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Post by Peruano on Jul 2, 2023 12:05:26 GMT -5
Everyone has their own biases and tolerances for neatness in their work areas. Admittedly, I cut rocks in my workshop, but its hardly a grease pit -- even though I have three slab saws which use oil, and an 8" trim saw that lacks a cover that also uses oil. By using a deflector in front of the saw table and carefully not iver-filling the tank (not too high) I reduce a lot of the oil mist on the trim saw. Yes when the oil hits a certain curvature of a stone, it may be deflected away from the saw and warrant a clean up, but oil -dri is your friend unless you are cutting in the Living room or on shag carpeting. I buy old carpets for the shop floor that greatly reduce the chances of tracking oil to other areas and use oil dri under any drips or on any oil spots. I commend you for thinking through your decisions on the saw, but nothing will replace a bit of experience and experimentation. The one time I used water with some magic additive, I felt I had as big a mess to clean up as if I had used oil. The additive dried to a white powder that looked like I had painted with baking soda solution.I'll admit I live in New Mexico where our ambient dust probably acts somewhat as an oil suppressant, but I'm convinced that many over react to fear of oil being a mess (which in my eyes its not). If this saw was used for years with oil at your club, where is the mess and how did they handle it?
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Post by Peruano on Jul 2, 2023 10:30:41 GMT -5
Depending on its size you could polish it in a vibe with lots of smalls. In my shop I would Ron it with small scraps of pet wood and a couple of handfuls of small garnets or decomposed granite. I like the natural rough surface when polished. Just don't run so many smalls that they all clump in the bottom. And use some soap to make the smalls carry the grit. Here is a pet wood piece with lots of white that I polished in a vibe. This may be more extreme than your specimen and you might say it looks like a guano rock, but I like it because of the contrast. Just the most readily available example I could find. 2023-07-02_11-09-04 by Thomas Fritts, on Flickr
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Post by Peruano on Jul 2, 2023 6:23:08 GMT -5
I could be wrong but that looks like the white is pet wood too! Those are particularly colorful and varied in coloration and while you may not want the white on the exterior ridges, that's the way this wood came through the fossilization. You can grind it off, but I think you would change the final product.
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Post by Peruano on Jul 1, 2023 6:56:54 GMT -5
Gosh, I'm surprised a rock as "ugly"/ gnarly as the rough you showed, came out as pretty as the tumbles in your last post. It must be brittle looking at all of the chips and cracks that show in your tumbled stones. Its quite attractive colors and destined for a good shine. Based on where you are finding it, its white coating, and brittleness, I'd suspect its in the chert realm as well, it was just born with charm and variety. It will be interesting when you slice a few to see how the layers/color bands are positioned.Now back to the Tour.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 30, 2023 16:47:35 GMT -5
Have you tried Rick Scott at Scott Raytech saws? He doesn't make the 18" but he has the manual on his site, maybe he has a schematic. These are the best 18" saws ever made in my opinion. The blade turns clockwise unlike all other saws, make sure it does after your wiring job or the vise/carriage will not work properly. Its a matter of the motor turning clockwise or counterclockwise. It should be easy to visualize the pulley movements before you select or install the motor.The raytech is a unique saw and certainly has several great attributes relative to any other saw I know of.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 30, 2023 16:42:09 GMT -5
I have a 7" hotdog blade (got it on close out for like $15) and it cuts great, but not any better or worse than cheaper blades. Only thing I will say is that it seems to be lasting longer than my usual blade of choice (the Home Depot workforce blade) In my experience it will last a lot longer than most blades.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 30, 2023 16:40:35 GMT -5
Although its tempting to assume that all white colorations on pet wood and agates in general are calcium salts, its my experience that they are not and hence not altered by acid soaks. Many agatized specimens just have an oxidized film on their exterior and the way to remove it involves diamond wheels and not chemical treatments. Its hard to imagine what you are dealing with without pictures. Please post some examples to stimulate and guide our thinking.
