Two options for you to consider: 1. If its soft, it could be a serpentine. 2. If its hard, it is likely to a quartzite (granular structure internally will not be visible in a polished beach stone except where there is a chip of break. Other possibilities exist, and since you love it, you should continue to read books, and explore websites that discuss great lake rocks to get better fix on its nature. Enthusiasm is welcomed, but on occasion we may encourage you to chip or cut or polish your rock to find out more about it and sometimes loving your rock discourages such exploratory actions. Hence my recommendation is to collect multiples, one to love and one to study.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 11, 2021 17:13:51 GMT -5
On a couple of different saws, I needed to connect a 20 amp toggle switch to a chain connected to the vice sled to produce an auto-cut-off for when the saw was neglected. I found that the expanded end from an oxygen cannula (hey we all know someone who has to use oxygen and has dozens of extra tube sets) fits snuggly over the toggle on the electrical switch. By cutting off that plastic fitting and an short length of the oxygen hose, I not only extended the length of the toggle, but also produced a soft end which was easy to perforate for attaching a stiff wire intended to run from the toggle switch to the chain inside my saw tank, where the wire attaches to a chain and the vice sled. On one saw I had to drill a small hole for the wire to enter the tank, the other had a convenient hole in the tank. The soft rubber cannula fitting is easy to slide off of the toggle when more slack is needed, but the length of the trip wire is adjusted on the other end close to the vice. I'll add a photo for those more visually oriented (tomorrow when I'm back in my work clothes - headed for an outdoor concert and have my public attire on at present). Just to complete the story here's how the arrangement looks and is wired. In the spirit of recent questions about cutoff switch wiring: In brief the hot wire on the outlet cord goes through two switches. The cut-off switch is normally left closed except when opened by the wire/chain vice position activation. The on and off of the saw is accomplished with the first switch (a heavy duty household style switch). Works great especially since I try very hard not to abandon my saw to the auto-cut-off option.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 11, 2021 6:51:51 GMT -5
check the streak on #6. It could be a iron family formation. Those geometric patterns do show up in hematite like stones.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 6, 2021 7:04:27 GMT -5
No, I don't always run the vibe without a lid, but I do for an hour or two or if I'm around it while working on other projects. Left off for long periods will result in evaporation (at least in dry New Mexico). Watching the motion is informative about the load (and yes entertaining compared to watching a slab saw hurl oil at the plastic window on the spray cover).
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Post by Peruano on Aug 5, 2021 17:13:42 GMT -5
If you want to know what's happening. Fasten the bowl with the first rubber nut, and leave the top off. If it's throwing rocks out of the bowl you will know it; if its just throwing water/grit, then you know you have too much liquid or too little material resulting too violent action. I often run my vibe 5 without the top so that I can observe the movement closely and make microadjustments of adding or removing rocks for ballast or more water to lubricate a sluggish action.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 5, 2021 14:52:27 GMT -5
I'd say too small of a load and yes splash up. Could you see water when you first loaded the bowl. You want wet not bathed, and it is critical to have sufficient material in the load (throw in those Fairburns if you need ballast). I don't know, but I can imagine that with too small of a load, the rocks were dancing enough to throw everything toward the top and it stuck. I always start my vibe 5 with the top off, and this lets me check the action and adjust the amount of stones, add a bit of water or ??. I also only add the grit after I have had the bowl running with a dose of dawn liquid (which I add to every stage). The soap helps the grit cling to the rock and eventually the foam cushions the movement. Thats the way things run here in New Mexico, not new and certainly not Mexico. I hope you figure it out.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 5, 2021 6:16:36 GMT -5
Nova Scotia has much in the way of rocky coastlines and cobble beaches. Many of those cobble stones are granite, but pretty granite at that. I had a blast rock hounding on your beaches. Show us your stuff when it is convenient.
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Post by Peruano on Jul 31, 2021 14:25:48 GMT -5
As the photos illustrates, the shaft can handle 4 wheels, one of which obviously could be an expando giving you multiple options. The end wheels can be changed easily, but the two between the bearings are more resident. I have the shaft, the bearings that fit on it, and the housing that holds the bearings but it has one flaw that calls for a fix or replacement of the overall housing. As a small cab unit it could become a great machine and ahead of a custom made arbor, but if you want more wheels, its not your machine. Its your decision.
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Post by Peruano on Jul 30, 2021 17:59:43 GMT -5
Here is a thread describing the shaft and skeleton of a cab machine that I mentioned. I can provide detailed measurements and a naked arbor photo if you want. It would not take much more than shipping costs and promise of a couple of nice Oregon rocks to make it yours. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/93288/older-beacon-star-combo-unitNote: Mine is not a combo unit; just the four wheels (6"). I can explain why it is disassembled if you are indeed interested.
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Post by Peruano on Jul 30, 2021 12:22:36 GMT -5
Where are you? I have a shaft from an old Star Beacon cab machine that could be incorporated into a custom housing, or for that matter the old housing could be copied or resurrected as a starting point.
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Post by Peruano on Jul 30, 2021 12:20:15 GMT -5
The fact that the scratches on the last photo are all going in two directions may suggest that you are not altering the angle at which the stone contacts the wheel enough. It can not remove scratches that are parallel to the rotation of the wheel. If you are not pushing, maybe you should. Letting the stone kiss the wheel without force can let it hop around and miss areas. The reason why soft wheels are soft is so you can push against them and get to a larger area (often necessary to get central scratches and flat spots) although that does not seem to be your problem. In my shop 3000 is not for anything with visible scratches. Those have to be removed down at 600 and then using higher grits to change a satin surface into a mirrored one. I hope that makes sense. You know what you are doing you just are stubbing your toe on this one.
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