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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 2:07:00 GMT -5
Was after this piece for a couple of years. It is a 380 pound boulder of copper ore. Ran in to a RTH member at the mine who helped me roll it up, out of of the mine and down the tailings pile. Went back a week later and I rolled it out of the wash it ended up in and down and in to the truck. The eventual goal is I drew up a design for a custom sphere machine that can handle this size rock and I plan to make a very large sphere out of it.
Here is a video of rolling down the tailings pile.
Video of the rock in the back f the truck showing around the rock.
Pic of some pieces I knocked off the boulder.
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Post by fernwood on Jan 28, 2022 2:41:43 GMT -5
Talk about a labor of love.
Glad you were able to get it. Looks amazing.
How large of a sphere are you planning?
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 4:30:18 GMT -5
Talk about a labor of love. Glad you were able to get it. Looks amazing. How large of a sphere are you planning? Not sure. As large as possible. Hoping to save at least 200 pounds. |
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Post by fernwood on Jan 28, 2022 4:35:38 GMT -5
Please post progress pics.
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,240
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Post by quartzilla on Jan 28, 2022 8:06:24 GMT -5
Wow that’s almost the size of the rock Indiana Jones had to dodge in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Can’t wait to see what you do with it!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 28, 2022 9:20:46 GMT -5
Talk about dedication! It was amazing watching that boulder roll down that hill.
The sphere machine will have to be huge to make a sphere out of that thing. It will be beautiful if you can do it, though. How long do you think it would take to actually grind that boulder down into a sphere?
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,957
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Post by Tommy on Jan 28, 2022 9:27:53 GMT -5
Amazing!  |
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Post by perkins17 on Jan 28, 2022 10:17:47 GMT -5
That is awesome. Copper stones are really interesting. I see beautiful spheres in your future...
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 28, 2022 10:36:59 GMT -5
I thought copper was supposed to eliminate back pain...that's what the TV commercials say at least! I would've thought my back would be killing me after dealing with this behemoth! LOL I'm thinking your sphere machine might make it on the TV show Mega Machines!  It definitely looks like it would make one heckuva sphere specimen!  |
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rewdownunder
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 357
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Post by rewdownunder on Jan 28, 2022 10:46:12 GMT -5
What a great find. A sphere would be super just need the right tool. This is a chunk of copper ore from the DeGrussa mine in western Australia being cut into a sphere with a CNC wire saw by Floating Stones & Desert Fire Designs of Perth . A 25 inch one was sold in Tucson in 2015 for almost $25,000.   |
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Post by greig on Jan 28, 2022 11:55:18 GMT -5
Awesome! Once you build that sphere machine, I think I know somebody with some large rocks containing other metals to try. ;-)
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Post by roy on Jan 28, 2022 12:03:42 GMT -5
wow that will make a sweet sphere
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 16:48:58 GMT -5
Talk about dedication! It was amazing watching that boulder roll down that hill. The sphere machine will have to be huge to make a sphere out of that thing. It will be beautiful if you can do it, though. How long do you think it would take to actually grind that boulder down into a sphere? Wont take long to grind it down. The design I came up with will be more like a rock lathe. I will use the jackhammer to kind of pre-shape it first because I would hate to grind away a lot of beautiful material. I have already cabbed some of this material and love it. Pre-shaping it some will also reduce the weight a little.
The hardest part will be getting it in to place on the machine. I have a hydraulic lift for my truck I will have to modify a little to lift it in to place.
Already had an accident with trying to move this thing. When weighing it on the scale it was not sitting very steady so i tried to turn it. The boulder rolled suddenly and severely crushed and tore up 2 fingers that got caught between it and another rock. When I tried to pull it off my fingers I could not hold it long enough to get my fingers out the first time and the boulder rolled back in to them again. Got my fingers out still attached the second time I pulled back on the boulder. So i want to make sure it is more stable this time.
The matrix of the stone is fairly soft being mainly dolomite, calcite, some quartz then the copper minerals. Therefore, it will grind pretty fast. I will have to stop the machine and rotate the stone manually at times as this is not like a regular sphere machine.
Have all the parts I need except the frame. I plan to use pallet racking cut down to size. Pallet racking is very strong and not that heavy. It can also be easily assembled and disassembled. A friend of mine in California has access to a bunch of it for free, so I am waiting for him to bring it up here.
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 16:54:04 GMT -5
I thought copper was supposed to eliminate back pain...that's what the TV commercials say at least! I would've thought my back would be killing me after dealing with this behemoth! LOL I'm thinking your sphere machine might make it on the TV show Mega Machines!  It definitely looks like it would make one heckuva sphere specimen!  The design I drew up for the machine is pretty basic. Frame, motor and pulleys, couple of pillow block bearings, steel rods, angle grinder and diamond cup and adjustable arm support with calibration marks to maintain the same angle. |
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 16:56:50 GMT -5
Awesome! Once you build that sphere machine, I think I know somebody with some large rocks containing other metals to try. ;-) I have several large rocks I want to try. Will probably experiment with rocks about half the size first just to make sure I did not overlook anything in the design. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 28, 2022 17:11:09 GMT -5
Talk about dedication! It was amazing watching that boulder roll down that hill. The sphere machine will have to be huge to make a sphere out of that thing. It will be beautiful if you can do it, though. How long do you think it would take to actually grind that boulder down into a sphere? Wont take long to grind it down. The design I came up with will be more like a rock lathe. I will use the jackhammer to kind of pre-shape it first because I would hate to grind away a lot of beautiful material. I have already cabbed some of this material and love it. Pre-shaping it some will also reduce the weight a little.