Too often we assume that acids will dissolve salts, and indeed strong acids will alter some of those salts and convert them to other compounds that are also not dissolved in the solution in which the stones were soaked. In essence you are replacing one contaminant with another. My inorganic chemistry was a long time ago so I can't get more specific and "may" be totally in left field.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 22, 2023 5:19:03 GMT -5
Think December and an unheated workshop! In the winter months, I bring in the glued rocks I'm working on just like the geraniums. I could cut the last slab or remnant with the rock saw but my saw time is faster if I do it by hand and free the saw for the next slab candidate. I'm retired and use lots of inefficient acts as a way of generating exercise.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 21, 2023 12:00:04 GMT -5
I suspect no drilling the cracks is necessary unless you think the rock is seriously compromised. I was assuming you were mostly filling cracks for cosmetic reasons. It penetrates really well. We've used it to reduce crazing in opal and on other fragile stones. Occasionally I fill a hole in a particularly pretty piece of pet wood. If you use too much, i.e. create a mound on top of the crack you will pay the price by having to grind/sand it flush and its really hard stuff once dried. When you are really good (probably best on a polished cab) you can hit it with the wheel just as its drying which will rake enough of the host stone into the glue to do an exact match of coloration. Don't try this at home on your mother-in-law's heirloom broach until you have practiced on lesser material.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 21, 2023 6:25:16 GMT -5
Regular carpenter's glue; overnight cure; cut the last slab off with any saw that you would use on the wood side. I typically use a hack saw. The thin layer of wood allows quick (overnight) penetration of a water soak and the sliver of wood floats off. Easy peezy and you get the exercise of 60 seconds of saw exercise. Cure must be at room temperature in winter. Glue won't set up well at lower temps.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 21, 2023 6:20:16 GMT -5
You probably don't want just any old super glue. I get a super glue in three distinct thicknesses intended for filling cracks, crevices, etc. The original forumula was Hot Stuff; but it comes in a thicker version "Super T" called gap filler; and as "Special T" billed as ultra gap filler. It penetrates tight cracks best if the stone is heated and the glue is backed a bit under a heat lamp as soon as applied. You can mix iron oxide powder in it to disguise the glue line, and can polish it if used on highly polish surfaces. I buy mine at a real hobby store (not the political one with the lobby) although here in ABQ Thunderbird carries it too. Its made by Satellite City Inc. if you have trouble finding it and need to search the web.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 21, 2023 5:58:45 GMT -5
I have used the Raytech vibe 5; the small Gyrocs; and an older minisonic. There are times when a certain combo of stones have refused to shake or move efficiently in both the Vibe 5 and the Gyroc, but to date I've never had a batch refuse to move to my satisfaction in the minisonic. Its all a balancing act between stones, water, and grit/polish, but the movement of the mini's is completely different. Everything moves in one direction in the bowl as opposed to the Waring Blender rotation of traditional vibes. You will like the minisonic but you may occasionally go back to the other one. To paraphrase a guy on the bike forum in a tumbler context.
"If someone tells you that you have too many tumblers, avoid that person; you don't need that kind of negativity in your life." Stay the course.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 15, 2023 9:50:15 GMT -5
There is another thread with a similar focus. I'll try to find a link.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 15, 2023 9:45:08 GMT -5
Its easier to face polish one of these stones because you can concentrate on the edge/rim with no need to polish the crystaline interior. Hence essentially you are going to dome the outer rim, the equivalent of doing a much smaller stone in terms of getting to the exposed surface to get rid of scratches. By carefully holding the stone so that only one section of the rim is in contact with the wheel at a time and doing all the necessary rotations to avoid producing scratches all in the same direction. This is all very hard to describe in words, but think of it as doming the edge/rim instead of the entire exposed area.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 1, 2023 6:24:21 GMT -5
Mookaite can be extremely variable. I'd say it falls within the range of material I've seen. Agree it occurs in the west but rocks move with people as we all can testify.
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Post by Peruano on May 23, 2023 5:41:38 GMT -5
Guess what your power hammer did in 1942-1945 and why it was for sale sometime after that. Congratulations on the hardware. If you have the space to store it, and the time to play with it, and the resources to afford it you are a fortunate person. As we say in the bicycle world "Steel is real".
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Post by Peruano on May 18, 2023 6:07:05 GMT -5
You have a challenge, but it will be a learning experience and probably successful. First while you might be able to use the silicon carbide wheels (DON'T). When you abuse them they break off (throw off) pieces and once out of balance can literally disintegrate hurling lethal chunks of stone at the operator. When using these wheels its essential to spin them to remove excess water before turning off the machine, and more importantly not stand in front of them when you first turn the machine on. Diamond wheels or expando wheels are cheap enough that only in special cases would I recommend sticking with sic wheels. That rust will be a challenge. Do you know about Evaporust. I hear its wonderful. Don't fret replacing the blade, I'm hoping that you don't have to replace the shaft. I believe the housing is cast aluminum or at least not steel. Hence it is subject to breakage and hard to repair once broken. As you are freeing bearings etc. be cautious not to hammer or pry on the housing. Evaporust shouldn't harm it. I could tell you why I know breakage can be a problem, but you can guess. I have an older cab machine quite similar but without the saw.
Go slow and clean that rascal up and polish rocks. Oh, you do need more than two wheels eventually but I don't want to scare you now.
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Post by Peruano on May 15, 2023 6:23:09 GMT -5
You owe Tony more money based on how much enjoyment you are getting out of the rock.
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Post by Peruano on May 9, 2023 13:40:24 GMT -5
Ironically, I've been slabbing sugelite for the last few days. This is one that came off recently. 20230503_102445 by Thomas Fritts, on Flickr The intense jelly moves around in the rough so each slab can differ.
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Post by Peruano on May 6, 2023 15:46:26 GMT -5
I always cite the rule of "never accept a job when its first offered; and never turn it down when its first offered. It makes you more attractive to be considering them and to be considering your own welfare. You did it right (it seems) and now have a good challenge to do the job. Congratulations.
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