ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 10, 2017 7:28:05 GMT -5
couldnt a dremel type tool be used to power the above concept machine and if the drill press were uesed it would be fairly easy to adjust depth The "depth" can be two things with this. Depth of the groove being cut and the depth that the cut happens on the cab from the bottom of the cab. The most important of the two is depth of groove being cut. He has addressed this by adding the adjustable depth of cut stop piece. The height of cut from the bottom of the cab is easily set on hubby's design by simply loosening up the set screw and sliding the bit up or down as needed. Very little change is required for this setting and it won't change too much if ever. Hubby likes to build from scratch. The motor he is buying for his project is designed to keep a steady speed no matter the load. It is 1/12 H.P. The shaft is 5/16" in diameter with a flat milled onto the shaft for set screws. The diamond bit that hubby wants to use is designed for grooving and also has the 5/16" hole through it and is set by using a set screw. His motor runs at a nice steady 1550 rpm. No messing with speed controls and extremely easy to mount by the studs on it for said purpose. The cost of a dremel capable of doing that job is probably more than the $52.00 that the motor costs. is Hubby is not a big Dremel fan because it would mess with his design and he would have to come up with a different way to mount it. Another reason (for him) not to use a Dremel is he wants to maybe build these for sale and the dremel would make it look like something cobbled together instead of something built for the task at hand. Also, he doesn't think dremels are real torquey motors and can be slowed down or stopped with a load. Most importantly, hubby just doesn't want to incorporate someone else's manufactured finished retail product into his.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 9, 2017 17:52:26 GMT -5
"toy" with making your own rock barrels? yeah... I have a feeling that any rock tumbling barrels you may make in the future would have the rest of us green with envy and muttering some really bad works at the rock barrels we have! I hope you make them. And please keep posting progress reports on your current project, this is fascinating watching you work. Yep, I'm enjoying them too. I've never worked with such precision. The woodworking project I'm most proud of is the log bed and desk I made for my son. Nothing too precise about those. The dial indicator indicates he knows how to indicate.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 9, 2017 15:00:13 GMT -5
I ordered a set of bail making pliers from an Ebay vendor who is based in Grand Rapids Mi. about 40 miles down the road last year on the 28th of december. Instead of sending the package from G.R. Mi. to Whitehall Mi. using the U.S.P.S., the vendor used UPS So I go to UPS (United Parcel Service) tracking site and enter my tracking number. It worked there. The package went and spent a day somewhere in Ohio before being assigned back to the G.R. P.O. Said the package was given to the P.O. and should arrive on Wednesday. As if I haven't had enough problems with just Ebay lately. Man this order was really a joke. Just my luck the pliers will be damaged. Still waiting on delivery. ✓ Shipping info received✓ In transit Delivered Time and date Place Message Friday, Jan 6, 2017 2:37 PM Grand Rapids , MI Electronic Shipment Information Received for Package by Post Office Friday, Jan 6, 2017 2:33 PM Urbancrest , OH Package departed UPS Mail Innovations facility enroute to USPS for induction Friday, Jan 6, 2017 11:45 AM Urbancrest , OH Postage Paid/Ready for destination post office entry Friday, Jan 6, 2017 2:12 AM Urbancrest , OH Package processed by UPS Mail Innovations origin facility Friday, Jan 6, 2017 1:26 AM Urbancrest , OH Package received for processing by UPS Mail Innovations Thursday, Jan 5, 2017 12:00 PM Grand Rapids , MI Shipment tendered to UPS Mail Innovations Wednesday, Jan 4, 2017 5:36 PM N/A Shipment information received by UPS Mail Innovations Filigree Shaping Pliers W/6mm & 8.5mm Barrels 790524164042 Item price $10.22 Quantity 1 Item number 371822909630 Shipping service USPS Parcel Select Ground Leave feedback Contact seller Return item
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 8, 2017 16:50:57 GMT -5
Nice work on the lathe. My hubby watched that video and it took him back two years ago to when he was working with metal lathes, bridgeport mills, cutoff saws, press brakes, shears and other sweet machine shop tools on the job he retired from. His job often involved making designed on the fly parts that the engineers missed during design but were needed for the machines. They called it making "adjustments"
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 7, 2017 19:58:54 GMT -5
