WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
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Post by WilliamC on Sept 18, 2003 14:16:55 GMT -5
Greetings All, Thanks for getting the pictures up Andy, I appreciate that others can now see where my money is going I will get some before/after shots of the green aventurine to you in the next few days. As for selling small quantitites like Pdwight suggsted, well I garauntee that, when I get a large shipment in from indiarockhounder.com, I will offer some of the rough through this board at my cost. Of course I'll probably try and sell some through Ebay too, but I would want to make a profit from that As for what I have on hand now (including what I'll be getting from my own Ebay spree) I'm hoping that the new QT12 I'm getting (which STILL hasn't come yet ) will increase my production. Besides, there is just something kinda neat about having piles of rocks in my storeroom, patiently awating my time and labor to turn them into something nice and pretty, just like they waited for millions of years before someone came along and freed them from their earthly confinement WilliamC
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Sekhmet
off to a rocking start
Rocktumbling fool, It's rocktumbletastic.
Member since September 2003
Posts: 11
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Post by Sekhmet on Sept 30, 2003 9:22:27 GMT -5
I bought my first "hopper" to polish spent brass (target shooting being my other hobby). It was bound to happen (living on a rock filled river) that one day I tossed a few hunks of jasper and an agate or two in with my brass and *wham* outta control took on a whole new meaning. Last week a friend came for a visit from Ohio. As I was showing off some of my nicer finds she mumbled "uh, yeah, nice rocks". ["Nice rocks"was all I got?? GASP! I was udderly horrified.."nice rocks" indeed!] I had planned a picnic/rockhunt for the next day but left out telling her the rock hunting part. Friday morning we jumped in the boat and headed upriver for Goth Island (a great rock island that we named for this big gothic style gate in the middle of nowhere...goes no place..serves no purpose..rather sinister). All it took was a few seconds to hear Deb say "look at this cool rock" and "wow..look at this one" and needless to say, Lortone is now a new word in her vocabulary. Funny how these things happen. She shipped most of her find home but put some of her favorites into her suitcase. I had to cackle when the guy at the ticket counter lifted her bag and said "jeez, whatcha got in here, rocks?" Be well, Sekhmet
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Sekhmet
off to a rocking start
Rocktumbling fool, It's rocktumbletastic.
Member since September 2003
Posts: 11
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Post by Sekhmet on Sept 30, 2003 9:45:04 GMT -5
Oops...that would be more like utterly instead of udderly (even if I were thinking at just about that moment that my long time friend was rather a cow). Be well Sekhmet
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Sept 30, 2003 9:57:33 GMT -5
We get the picture Dwight P
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WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
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Post by WilliamC on Oct 3, 2003 6:48:07 GMT -5
Greetings All, Don't worry Sekhmet, we won't try to milk your word substitution for all it's worth But more to the point, there's another Lortone QT12 on Ebay right now and I am just going to have to bid on it. I've been NEEDING another tumbler, right? and this is my chance to get it at the cheapest possible price right? So you all will explain to my wife why I simply HAVE to HAVE this, right? RIGHT? So here goes.....Done! Now I just have to wait until Sunday to see if I win it. Thanks everyone, for the support. I couldn't have bid on it without you! ;D WilliamC
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Oct 3, 2003 18:07:43 GMT -5
Simply say "No honey there were two of those in the box, I just now started using the second one"
Well it probbly wont work..but its worth a try...my buddy does it with guns all the time.
Dwight P
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WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
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Post by WilliamC on Oct 5, 2003 19:48:50 GMT -5
Greetings All, Whelp, I bought the QT12 off of Ebay, so that will make a total of 36 barrel-pounds of rock I can tumble at one time What will I tumble in it first? I still haven't started any leopardskin jasper, and that was some of the first rock I bought. So that will be the first load for my new machine. BUT this is it for the tumblers for now, no foolin! That 500 kilos of rocks from India isn't going to purchase itself ya know WilliamC
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Post by docone31 on Oct 5, 2003 20:25:20 GMT -5
In this hobby/craft, there are challenges and problems. Challenges of course are why we tumble, grind, use colourful metaphors, frustrate our spouses, and polish. The economics are of course second to reality. The problem is the disease of more. I have it probably as definatively as the others I read. I am faceting the blue aventurine. Cool stuff. I am making a 9mmX15mm emerald cut on one piece. This is tough stuff!! I am going to need more laps!!!! A new 180, new 360, a 600, a 1200, and a 6000. Never mind phenolic laps, I can polish with diamond!!! Ok, a 9mmX15mm, I am going to have to fabricate a setting, and a piece to mount a setting, and a design to highlight the piece. How much am I going to tie up in material cost, never mind my time, and who is going to purchase it? 500lbs of rough, no problem. A new pickup truck to move it, new out-building, handling equipment. Nobody will ever know why we do it, untill we show them how to cut and polish one of their own. There are no words for this. Ah, of course, teach a class. Develop interest. Learn what we need to answer every question. My wife is sleeping at this moment. I am going to facet tonite untill I am senseless. She will never know........
