ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 8:30:31 GMT -5
Are you trying to come up with something better than the wizard or just cheaper? I have cut hundreds of grooves with the wizard and find it to be a flawless machine for the task. I would not want anything at all sticking up above the cutter. Cheaper of course. We are on a fixed income and he likes to build things. Since we will be looking down at what we're doing at an angle, and not looking down from directly overhead, I can't see a problem with the motor up above. It was your pinned entry on this subject (making the grooves) that made hubby decide to build something so we could do it too. I think he has some kind of adjustable depth limiting surround figured out for the bit. Wood router bits use bearings to limit depth of cut. The surround would be mounted to the back of the pan and extend out to the bit or maybe it could be a small one mounted just under the bit attached to the pan bottom forming a raised area under the bit that the stone could not go past. Using the surround as a guide, one could cut grooves with ones eye's closed. He used to design and build glass cutting, drilling, and polishing machines for a living for the last ten years before retiring. I have faith that he can design a machine for this job too. That drawing is not the final rendition. Everybody on here said his cab machine wouldn't work using collars instead of threads and nuts to hold the wheels on. People just couldn't think outside the box. Hubby LIVES outside the box. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) Well, he had something in mind for that during the design and now guess what. We have an awesome cab machine that uses collars to hold the wheels on. From my point of view, it was an improvement on anything you can purchase as well (it has lots of innovations on it), plus it was less than 1/5 the cost of a store bought one. I'm sure this one won't be a disappointment when it's finished.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 7:16:20 GMT -5
Is it rude to ask if I can borrow your husband for a few days? ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) Mine isn't very handy like that. He has his own hobby. Seeing how it's model building, everything he comes up with is on a very small scale. I do have a question about the design- do you think the sides of the water container will be in the way of you working down inside it? Hubby would charge you a fortune prolly We both were considering the water pan and its depth as something that could be changed. I think you are right. We have decided to make the two sides and the front lower. After all, the water is only going to be 1/2" deep anyways. ![](http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah50/tankar11/router_zpsiqzyfoxr.jpg)
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 4, 2017 7:12:23 GMT -5
Funny, hubby used that place to buy the 3 phase motor he made the 230v 3 phase converter he built for his welder.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 3, 2017 19:19:27 GMT -5
Did you find that British Enfield (or maybe Springfield) bayonet by metal detecting by any chance? Man, it's a toss up which theme is coolest....rocks or the mini man cave stuff.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 3, 2017 17:51:20 GMT -5
He plans on making the pan out of probably 10 to 14 gauge steel (powder coated after fabbing) and it is pretty small with about 8" W x 12" L x 3" H overall dimensions. The motor mounts will most likely be angle steel. Everything will be mig welded with probably a thicker double or triple layer of re-enforcing steel on the back wall of the pan for the motor mounts. He is going to buy this Motor to run the diamond cutter
which is a ball bearing 1550 rpm 1/12 H.P. little beast. He is thinking about making the motor mounts in two pieces so he can change the bit when needed or maybe just unbolting the motor will work. Latest idea is to use these cam release handles ![these](https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/20WY36_AS01?$zmmain$) to facilitate removal and replacement. ![](http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah50/tankar11/router_zpsplyqmcdj.jpg) He is going to equip the shaft on that motor with this slot grinding diamond bitwhich will be just submerged in the 1/2" of water in the pan. Bit/cut height can be set by sliding the bit up or down then tightening in place. We'll post updates when/if the project actually gets under way. It's his take on one of these (pic below) but it's purpose built to only make grooves in cabs and not doing glass and stuff like the Wizard. ![](https://ebth-com-production.imgix.net/2015/09/23/10/04/12/180/340.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&w=880&h=906&fit=crop&crop=)
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 3, 2017 14:56:20 GMT -5
Has anyone on here ordered diamond wheels on Ebay from the company in Lithuania called TOP-superabrasives and if yes what has been your experience with the company and the wheels If you are still interested in an answer to this question, yes my hubby has bought from them. Let me qualify this by saying that he knew ahead of time that they might totally suck. The thing is, when he buys a wheel from one of these foreign sellers he knows he might get a decent wheel or he might get garbage. To overcome the pitfalls of cheap wheel buying, he just plans ahead and buys loose diamond grit when he buys a wheel because he re-grits them when they wear out anyway. So, if the $45.00 wheel doesn't pan out in the quality department, another $26.00 in diamond powder (in reality, less than $4.00 in diamond powder per wheel) and a little epoxy still makes for a less expensive wheel than a $90.00 nova (which he would also re-grit down the road.) The way he buys them, he saves at least $40.00 per wheel off the price of a premium, high priced one. The actual wheel, foam and belts on these wheels is always good. Just some of the time they tend to skimp on the grit. Anyway, he made this video review of the Top superabrasives 140 grit standard resin wheel (which is guilty of grit skimping.) So far he has bought three satisfactory wheels and one defective wheel from Hans Lapidary in China. This is the first one from Top, and also the last. To be completely fair to Top-Superabrasives, after a positive but honest review posted by hubby on ebay feedback which they read and seemed to understand, they have offered to replace the wheel with one of their premium resin ones or his choice of any grit. We are not going to take them up on it. We prefer not to do any more business with them.