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Post by Peruano on Jun 7, 2021 5:41:11 GMT -5
Its impossible to tell what is there other than it appears to be a 10" saw on this end. Sometimes that saw is run off of the same motor as the arbor and sometimes it is on a separate motor. Most of the variations of the combo models are in the catalogs (vintage) posted on the Tucson Lapidary site. There will be a round HP badge riveted on the main belt cover which lists the model number. Bearings are universal, but the key is if all parts are there. Installing diamond wheels adds greatly to the start up cost (but truthfully speaking almost all used cab machines need new wheels), but having it already disassembled if a time saver if you understand how it goes back together. Removing the old bearings from the shaft can be the greatest challenge. Its a great machine but probably takes up more shop space than more modern and expensive alternatives. But you have a barn to house it!
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Post by Peruano on Jun 6, 2021 14:40:22 GMT -5
Score one for reading; and one for applying the info in your backyard environment.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 6, 2021 11:25:52 GMT -5
www.quartzpage.de/ I agree, there seems to be a group of findings that are largely crystals which I don't see in your material. Then there are a lot of stones that are obviously largelly quartz with heavy iron stains or infusions. I think the terminology is sloppy. I would be useful to see a better picture of a freshly broken surface or of any fractures that might be obvious.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 6, 2021 6:40:46 GMT -5
If you have not consulted the section on this type of quartz in the quartzpage.de you probably should do so. Clearly the term of feruginous quartz is thrown around loosely on the internet and the rock community and sometimes refers to quartzites as I did above and sometimes to a more crystal-form of quartz that has iron as a source of the reddish color.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 6, 2021 6:22:49 GMT -5
Where is the material from? When you cut it is it as red all the way through or is the red restricted to the outer edges? The material I find like that around central New Mexico often gets considered as red jasper but in fact is probably quartzites stained by iron oxidation.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 5, 2021 13:58:29 GMT -5
I like your comment that determining the identification is just as satisfying as working their luster. Lets just say that most of the rocks that you will be attracted to will be some form of quartz/chalcedony. Thus you need to read, and study, and compare with the info on the quartzpage.de It will tell you to pay attention to crystal size, color, origin, etc. The other major source of rocks in the Albuquerque area are Precambrian metamorphics from the western side of the adjacent mountains, and sedimentary stuff from the top and eastern side of the mountains. On the west side of the rio grande you have 1000s of feet of rocks transported from further north via the Rio Grande and its previous ancestors and those riverine deposits consist of material of various ages and origins. In it is a lot of jasper and agate (including agatized wood = petrified wood). You may even find common opal, obsidian, and occasional piece of basalt, and other materials like hematite, and or green stone. Your basic task is to start picking up and comparing stones as you encounter (and are drawn to them). Polished river stones are a bit harder to id because they are smoothed and their real crystaline pattern may not be visible, but their advantage is that they are everywhere and furnish lots of examples to compare and draw info from. Quartzites have a sugary, crystal pattern (grains fused under pressure) whereas agates, cherts, and most jaspers have a smooth feel and when broken can form concave divits (conchoidal fractures). Paying attention to those characteristics will segregate a lot of your candidates. The examples that you presented that have thin flaking surfaces (like waves on a beach) are likely quartzites. Find something that has the conchoidal divits and you will have an agate to contrast with the quartzites. The patterns in quartzites are often striped and diffuse, whereas the stripes or inclusions in our local agates are discrete and not blurred. There is an excellent mineral musuem at New Mexico Tech in Socorro and there you could learn a lot. Or find a rock hound in the Albuquerque area and spend an afternoon talking, collecting and rejecting rocks with or without lapidary or geological interest for you. Its the old adage, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you decide how to identify the prince. Pucker up and keep after it.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 2, 2021 16:53:39 GMT -5
There is a sign in the shop where I buy some of the findings I use. It says:
"Never apologize for your art." I don't.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 2, 2021 15:58:04 GMT -5
My wife and I gave a beautiful pendant (cab attached to a beavertail finding) and modestly told her that I cut and polished the stone and the finding only cost .85. She without thinking replied that it was the first time she had received a gift costing 0.85. I reminded her that the stone was priceless. I spent 10 years learning to work stones and about an additional 25 minutes making the one I gave her. She was appreciatve. Go figure friends and sils.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 1, 2021 20:33:15 GMT -5
Yes
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Post by Peruano on Jun 1, 2021 12:37:24 GMT -5
Some just have blems all the way through. Give it to a kid or your sister-in- law( who won't see the blems). Or take it to a cab machine to prove that I am wrong that the blems go all the way. It's a pretty rock Not all of us are totally beautiful.
