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SHOP TIPS
A few tips from various sources.
Saw Coolant Temperature
One of the lesser known but more important facts about saw coolants is temperature. Coolants should be kept below 100°F. At higher temperature, the steel center in a diamond blade tends to expand, which causes the blade to bind in the cut or even become dished under extreme conditions. This not only slows down cutting but wears the blade much faster.
From MLMS Ghost Sheet 1987, via MOROKS, 03/09, via Strata Gem, 01/10
Salvaging Saw Coolant
When you need to clean the saw you can easily salvage almost all of the coolant. Place a couple of bricks on edge in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and then place a large size brown paper grocery bag on top of them.
Drain the clean oil into a separate bucket and then put the sludge and muck into the paper bag. It will take several days but the oil will seep thru the bag leaving clean oil in the bucket and all the sludge in the paper bag. The sludge is then much easier to dispose of.
Sharpening a Diamond Blade
Sometimes your blade will get to a point that it just bogs done and doesn't cut but still has diamond cutting rim area left. The diamond can get worn away by cutting at to fast of feed rate leaving bare metal exposed which of coarse won't cut. If you cut a common red brick or preferably an old carborundum wheel at a slow feed it will grind down the steel exposing the diamond again. Do this only for 4 or 5 minutes and check your blade. Hope this helps.
To identify and grind out pits in a cabochon, spray the rough cab with red enamel from an aerosol can. Then grind the paint off with a light touch. Pits and lines will stand out as bright red spots, making it unnecessary to wipe the cab constantly to see if the pits are out. This is especially helpful when grinding free-form cabs from fire agate.
Original source unknown, via The Nugget 09198 via Strata Gem 01/10
Doping
If the doping wax gets brittle from being reheated and cooled many times, add some shavings of wax from a candle to make it flow more easily
Do not overheat doping wax- it is weakened by excessive heat.
Use an old distributor cap to hold doped stones-depending on the cap you use, it can hold 5, 7, or 9 stones.
Curt Hays in Gem-Stone Diggings, 03198 ,
Super Fine Jewelry Cleaner
Mix together 114 cup white vinegar, 114 cup household ammonia, 118 cup dish detergent (NOT DISHWASHER detergent). Drop jewelry in. Rinse well and watch it shine. This is also good for copper bottom pans and silverware
from The Palomar Gem (date unknown) via Rockhound Rambling, 04/84 vas Strata Gem 01/10
Warning! Rock Pox Very contagious to both sexes
SYMPTOMS: Continual complaint as to the need for fresh air, sunshine, and relaxation. Patient has blank expression, sometimes inattentive to rest of family. Has no taste for work of any kind. Frequent checking of dealer's catalogs, lapidary and mineral shops longer than usual. Secret phone calls to rockhounding buddies is an apparent sign of the disease.
TREATMENT: Medication is useless. Disease is not fatal. Victim should go hunting as often as possible at the beach, mountain, or desert hunting grounds.
NOTE: If DAD and MOM both get it, they might as well sell the house and buy an RV!
taken from 01/09 Sedona Gem & Mineral Club letter. A reprinted warning from an old 1940's rock and mineral collecting magazine. Just as valid today, don't cha think?
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montanakids.com/facts_and_figures/state_symbo.THE STORY OF MONTANA AGATE
It has always been a mystery how the peculiar little scenes got inside a rock as hard as agate. It is the claim of geologists that the spots were caused by infinitely minute seams or fissures in the softer parts of the rock being filled with metallic oxides when the world was young. These oxides created four different colors that form various combinations of color when blended together, or appear in single colors in each rock.
The red color is oxide of iron. The black is oxide of manganese. The green is oxide of copper. The blue is oxide of nickel. This theory has been elaborated upon by the help of high powered microscopes which show the tracings of little canals to tiny that the naked eye could not detect them, but the oxides remained-staining the rocks in wonderful designs. The fern-like and branch effects of the trees, grass, and shrubbery come from the fact that the tiny canals branched out in various subdivisions forming smaller canals from a common center- In addition to these canals, the rock became flawed through shrinkage while passing through a period of evaporation, which, according to scientists, has taken more than three million years to reduce the stone to the hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale.
