Forgotten treasures

Hi.  My name is Linda.  I'm a rock hoarder.

Well, not really.  Or at least not quite.  The rocks haven't taken over every available space in the house.  I am able to throw away rocks I don't need.  And I don't comulsively buy every rock I can afford.

But I do have a lot of them.

With the purchase of the new saw a month ago, I began the process of, well, of processing some of the rocks I've accumulated over my almost 30 years in Arizona.  It's amazing, and a little bit discouraging, to see how many slices are produced by how few rocks.   I spent almost five solid hours on the saw yesterday, producing quite a pile of little slices, and yet the difference in the raw inventory was negligible!

With the tumbler occupied for the next two and a half weeks with already-filled barrels, I don't have any real pressure to cut a lot for immediate use.  With what I had cut a few weeks ago and this latest batch, I have enough to keep the tumbler running for at least the next ten to twelve weeks.  the old tumbler needs a new motor, so it's out of commission for a while, but even if I replace the motor and fire that machine up, I probably won't need to cut any more until July or August.

But that new saw is waiting, just itching to sink its diamond-studded teeth into the next chunk of agate or jasper.

I started yesterday with my signature stones, the angel feathers.

Then I moved on, for the sake of a little variety, to some agate nodules I'd picked up at Fourth of July Butte probably 20 years ago.  They were in a box labeled "Bue-Grey Agate," and I suspected some of them might display a bit of lavender or purple shading as well.  Sure enough, the first three or so stones I sliced had distinct purplish zones in the agate.  Of course, that purple doesn't show up very well when photographing small, unpolished rocks in less than optimal light, but trust me:  These are purple.  Well, purple-ish.  The white angel feathers on either side show the contrast, but the shade just isn't exact.  You will have to take my word for it.  (And anyway, it's my blog!  ;-)  )

I sorted through some more of those blue-grey rocks this morning, but didn't find anything that demanded I cut right into it.  As the temperature was already warming up, I wanted to do some more investigation in the workshop before it got too hot.

 

To be honest, the plastic shoeboxes on the shelves to the right do not all contain rocks.  I think only two of them do.  Those on the industrial shelves on the left, however, are all rocks.  There are other boxes not visible in this picture.  There are 20 or so five-gallon buckets in another storage area, all filled with rocks.  The task is daunting.  But it is not without its rewards.

This morning, for example, one of the first shoeboxes I opened contained a chunk of lavender flower agate from Fourth of July Butte.  We had cut a few slices from it years ago, one of which yielded this cabochon.  When I sold the pendant, the buyer asked if I had any more similar to it.  I didn't then; I will now.

Finished items, including agates from Fourth of July Butte, are for sale in my AZ Angel Feathers shop on Etsy.

Update to I'm on Google Earth

As I wrote yesterday, the date on the Google Earth image of me and my Blazer at the Chickenman place was incorrect.  I was there on 30 December, not on 29 December as shown in the screenshot.

For some bizarre reason, the date is correct when viewed on my laptop.

Go figure. 

Regardless, the date of 30 December 2014 is correct.  That's the day I was there.

I still think this is just too bizarre.

I'm on Google Earth!

Follow up to
http://arizonareallyneatrocks.blogspot.com/2015/01/on-rocky-road-again.html

Last December I made that trip out to the Chickenman place, partly with the help of good ol' Google Earth.

The past few days I've been having some rather annoying computer problems, which have been at least temporarily resolved by changing a few settings and switching to Firefox.  After transferring a few files and making sure the basics were working all right, I decided to relax -- the whole ordeal had been pretty stressful -- and also check to make sure some of my other programs and accessories were still functioning.

Google Earth being a fun little application anyway, I booted it up and immediately headed for a virtual trip to the Chickenman place.  Imagine my total surprise when I found myself!

