gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 16, 2024 18:08:07 GMT -5
Is there a concen with the weight of the sintered wheels and causing an imbalance on your cabbing machine? Assuming you only got one sintered wheel. I run 1 metal sintered and 2 plated on the left side of my Genie. No imbalance problem if they're properly balanced to begin with). Can't speak for any other machine brand. I've also run 2 metal sintered on it simultaneously with no problem. It might cause wear on the bearings eventually but after about 3 years of use I'm not having a problem.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 16, 2024 17:02:54 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced. Any recommendations on where to buy? As soon as the current textured 80 on my Cabmate is finished I want to try the sintered 60 there. I use the 1 wheel unit for all the initial material removal since it runs with fresh water, makes the genie stay clean a lot longer that way. If you're asking me specifically, I got Newsints through Kingsley but they've changed brands. They're the only ones I've had experience with so I really have no recommendation.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 15, 2024 13:49:42 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here. I forgot to mention dressing your plated wheel. Also, reversing direction can sometimes improve cutting speed for a while. Re: 60 grit sintered: they also chip a fair bit. They can also be dressed. I just dressed mine and it's cutting much better after lots of heavy use on hard materials.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 14, 2024 18:23:57 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 14, 2024 12:10:16 GMT -5
Great little Lake Superior agatewhisperer !! Really pretty agate dshanpnw !! I love the color. Also really pretty realrockhound ! Is the fracture along the bottom at a diagonal? I wouldn’t have even noticed or realized. But, it sucks that it makes it less stable/not useable for setting. Yeah, it’s right there at the bottom. Lighting isn’t great and pictures a lil blurry, but it’s that faint diagonal line that goes side to side. I got some other types of nice material to cut, but I’m pretty over it at this point. Sorry about the fracture. I've had a lot of those issues myself over the years. It reminds me of the Mark Twain complaint about "the innate cussedness of inanimate objects."
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 13, 2024 15:58:47 GMT -5
Working on mine. I'll see when it's finished if I want to enter it. Have a couple of back-up ideas if it doesn't work out.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 12, 2024 16:21:11 GMT -5
If your objective is picture jasper and opal, I'd suggest somewhere near Marsing, ID. It's been years since I've been there and I don't know what the current situation re: accommodations. Graveyard Point and the East Oregon picture jasper sites as well as the Succcor Creek collecting areas are all reasonably close. There's also a great rock shop there, Service Station Gems, that can give you much more current info than me. In fact you might give them a call to get their input. The owner's another Tony, Tony Schultz.
Tony Funk (Idaho Rock Shop) is located a considerable distance from those sites, in Gooding, near Twin Falls Maybe you can drop in on him on your way to the rock club outing, depending on your route. He will also have god info on accommodations. Happy hunting!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 10, 2024 16:57:02 GMT -5
Really nice batch Jason. Nice photography too. The rutilated quartz is my favorite but I'm partial to the stuff and always have been. Years ago it was abundant and cheap. But in the 90s top cutters' work was often featured in magazines and it became very popular among the many new lapidary people who hadn't previously been aware of its potential. Predictably, the supply of quality rough went down and the price went up.
It varies greatly in type and quality. Some, with tiny, thin rutile inclusions is called Angel's Hair Quartz and it has its own appeal. Some cutters prefer the rare "stars,' with rays of golden rutile growing star-like from a metallic inclusion. Some rutile is reddish, with a copper-like quality. Other occurs as what I call 'swords," broad rutile crystals with impressive "flash.' Anther variety is the sort you cut here. Sometimes the bundles of rutile are thick and bunched like my stone you refer to. It also occurs in a range of quartz colors, from water clear to fairly dark smoky. I have one large smoky piece that has amazing bright rutile inclusions but it will be a display piece only. Lots of cutting to do on it.
Really fine work, thanks for showing it.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 8, 2024 13:20:15 GMT -5
That's a nice one! Posting pics on the forum is a really good way to make the scratches show up! You are sooo right!! Didn't notice them even with 10X inspection until I posted. Or maybe they eyes just aren't what they used to be.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 7, 2024 18:49:16 GMT -5
About 15 years ago I attended a Federation show in Ventura, CA. A couple was selling both slabs and rough Namibian Pieersite. I've been kicking myself ever since for not buying more (I could have mortgaged the house!) but instead I tried not to break the bank. On piece of larger rough I did buy yielded what I think is an unusual pattern. I finally got around to cabbing some of it last week. Knowing I'd end up with what will probably be just a specimen cab, I decided to try to make a finished stone from the entire pattern of a slab adjacent to the one shown here. I ended up with this stone which measures a bit over 3 inches long. It was a bit of a chore manipulating it between the crowded wheels of my Genie but managed. But I don't think I'll try it again. (ETA: After posting this I noticed some scratches that had escaped notice previously. Back to the wheels!)