Hubby finally got the 120 grit diamond for the cr*p Top-Superabrasives wheel he bought so he made this short video on what was involved. We don't see a lot of folks doing the low grits under 280 so we thought we could give a couple of tips. 1. When using lower grits, don't mix the grit into the epoxy before brushing it on, use the epoxy first and sprinkle grit by hand second, method. 2. Big grit gets pulled off the wheel easily if there is not a lot of it there and at least 1 good coat of epoxy is not covering it. 3. If you buy a low cost, low grit wheel and you really can't see any grit in the epoxy, chances are it isn't there. Also the foreign sellers seem to sell 8,000 and 12,000 grit wheels and label them 140 and 60 grit. (I don't know if they do it on purpose or if they are just stupid, but it has happened to me.) To make a long story short, it now should act like 120 grit instead of 12,000 grit. Just so you know, he shot the video with one hand while the other did the action. It's a little shall we say, non oscar winning stuff Youtube was acting up when we posted this so if it doesn't play, try later.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 7, 2017 18:50:46 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I withdrew my return request before I should have. I have decided, since it is only a potential $17.28 loss, to take the thing with me up to the U.P. this summer and actually use it to see how it holds up. I will of course then report the results here on how well it performed. That way I can let others know if they too should drop the less than $20.00 for the fantastic buy or save up for the real thing. I'll make a little review with photo's of the thing in (or more likely, out of) action. Maybe shoot a short video of one of us actually using/abusing it. The bright side of my tiny dilemma is that I didn't pay the full price that a real Estwing costs, and received a counterfeit, I paid the price that a counterfeit costs and received what I paid for. Now, I will turn it into either a review of a great little Chinese rock pick for cheap, or a review of a cheap little piece of cr*p that wasn't worth the money paid. Report coming near summers end. That will be interesting. I'd like to see the review. I'm sure you're no dummy, so I know you use abundant caution. I would really hate to see a video of that thing breaking apart and hitting you in the face. I saw a regular hammer break off at the handle while in use one time. Everybody around was really, really lucky that no one got hurt. Yeah, we are going to use extra caution with that hammer. Thing is, you aren't really supposed to use the pointy part of any rock pick to hit a rock with, but rather use the pick to help pry rocks out of whatever they are in. The hammer head on it looks sort of OK so it looks like it could do some light chipping which is all you should do with even a good rock pick. The handle looks like the weak spot. Well, we have two 3lb. crack hammers to do the rock splitting and rock chiseling, so no plans on really abusing it beyond normal use. I guess the real test is can the handle hold up to rock prying. To that end we will see.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 6, 2017 15:13:42 GMT -5
Yeah I had seen those on eBay a while back when I was looking for a good price on a new Estwing rock hammer. I had originally thought the seller was just using the word "Estwing" as a search keyword. But he did also use "Estwing" in the heading of his write-up in the Item Description section so it does appear he's attempting to be deceptive. As for finding a real Estwing rock hammer at a good price - Amazon has several authentic Estwing products at reasonable prices. Just look for the listings of the ones that actually ship by Amazon rather than are sold and shipped by a third party so that the item will be eligible for free shipping. Like their Estwing 22oz rock hammer for $30.40 and is eligible for free shipping on orders over $49. www.amazon.com/Estwing-E3-22P-Pointed-Shock-Reduction/dp/B0002OVCMO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483725384&sr=8-3&keywords=estwing+pickI added one to an order of CDs and books in 2012 and received it in good order. With free shipping it was the best deal I could find on the net. Larry C. I also found a real one for sale on ebay for $1.14 more than your price with free shipping. Total cost of the Amazon one will be $39.61. Since I wouldn't be buying the minimum amount to qualify for free shipping at Amazon ($49) I will, if I decide to actually buy another rock pick, probably get the real one I found on ebay. Not sure if I'm going to get one or not.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 6, 2017 12:22:09 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I withdrew my return request before I should have. I have decided, since it is only a potential $17.28 loss, to take the thing with me up to the U.P. this summer and actually use it to see how it holds up. I will of course then report the results here on how well it performed. That way I can let others know if they too should drop the less than $20.00 for the fantastic buy or save up for the real thing.
I'll make a little review with photo's of the thing in (or more likely, out of) action. Maybe shoot a short video of one of us actually using/abusing it.
The bright side of my tiny dilemma is that I didn't pay the full price that a real Estwing costs, and received a counterfeit, I paid the price that a counterfeit costs and received what I paid for.