The hardest part will be getting it in to place on the machine. I have a hydraulic lift for my truck I will have to modify a little to lift it in to place.
Already had an accident with trying to move this thing. When weighing it on the scale it was not sitting very steady so i tried to turn it. The boulder rolled suddenly and severely crushed and tore up 2 fingers that got caught between it and another rock. When I tried to pull it off my fingers I could not hold it long enough to get my fingers out the first time and the boulder rolled back in to them again. Got my fingers out still attached the second time I pulled back on the boulder. So i want to make sure it is more stable this time.
The matrix of the stone is fairly soft being mainly dolomite, calcite, some quartz then the copper minerals. Therefore, it will grind pretty fast. I will have to stop the machine and rotate the stone manually at times as this is not like a regular sphere machine.
Have all the parts I need except the frame. I plan to use pallet racking cut down to size. Pallet racking is very strong and not that heavy. It can also be easily assembled and disassembled. A friend of mine in California has access to a bunch of it for free, so I am waiting for him to bring it up here.
Ouch! Be careful! Did you break anything? |
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 19:42:08 GMT -5
Wont take long to grind it down. The design I came up with will be more like a rock lathe. I will use the jackhammer to kind of pre-shape it first because I would hate to grind away a lot of beautiful material. I have already cabbed some of this material and love it. Pre-shaping it some will also reduce the weight a little.
The hardest part will be getting it in to place on the machine. I have a hydraulic lift for my truck I will have to modify a little to lift it in to place.
Already had an accident with trying to move this thing. When weighing it on the scale it was not sitting very steady so i tried to turn it. The boulder rolled suddenly and severely crushed and tore up 2 fingers that got caught between it and another rock. When I tried to pull it off my fingers I could not hold it long enough to get my fingers out the first time and the boulder rolled back in to them again. Got my fingers out still attached the second time I pulled back on the boulder. So i want to make sure it is more stable this time.
The matrix of the stone is fairly soft being mainly dolomite, calcite, some quartz then the copper minerals. Therefore, it will grind pretty fast. I will have to stop the machine and rotate the stone manually at times as this is not like a regular sphere machine.
Have all the parts I need except the frame. I plan to use pallet racking cut down to size. Pallet racking is very strong and not that heavy. It can also be easily assembled and disassembled. A friend of mine in California has access to a bunch of it for free, so I am waiting for him to bring it up here.
Ouch! Be careful! Did you break anything? No, did not break the fingers. Just severe crush injuries and peeled the skin on the one finger up to by the fingertip. Still have nerve damage in both fingers and the one nail has not grown since and still bulges up. Otherwise, they healed pretty well. At one point they started to smell like gangrene was setting in so I started doing ozone therapy on my hand, which stops gangrene and promotes rapid healing among other benefits. After the first treatment I was was able to move my hand about a third of the way. By the third treatment I had full use of my hand and the skin filled back in under the peeled up skin complete with finger prints and so i was just able to cut off the skin that peeled up. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 28, 2022 20:50:40 GMT -5
Ouch! Be careful! Did you break anything? No, did not break the fingers. Just severe crush injuries and peeled the skin on the one finger up to by the fingertip. Still have nerve damage in both fingers and the one nail has not grown since and still bulges up. Otherwise, they healed pretty well. At one point they started to smell like gangrene was setting in so I started doing ozone therapy on my hand, which stops gangrene and promotes rapid healing among other benefits. After the first treatment I was was able to move my hand about a third of the way. By the third treatment I had full use of my hand and the skin filled back in under the peeled up skin complete with finger prints and so i was just able to cut off the skin that peeled up. Dang! That description just about turned my stomach. Glad you're ok and you're fingers healed up. Hope you get the feeling back in your poor fingers. |
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 28, 2022 21:12:50 GMT -5
No, did not break the fingers. Just severe crush injuries and peeled the skin on the one finger up to by the fingertip. Still have nerve damage in both fingers and the one nail has not grown since and still bulges up. Otherwise, they healed pretty well. At one point they started to smell like gangrene was setting in so I started doing ozone therapy on my hand, which stops gangrene and promotes rapid healing among other benefits. After the first treatment I was was able to move my hand about a third of the way. By the third treatment I had full use of my hand and the skin filled back in under the peeled up skin complete with finger prints and so i was just able to cut off the skin that peeled up. Dang! That description just about turned my stomach. Glad you're ok and you're fingers healed up. Hope you get the feeling back in your poor fingers. Good thing I did not post the pics of my fingers after it happened then. 
Thanks. There is just some numbness left in both fingers, but fully functional, which is the important thing.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 28, 2022 21:29:08 GMT -5
Ouch! Be careful! Did you break anything? No, did not break the fingers. Just severe crush injuries and peeled the skin on the one finger up to by the fingertip. Still have nerve damage in both fingers and the one nail has not grown since and still bulges up. Otherwise, they healed pretty well. At one point they started to smell like gangrene was setting in so I started doing ozone therapy on my hand, which stops gangrene and promotes rapid healing among other benefits. After the first treatment I was was able to move my hand about a third of the way. By the third treatment I had full use of my hand and the skin filled back in under the peeled up skin complete with finger prints and so i was just able to cut off the skin that peeled up. Good save on the fingers! That sounds like a really nasty wound. I had to go to a wound clinic with a hyperbaric chamber. Thank goodness I didn't end up needing it. Turns out that tinolol heals wounds. It's actually eye drops for glaucoma, but it healed my ulcers. |
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