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donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Oct 5, 2003 21:44:43 GMT -5
That is why I like this place so much doc. It is a place where I can come and everyone here is as nutz about rocks as I am. While I think the general population likes rocks for the most part, very few of them have the 'sickness' lol. I wish I lived closer to you doc, I'd stop by and watch you do some faceting buddy. But it is a long drive and you say you are only going to facet tonight until you are senseless.....about 5 minutes or less? Hehe, just kiddin doc, have fun and let us know what you turn out. Talk to you later, Don
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WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
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Post by WilliamC on Oct 6, 2003 20:55:26 GMT -5
Greetings All, Hey there Doc, I REALLY didn't mean to cause you so much trouble by sending the blue aventurine ;D New laps eh? And of course the cost of material for making settings. Now yer makin' me feel positively GUILTY But I must say I do like your idea for the new pickup truck that I'll need to get my 500 kilo's of rough from Mobile back to my house here in North Mississippi. Well, maybe not a new truck, but there is this used auto place on the corner of main street and Hwy 51 that has a reconditioned 1964 Ford Pickup, Red and White, new motor, new interior, looks real clean from the outside . And 1964 is my birthyear. I must admit it has gotten me thinking that I'd be much better off selling my Saturn, (which I bought new for zero down zero interest so I owe more on it than it is worth), and refinancing a less expensive vehicle that I could pay off in less time. And to think it could have a practical value....well gosh darn Doc, that does make me ponder the wisdom of it all WilliamC
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Oct 6, 2003 22:33:43 GMT -5
I know where that is, you must live near Tupelo or even further north Southhaven
I live not that far from you...in North west Al
Dwight P
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Post by docone31 on Oct 7, 2003 7:56:23 GMT -5
64 Ford pickup, hmmmm how about going rat? Big block, 460, 871 blower, Hildebrand injectors, alcohol, reworked C6, modified suspension, no ghetto glider here, lift with Dana front end. Idles lopey at 2600rpm, Haynes governor set at 6500. 7sec quarter. Yeah, that much stone needs some stylin'. Maybe huffed out from 460 to 530. Sleeve cylinders, Arieas hemi heads. We talkin reality here. 33.5X16X130 dot#2 all around. Roller crank. A little blue on the body to commemorate the occasion. Show dem rock boys how to do it right!!!! Oh yeah, 150hp nitro assist, just to know it is there. You have hills there, might just need a little oomph for dem hills, no hills down here. Rewire the tumbler motors, a diode bridge to wipe phase, extra windings for when the stone rests on one side, the possibilities. Add a lift for cycling. Instead of flipping the can every other day, it has a cam and flips itself. Way cool. I rewired my wife's washer, which I use exclusively. It is a good thing it had a warranty. It went so fast the water input could not keep up with the rotating speed and the spin cycle spun the machine and broke into the sheet rock. Jenne calls me the tool guy, argh, argh, argh. I am under order to not play with the appliances. I read a tutorial on using the microwave for silver casting. It actually works! kinda doesn't cook well afterwards, the turntable has to be disconnected. I found out you can melt silver and cast in a microwave. I have been ordered to wait for technology to catch up however. I guess I have to go back to the torch. STONES ARE JUST THE BEGINNING!!!!
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Red
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2003
Posts: 12
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Post by Red on Oct 7, 2003 23:11:40 GMT -5
Go Doc! The only thing I would add is an upgrade to an ARB locker w/ DANA 44 30 SPLINE 3.92 ratio in order to get the load of rocks home (I would have been stranded more than once gathering [rocks and photographs] without the ARB on my jeep)!
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Post by docone31 on Oct 7, 2003 23:34:00 GMT -5
Nah, this would be a hard road warrior. 2.73 both sides. Gotta get home before the wife wakes up. Probably would need dual three inch pipes with mellow free-flow to keep the fun quiet. I am faceting a good sized aventurine from the Cliffster. He is of course who we are designing for. It is a faceters.com signature series. So far the culet to girdle is roughed in. Lots of fractures. Lots of lost carat weight. That was expected however, and it is giving me time to design a new indes arm. I am used to adjusting for say 42.5 degrees. This one has a facet angle of 44.4411325. Now that has me thinking. If I can design a facet arm with digital servo arms on a point to point program. I could bread down the angle to correspond to wear on the lap, variences in density altitude, humidity, cut speed. The indexing is ok, it is just the dop drift, and protractor angle. If I can only get the light return above 84.1%. Even with an opaque like aventurine, the refractive angle would boost the colour. How many times I query. Does the stone know we love its heart? We do not create, we discover.
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Red
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2003
Posts: 12
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Post by Red on Oct 7, 2003 23:56:50 GMT -5
2.73 with WillC's Bombay load...too much high-end for me? I am a compression fan myself--do my best to stay off the highway (too many other drivers). Doc, I know this is the outta control thread, but what budget level grinder would you reccomend for preshaping stones before the 60/90? Do you think a $40 grinder designed for sharpening a lawn mower blade ect. will work well or do I need to sell my computer monitor for one of the grinders Diamond Pacific had on display at the local rock/gem show? (wait...if I lose my monitor...I loose this forum ).
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Post by docone31 on Oct 8, 2003 12:14:28 GMT -5
Hey Bruda. Low compression with a blower. The best grinder is a good, low priced two wheel 6" grinder from Walmart, or Ace, or Home Depot. For speed control, a fan rheostat, 600 watt is great. I use a cup of water to keep the stones cool. Dop wax is just sealing wax. I use wood dowels to hold the stone. The grinder has the guards off unless I use a water drip. With the drip I have fabricated my own guard. That is all you need. The stones will give you the feel.
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