Now, I will turn it into either a review of a great little Chinese rock pick for cheap, or a review of a cheap little piece of cr*p that wasn't worth the money paid. Report coming near summers end.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 5, 2017 20:22:36 GMT -5
What do you call Greenstone ... nephrite jade / bowenite / serpentinite / something else? Yes, what drummond island rocks said. The actual name of it is chlorastrolite, a variety of pumpellyite and they are also found in the Keweenaw peninsula basaltic rocks. The average size is about the size of a pea. Masses up to 5 or 6 hundred carats of it can occasionally be found in amygdules that are inside of the poor rock piles of the old copper mines. These are the greenstones we are after. The ones we found in our rock are from smaller than pea sized and on up to 8 carats. A little 4"x 2"x 1 1/2" oval shaped beach rock of basalt was all we had to work with and there was more than twenty carats in it total. We found an outcropping of basalt bedrock full of greenstone amygdules up there on a beach last summer and we are going to go back and break some rock out of that. The beach where that is also has a mess of the beach rocks like we found the greenstones in. If we would have known more when we were there we could have brought home hundreds of carats inside of beach pebbles instead of just twenty carats. Well, that's why they make next year I guess
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 22:06:05 GMT -5
We are lucky in the fact that we don't have a lot of friends to turn off/bore by our rock collecting. Now that we are both retired and in our 60's lots of our old friends have passed away, and others, like us, have moved on with their lives and we have lost touch. It seems that we only have each other to bore and that works for us both.
Although we don't tumble anything, we love the drives to the U.P. and out west to collect. We are lucky we both share the same love of the pastime. The trip there for us is as much fun as the hunt and the find. Hubby has finally got the chance to do the lapidary stuff he always planned on getting to do someday when he got old. I get the pleasure of driving to beautiful places and finding beautiful minerals and even get to wear some of the stuff he makes for me. The years of spending all our money raising kids are past. One of our daughters, whom we actually live with now, (they have a two family house) is also a rock collector and is doing cabs and stuff too. We have lots in common and I love seeing what she finds and comes up with. Sometimes we go as a family to Leelanau and look for Petoskeys. What more could a person want? I love rocks. Hubby loves rocks. Daughter loves rocks. All is well.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 21:15:26 GMT -5
Estwing acknowledged my email and told me they are looking into the sites practices.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 16:56:01 GMT -5
In the actual sales ad on ebay, the one I was reading when I ordered, it gives an item location of New York. You have to click on the store link to find where they are actually at. I was not expecting to need to click on the store link. It said New York. The entire ad is misleading and it is that way on purpose. Shame on the dishonest Bulgarians and shame on Ebay for letting them continue to do business like that. I hope Estwing sues them both.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 16:34:37 GMT -5
Dropped an email to the Estwing Company and gave them the link to that ebay site.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 16:19:15 GMT -5
Two things I noticed right away. First was the color of the grip. Genuine Eastwing grips are a darker blue. Second thing I noticed was further down the page. The country of origin. In addition to slamming them, you might want to notify Eastwing of patent & name infringements. They are using the Eastwing name in their add. Origin: China Color: Silver I didn't know if Estwing outsourced to China or not. I guess they don't. Never really thought to look that deeply into the purchase of what was supposed to be something that it wasn't before I got ripped off. I was expecting an Estwing because that's what they said it was. After I got it and realized what a piece of crap it was of course I went and re-read the ad way more closely. Of course it was then that I realized that I should have done what you did (read product details really closely) BEFORE I bought it. Murphy seems to live with me at times. It is easy for oneself and others to see an error after it already bit you. Hindsight is 20 20. I will most likely contact Estwing like you suggest. I will also be using this piece of s**t very carefully this summer (only gonna pry with it.)
