Post by UtahRockHound on May 8, 2008 20:06:23 GMT -5
I guess the best way to introduce myself is to tell you who I am and show you what I do.
The age option on the forums does not go as old as dirt, so 52 it is. I have a wife that shares my passion for rocks and three great boys. Born and raised in Utah. I grew up hunting dinosaur bones in northern Utah before it was illegal.
I currently live in Central Utah USA. I have rock hounded my entire life, but never took any kind of rock cutting and polishing seriously until last fall. Since last fall, I have been building equipment to work with producing rocks.
Completed home made projects.:
10" Slab Saw
Dual Belt Sander
Final Polishing
Home made Projects in the works.
Rock turning Lathe (Vases, Candle Stick Holders, spheres, etc)
Rock Tumblers, 5gl and 55gl Drum.
Rotary Slab Polish Table
Auto Template Cutter
Tools bought
7" tile Saw
6" bench grinder.
Time to put up, or shut up. 10" Rock Saw.
Rather then re-type it all, here is a copy-paste from my current web site. (yes, I am being lazy) ;D
Yes, I know the beast is ugly, but it works great.
Don't mistake the dark red for rust. I was cutting some red Wonderstone, and it turned everything a dull red. Including me and my shop floor. I have plans to build a Plexiglas cover for it, but could not resist cutting some rock first. I have a sheet of 1/4 Plexiglas glass I picked up a long time ago, and this would be a perfect use for it.
The Blade is a 10 inch diamond blade. The blade was a mistake on my part for not studying a little more. I ruined a $80 blade from lack of knowing. I first picked a blade made for cutting hardened concrete and re-bar thinking if it can cut that, it could cut rocks easy. Big mistake. After taking all the diamond off one side, and the blade would push sideways, I double checked my carriage alignment, and when it was perfect, I went to the manufacturers web site and begin studying what ruins a blade. It turns out, the blade was to hard.
Yes, a diamond blade can be to hard. What was happening is the blade was bouncing off the rock and chattering. Also it was a bath or dip for water and cooling. I have since installed a small water pump for indoor fountains, and went to a thinner, and softer blade made for cutting Tile, Marble, and Granite. I can not believe the difference it has made. It would honestly take me 30 minutes to get through a piece of Obsidian. 3X6. Now I can go through it almost as fast as I can turn the handle to feed it. Not only that, but the cut is smoother and takes less sanding to get rid of the saw marks.
The only tools I used were a portable Bandsaw, Wirefeed Welder, Small Drill Press, and basic hand tools. This is a project anyone with enough ambition, and basic tools can tackle.
Items purchased from McMaster Carr were the Guide Shafts and Guides, Blade Arbor and Shaft. I purchased 3 1/2 all thread rods to push the carriages with from Home Depot. The water tub underneath is nothing more then a Store All from Wal-Mart with the center of the lid cut out to prevent splashing when I move it. Everything else is from items I have collected over the years and had laying around.
The main carriage and sub carriage with clamp is 1 inch angle iron.
Before assembly, I cut two end pieces for each carriage and placed them back to back then lightly welded the ends so they would stay in perfect alignment when drilling. All pieces that must match, I highly recommend welding the ends very lightly. This way the opposite end will match perfectly when assembled. When all your holes are drilled, just grind off the weld, and they easily separate.
Sorry, I can not show you a picture of the guides with out taking it apart. All they are is an aluminum block with nylon bushings. I drilled the block, then drilled and tapped holes in the angle iron, then bolted them on.
To lock the all thread rods that push the carriages, after you get them all adjusted, just drill through the nuts, and all thread rod, and pin them with a roll pin. This way should you ever need to dis-assemble them, simply drive the pin out, and when you put it back together line up the pin holes and re-pin them. This way everything stays in line.
I used normal 1/2 wood plank on the clamps. This helps to grip the rock as it will form to the rock surface, and hold much better. I did read that plywood is to hard, and will not grip as well. Also plywood will come apart when it gets wet over a period of time.
In the second and third image, you can see a split nut I built for quick return of the main carriage. This also serves as a stop when later plans include a drive off the main motor. When the carriage reaches a certain spot, the split nut opens. This is like putting your car in neutral. The split nut is a little complex, and I wish I had a better picture of it, but the basics are simple.
Take a 1X1 steel block 2 inches long. Drill and tap it Lengthwise to the size of all thread rod you are using. Once tapped, cut it right down the middle splitting it in half so the threads are on each half. Use two small flat straps, and clamp one to the top, then one to the bottom. Once clamped, drill through them. This creates a perfect double hinge. Rig up some springs that will hold it firmly together. I then sacrificed an old screwdriver and rigged it up with linkage that pulls the split nut apart.
The motor is a 3/4 horse from a old table saw. The RPM's is 3600. The blade is rated at 3600, but just between you and me, I hate to think of sections of blade turning loose at that speed, so the pulley is a 2 to 1 reduction to cut the speed in half. This also gives me more power at the blade for hogging through Quartz.
The last image is of the drive setup on the back to move the main carriage. I could have just put a handle on the front of the main All Thread, but like I mentioned before, I have plans to connect a drive from the main motor. For this I needed it to come out the back. This is just a temporary setup and will be cut off later. But for now, it is very affective.