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 3, 2017 11:48:34 GMT -5
I second the motion on not using a hammer on the spencer rocks. That is sure to fracture whatever might be in there. Lots of stuff from there is milky white with little color but it has nice pieces when you're lucky. When I was in Spencer we couldn't find the actual mine (that was before google maps) and we ended up picking through one of the local opal shop's pay to pick piles. The color was in there but mostly in pieces too small to make anything out of it. Lots of the stuff in their pile was white stuff with no fire at all. Someday we are going to go back there and visit the actual mine area. The black matrix with little white oolites in it is a dead giveaway for identifying Spencer opal from Spencer Idaho. The pic below has some of my rough with the black oolitic layer. ![](http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah50/tankar11/DSCN08681_zpsgldikpgv.jpg) Another piece showing a hint of color. ![](http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah50/tankar11/DSCN08671_zpswprmuap3.jpg) Now you can see why we need to go back and get some good stuff from there It is amazing how close the Ironstone opals are in resemblance to the septarian nodules we have here in Michigan. The only thing missing in the Michigan rocks is the opal.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Jan 2, 2017 10:00:55 GMT -5
And I always thought Petoskey's were so special. Those beat the old Michigan state stone in the looks department by about tenfold. Sheesh. Those are really sweet.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Jan 1, 2017 17:45:03 GMT -5
Didn't know you could resurface a grinding wheel. How long does this fix last for? How does it compare to a new wheel? Just noticed that no one ever answered your question. I don't know exactly how long my personal re-coat will last but I have used it on several stones and it is holding up nicely. I don't think anyone else here has re coated this low of a grit before, so the whole process is under development, so to speak. Compared to the new wheel, it kicks **s. The original new wheel was defective and came with probably only the tiniest bit of somewhere over 10,000 grit diamond powder. This was purchased as and was supposed to be a 60 grit wheel. Surprise, surprise!! It came from China Now the wheel actually does something.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
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Post by ziggy on Dec 31, 2016 10:38:17 GMT -5
Well, the way it looks right now isn't too bad. It's an 8 carat stone as it sits and I don't think hubby wants to make it a 7 carat one so he will wait until we find some more this summer before he messes around too much trying to figure out how polishing one of those the right way works. We got a bunch (15 or so) of the smaller than a pea sized ones. We got about 12 carats total in larger stones and probably 12 more total in the little stuff. All of that was broken out of one 4" by 2 1/2" piece of basalt. Is that how you get yours? Thanks for the info. The ones that were chipped were they like a turtle all the way through? No, the inside of the one that is chipped looks so dark it's almost black.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 31, 2016 8:57:46 GMT -5
My experience is less is more. The ones I have done the further into the stone the less the turtle pattern if it doesn't disappear all together. Centers of the ones I have tried to find more of the turtle shell were kind of mottled in the center. Dark green with clear to cloudy spots. I have not done that many though. I have about a hundred that are smaller than a small pea and a dozen bigger than a pea, only a few have the turtle shell. Let me know if he finds if he decides to experiment. Well, the way it looks right now isn't too bad. It's an 8 carat stone as it sits and I don't think hubby wants to make it a 7 carat one so he will wait until we find some more this summer before he messes around too much trying to figure out how polishing one of those the right way works. We got a bunch (15 or so) of the smaller than a pea sized ones. We got about 12 carats total in larger stones and probably 12 more total in the little stuff. All of that was broken out of one 4" by 2 1/2" piece of basalt. Is that how you get yours? Thanks for the info.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 30, 2016 17:50:38 GMT -5
My hubby wants to know how much of the surface of the stone can be removed from a solid nodule without ruining the pattern. He is working on a stone but it doesn't have the classic turtleshell look. It seems to be almost in reverse on the colors with small areas of dark green surrounded by big wide areas of the lighter white-ish stuff. He wants to know if he grinds it down a little more will the white areas shrink and a turtleshell pattern likely appear? Or maybe not?
