janmay
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2012
Posts: 3
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Post by janmay on Aug 20, 2012 23:35:41 GMT -5
Hi there. I was wondering if anyone on the board could share their experiences with lapidary wire saws?
I have a treasured Indiana geode that is rather flat-ish that I'd like to be able to saw in half. It's solid, about 13-14" round, and about 5" high. Somewhat like a large M&M, but a little flatter.
And of course I'd like to be able to saw it in half the hard way, right down the middle of the 5" edge, hopefully exposing some nice crystalline structure that polishes well. (I'm thinking of polishing the two halves with each other, much like amateur telescope makers grind/polish their mirrors)
I have a few used 14" diamond blades, that I eventually want to build a homemade saw for, but I don't think they will be quite big enough for this rock.
A drag saw seems to be a bit of an overkill, for something I might only use one, two, or three times.
I've got it stuck in my head that a wire saw fed with silicon carbide grit seems like the right tool for the job, but I'm really not sure how to go about it, without lots of trial and error.
I've seen the basic mechanics of how to make a wire saw reciprocate on Kreigh's site (which I totally love), and in Dake's book, but I'd love to see a working example.
Any thoughts, suggestions, pictures, or videos that could help me get started?
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juzwuz
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2010
Posts: 526
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Post by juzwuz on Aug 21, 2012 14:27:14 GMT -5
Hi! As an alternative it might be easier to take the geode to a local rock club with a large saw?
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