[meteorite-list] Question about cutting stones on a small saw

From: Walter Branch <waltbranch_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 17:20:40 -0400
Message-ID: <6960DCC704E346098B57EFDA046CC513_at_walterdesktop>

Hi Don,

It was part of my site but I took the site down about three or four years
ago.

I too have bought saws, blades and accessories from Kingsely North. Good
company. I bought a nice trim saw from them. My first attempts at cutting
were, er, not-too-good, but NWA stones make good practice.

You are right about using alcohol. I routinely used distilled water as a
coolant. The only iron I ever cut was Cape York and I used transmission
fluid as a coolant on that one. It worked, but man was it messy :-)

-Walter

-----------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Merchant" <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
To: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>; "Meteorite List"
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: "Don Merchant" <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 2:59 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Question about cutting stones on a small saw


> Hi Mike. I know Walter Branch made a very nice step by step guide on
> cutting meteorites, but not sure where I still have this site address or
> even if the page is still up. As far as the saw you bought, (I'm no
> expert) it looks like a tile saw of a sort. With this you need to use a
> water hose to spray on the blade. Your motor seems very wide open to the
> elements so be careful and ground your self! Though this is a Lapidary Saw
> of a sort I would not recommend this for cutting meteorites. I am sure you
> could modify it to do this. The saw I have for cutting meteorites can be
> found on my Meteorite Collection Site via Photobucket. I believe I bought
> this at Kingsley North Inc. www.kingsleynorth.com or
> sales at kingsleynorth.com
> Was not real cheap as it set me back $400. NEVER NEVER use Alcohol!!
> Unless your saw has been designed or modified to do this as "grounding"
> yourself will not save you if this ignites or explodes. Anyways here is
> the type saw you really need to cut meteorites. Also for all you
> Collectors out there I added a bunch more pictures to the Site of my
> collection. Hope this helps Mike.
>
> My Collection Pictures
> http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc276/emflocater/
>
>
> Sincerely
> Don Merchant
> IMCA #0960
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
> To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 1:38 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Question about cutting stones on a small saw
>
>
>> Hi List!
>>
>> I have a question for the cutting gurus and saw experts.
>>
>> Recently I purchased a new Lortone Rock Rascal 6" lapidary trimsaw,
>> primarily for cutting small UNWA stones. I also bought all of the
>> accessory goodies - the clamp vise, 3 blades of varying thicknesses
>> and some lubricant.
>>
>> Admittedly, I am a total idiot when it comes to cutting - I know
>> nothing other than what I have read. Since I have no firsthand
>> experience cutting stones, I am wondering about a few things that I
>> can't seem to find easy answers to.
>>
>> I do have experience with power tools and cutting wood with a variety
>> of saws, so I know the fundamentals of cutting and saws in general,
>> but lapidary saws and cutting stones is alien to me. The saw owner's
>> manual is not targeted towards a newbie and there doesn't appear to be
>> any online tutorials about how to use it to cut stony meteorites.
>>
>> So, please forgive the stupid nature of these questions -
>>
>> 1) How do I lubricate with this saw? It doesn't appear to be a "wet
>> saw" - I see no place to add lubricant or no tank to hold it. What am
>> I supposed to do in this respect? Am I missing something?
>>
>> 2) I have a very thin "Lapcraft Laser Dia Blade" that is .006
>> thickness. It seems impossibly thin and "floppy" - how is it possible
>> to cut a straight line using something like this? Doesn't it wander
>> all over the place while cutting? I assume that this blade is only
>> useful for friable specimens that would offer little cutting
>> resistance?
>>
>> 3) What lubricant should I use? I have heard to use pure alcohol and
>> some use distilled water. I bought something called "Dia-Cut" that is
>> a red concentrate to be mixed with water. But I later read that
>> lubricants like this should be avoided.
>>
>> 4) What kind of blade is recommended for general cutting of H and L
>> type chondrites? I have the blade that came with the saw (not sure
>> what it is exactly), the .006 blade I mentioned above, and a
>> "Meteorite" blade that is .012 thickness. The meteorite blade is a
>> Johnson Brothers that I bought from Graves.
>>
>> Here is a link to the saw I have -
>>
>> http://www.therockshed.com/equipment/modj6.jpg
>>
>> (I didn't buy from that vendor, it's just the first photo of it that I
>> saw)
>>
>> Thanks in advance!
>>
>> MikeG
>>
>> --
>> .........................................................
>> Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
>> Member of the Meteoritical Society.
>> Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
>> Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
>> ..........................................................
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>
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Received on Thu 21 May 2009 05:20:40 PM PDT