He doesn't really want to experiment too much with it because they are pretty small to start with.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 30, 2016 17:40:59 GMT -5
That was a spading or potato fork. Pitchforks have thinner tines and would be useless. The handle on my potato fork is probably not strong enough for digging in rock piles, but if replaced by a denser wood it may work. My bad.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 30, 2016 13:46:21 GMT -5
I do believe I might just get me a pitchfork and give it a shot. Thanks MrMike.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 29, 2016 21:08:47 GMT -5
For that price you could get another night at the White House . ![(mario)](//storage.proboards.com/1258779/images/mGJmVlxHVeOgRYJIvtrB.gif) LOL True, and that would then be money well spent.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 29, 2016 18:36:40 GMT -5
We find them occasionally on the beaches of Lake Michigan down south of South Haven occasionally, a good 240 miles south of Petoskey. Is that the final polish on those? You can get them really high gloss with a little polishing compound and a buffer. Nice job though. I would never even try to tumble those. ChicagoDave The downtown "Government Pier" in Petoskey is a great place to find lots of pretty good petoskey stones. There is a parking lot there. On the beach side of the condo's next door it is public land and the Petoskey stones wash up there regularly. The condo has a no trespassing sign where their property ends at the rocks on the beach. As long as you stay on the public beach you're OK. The rocky beaches near South Haven are about the only place I personally know of where they can be found that far south up to just south of Saugatuck. From Saugatuck to Frankfort there is nothing but sand beaches. Point Betsie north of Frankfort starts the rocky beaches back up towards the Petoskey area. I know how to get them shinier, but these were just tumbled. Way quicker to just tumble them. Somewhat shinier if I use Zam or AO polish on them. Sometimes I do a combination of the two. Ok. Sorry. Not trying to criticize. Didn't know if you knew or not. They look fantastic ESPECIALLY considering that they are only tumble polished. Great looking bunch of fossils there. I always use white rouge and a 1750 RPM fluff buff and they get mirror shiny. I have never tumbled any though.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 29, 2016 18:16:22 GMT -5
Jugglerguy , yes, we will be visiting the Petoskey area. We always spend a few weekends each year driving around upper Michigan. ziggy , thank you for that information! Y.W. There's plenty (stones) to go around there and the place isn't a secret so why not share the info. Another really good beach for Petoskeys up that way is Fishermans Island S.P. If you park at the beach where the road stops at the water you don't even need a state park pass. It gets pretty crowded there on weekends though (up there, 5 or 6 other people means crowded.) Here's a link describing Govt. Pier with a map to boot.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 29, 2016 17:49:31 GMT -5
Thank you! I hope to make a trip next year to do a little searching for some of these beautiful rocks. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Do any of them make it as far south as Chicago? Where will you look for them, in the general Petoskey area? We find them occasionally on the beaches of Lake Michigan down south of South Haven occasionally, a good 240 miles south of Petoskey. The rocky beaches near South Haven are about the only place I personally know of where they can be found that far south up to just south of Saugatuck. From Saugatuck to Frankfort there is nothing but sand beaches. Point Betsie north of Frankfort starts the rocky beaches back up towards the Petoskey area. Is that the final polish on those? You can get them really high gloss with a little polishing compound and a buffer. Nice job though. I would never even try to tumble those. ChicagoDave The downtown "Government Pier" in Petoskey is a great place to find lots of pretty good petoskey stones. There is a parking lot there. On the beach side of the condo's next door it is public land and the Petoskey stones wash up there regularly. The condo has a no trespassing sign where their property ends at the rocks on the beach. As long as you stay on the public beach you're OK.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 29, 2016 15:50:06 GMT -5
