OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 16:29:26 GMT -5
Unless the motor was built to mount in any position it will last longer bolted horizontally (not shaft down or up). Good point. I had not thought of that. This motor that I got came out of a table saw and not a drill press. So it was designed to run horizontally and not vertically. I am nearly finished with the cabinet work on it.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 16:22:18 GMT -5
Rocks could fly out at you from any orientation if you are not careful. The only thing I can think of is torque plane of the motor, which is vertical instead of horizontal. I am building a motor mount so that it can be used flat on its back or upright. I will test both orientations. I have an old shop vac to hook up to it that has a broken on/off switch, so I will rewire it to a manual cord switch. I have no interest in getting silicosis, and I have several industrial dust masks as well. They have two Richardson Ranch dry sanders set up at the local Mt Hood Rock Club lap shop here in PDX. They seem to not have injured anyone since they have reopened the shop. At least not that I am aware of. I was looking to buy a used Richardson sander, but was given the attachments with the grinder and found a motor to drive it with. All it needs is the frame/mount woodwork. Actually the hs sanders at the club's shop have been removed. There was never a serious injury but we went through lots of bandaids. Good to know. I have not been there in a while, obviously. I have my own rock shop at home now. And a supply of BandAids.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 16, 2018 16:06:49 GMT -5
So, I snapped some photos of my gold sheen obsidian cuts that I did yesterday. It turned out to have some triple flow clear in the center, and here are the results (wet rock in photos to enhance the effect). Gold sheen can be seen from one vantage point, but not the other. It is not a polarizing effect, as I have a polarizing filter on the camera (taken with a Nikon D80 with a Nikkor 18-200 DX zoom lens).
Gold sheen with the sun behind the camera
Rocks rotated 180 degrees, no gold (or less gold sheen)
Note that the rock on the far left of the gold shot and far right of the non gold shot has no gold sheen. Same exact rock, cut perpendicular to the lava flow layers has no sheen in any orientation.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 16, 2018 15:22:38 GMT -5
Apparently I need to smoke something strong to see these images in these rocks? I just see the band of lace agate. Hi OregonBorn, nawww, you don't have to smoke something strong to see the images presented. What you need is a heightened sense of awareness that provides an ability to "see other than what you think is the obvious". Apparently this heightened sense of awareness is the result of a a condition known as "Pareidolia" and is defined as "Visual Apophenia". Apophenia is defined as "an error in perception". Got it?
Sorry, I see no sleeping dogs here. I just see two large boring rocks. What you are describing as a "heightened sense of awareness" my brother has growing legally here in my back yard. A strain called Maui Waui. It has a few more months to go yet before it can be inhaled providing me with the ability to, "see other than what you think is the obvious". A third eye, as it were. I am rather visually and spatially adept, as I am an engineer by trade. But I still do not see what you describe here in your rock photos.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 16, 2018 15:07:28 GMT -5
Don't let this info out but the "Agate Kutter" is the MK225 with BD label. I answered this question in a PM but answered .040" 303C good choice, 305 Agate Kutter good but thick, and my personal favorite 10" blade is the 301 .040". Is that the same as the MK 'Hot Dog' blade? The BD 305 Agate Kutter in 8" is an 050 blade ($69 from BD direct). MK 225 Hot Dog in 8" is also a 050 kerf ($60 on Amazon). MK 303 is not available in 040 in an 8", only the MK 301. In 10" there are different kerfs available. At least with what I can find online.
By the way, the Barracuda Diamond blades are not to be confused with the Power Rangers Barracuda Blade here
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 16, 2018 14:50:05 GMT -5
Actually I have the motor and transmission (and shop vac), all I need is the body!
But I have seen several home made dry sanders for sale at various rock sales and shows here. Simple enough to bolt up a frame. I have a melamine drawer that I got for $1.50 at Habitat that I am using as a base for the frame. The motor is freak'n heavy, so I added plywood to make the drawer stronger. If that does not work, I will upgrade to using 2x2 or even 2x4 framing.
The guy that sold me the dual wheel Lortone grinder thought that the 2 buffer ends attached to the ends of the grinder. They were not his though, they were from his brother's rock tools. When I got it home I realized these were not attachments for that machine (which works fine), but for a dry rock sander. So I went looking for a motor, and whallah! Habitat had one. Larger than the Richardson ones, 3/4 horse from a Sears table saw. Bullet proof. Spins like a Formula E racing engine.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 15, 2018 21:37:50 GMT -5
Apparently I need to smoke something strong to see these images in these rocks? I just see the band of lace agate.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 15, 2018 21:30:45 GMT -5
No hurry.