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Post by Peruano on May 25, 2021 15:17:10 GMT -5
There is a middle ground for getting stones off of carpenter's glue mounts. 1. I don't use waterproof glue just plain carpenter's wood glue; 2. I don't try to soak it off of the whole stub, but rather just by cutting as closely as possible to the stone with a wood saw (actually a hand hack saw) so that I have a thin 1/8 to 1/2" slice of wood attached to the last piece of stone. Water will soak through that thin section rather quickly and the wood will release within 24 hrs and the glue will soften sufficiently to be brushed off or scraped with a dull knife. 30 - 45 seconds of hand sawing with a cheap hack saw is quicker and less problematic than another run through the slab saw of 10 - 15 minutes. Wood glue will release unexpectedly if no cured at normal room temperatures. I.E. when i glue up things in the winter, shop temps of 40 or 50 degrees are not enough to cure the glue setup securely and they will be more likely to pop off.
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Post by Peruano on May 24, 2021 17:16:24 GMT -5
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Post by Peruano on May 24, 2021 8:55:54 GMT -5
I knew someone would rise to the bait. For some of us, we need an EXCUSE to do another stone in the face of our stockpiles awaiting someone to admire them. Good on the person that made the offer.
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Post by Peruano on May 24, 2021 8:52:27 GMT -5
The minisonic for me has a distinct movement pattern. Rolling live waves in one direction rather than swirling or rotating slowly. Mine is the old version so not adjustable. That said, it is the machine I go to for any particularly problematic load (excessively rough rocks, occasional big ones more likely to clog up action in the other vibes, and small batches, because it seems less particular about load weight or volume. I like all of my vibes, but each has its own place in my activity.
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Post by Peruano on May 23, 2021 17:13:43 GMT -5
If its bogging down with no movement, give it a spritz of water. You should see an almost immediate pick up in movement. I'd be using a healthy dose of dawn liquid to lubricate things and to build up a slurry to carry the grit. The soap takes a bit (30 min or so) but you should not be needing to monitor it constantly or to add water more than once or twice once you have the desired movement. I use the rule that if things are too violent, I add more rocks (fill or additional specimens). Once my bowl is adequately fill and if its still to violent, I'll add a bit of water, but not enough that I can see it in the bottom of the bowl. If things are too slow, I may take out the biggest rocks to reduce weight, but if the slowness appear to be because things are too mucked up (pasty) I add a spritz of water. Jagged rocks take a while to settle into the motion, but pretumbled rocks should rock and roll pretty quickly if you lubricate them with a bit of water and soap. I'm certainly not fastidious about pouring off water but I do tip the bowl and let nearly all obvious water run off. They are all vibes but it may be of importance to acknowledge I use the raytech 5; gyroc Model B, and the minisonic, none of which are part of your discussion,
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Post by Peruano on May 17, 2021 16:11:42 GMT -5
I use Dawn liquid in all vibe loads. I feel it helps carry the grit up in contact with the stones as they circulate and as it builds a dense foam it also cushions the material (less rough rattling). But I should warn you there are many views on tumbling formulas and you will hear a lot of them.
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Post by Peruano on May 16, 2021 20:32:21 GMT -5
Even with water, capillary action will cause the fracture to remain wet as the rest of the surface dries Another good clue comes from feeling the surface with a finger nail. At times only the finger nail can catch on the fracture. Tom
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Post by Peruano on May 13, 2021 18:33:34 GMT -5
A bit of info on the location. Guaymas is the major port closest to the US/Mexican border on the coast of Sonora. Across from Baja California. It works out to 5 hours south of Nogales, and another hour to Tucson. There is a small enclave of tourism near Guaymas called San Carlos (Nuevo Guaymas). Things are tranquil here, and I'd say that the Mexicans are taking the pandemic as seriously or more so than folks to the north. Tourism is obviously reduced from previous years, but the fish is fresh, the beer is cold, the beach is serene, the breezes consistent, and the people are friendly. I'm not selling anything; just pleased to be here and collecting rocks on a beach where few serious rock collectors ever visit. Life is much more civilized in much of Mexico than we are often led to believe. Did I say that I went to Home Depot to help a friend by a grill or bought one hundred of the best flour tortillas that you will every taste today?
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Post by Peruano on May 13, 2021 18:23:05 GMT -5
For me it looks like a rhyolite with varying degrees of hardness between the dark material and the grey material. It could easily be a metamorphic of an igneous rock or As to a tool, I'd pass on that.
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Post by Peruano on May 13, 2021 16:43:44 GMT -5
Am mildly amused to find this chalcedony rearing bull in a New Mexican thunderegg. I have trimmed most of the rhyolitic matrix from the perimeter, but have resisted trying to carve the beast to higher level of realism. Some things are best left to our mind's eye.
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