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 16:00:48 GMT -5
Neg the snot out of the seller for a misleading listing. These fit - HIGHLY misleading listing. NOT Estwing hammer - China knockoff. POOR Quality! or HIGHLY misleading. NOT Estwing hammer China knockoff. POOR Quality! DO NOT BUY I cancelled the return. I would have lost out and they would have their hammer back. Unfortunately for me I have to wait 7 days before I can slam him. But I will slam him.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 14:37:14 GMT -5
1dave Wow. That is really sweet. The "stopper" is the same basic idea as hubby's "depth strip". Love the way he has two dimensional positioning. I see his setup is radical and out of the box. Love that. We could do something like that on the end of one side of our cabbing machine. Just bolt a blade on the end and make a rock positioning fixture similar to what he has. Maybe hubby will do that design too. He'll have to make sure that the cabber shaft is squarely cut. We might do a study to see how feasible our purpose built one might be to produce and sell to the lapidary world, so we are probably going to go through with that build first. Some of the research will happen here most likely. Opinions, interest in it, price....etc.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 14:05:53 GMT -5
Ok, I should have known that you can't get a real Estwing for under $20.00. But, that was what was advertised. What came instead (from an address in some eastern european country and not the New York address given in the ebay ad) was this really crappy low grade Chinese rip off. Since the fine print in the ad says on returns, buyer pays return shipping costs, I guess I'll just have to eat this one since it would cost as much to return it as it cost to buy. Ebay is OK....SOMETIMES To top it all off it was shipped with an Amazon label inside? !!!! The actual ebay adBelow, the hammer and it's protective plastic tip (a piece of aquarium tubing) The actual "brand name" is SE, not Estwing. Notice the stress crack just northwest of the label? There are huge gouges where the unskilled grinder dug into one of the most important parts of the hammer (the super slim neck.) Either that or he was chasing another stress crack. More grinding gouges. They are everywhere on it. The handle is about half as wide as a decent one would be and gouging cuts into that even more. I started a return item action with ebay before I saw the sellers return policy. Beware. This hammer sucks badly.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 13:05:25 GMT -5
Here's my "Getto-O" V2.0. A fan motor unbalanced by a bolt vibrates the bowl that is mounted on tre rubber bushings. It won't vibrate hard enough to run with pellets. If I put pellets in they'll all vibrate to the bottom of the bowl leaving the rocks on top. Maybe the vibrations aren't correctly directed. Probably not, but it gets the job done. The circuit board is an Arduino microcontroller that is connected to a temperature sensor. If the motor gets too hot the Arduino will shut it down until the motor cools down. Here's a video of the rotary and vibe tumbler in action: Over the course of a little more than a year I have figured out that the process that works best for these tumblers is to tumble the rocks to shape in the rotary tumbler. When they got the right shape, let them tumble for two more weeks without any grit refill. Then I put them in the vibe tumbler with soap. No AO. Hubby uses arduino as a programming language for his home made quadcopter. Lots of people use arduino mega boards to control quads while using external sensors. First time I've ever seen it used in the rock tumbling hobby
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 11:09:35 GMT -5
Looks good! I haven't done a lot of grooving, but I don't think I ever did more than one depth. Having a few set depths should be nice. He made that strip so by moving it back and forth in the pan the groove can be any depth into the stone and set there, and by moving the bit up and down on the shaft you could get any height you want for the cut from the bottom of the cab to the groove. He doesn't really plan on moving the depth strip after it is adjusted to the correct depth for the wire being used. It is just nice to be able to cut whatever the depth needs to be with repeat-ability and have that as a guide so one can be certain the groove is properly cut instead of carefully judging if things are right or not by trial and error. Hubby thinks the same strip would work no matter the height of the bit on the shaft. Just keep everything square when holding it against the guide strip and pan bottom by being careful and one size (thickness of guide strip) fits all. Or, we could make different heights (thickness) of strip if it turns out we really need to. After all it is only held in with c-clamps and easily switched. He is already talking about switching out the c-clamps for some locking screws, wing nuts and slots to hold things in place. This thing is still a few months down the road according to our budget, but when it's done we will post a video of it in action.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 10:08:13 GMT -5
After a couple minutes of consideration and twenty minutes of drawing he came up with the following drawings on the feature he had in mind to control the depth of cut with ones eye's closed. He says he could make several different thicknesses of depth limiting strips that can simply be switched for different cut heights. Simply re-adjust the cutting height on the bit to match. The different height strips he thinks would be overkill as the one height should work no matter where the bit is on the shaft. Holding the cab to the bottom of the pan and the edge of the depth strip and moving/turning against the bit should be all it takes to get repeatable and even depth cuts. The depth shown set in the drawing above obviously is not the same as the actual depth would be. For illustration purposes only. With a little creative thinking no problem seems too big to overcome. Come to think about it, it might just actually be an improvement over the Wizard too. He has achieved repeat-ability and the bits should last longer because the cut is happening in water and not just made wet with a sponge. Not to mention that with this unit one should be able to do it blindfolded.
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