I just cut up a bunch of gold sheen obsidian this afternoon to dress out my new 303 MK Diamond blade. I found a layer of previously unseen clear in the stack of red and black in the rock. Then I cut that one too thick to see through the clear. But the gold sheen and swirl pattern on the other side is nice enough to make a cab from. This gold sheen rock looked like just another piece of mahogany that I collected at Glass Buttes 3 years ago. Man, what perty pieces I got. I played with the angle of the cuts some, and got some interesting results. I 'spose I should post the photos... maybe when I get the oil off the rocks I will get the camera out.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 15, 2018 21:22:44 GMT -5
To follow up on this thread, I ordered the MK Diamond 0.032 8" 303 blade from Amazon. I used the 'slow' free shipping option on Amazon and it was sent to me in 4 days after ordering it. I ~just~ installed it this afternoon and I ran though several pieces of gold sheen obsidian with it. Very smooth and fairly fast cuts, even free-hand! I then cut up a small piece of pet wood. Slicey dicey! So I am happy with it. Only faint saw marks, no digs like with the 301 blade. Now my arms are covered in mineral/baby (2:1 mix) oil... I guess I will take Roman baths while cutting rocks?
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 15, 2018 18:21:28 GMT -5
Oldie but goodie...
FEED ME, Seymore!
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 15, 2018 18:12:31 GMT -5
What you have cut there is not plain old obsidian. "Plain" obsidian is typically all uniform and all black. There are lots of types of what is called rainbow obsidian. Also there are related color types like aurora or peacock obsidian. I had the best piece of peacock obsidian in my hands at the Prineville Pow Wow a few years ago, and I put it back on the sale table. Read: mistake! I should have bought it.
Several types of rainbow obsidian include the streaky flow color line rainbow from places like Glass Buttes. You have to cut that stuff just right to get the best effect. Also there is Davis Creek rainbow that shows rainbow colors from all angles, like aurora obsidian. Many call aurora obsidian rainbow, but it tends to have blue-green to purple colors, and it is usually more solid in color or bi-color. Then there is bullseye rainbow, which shows colors in circles if cut and polished right. Then you can get rainbow effects in clear (or root beer/grape) and tri-flow obsidian if cut right or held up to the light just right. Its a prism effect that you are seeing in rainbow. Variable colors of light are refracted, depending on the type of obsidian and the cut, as well as light angle. Glass also makes a prism if cut right. Obsidian is basically glass (SiO2) with other minerals in it. Glass (and obsidian) is created when SiO2 cools too fast and it cannot form crystalline structures. Quartz is also SiO2, but has had ample time to form stable crystals. Agate is also SiO2, but has a different and less stable noncrystalline structure than quartz.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 14, 2018 18:35:49 GMT -5
Ok here's 3 Obsidian slabs I cut a couple weeks ago, not sure what type. The last one has a lot of the gold? or silver? sheen to it if it catches the light just right. (pardon the pictures, I can't stand the new hi-tech digital cameras, too automatic, give me my old 35mm film camera with all manual settings any day) Top photo is a combination double flow and midnight lace. I suppose it could also be called triple flow. Generally triple flow is black, read and clear, and double flow is red and clear or black and clear. Clear is a variable in opacity. Depending on the color of the clear, these may also be root beer. Hard to tell with the green lawn in the background. It could also be what I call grape soda with a purple tint (lots of both at Glass Buttes). Or just clear. No authority on these names that I have found, it varies quite a lot.
Second photo is a combination of triple flow and tiger stripe, with a few strands of midnight lace. If you cut the tiger stripe section more parallel to the stripes, it may also show gold sheen. If you cut gold or silver sheen perpendicular to the layers, it will not show the sheen.
Third photo is triple flow midnight lace and gold sheen. The top section is almost lizzard skin or spider web. Hard to tell with the glare.
Agreed on the 35mm camera vs digital, but I do not shoot with film any more. I have a Nikon digital setup with a high end zoom lens, and it does OK.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 14, 2018 16:36:13 GMT -5
Rocks could fly out at you from any orientation if you are not careful. The only thing I can think of is torque plane of the motor, which is vertical instead of horizontal. I am building a motor mount so that it can be used flat on its back or upright. I will test both orientations. I have an old shop vac to hook up to it that has a broken on/off switch, so I will rewire it to a manual cord switch. I have no interest in getting silicosis, and I have several industrial dust masks as well.
They have two Richardson Ranch dry sanders set up at the local Mt Hood Rock Club lap shop here in PDX. They seem to not have injured anyone since they have reopened the shop. At least not that I am aware of. I was looking to buy a used Richardson sander, but was given the attachments with the grinder and found a motor to drive it with. All it needs is the frame/mount woodwork.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 14, 2018 16:17:22 GMT -5
You might try dressing your 301 blade and tapping edge flat if it is rounded. I have cut a lot of rocks with a 301 on my MK101 tile saw and the cut is as flat as my wallet. If you are hand slabbing without a vice you will get saw marks with any blade you try. If you are pushing a vised rock through by hand make sure vice is not lifting or rock moving in vise. Also saw bearings not worn and letting blade run off. Ah ha, you guessed it. The 301 is rounded off. I have been cutting a lot of obsidian with it between other cuts, so it should be dressed. I did not think about side blade dressing/flattening. I have a pretty good vice and slide system om the saw, and the bearings are nice and tight. No blade play at all. I think it is a problem with the rounded 301 blade, as I get streaky cuts. I am building a DYI Rchardsons style dry sander to take care of those though One lapidary tool leads to needing another...
