kenefick
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Post by kenefick on Oct 4, 2014 13:40:09 GMT -5
Tony, I do appreciate the offer. I think it may be a little larger than I was thinking about. Heck of good deal though.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Oct 4, 2014 12:20:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the responses. I should have noted that I have a 10" trim/slab saw, oil cooled, that I use from time to time. I was hoping for something small that would fit on a countertop, and less messy than the oil. I would be trimming all types of material, from soft to hard. Am I asking for too much? Learning as I go.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Oct 4, 2014 10:22:48 GMT -5
I am considering purchasing a small (4") trim saw. Right now, I am using a C40 band saw to cut preforms. It works well, but is kind of slow on thicker/harder material, and the blades are fairly costly for the life I'm getting out of them. I'm probably a little heavy handed. The saw would be set up in a kitchen converted to workshop, so I would like to have minimal overspray/splash, and fairly quiet would be a plus. So far, I am considering an Ameritool or HiTech, but am definitely open to other makes. I would appreciate any input, recommendations, evaluations or opinions from those of you with experience. Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 30, 2014 14:33:04 GMT -5
I was almost on the other end of one of those. It was a MFRB shipped from Washington state. Tracking showed it was "Out for Delivery", but when the mail carrier came - no box. I called the PO, and after some delay, they said they found it, so I went into town to pick it up. When I got there, they had a problem finding it again. They finally brought it to the counter, and it was in sad condition, banged up and obviously re-taped over a tear on a corner. A rather surly clerk told me the reason they had trouble locating it was because it was in a bin to be returned for additional postage because "in its condition, it doesn't qualify for the flat rate". It had been accepted by the shippers PO, abused in transit, and they were going to ship it back across the country for more postage. They did "allow" me to pick it up (for no additional postage). I guess I missed the logic in there somewhere.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 30, 2014 7:57:40 GMT -5
Thank you all for your comments. The stone is about 1 1/8" wide and 2 3/8" long. The holes are 4mm. The biggest challenge was to drill without getting blowout. This material is fun to work with, but messy. The saw oil turns red, as does the water when grinding/polishing. Each piece, though, presents unique combinations of poppy. Here's a more conventional shape from the same material.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 29, 2014 19:03:57 GMT -5
Wanted to try something a little different (for me anyway). This is a piece of Olympic Poppy Jasper. Kind of a witches cauldron with some bubbles rising from the brew.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 15, 2014 16:13:54 GMT -5
I've been having a similar problem on hard agate/jasper. Soft stuff like pet wood works fine. I thought perhaps the diamond was all starting to "lean" in the same direction, so I reversed the wheel. Some improvement, but not drastic. Also seems if I use less water the 280 seems to work better on the hard stuff. I may be decreasing the life of the wheel though, but, heck, if it won't grind out the 220 scratches, I may need to replace it anyway.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 11, 2014 17:11:19 GMT -5
I was in prison at the time (as an employee, not an inmate). I came back from a morning break, and the front office staff was gathered around a tv in the visitation area. Saw the second plane hit, walked out and met the Warden, and proceeded to lock down the unit, not knowing what the reaction would be from the inmates. The cellblocks were unusually quiet that day.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 11, 2014 16:48:10 GMT -5
That solves a 60 year old question. When I was about 14 I had a job as a farm laborer. During the summer, after the corn was too high to cultivate with machinery, and there wasn't a whole lot of other things to do, I would be sent to the cornfield with a hoe to chop weeds. In one particular field, at the top of a hill, I frequently found arrowheads. One day I uncovered this big rock, that looked exactly like that. It took some effort to get it back to the farmhouse (hard to hoe and carry a rock at the same time). The farmer I was working for wasn't impressed with my find, said it was just a rock that had been cut with a disc or plow. I didn't argue with my elders back then, but I just knew he was wrong.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 11, 2014 16:21:12 GMT -5
A few weeks ago, I managed to fubar the 16" blade in my old HP saw. A piece of jasper popped out of the vise in mid cut, and I ended up with a shallow wok. This gave me the perfect excuse to upgrade to a good 18" blade. It came last Saturday, a BD301, and with all the patience I could muster, was installed 20 minutes after the fedex truck pulled out of the driveway. New blade installed, rock clamped firmly in the vise (and checked again), closed the hood, flipped the switch, popped a cold one and sat down for some serious sawing. After about 10 minutes, I realized I wasn't hearing any 'action', just the motor running. Dang, must have forgotten to engage the feed. Turned it off, opened the hood, and it was half way through the cut! Think I'm going to really like this blade. Some of the cuts: Not sure what kind of agate this is. But it did make some pretty nice cabs And a few more And a work in progress from that last one Now I gotta find more rocks to cut.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 9, 2014 8:14:39 GMT -5
