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Post by Peruano on Apr 25, 2020 18:23:08 GMT -5
Vibes are faster so if you want instant gratification start with relatively compatible shaped rocks and run them in the vibe for a week, or .. . start with uglies and run them for weeks with lots more grit and then move them to a vibe or not. Seriously, I think vibes are so much better to get started with beach stones etc because the time delay is not so onerous. But welcome, no matter what strategy you follow.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 25, 2020 7:07:29 GMT -5
I'm not sure your question was totally answered. A bench grinder (not designed for wet lapidary work) will not really work (safely). You can get by with something that has a water suppression of dust and you can devise your own if you are careful about electrical hazards and ways to deliver and re-collect the water used on the stones. . . but don't work dry unless you take major precautions against breathing the dust (and the dust that will settle throughout your work area. The Star arbor that you are being shown would be great with an 80 grit diamond or sic wheel on one end and an expando wheel on the other that would let you use a variety of belt/grit sizes. Even cheaper might be a used combo unit (wheel on one end and saw on the other) if you can find one. (that would complement your tile saw). Even one of the old Sears flat lap/faceter rigs (often found lacking the facet attachments ) would work if outfitted with a coarse grit lap disc. I worked with beach stones and had a long initial period of just grinding a bit and then running things in the vibe-5, but often found it more efficient to do "remedial" grinding after things had been in the vibe for awhile so that I knew what I wanted and what I was likely to get without intervention. If you have a separate arbor from the motor (shock protection) you can use it with splash pans and hoods available from Lortone but it may not be cheaper than other alternatives and depending on how protected the bearings are on the arbor, they may not survive as long as a dedicated machine would. You want to grind . . . its up to you to figure out the economics of money and time to do so. Have fun and be creative and safe.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 24, 2020 7:39:36 GMT -5
Thanks to all. I gave away a couple of large rhyolite polished slabs to a friend whose birthday was one day before mine (she has a large lawn labyrinth which has an infinite capacity for rocks, and a pair of ear rings made from tiny geode halves. So I did rock a bit. The party was 4 people spaced at wide distances in the lawn for hot dogs.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 13, 2020 13:58:20 GMT -5
My wife's father used to say that anyone who got bored driving through desert country, didn't have enough imagination. He would probably say the same thing about the rocks we work with and vicariously enjoy our avocation/vocations.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 11, 2020 14:18:38 GMT -5
Yep. You are getting close to solving or reducing your problem. The marks are being produced by your stone surging against or pausing against the spinning blade. The split nut analogue is skipping on certain threads or at random times as the work is fed into the blade. Most of the standard remediations are worth considering. Tap the threads; reduce the face of the opposite halves so they can go closer together (producing better thread contact) or whatever it takes. I'm assuming your vice slides smoothly (no binding). That's a big enough blade that you want to use it as long as possible.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 10, 2020 18:13:32 GMT -5
There are a myriad of factors to consider in explaining the scoring of your slabs. Reviewing your recent posts you mention a new to you 24" saw. Is this the problem child? A big saw blade is much more likely to be tweaked out of alignment than a smaller blade. Have you removed the blade and laid it on a truly flat surface to see if it is bent or dished. Have you tried the saw on a really soft rock. A dull blade will fight the feed on a hard rock, but push through without surges on a softer one. Can you slow down the feed? Does the rock remain in contact with the blade surface after it passes the cutting edge? If you had an alternative blade available, I'd try it even if it was a smaller one (just add more lubricant). Vice alignment by its self is probably not your problem. Are the threads of the feed screw and or the split nut or its analogue in good shape?
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Post by Peruano on Apr 10, 2020 15:51:46 GMT -5
That one is sweet. You didn't get excited did you?
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Post by Peruano on Apr 9, 2020 9:17:21 GMT -5
You don't want anything that will reduce the size of the drain hole. Stuff (sludge, chips, etc) already tends to slow the draining process. I bent a small metal trough to route the liquid away from the saw base and toward a free fall to the catch bucket. Good management of coolant level reduces splash mess. Add coolant with saw running until the blade tends to throw a visible line of coolant on the saw table, but not significantly up on the shield. If you measured the amount it took to achieve that performance you could just add that amount every time the saw was filled.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 9, 2020 6:34:27 GMT -5
I had a chance to pay it back to the front line folks at one of our local hospitals. A box of medical masks that I bought at Habitat for Humanities ReStore several years ago, turned out to be N95 masks with expired dates. A nurse supervisor (friend) told me that they were reusing / resterilizing masks because of short supply. I provided him 140 masks after his administration OK'd their use under the circumstances. I'll use dust masks or the civilian forms of mask protection and was pleased that my bargain hoard of better masks went to a better use than my trim saw activity.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 9, 2020 6:24:46 GMT -5
No rock is safe when a new saw arrives in the shop.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 2, 2020 20:01:19 GMT -5
I'm not sure the saw is as simple as I presumed. I see what appears to be a chain drive along the side of the saw which may indeed be a drive mechanism. I also see a crank handle protruding from the front. Could one push the work through or crank it through by hand? It certainly looks like the front of the hood has a slot for that rodlike handle to protrude when the hood is down. The same book had a great early model of a Covington saw with an hood that was open on one side. I'll post that photo in a different thread. I have a more modern Covington that has a stupid 3 sided hood for which oil splash is controlled with pizza pans and terry cloth towels. Go figure.