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 10, 2018 17:37:16 GMT -5
.042" is a good size for 8". .025" too flexible for slabbing. The "Agate Kutter" a good choice if you want a thick blade. Spendy but really tall kerf.
You mean a .032 here? .040 (or .042) does not seem to exist in a 303 blade (MK or BD or Korean). Contrary to that, .040 seems to be the only size available in the 301 series in 8". The saw I have came with that blade. The BD 305 Agate Kutter is .050 in 8" and is $69 from BD direct. Not too bad a price, marked down from $115 on their web site.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 7, 2018 18:26:54 GMT -5
I bought a Lortone 2 wheel grinder from a guy and he threw in 2 Richardson Ranch grinder attachments with the rubber pads. I also came across a 3/4 HP Craftsman 3450 motor from a table saw at Habitat for Humanity, so I will be making a DIY Richardson sander from them with wood. My model is more or less like this one in the attached photo. I am thinking of making it horizontal instead, and adding a complete cowling around the sander disk with a shop vac exhaust port. Any reason that they are all upright like this? A horizontal motor mount would be more sturdy and grind from the side instead of from the bottom. Torque plane might be an issue here. I am not sure though.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 2, 2018 17:04:21 GMT -5
Was leaning toward the 040, but it turns out that Amazon does not have that size blade. Only 025, 032, and 060 in 8-inch in the 303 MK line. The Korean blades on Ebay are only available in the same sizes. Amusing... and obviously the source of the MK blades. So it seems that the 040 kerf is not available in 8 inch. Which narrows down my options. So I guess its a 032 x 5/8 303 blade for me. 025 is a tad thin and the 060 is more spendy and cuts twice the rock in kerf.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 2, 2018 16:32:57 GMT -5
Granite tile blades are even more spendy. I found this information on this site poking around:
from johnjsgems: "Barranca is the lapidary division of MK. Before they dumped the blade furnace they (Barranca) made blades for MK, Lortone, Covington, and many other brands. All their blades come from Korea now and MK303C is exactly the same blade as BD303C with a different sticker. Diamond Pacific until last year was Barranca's biggest blade customer and always ordered with the MK label. They now advertise BD blades. I think it was last year that MK raised prices and BD didn't. That might be why they changed names. The 303P is used mostly on the MK101 or BD 2014 (also same saws with either MK red or Barranca blue) that run 3450 rpm. The 303P (P stands for porcelain) was made for cutting porcelain, granite and hard stone in high speed saws. I know a little about these blades as I am one of the two dealers that passed DP in annual blade sales of Barranca products."
"I've used 303C blades on a couple of 10" hand feed saws. I used .032" to save material. If you have a power feed use the .040". The extra width is more forgiving. At $130 list for the 303P vs. the $76 list for a 303C I wouldn't even consider a P for a saw running that speed. For cutting agates/jaspers, etc. oil would be best. When I had only one saw (a 10" Frantom) I cut with oil. Anything that had to be cut with water I stockpiled. When the oil got really dirty I would drain and clean the saw and refill with water. After cutting the oil sensitive material I drained, flushed, dried and refilled with clean oil. It worked for me for a long time."
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 1, 2018 17:23:29 GMT -5
The thickness of the blade has little to do with cut quality. The people who sell the 032 blade also sell a 060 blade, which would probably increase cut quality and blade life for people who push the rock through with too much force. Big difference in price for 060 blades, They are $62.77 on Amazon. *cough* The 040 blade is $48.63. All Mk Diamond branded 303 blades.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 86
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 1, 2018 17:11:58 GMT -5
The thickness of the blade has little to do with cut quality. The people who sell the 032 blade also sell a 060 blade, which would probably increase cut quality and blade life for people who push the rock through with too much force. Blade life is reduced by forcing the cut. I use the blade to round some straight lines doing a preform Gently pressing the slab against side of the blade. .032 works better than .025 for this. Biggest blade killer for me was using it to slab. It makes sense for very small rough, but excessive slabbing kills the blades. Thanks. Exactly the type of answers I am looking for here. 0.40 is as large a blade as I can find in the $45 price range. The thinner blades are somewhat cheaper. I guess I will toss out the .025 option. Some other posts on saw kerf here say that either a 032 or 040 tend to last in shops open to club members (ie, the Mt Hood Rock Club shop in Portland). So maybe a 032 for thinner cuts and rigid enough for some small slabbing, but remove less rock than a 040.
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