Lapidaryforum.net
Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Fixing, Modifying and Refurbishing your Lapidary Equipment => Topic started by: drnihili on January 02, 2015, 01:24:10 PM
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So, I wanted a saw to cut open rocks with. My wife wanted to be able to make cabs out of some materials she's been collecting. We found an ad on Craigslist and here's what we ended up with.
Ameritool 4/5 trim saw with vise.
Frantom 10" saw with vice (alas, the powerfeed isn't present)
Arbor and old GE 1/4 hp motor mounted on a board.
Highland Park whatever-it's-called with a couple grinding wheels, sanding wheel and buffer.
Richardson Ranch 8" High Speed Sander (If this has been used, it's not much.)
The Frantom saw wasn't in the ad, and I didn't know I needed a sander until "someone" told me it was worth getting. For the moment I've just got the Frantom jury rigged to the spare motor. I've got some spare motors lying around, but before I hook one up, I thought I'd ask what sort of RPM and HP I should be aiming for? I'd also appreciate any advice on types of saw blades for when the current ones wear out. The Frantom currently has a segmented blade, should I stick with that or use some other type? The Ameritool has one of the very thin "opal" blades on it. Whats a good all purpose blade for a small trim saw?
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I will answer later but I think it would be good if I came over for a few hours in the next two weeks.
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You're welcome anytime, Frank, but don't expect to see it all set up shop like. I should be getting my main work bench in today, but there's still a lot of mucking to be done in the garage before it's serviceable. In the meantime we're playing with it on the front porch. When you make it over, don't let me let you leave without having me show you the stream on the next place over, it's got some nice bigger stuff in it. Well, at least it looks nice to the guy who doesn't know what he's looking at.
P.S. I'm guessing I shouldn't hook my saw up with a chain drive ....
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Until tonight when I was emptying a storage unit, I totally forgot that I somehow managed to inherit a few buckets of my grandfathers rocks. He did a fair bit of lapidary work, but I was far too young to appreciate it. So when you come over, Frank, you'll have to tell us what we've got. Teresa has a good idea on most of it, but some of them have her a bit stumped. These are some of the nicer pieces she says.
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wow, beautiful setup to get started with. I am jealous.
Im in Kent by the way. hello neighbor :coffee2:
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Belt is good in that it can slip when stuff goes wrong. The sander is a high risk piece of equipment . A 3m halfmask with particulate filter and proper eye protection are crucial even if you use a vacuum on the port it has. We should firm up a day to meet preferably early in the day and not on the weekend if possible. We can cover a lot quickly in person then go from there.
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Phishingroovin, I have a niece in Kent. I suspect we'll stop by that rock shop next time we go to visit her. We're in Sultan if you get up this way.
lithicbeads, a Monday would probably be best as Teresa works from home that day and will want to be involved. I'll check with her and get back to you.
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cedar ponds road, 1/2 way to pond you will cross a creek.
Worth a look see.
I used to get REEAAALY drunk at the pond.
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Thanks, Phishingroovin, I'll put that on my list. We just moved here a year and a half ago. I've been so busy trying to get the place in shape and visiting a few old haunts that I haven't spent much time on the south side of the valley yet. I have spent a bit of time looking over the new geologic map for that area. Unfortunately it stops just south of our place, so I'll have to wait for the Lake Chaplain quadrangle to get the information I was hoping for originally. I'm told that one is in the works.