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larryland123
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« on: September 19, 2011, 10:52:05 am » |
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I live on Whidbey Island, among the San Juan chain of Islands in Washington State. I recently joined a rock club after gaining interest from a Geology class I took this summer. Anyway, I am hoping someone can tell me how to hold and cut small round/oval/irregular beach rock 3/4"+ in size. I know that holding it is the main challenge and I am hoping someone has come up with a successful method. I have some abstract ideas of my own, but if others have perfected a method I would appreciate hearing about it. I use the shop equipment currently and patiently waiting to locate some reasonably priced used equipment. I only live about 35 miles and a Ferry ride from the Lortone company so I might go and see if they have any refurbished equipment. Does anyone have any adverse experience with them?
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Steve
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« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2011, 11:26:16 am » |
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...........  .............from.........New Mexico............to the  .......... Don't know what you mean by 'hold and cut'.........if you have a trim saw hold the pieces with your hands to slice them.........and for polishing them dop on a stick or nail to hold them while polishing...... wooden sticks = doping wax; nail doping sticks = small piece of paper and super glue. |
Steve The Silver Fox My Photo Bucket site: http://s743.photobucket.com/home/sferenz" Is it true that your art can be a transforming experience?" "Yes......I use it to transform my suffering into poverty......."  |
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redrockrods
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« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2011, 11:45:26 am » |
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find a small box that will just fit the stone and then fill it with plaster of paris. now you have a nice block shape for cutting.
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MrsWTownsend
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« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2011, 12:37:40 pm » |
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Welcome to the forum Larry! :)
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mirkaba
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« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2011, 12:50:52 pm » |
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Howdy Larry! I have only had good luck with Lortone Tools. The couple of times I dealt with the company they have been great and helped out any way they could. I think Whidbey Island would be a great place to build a Lapidary shop. As far as holding stones to work...........I guess that depends on what you want to do with them. Some people use their fingers but I prefer Dop Sticks with wax for most of my shaping, sanding and polishing. There are threads on this forum that go into it in depth. For cutting I use the clamp on the diamond saw, sometimes with the aid of a slab grabber. When using the trim saw I hold the slabs or smaller stones by hand. If you are using the club shop I am sure someone will gladly help you learn the heating and dopping process. Welcome to the Forum..
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Bob
Gathering dust in Montana.
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ScarlettoSara
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« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2011, 12:55:52 pm » |
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Howdy Larry and welcome to your new addiction:)
I hold my small rocks when I trim them and dop the others while cabbing and polishing.
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"I tramp a perpetual journey.”
― Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
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Taogem
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« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2011, 12:56:45 pm » |
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Welcome to the forum Larry !
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Alvin
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« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2011, 01:10:56 pm » |
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welcome. sounds like you are in a good spot. look for bigger rocks.  there is a clamp for round rocks. it is somewhere in this forem. good luck with gathering your equipment. will not have to go far for repairs and no shipping costs. wow |
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larryland123
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« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2011, 02:30:38 pm » |
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Hi Steve. Like holding a kids glass marble and cutting through it so you can use both halves for earrings or whatever. I have never tried it. The sign at the rock club shop that I use says "For cutting slabs only" so I did not try. I found the forum that Alvin mentioned and it looks like it might work, but I want to cut even smaller spheres. It looks like it would work great for tennis ball size rocks, but I want to cut grape sized pebbles. Thanks for the reply.
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larryland123
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« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2011, 02:43:07 pm » |
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What a great idea! I assume you knock the mold out of the box, clamp the plaster of paris block into the saw and cut through the whole thing, right? I do not know the maximum thickness that is recommended for a trim saw so I don't know if the free hand 8" machine we have at the club would work or if I would have to use one of their small slab saws? Do you think an inch and a half would be too thick for a trim saw? Thanks again for the great idea.
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larryland123
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« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2011, 02:50:56 pm » |
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Hi Alvin. Thanks for the reply and direction. I found the post and I think it would work for the spheres that are an inch and a half or more. I will try to make one a little smaller and see how it works out. I also liked the suggestion from "redrockrods", placing the pebble in a small box and filling it with plaster of paris. Thanks again for the friendly guidance. Hope to chat again soon.
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hulagrub
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« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2011, 05:34:46 pm » |
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Welcome Larry! I have almost totally turned to using pieces of 2x4's and 2x2's, and Gorilla glueng them to the wood, something to clamp onto. That 8"er is probably best used for cutting out the preforms on slabs. I have ruined a couple of blades on my 10" trim saw trying to cut rocks, slab saw with a clamp holds them 2x's really good.
Lortone is one of the top brands, have had our Lortone 12' slab saw for 5+ years, with few problems, that couldn't only be credited to my own stupidity. Kind of a live and learn deal.
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Dave, a certified Rockaholic |
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Helene
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« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2011, 06:48:31 pm » |
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Happy you found this site Larry. Very helpful when I need some.
I like to hold my stone when cabbing, but sometimes when they are very small it gets tricky, should dop it with wax, but usually bypass it.
Helene
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Mark
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« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2011, 08:18:36 pm » |
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Welcome to the group Larry.
Mark
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