grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 20, 2013 20:03:02 GMT -5
Hi jamesp.
Otters the toughest pound for found? Have you heard of the Wolverine? They say that pound for pound, they may be tougher than a Grizzly bear, and that my friend, is da*n tough! Honest!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 20, 2013 19:44:15 GMT -5
Thanks Don, Hi Don,
Do you think that a power feed is a better option to consider rather than the gravity feel? Am I being too cautious about possible issues that would damage a blade?
"grizman"
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 20, 2013 19:25:18 GMT -5
Hi,
I am seriously considering a Covington 10" slab/trim saw. My reason is that I can have a choice of power-feed, or gravity feed, true cross-feed, and it comes with a hood. There are other choices available but are either much more $$$, or do not have the same features.
I am thinking that the gravity feed may be a better choice, not due to the price difference, but because there may be less chance of the saw jamming, and ruining an expensive diamond blade. What are your "experienced/professional" feelings on this choice?
What about the Covington saw as a choice? I am certainly not a professional rock cutter, but a guy who likes to tumble rocks, and wishes to do some "forms" in the tumbler. I also want to see what Mother Nature has hidden inside of her rocks!
Any suggestions, and or guidance in this area, as well as your personal experience with the Covington, would be greatly appreciated. My understanding is that the Covington folks are good people to work with?
Thanks in advnce folks!
"grizman?
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 17, 2013 20:21:57 GMT -5
My vote goes to the indirect lighting. Bullwinkle, how did you get in there?
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 16, 2013 16:08:22 GMT -5
What are your thoughts and or experience using 46-60 grit in the tumbler? I know you can't use it in the vibe, but my attempt is to break down the "really rough" down to somewhat rounded rocks in the first stage. I also have 60-90, but I am a little disappointed in how little they seem to be breaking down the rough. I am tumbling some hard quartz crystal and blue agate.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 13, 2013 17:50:54 GMT -5
Great use of shapes to make the obsidian even more interesting. I do not have a favorite...just ALL of them! Very nice work!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 13, 2013 17:40:04 GMT -5
Are these going to the tumbler? If so, I bet you have a long wait, and still may not ever get them all totally smooth as it appears to me that they have lots of deep depressions in a lot of them. The reds are wonderful! They look like they'd take a good tumble polish. A cool find, for sure. Glad to hear that the sand only went to your bett, and not your neck! Even at that, you were lucky to get out. Be careful!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 13, 2013 17:08:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the great information and sharing your take on where I should start out. I appreciate your taking the time to reply to all my inquiries. Have a great day guys!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 12, 2013 12:10:47 GMT -5
Hi, I'm obviously a "newbie" to most of the lapidary world. I am an avid rock tumbler, and now want to start making some small slabs to polish in my tumblers.
Here's my question. I see that I can buy a 10" tile saw from Harbor Freight that has a 2.5 hp motor. Loritone has a 10" trim saw that has a 1/3 hp motor. I'd like to know why the difference in hp ratings for basically the same (size) tile/trim saws? I know there are other differences, including price, but I know very little about things to look for in a reliable saw. I hear some are extremely noisy, like the Harbor Freight saw?
Part two. I hear that many of these saws are messy & some are very noisy, and are not good for indoor usage, so it's either the backyard, or the driveway. At either location, the neighbors may get tired of me in a quick hurry, if I am too noisy. Is there such a thing as a relatively "quiet" trim saw that I could consider for making small slabs? I'd like to get at least a 10" saw so that I could slab up to 3", and also trim. Maybe the Loritone 10" trim could be used indoors? How about the oil issue? As you can already see, I don't have a clue!
