Trylobyte
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 101
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Post by Trylobyte on Jan 12, 2004 12:02:10 GMT -5
I've been trying to refine the rough grind process, and one idea was to "touch up" the edges of some of the fractured pieces on a grinder. I fired up my handy Craftsman grinder, and proceeeded to "take the edge off" using the OEM wheel of unknown type.
Seemed to work pretty well, but I only tried it on a couple pieces of Montana agate, and some red jasper. It seemed nice to grind out small fractures and sharp points, and I didn't notice any evidence of overheating. I also didn't use any water, for better or worse.
I then went to my local rock store and was going to buy one of the silicon carbide wheels in maybe 80-100 grit. First I was confronted with two types: one grey and one green. I suspect one of these was meant to be used wet. Any clues?
Then the rock store guy, who is a master lapidary dude, tells me that I will burn my rocks using my craftsman grinder, and probably destroy the motor. I don't believe the motor part, because I've ground the piss out of things for years on this grinder, but burning the rocks maybe...
He has a bunch of used arbors for sale, and I'm tempted to bite on one and fix up a little grinding station. I love the fractured rough, but I'd like to shorten the 3-4 weeks of rough grind to maybe two.
Need some advice...
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Post by docone31 on Jan 12, 2004 19:15:22 GMT -5
He sounds old school. You might be able to overheat the stones but it sounds like you have a feel for the tools. For what you are doing, I would avoid the 80-100 grit wheels. They are too fine without water. The 36-60 wheels will do just fine as long as you do it slowly. Remember, silicone carbide is sacrificial along with the stone. Unless you go wet, hardware store will do really well, especially with tumbling also. You can also use your grinder for a motor with the arbor. I do not reccomend it with what you are doing but it would work. People also tell me I cannot do repairs unless I use medium, easy, or easy flo solder. I only use hard solder when I make my work, and hard to repair. If I listened to all of them, I would have to buy my pieces from them instead of making them. The Wright brothers might still be making bicycles and no one would have heard of Kitty Hawk. You are on the right track. Less is more.
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