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 6, 2024 20:36:26 GMT -5
A number of members have been concerned that Robin hummingbirdstones hasn't posted recently. I'm happy to report that she's doing just fine. We had a lovely dinner with her to celebrate her birthday recently and are in touch with her on a regular basis. Summer is the busy time for realtors and she's busy, busy! Which is a very good thing because realtors who aren't busy don't do very well. My wife had a long phone chat with her today and she promises to return to the forum when her time allows. She thanks you all for your concern,
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 5, 2024 18:13:25 GMT -5
chris1956 and jasoninsd I figured calcite or something similar. I Googled but didn't find a precise answer. Thanks both.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 5, 2024 16:26:33 GMT -5
New to me and absolutely stunning! What is the replacement mineral? It doesn't look like quartz.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 4, 2024 20:04:33 GMT -5
That's killer! Doesn't look like any Stone Canyon I have. Some areas look almost sagenitic. Fun cabbing ahead!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 3, 2024 16:11:52 GMT -5
khara I've tried to respond twice but a glitch has caused problems. Third time's a charm, I hope. Yes, it was a black bear. It was a sneak attack, probably motivated by hunger. The victim had no warning at all. It started to eat the victim while neighbors tried to scare it away. It was killed by the authorities, who said it wasn't rabid. Very unusual behavior for a Black bear. Bears often wander through our area and seldom cause problems. A notable recent incident was a bear checking out the Safeway store parking lot where I shop. No shoppers were injured during that incident although a number suffered from increased heart rates. One brave person took a head-on image of the bear from about 15 feet away. We live next to a wild land area and have lots of animal visitors: coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, deer, various snakes and especially javelina. Lots of birds too, it's raven paradise and we have hordes of hummingbirds and lots of migratory species as well as your roadrunners. We call them Little Dinosaurs (named by hummingbirdstones ) and keep them away from our yard because they devour our little skinks, my wife's pets. We also have to shoo tarantulas out of our garage and sometimes they pay us visits in the evening as we sit outside enjoying Arizona's spectacular sunsets. The javelina are trruly ugly creatures, something similar to wart hogs, but the babies are adorable. The only time they seem to be dangerous is when they perceive a threat to their young or when they're interrupted while scavenging through tipped-over garbage cans. Until its recent demise from unknown causes, a giant King snake made its home in our little courtyard. It grew so large by eating rattlesnakes, rodents and other pests. We were vary sad it died. It had many benefits, among which were its appearances when door-to-door salesmen were calling on us. When we lived in southern California there were numerous incidents of mountain lion attacks on hikers and bikers in the L.A./San Diego areas. They were mostly hungry young cats. I seem to recall a couple of people being killed. Many cats were tagged and tracked, especially in the Santa Monica Mountains. A couple I recall were killed trying to cross the busy 101 Freeway when we lived there.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 3, 2024 15:06:03 GMT -5
This one's unusually nice, so don't be disappointed with yours. I could see the potential in the rough but I had almost nothing to work with in the way of material. I still haven't given it a final polish because I'm pondering having another go at it to change the angle of the bottom to create a near cat's-eye effect. But it's a gamble and I'd lose a fair amount of weight as well as narrowing the shape quite a bit. Decisions, decisions.... It's gorgeous the way it is. Thanks. I'm coming to that conclusion myself. I don't think my poor heart could stand the tension of a rec-cut anyhow.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 3, 2024 14:21:00 GMT -5
OMG! That is the way this material is supposed to look when worked! Outstanding!! Oddly...I just finished working a cab of rutilated quartz as well...but I still need to polish the back. It looks NOTHING like yours! This one's unusually nice, so don't be disappointed with yours. I could see the potential in the rough but I had almost nothing to work with in the way of material. I still haven't given it a final polish because I'm pondering having another go at it to change the angle of the bottom to create a near cat's-eye effect. But it's a gamble and I'd lose a fair amount of weight as well as narrowing the shape quite a bit. Decisions, decisions....
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 18:25:34 GMT -5
I guess I like your comment but I have no idea what it means It means you just dropped something so fabulous no one can top it. Now I REALLY like it!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 14:11:40 GMT -5
I guess I like your comment but I have no idea what it means
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 13:31:43 GMT -5
That's a beauty and I can see that it would be really difficult to work with that material. Great job! Thanks. It's normally pretty easy to cut, but this particular stone was a hot mess in the rough. I feel lucky to have salvaged a cab out of it much less a really nice one.
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