I keep getting a general recommendation to go with a cheap tile saw from Home Depot etc., but I want to slab up to 3" rocks, so the 4"-6" blades are not going to work for me. Any thoughts on this and suggestions on which direction I should take, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 8, 2013 20:52:45 GMT -5
That's good to know Tom. I have started tumbling some small slabs (mostly broken pieces) and have found the results exciting. I have been worried about the possibility of the sharp corners on the broken slabs ruining my drum on my Lot-O, but so far I have been lucky. I watch carefully that they keep moving and do not stay in one spot. When I get a tile/trim saw, I can eliminate the sharp corners on my slab tumbling.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 8, 2013 20:01:42 GMT -5
Thanks Daniel,
OK, here's another question that will help me shop for the right trim/tile saw. Is a vise a good idea on a trim saw that will be used for small slabbing? I see Loritone offers a vise on their 8"& 10" trim saws, but they are much more expensive than what Home Depot or Harbor Freight has to offer in their tile saws. More help, please!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 8, 2013 17:46:37 GMT -5
Hi, I have a related question to Howard's of sort. Due to too many expensive hobbies, I am not in a position to have a slab saw, trim saw, grinders, etc. At this point in time my "rock adventures" are all provided with my rotary and vibe tumblers.
I would love to be able to explore the inside of the rocks, and not be limited to just the outsides available to me via tumbling. I have purchased some small slab scraps, and I am amazed at what tumbling has done for them. I am hooked!
I'd love to be able to use a trim (tile) saw to make some small, 2" max, slabs from some of the rocks I have collected. I am wondering if any of the less expensive tile saws have a "fence" on them that would allow the cutting of uniform thickness slabs that don't look like my wife's bread slicing ; > ) ?
I see that some folks on this forum suggest the tile saw from Harbor Freight.
Does anyone out there know how a person can hope to get uniform thick mini-slabs from a tile saw? If so, which one? Any help would be helpful to me as well as maybe Howard, who started this post.
Thanks!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 2, 2013 21:42:03 GMT -5
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 2, 2013 19:03:12 GMT -5
I have read in a couple of different locations, that it is not recommended to use cerium oxide in a vibe for polishing. Being who I am, I had to find our for myself, why not? I used cerium oxide as my polish stage along with a small amount of borax. Guess what? I got a great "glass-like" polish on my rocks. Maybe it was the fact that the batch was made up of agate and Arizona pet-wood? I don't know. I ran another batch to see if my first try with cerium oxide as the vibe polish, and they too, turned out perfect. I am doing all my polishing in my vibe, and my rough cutting, shaping in my rotary. I have tried a few other batches with my experimenting. I get a great polish with just tripoli in my vibe, and wonder why i even go to the next "polish" step. Of course, aluminum oxide works great, as we all know. Remember this is with a Lot-O vibe.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Apr 1, 2013 22:01:07 GMT -5
Welcome from Arizona & Montana! I'm pretty new around here too, but I love this forum and seldom mis a day without checking the posts out. Enjoy your newfound interest in rocks!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Mar 27, 2013 20:56:49 GMT -5
Some nice photography, especially the reflected heron. Thanks for sharing.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Mar 27, 2013 20:25:56 GMT -5
That is not just a "nice' set of smaller slabs...it's wonderful! Who wouldn't be tickled pink to have these to work with. Thanks for sharing just what wonderful things are out there if you are lucky enough to find them.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Mar 19, 2013 18:26:57 GMT -5
Very interesting articles regarding our earth in the past. Thanks for passing them on.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Mar 17, 2013 22:19:26 GMT -5
Hi Sabre52, Don't feel bad about the size being too big for your sawing capability. I don't even have a saw, so all I can do is drool when I seen the wonderful rocks to be further explored! Your wife is a lucky gal to have those all to herself!
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Mar 10, 2013 11:58:27 GMT -5
Hi Condor,
When you tumble your smaller slabs, are you using a rotary or a vibe? I have done some small slabs in a vibe and I notice that they like to "stack" on each other, as many as 4-5, like Sunday's pancakes. Now maybe they separate as they go around, but it's hard to tell when they are covered with slurry. Do you have a solution for this, or do you use a rotary tumbler which may be the solution, instead of the vibe?
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