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Post by Peruano on Apr 2, 2020 14:01:29 GMT -5
Stretching the topic a bit, I found an old photo of a somewhat unique slab saw in a book entitled Jewelry, Gem Cutting, and MetalCraft by W. T. Baxter. Its relevant to this thread in that the saw has a movable sled/vice but appears to lack a power feed. Instead of the usual gravity feed with cables and pullies, the saw has a rod-like handle that protrudes through the front of the cover which appears to have allowed the operator to gently push the rock through the saw without the proverbial bath of coolant. I've never seen such an innovation but its an improvement over not having any protection. The saw is labeled Diamond Streamliner - W. C. Eyles, Hayward, CA. The publication dates for the pub was 1938 and 1942 for the 2nd edition. Just thought it was worth illustrating here.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 30, 2020 8:30:33 GMT -5
If one of your worries was using water in that pump, I'd guess that the pump won't care whether it moves water or oil (and actually might find oil less of a strain for the pump). As some will possibly recall I'm a major fan of the MK 225 (I use a 12" on a slab saw and bought a 10" to use on an HP saw). One potential concern for using this blade on a hand fed saw is chipping for some softer and more valuable materials and the slots in the perimeter as a danger to fingers if material is handheld. Chipping might occur if the feed was not slow and steady like a slab saw. But you are using the vice and sled, and shouldn't have finger worries. I'm still assuming the 225 is the same as the Agate Cutter as originally noted by John's Gems. No one has ever stated it as a rule, but in the 301, 302 series only the bigger blades have the slots (slab saw application? or just better oil carrying capacity); and the smaller sizes are almost never slotted (but tile saw blades often are). Are tile guys fingers less valuable or better protected, or do they need the carrying capacity for coolants due to higher rpms. Sorry to lead the discussion astray. Curious minds want to know.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 30, 2020 8:15:15 GMT -5
There are many factors at play here, but too much water can slow the action and more importantly without a carrier for the grit cause the grit to stay in the bottom of the tub and wear the tub excessively. My rule is if I can see water pooling between the stones when its running, I may have a bit too much. If my action is too violent when I start it, I either add more rocks, or filler, or more water to calm things, but importantly I use soap at every stage to help the grit cling to the stones as the move from the bottom to the top. This may be where folks with sugar, cat litter, etc are trying to build a slurry in rotaries and "vibratories?"??". Multiple days may be necessary, but not without monitoring progress and probably renewing grit for long runs. I would not turn off a vibe and leave the contents inside without flooding it and planning for a complete washout before restarting. I'd suspect that the gritand slurry would be close to concrete in the bottom when I peered inside again. Watching the action of your stones when the machine is running should guide your mixtures. If its just moving, you have a problem; if the stones are churning like your fav cocktail mixer, you are in business. BTW you can run the Vibe5 without the top, to watch things more closely, but evaporation will mean more attention to minor water additions. Your results may vary.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 27, 2020 7:42:24 GMT -5
If I wanted to build a custom trim saw . . . I'd want to make sure it was easy to 1. clean; 2. drain; and 3. access the blade with minimal screws to remove (think Raytech). I'd also want one that had a saw table that was large enough to accommodate big slabs and that drained the coolant back into the tank to reduce buildup on the work surface (attributes of a tile saw). I might even think about a fence that could be used when I was wanting to cut specific thicknesses from small cobble or stones on the way to preforms (working its way to a larger saw). After that its pretty standard for what a trim saw is and should be. Enjoy the process.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 21, 2020 6:42:05 GMT -5
Here's another nodule. Not as shiny as above. For me, it looks like it belongs on an ancient family crest.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 20, 2020 10:41:55 GMT -5
Good job; thanks for us all.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 20, 2020 10:11:27 GMT -5
In my eye, its pretty even if it is serpentine (which I suspect it is). It works up really nice, takes a shine, and seems to be accepted readily by the folks I have offered pieces to.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 20, 2020 9:27:57 GMT -5
I am amused by hematite specimens lying au natural in the field in my rock hounding efforts. I'm sure others pick these beasts up as well. Here is one that for me resembled the African continent. It got made into a money clip for a friend who lived and worked in South Africa. I liked the result. Please add your hematite specimens.
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Post by Peruano on Mar 15, 2020 7:21:14 GMT -5
Nothing wrong with out of doors. Solitary activity is good whether it's standing beside a lapidary arbor, or leaning over the bars of a bicycle, jogging along a trail or taking photos in the backyard. I'm going to do all of the above as much as possible. Now that the library has closed I'm pleased that I have a minor horde of books I want to read.
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