I put an old dish rack in a plastic tub. Slabs off the saw get stacked in the slots to drain, then get buried in a pan of kitty litter. Get a little bit of oil recovery that way, and the kitty litter lasts a bit longer. Don't know about evaporation (minimal I would suspect), but I keep my saw closed when not in use to keep the flying bugs from committing suicide. They seem to love the stuff.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 6, 2014 16:26:26 GMT -5
I'm using basically the same machine (only difference I see is mine doesn't have the hinged top). For the rust, before you start using it, I would suggest a good wire brushing, painting with a good rust converter, then a couple of coats of rustoleum. Wheels - highly recommend the Nova. The Kingsley wheels wore out fairly quickly on mine, so I 'upgraded' to the Nova - 280, 600, 1200 and 3000. jsgems.com has them for $91 each, and John is super to deal with.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Sept 6, 2014 7:44:25 GMT -5
Going from memory here, as it's been a lot of years. Power in the USA is 60 cycle. Power in the UK is 50 cycle. The 'converter' is a step-down transformer which drops the 230 volts to 110 volts, but does not affect the frequency. The output from the transformer will still be 50 cycle, This means the motor (designed for 60 cycle) will not run at the proper speed, and will probably overheat (probably tripping an internal overload). I did a tour of duty in the UK back in the '60's, and there were many US appliances that we could not use due to the frequency difference.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 10, 2014 16:49:07 GMT -5
Looks like you have a good place for a deer herd. If you want a few more, come on down and charm some of the gluttons that are driving me crazy. We have a small daylily growing operation, and it is a never-ending task to keep them out of the gardens. Some of them got into the largest garden a couple of seasons ago, and in one night, ate all the flowers, buds and seed pods off of about a thousand plants. Now there's an 8ft tall poly fence around all the gardens, with a 4ft metal fence anchored along the bottom (when they had trouble jumping over, the does started going under). When we first started, the deer had a lot of area in the river bottoms and weren't a problem But, several new subdivisions have sprung up over the years in their old stomping grounds, and some of the new homeowners started feeding 'those cute things'. Now they roam the neighborhoods every night looking for a free meal. They are beautiful creatures, just NIMBY.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 8, 2014 14:43:26 GMT -5
Well, I don't normally inject, ingest or inhale rocks so the risk factor in lapidary from chemical exposure is probably less than a drive past the refinerys and chemical plants along the Houston Ship Channel. I did find the list very informative, though, on the chemical/mineral composition of many of my favorite stones.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 5, 2014 10:17:28 GMT -5
We've been to the reservation, though it's been a long time ago. Kind of stayed away from the casino. Something about that sucking sound aimed at the wallett.
I think there are probably a lot of good rocks to be found in Texas, but virtually all the land is privately owned so unless you know the landowner it's off limits. Though still in fairly good shape (or just well preserved), long hikes through the brush and digging in the hot sun is pretty much a thing of the past. Our "hounding" nowadays is mostly keeping an eye out for rock shops when we travel.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 3, 2014 18:10:43 GMT -5
I have a phobia about sticking my finger(s) into spinning tools that cut things. Some say you get a better "feel" when cabbing without a dop stick, but the only "feel" I get is my fingertips slowly disappearing. IMHO, you have better control of what you are doing using a dop stick. Yeah, it's an extra step, and sometimes the stones pop off, but with a little practice it's a whole lot easier, specially on small cabs.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 3, 2014 16:56:29 GMT -5
Spent a very pleasant couple of hours at Johnson's about a year ago. It's about an hours drive away, but well worth the time. Had the opportunity to tour several of the small buildings. My wife and Mr. Johnson had a good visit on that bench. Planning to head back up there soon. He has a pretty good selection, and reasonable prices.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 3, 2014 8:43:59 GMT -5
Thank you all for the warm welcome. To answer a couple of the questions: I'm located in south Liberty County about a mile from the Trinity River, which it seems sometimes yields a little pet wood. I was fortunate enough to get a few sizeable chunks from an old time collector who has hinted that he might take me to a couple of locations to look for more. Most of it is opalized, fractured and black, but there were a couple that actually look like wood. As for equipment, currently have a 10" Covington slab/trim saw, an old HP 18" (with 16" blade) that is the workhorse, a C40 bandsaw, and a Kingsley 6" cabbing unit (upgraded to Nova wheels). I'm in the process of rehabing a 50 year old Sears flat lap (have to figure out how to mount the motor). Not a lot of toys, but enough to keep an old man happy.
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kenefick
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 44
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Post by kenefick on Aug 2, 2014 18:02:29 GMT -5
Just joined, though I have been lurking a while. I'll probably do a lot more reading than posting, but will jump in occasionally. I started lapidary back in the '60's, but took about a 40 year break. Got re-interested a year or so ago, and am hooked again. I'm not really into tumbling (not enough patience), but dearly love to slab and cab. Not much opportunity to rockhound in this part of the country, and rock shops are scarce, so material is somewhat limited. Trying a little wire-wrap, looking to get back into silversmithing, and pie-in-the-sky thinking about trying some carving. Now if I could just find the talent to do all that......
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