These canals and flaws have been perfectly healed by soft silicate formations of which the stone is a part, and the evaporation has caused the oxides to take on such forms as seen on the window after a frosty night. Technically , Montana Agate is known as "dendritic" agate and the moss spots are called "dentrites". It is the third hardest stone in the world and is cut only with a diamond saw. There can never be two pieces alike even though cut from the same stone.
From- The Roadrunner News 02/06 via Osage Hills Gems
There have been many pieces of beautiful jewelry made from Montana agates. -
How to Cut Obsidian
Authocunknown
GOLD SHEEN: To get the most out of mahogany gold sheen obsidian, saw with the bands, as if they were a stack of plates, and you wish to unstuck them. Watch for "fire spots" in gold sheen. It is not plentiful, but opal like colors do sometimes occur in mahogany gold sheen.
IRIDESCENT: There are two types of iridescent obsidian. In cutting both correctly, the orientation of the color is most important. One type of obsidian is banded and the color lies in the bands. On the unbanded types of obsidian the surface has to be chipped to find the color. The banded type will have several colors or shades, while the unbanded types will have only one color. Cut the banded material parallel to the bands to get effect. To get a rainbow effect, cut the stone at an approximately 15-degree angle across the bands.
MIDNIGHT LACE: Lace-patterned obsidian should be cut across the surface pattern that you desire to reproduce. Although obsidian is comparatively soft, it is still very important to sand away all scratches before going to polish. Some advise that wet sanding be done, since obsidian is heat sensitive and very brittle. For final polish, felt with cerium oxide is the choice. Should you be faceting some particularly gemmy obsidian try cerium oxide on Lucite@, but keep it wet.
RAINBOW OBSIDIAN: Cut parallel to flow layers. These can be seen by examining fractured surfaces using an overhead single lamp bulb. As [the layers] are not always straight, it may be necessary to turn the stone slightly in the saw. Examine each slab set with either water or saw oil to see if the correct angle has been obtained.
SAFETY TIP: After obsidian is sawed, be sure to bevel the
edges all around on your fine grinding wheel to keep them from flaking and chipping. Wear goggles or glasses at all times. If a small chip of glass ( obsidian) got into your eye, it would be hard to remove as it is transparent and hard to see even with a powerful magnifying glass, and the edges may cut your eye to a great extent before it could be removed.
GRINDING OBSIDIAN CABS: Approach yourgrinding wheel with the material at a slight horizontal angle. If brought straight in, it may be a "shattering" experience, as obsidian fractures conchoidally and this is a sure way to do it.
POLISH ON OBSIDIAN: Keep the polishing wheel wet. A dry polishing will result in blisters and scratches. Obsidian is relatively inexpensive, easy to obtain and soft. With proper understanding of its glassy properties you can obtain some beautiful results.
-from Golden Frog, February 2005 Via The Rock Collector October, 2009 Via Strata Gem, November 2009 -
Trimming Your Slabs
Hello again,
Now that you have cut your rocks into slabs you have choices as to what you would like to do with them. You may have some that look like a mountain scene or just very unique that you might want to display on a stand, but most of them might be trimmed into pieces for making jewelry. For this you need a trim saw. Trim saws are like the slab saws, they are made in a number of sizes. Trim saws range in size from 4 inch diameter to 10 inch. Trim saws are usually open or have clear covers with open sides so you can hold the slab or piece being cut with your hands. You can find some very beautiful and colorful patterns that will make beautiful jewelry. Have fun.
Earl
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Cutting Rocks Into Slabs
Hello again.
Well you have been out picking up those neat looking rocks and have sorted through them. You have tumbled the small ones and picked out the ones that look like your Poodle dog or your grandma sitting on a toad stool. What are you going to do with the rest of them? You need a slab saw so you can start cutting them into usable slabs.
Slab saws are available in 10 inch up to 36 inch diameter blade sizes. You can cut a rock about one third the diameter of the blade size. Slab saws are available in manual feed and power feed. Slab saw vises are adjustable from side to side so you can choose the thickness of the slab. After you make that first cut you can easily determine if it is worth continuing with more slabs or not. Some will turn out to be junk and go into your pile to return to the wild on your next field trip, but some will get you so excited that you want quit cutting and rush back out to see if you can find some more.
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