ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 14, 2016 16:44:38 GMT -5
Nice batch. I'm having a hard time keeping all my purchases apart. Bought so many mixed boxes of rocks from numerous people on this board. I like the dedication some people have to remembering who they traded/bought from!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 14, 2016 10:04:54 GMT -5
9,10,11,12 are my favorites, but they are all great looking!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 13, 2016 16:46:28 GMT -5
That's the picture that made me buy the HF saw! And wish I had a bigger backyard! I think my entire lot would fit on the grass.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 13, 2016 16:14:27 GMT -5
Garage Rocker, I usually just kept filling up the plastic bin. I also saw where someone placed the whole tile saw in a larger plastic container to hold even more water. I like the hose idea. I usually turn the saw around and pull the rocks towards me so the spray goes away from me. I saw a picture where someone put a shower curtain on the opposite wall and directed it into a larger tub. Maybe some clever plastic work can keep most of the water moving in one general direction. Maybe I'm just meant to be a tumbler
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 13, 2016 15:24:21 GMT -5
I guess I'll just bust out the raincoat and rubber gloves and use my tile saw. I was looking online at some dedicated trim saws and was shocked at their prices.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 13, 2016 15:21:31 GMT -5
Their website says "We will again give you a challenging rock to work with this coming year."
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 13, 2016 13:17:03 GMT -5
I'm entering this year!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 13, 2016 10:48:42 GMT -5
I am looking for some suggestions on a good trim saw. I have a small collection of slabs and I want to start cutting out some shapes and trying my hand at making some cabs on my Ameritool. I have a HF 7" tile saw, but the thing is very noisy and throws water everywhere. Fine during the summer outside. Not so good in my basement (which holds a constant 55 degrees).
Is this a time when finding an older used machine would be better? I wouldn't be slabbing anything, just using it to pre-shape my slabs.
Any help would be appreciated.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 12, 2016 20:07:19 GMT -5
Not in the market right now, but I wanted to say you do amazing work!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 12, 2016 20:04:52 GMT -5
Wow, these are great!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 8, 2016 12:33:47 GMT -5
Sometimes it helps just to pick something up and throw it in the barrel to see how it works out. And great job on the patience part!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 8, 2016 9:54:03 GMT -5
You can try, and try, and try, and try But you'll get no satisfaction.
(did it really take that long for this joke to appear?)
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 7, 2016 13:22:01 GMT -5
I've been real good this year. But this would instantly put me in the "bad" category with my wife!!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 6, 2016 20:53:43 GMT -5
Still looking for one of these. Thought I would bump this one time. I bought the Harbor Freight model, but took it back after 7 days.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 2, 2016 21:08:32 GMT -5
I thought when I bought a box of these from you, they would all come pre-tumbled and look just like this picture??!!!! (sorry attempt at sarcasm) Well, at least I know what I'm working towards. Great batch!!!
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 1, 2016 21:10:42 GMT -5
Thanks Chuck, definitely interesting to see what you did with them. I have to admit I could definitely be more patient. Are you tumbling without the assistance of a lapidary grinder? Having an wet 80 grit diamond wheel changes the whole game when it comes to tumbling fractured and flawed rough. Chuck This is a good idea. I have a flat lap and all the rocks I pull out get tossed into a bucket. If I can salvage them with some extra grinding they get moved back to the barrels.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 1, 2016 18:15:39 GMT -5
Great batch. Sometimes a rock just isn't going to cooperate. If there are really deep holes or big cracks, get rid of them. Every rock that goes in the tumbler might not end up perfect. I've started pulling more and more instead of grinding them down to nothing just to get them perfect. Or if I really like the rock, and there is a flaw or two, I don't let it bother me.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Nov 30, 2016 12:14:34 GMT -5
Looks like they're doing this auction again. Link in the first post still works and things start closing on December 8th.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Nov 28, 2016 14:57:12 GMT -5
Learning curve is easy with a rotary. Load it with rock, fill with water, add grit, turn on. You can get more in depth than that (just look at all of our crazy threads), but it's pretty easy to get things rolling.
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ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
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Post by ChicagoDave on Nov 28, 2016 8:23:24 GMT -5
jamesp, again, thank you for all this information. The amount of grit on that plate was only about 2 tablespoons. This weekend I opened one of my barrels that had been running for 24 hours with 1/2 cup of 46/70 and the same amount of cat litter. Just as you thought, most of the grit had already broken down. I'm not really sure I can add grit everyday. So I split my two QT66s into different experiments. I actually added 3/4 cup of 46/70 to each of the 6# barrels on one machine. I will let this run for the entire week. I thought this might mess up my slurry a bit so I cut back on the cat litter a little. I added 1/2 cup to the other 2 barrels and will clean these out and add another 1/2 cup in 3 days. My main concern is slurry disposal. I dump everything into a 5 gallon bucket. I then rinse everything out over another one. I let the buckets sit for a few days and then begin pulling the "clean" water off the top. Once I get down to the slurry, I place the buckets on top of a radiator in the basement to dry out. I already have 6 buckets in this rotation. Cleaning out twice a week adds a little wrinkle to this. My house sits on a standard city lot (30'x120') so I don't really have somewhere just to dump the slurry. I might need to order a small bag of 30 grit SiC just to play around. I know others haven't had much success getting it to break down in these rubber barrels.
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