As a final note, if you stone me, throw agates, I need lots for my projects.
The age option on the forums does not go as old as dirt, so 52 it is. I have a wife that shares my passion for rocks and three great boys. Born and raised in Utah. I grew up hunting dinosaur bones in northern Utah before it was illegal.
I currently live in Central Utah USA. I have rock hounded my entire life, but never took any kind of rock cutting and polishing seriously until last fall. Since last fall, I have been building equipment to work with producing rocks.
Completed home made projects.:
10" Slab Saw
Dual Belt Sander
Final Polishing
Home made Projects in the works.
Rock turning Lathe (Vases, Candle Stick Holders, spheres, etc)
Rock Tumblers, 5gl and 55gl Drum.
Rotary Slab Polish Table
Auto Template Cutter
Tools bought
7" tile Saw
6" bench grinder.
Time to put up, or shut up. 10" Rock Saw.
Rather then re-type it all, here is a copy-paste from my current web site. (yes, I am being lazy) ;D
Yes, I know the beast is ugly, but it works great.
Don't mistake the dark red for rust. I was cutting some red Wonderstone, and it turned everything a dull red. Including me and my shop floor. I have plans to build a Plexiglas cover for it, but could not resist cutting some rock first. I have a sheet of 1/4 Plexiglas glass I picked up a long time ago, and this would be a perfect use for it.
The Blade is a 10 inch diamond blade. The blade was a mistake on my part for not studying a little more. I ruined a $80 blade from lack of knowing. I first picked a blade made for cutting hardened concrete and re-bar thinking if it can cut that, it could cut rocks easy. Big mistake. After taking all the diamond off one side, and the blade would push sideways, I double checked my carriage alignment, and when it was perfect, I went to the manufacturers web site and begin studying what ruins a blade. It turns out, the blade was to hard.
Yes, a diamond blade can be to hard. What was happening is the blade was bouncing off the rock and chattering. Also it was a bath or dip for water and cooling. I have since installed a small water pump for indoor fountains, and went to a thinner, and softer blade made for cutting Tile, Marble, and Granite. I can not believe the difference it has made. It would honestly take me 30 minutes to get through a piece of Obsidian. 3X6. Now I can go through it almost as fast as I can turn the handle to feed it. Not only that, but the cut is smoother and takes less sanding to get rid of the saw marks.
The only tools I used were a portable Bandsaw, Wirefeed Welder, Small Drill Press, and basic hand tools. This is a project anyone with enough ambition, and basic tools can tackle.
Items purchased from McMaster Carr were the Guide Shafts and Guides, Blade Arbor and Shaft. I purchased 3 1/2 all thread rods to push the carriages with from Home Depot. The water tub underneath is nothing more then a Store All from Wal-Mart with the center of the lid cut out to prevent splashing when I move it. Everything else is from items I have collected over the years and had laying around.
The main carriage and sub carriage with clamp is 1 inch angle iron.
Before assembly, I cut two end pieces for each carriage and placed them back to back then lightly welded the ends so they would stay in perfect alignment when drilling. All pieces that must match, I highly recommend welding the ends very lightly. This way the opposite end will match perfectly when assembled. When all your holes are drilled, just grind off the weld, and they easily separate.
Sorry, I can not show you a picture of the guides with out taking it apart. All they are is an aluminum block with nylon bushings. I drilled the block, then drilled and tapped holes in the angle iron, then bolted them on.
To lock the all thread rods that push the carriages, after you get them all adjusted, just drill through the nuts, and all thread rod, and pin them with a roll pin. This way should you ever need to dis-assemble them, simply drive the pin out, and when you put it back together line up the pin holes and re-pin them. This way everything stays in line.
I used normal 1/2 wood plank on the clamps. This helps to grip the rock as it will form to the rock surface, and hold much better. I did read that plywood is to hard, and will not grip as well. Also plywood will come apart when it gets wet over a period of time.
In the second and third image, you can see a split nut I built for quick return of the main carriage. This also serves as a stop when later plans include a drive off the main motor. When the carriage reaches a certain spot, the split nut opens. This is like putting your car in neutral. The split nut is a little complex, and I wish I had a better picture of it, but the basics are simple.
Take a 1X1 steel block 2 inches long. Drill and tap it Lengthwise to the size of all thread rod you are using. Once tapped, cut it right down the middle splitting it in half so the threads are on each half. Use two small flat straps, and clamp one to the top, then one to the bottom. Once clamped, drill through them. This creates a perfect double hinge. Rig up some springs that will hold it firmly together. I then sacrificed an old screwdriver and rigged it up with linkage that pulls the split nut apart.
The motor is a 3/4 horse from a old table saw. The RPM's is 3600. The blade is rated at 3600, but just between you and me, I hate to think of sections of blade turning loose at that speed, so the pulley is a 2 to 1 reduction to cut the speed in half. This also gives me more power at the blade for hogging through Quartz.
The last image is of the drive setup on the back to move the main carriage. I could have just put a handle on the front of the main All Thread, but like I mentioned before, I have plans to connect a drive from the main motor. For this I needed it to come out the back. This is just a temporary setup and will be cut off later. But for now, it is very affective.
As a final note, if you stone me, throw agates, I need lots for my projects.