Saturday 19 August 2017

The Lapidary Life

Working with rock is very rewarding and at times, even exciting. But there is also a lot of hard work.
Yesterday, I spent several hours taking apart my new (very old) slab saw that I have previously posted pictures of on the blog. We are talking a cast iron beast over 50 years old! Anyway, I got the top off and there was rock "gunk" up to near the bottom of the blade in the coolant reservoir so it all had to be cleaned out and to do that, I had to remove the blade. After that, I had to clean the top and the plastic cover (originally, this was so dirty you couldn't see inside!).
So here are the results to date:



The sledge hammer is serving as a counterweight to offset the weight of the motor while the top is detached from the base. And while the blade still has a bit of life left, I may put a new one in while it is apart.
Today, it is raining very heavily (but the shop is open) and I had to strap on all my rain gear to brave the elements and wash my rocks from the tumbler.



I am now at the pre-polish stage with the second lot and there is some absolutely beautiful stones in the load- lots of porcelain and crazy lace. They should be done by Tuesday.
Since the weather is so bad, we probably won't have as many people as usual stopping by so it's a perfect day to do some cutting on the trim saw and some specimen finishing.
Enjoy your day and if you want to stop by, I won't mind.

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