The Google "Imagery Date" is 12/29, but it's just plain wrong.  I was out there on the 30th, the day before New Year's Eve.  That's my little white Blazer at precisely the place I turned off the track, and that's me standing about three or four car lengths to the 4:00/5:00 angle from the car.

The first batch of stones cut from the material I collected that day is tumbling as I write this.

My new toy!

I have needed a new rock saw for a very long time.  My old Lortone combination unit was used when we bought it 25 years ago, and it was just plain falling apart.  Its 6-inch saw blade worked fine for trimming out cabochon blanks from slabs, but for slicing even small angel feather nodules it was just barely adequate.  Agates and jaspers wore out those little blades in a hurry, too.

About three years ago I began saving up for a new saw.  I would have preferred a slightly larger one, but opted for the Lortone 8-inch stainless steel trim saw. 

Full disclosure:  As I have stated in reviews of other products and in my book Really Neat Rocks I am not compensated in any way for my comments on the Lortone saw.  I paid full retail price for it from an independent supplier (Kingsley North).  I do not know anyone at Lortone nor have I had any communication with the company regarding their equipment.  In addition to the used combination unit and this saw, I currently own two Lortone tumblers with which I have been more than satisfied.  Again, those were purchased at full retail price.  I have received nothing from Lortone ever.

The saw arrived fully assembled except for installing the blade.  That process was a piece of cake.  The most difficult part for me was just lifting the 60 pounds of saw and motor out of the box and hoisting it to the workbench.  It wasn't all that heavy, but I'm too short to get good leverage!  Still, within just a few minutes it was in place, and the blade was installed.  All it needed then was lubricating oil . . . and rocks!

Now, you may think I had some difficulty finding a rock to cut.  You would be totally wrong.  I have lots and lots and lots and lots of rocks.  The real problem was deciding which rock would be the first!

I probably should have taken a picture of the very first rock cut on the new saw, but the truth of the matter is I got so excited at how beautifully it cut that I didn't stop to take any pictures at all.  By the time I did take a break and cleaned up enough to grab the camera, I had a whole tray of new little rock slices.

And another

And then I was more interested in cutting than taking pictures!

After two weeks and several sessions on the saw, I can say I'm 95% satisfied with it.

Why not 100%?  Two reasons.

First:  The plastic/Plexiglas splash shield is very effective, but it's also easily scratched by the fine particles of stone.  There's no way to clean it without scratching.  That means it will probably need to be replaced at regular intervals through the saw's life.  I'm not sure that there's any other solution to this, but it does make for a less than perfect experience.

Second:  The so-called instruction manual is woefully inadequate as well as inaccurate. 

Inaccurate:  There's no way to install the blade by sliding it through any slot, slanted or otherwise.  The cutting table has to be removed to install and change blades.  This should be obvious to anyone who takes a mere glance at the equipment.  To suggest the blade can be removed or installed just by sliding it through the table is ridiculous.

Inadequate:  There are two slight oil leaks from where the shaft bearings are attached to the tank assembly.  There is nothing in the manual about this, which means I will have to call the company to find out whether this is normal or if it's something that needs repair. 

The manual is only four pages long and basically assumes the user already knows how to use the machine.  To me, that's a very dangerous assumption.  Lortone has repeatedly expanded the instruction manual(s) for their tumblers, so that with my most recent purchase on a new one just last year (2014), I learned via the "Instructions and Parts List" that there is a very easy adjustment for belt tension that was never mentioned in any of the previous manuals.

I haven't even tried to assemble or install the supplied vise; the instructions are insufficient to make me confident I'll do it correctly and not ruin the machine.  I don't need the vise anyway for the small items I cut.

Even with these shortcomings, I'm delighted with my new saw.  I have two batches of stones from it already in the tumblers -- one of sliced "angel feathers" and one of shaped cabochons for polishing -- and in the next month or so should have lots and lots of new stones to turn into jewelry.  In fact, it's time to change out one of those tumblers right now and see how well the stones are progressing.