I think a combination of tools is best for digging in those piles . As you said , digging is difficult at best . Know anyone who does any metal fabrication ? I took an old D - handle shovel like in your pic and made a metal detecting digging shovel . Look online , ebay has a lot , for Lesche shovel . That is basically what I made . I cut the blade down to 8" long and put a point on it , gradual point , then cut the handle off and welded a steel handle with D-handle on it . The shovel blade is 5 1/2 wide and 8 long , 28" overall length . Could use factory handle but mine was real wobbly and the blade was curled over from abuse . And when traveling , having shorter tools can be a plus . Also look around for a prospecting pick , they make several different sizes . Kingsley has a few but there are a lot of varieties out there . Love the mine pile pics , gotta get back there . Checked out the shovel you mentioned. They seem a little pricey for what they are. Hubby however is a retired fabricator/machine builder. He has built all kinds of glass industry machines as well as custom chopper motorcycles and custom one off pedal bicycles. Two of his custom bikes were on the old Hardcore Pawn TV show in Detroit a couple of years ago at the request of the shows producer. One of them shoots a ten foot flame out from behind the seat. ![](http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah50/tankar11/DSCI3445_zpsmsiguoj8.jpg) I'm sure he can modify a cheaper shovel we can pick up at Home Depot. We have our eyes on an Estwing rock pick for less than $20.00 on ebay. Now that he's retired we have to watch how we spend. Below is a video of hubby's Hardcore Pawn appearance. He didn't want to sell the bikes so he set a high price and refused to come down. He just took them there because the producer saw them when hubby had them for sale one time on Craigs List and called him up to see if he would bring them on the show. In this video he shoots the flame ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) It was like 97 degrees that day and humid as heck.
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ziggy
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Post by ziggy on Dec 29, 2016 6:27:06 GMT -5
tools for that? gloves and a chipping hammer. a bucket for keepers. knee pads for kneeling..... Got that stuff. I've already got two 3 lb. hand sledges used as crack hammers and a rock pick. We still need a non chisel rock pick. ![](http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah50/tankar11/DSCN08571_zpse6qzax6g.jpg) Those are the tools to use after (or if in a team like us, while) the digging is done. The way those piles are you need something once you get into the crumbly layers to dig the datolite nodules out. Doing everything by hand would be impossible. The stuff is almost as hard as concrete in places (some of the piles ave been sitting there for over 150 years, hence the need for things like pick axes.) The crumbly layers of small rubble consist of rock dust and finer sized rocks and there is no guarantee that there won't be a big unbroken rock in the middle of each shovel full. Upon examining some of the diggings on one of the piles at the Cliff Mine, I noticed that most of the digs only went down a foot or maybe two feet at best and stopped when they reached the layer where the rocks were no longer easy to move by hand. Obviously, they did not have the proper tools. Either that or they found enough and left. I doubt that it was the later reason. I've done the piles with just gloves, hammer and bucket. All I can find that way is Prehnite and Native Copper. Once you pick a few big rough rocks from the same spot you end up needing something else to get you through what lies beneath because that is where the stuff you want lies. Basically you can't do more than a surface search unless you have some pretty wicked digging tools. That don't cut it when looking for the right stuff in Keweenaw. Already been there, done that. That's why I was asking what other experienced pile pickers use to do their digging. These piles get a lot of hounding and all the good stuff easy to get is long gone. To make matters worse, there has been an archaeological research study on the Cliff Mine. Been going on for a while now. They're taking about making it some kind of historically sensitive area or monument or probably more likely, part of the Keweenaw National Historic Landmark District. I'm not sure how this will impact collecting on the rock piles there. It probably won't end well for the hobby though.
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