hmm... need to resaw some recon stone... oh boy...

[mistermikev]

so, got some lovely turquoise recon stone today... v nice.  was advertised as 1/8" but is actually anywhere from .187 to .216.  Either way I knew I was gonna have to do some work... but now I'm thinking - how can I resaw this?  It's expensive stuff so getting 2x as much would be awesome.  

Obviously... I could just put it on the cnc and run a program to take it down to whatever thickness I want but I'd hate to waste it.  Plus all the dust - recon stone dust is probably a lot like solid surface dust and I'm sure I've already met my lifetime max on that!!

option1:  I could see making a wood 'carrier' board for this... then glue some pieces of brass on either side of the stone to place a blade in the middle of it?  similar to what I've see you handsaw resaw experts do?  take my jewelers saw and use the guide to hopefully get me through ok.  

option2: take a dremel and cutoff wheel and make a groove along the center of the sides that will guide my jewelers saw?

anyone have other ideas?  do they make a tool for slicing agate?  they must - I see agate slices all the time... what do they use?

here's an example of an insanely dangerous looking way to do it:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=slicing+agate&PC=U316&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dslicing%2bagate%26PC%3dU316%26FORM%3dCHROMN&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=9B3B783FE9A9B870536A9B3B783FE9A9B870536A&FORM=WRVORC

 

[mistermikev]

side note... how do any of these rock slicing guys still have fingers?

 

[curtisa]

Do you mean you want to resaw the recon slab into thinner veneers (ie take your 1/8" slab and split it into 2 slabs, say 1mm thick), or cut it into smaller chunks of the same thickness (eg to make up inlay pieces)?

Or you just want to make it flatter/thinner?

Isn't recon stone just crushed up stone set into some kind of resin? Cutting stone implies you'll need some kind of diamond blade to stand any chance of getting through it, even if it's interspersed with epoxy resin. The silica content is likely to be quite high, which will happily eat conventional toothed cutting tools for breakfast

[mistermikev]

12 hours ago, curtisa said:

Do you mean you want to resaw the recon slab into thinner veneers (ie take your 1/8" slab and split it into 2 slabs, say 1mm thick), or cut it into smaller chunks of the same thickness (eg to make up inlay pieces)?

Or you just want to make it flatter/thinner?

Isn't recon stone just crushed up stone set into some kind of resin? Cutting stone implies you'll need some kind of diamond blade to stand any chance of getting through it, even if it's interspersed with epoxy resin. The silica content is likely to be quite high, which will happily eat conventional toothed cutting tools for breakfast

yes, that's correct.  It is around .2 thick so way to thick for inlay and I'd hate to waste it.  I suspect I could make a jig for my spindle sander, or just use a throw away bit and plane it down on the cnc... but would rather not.  It is turquoise so... pretty hard stuff.  I started doing a test cut last night with jewelers saw and def slow going.  was thinking I'd get a diamond wheel for the dremel and at least cut a fair amount around the perimeter and then go after the center with the jewelers saw.  I believe they make diamond coated jewelers saw blades/string so... might need to snag some of that.  

def not doing what I saw above... jeebus... that one on the table saw looks like a great way to throw a rock at your own face!!

[curtisa]

My gemmologist wife reliably informs me that a diamond coated bandsaw blade is the way you take slices off those fist-sized blocks of agate and that flattening them is done on a water-cooled lapping wheel. Splitting a 0.2" wafer into two thinner sections might be asking a bit much without ending up with a small pile of shattered stone though. Whether that applies to recon stone as well..?

Thinning down might be doable if you cut the pieces to their rough inlay shape first and then reduce the thickness of each piece, rather than attempting to thin the whole thing down in one go and then cutting your shapes from the slab. Still probably looking at diamond coated grinding wheels and lapping plates to do it, plus water and patience.

Maybe ask a local jeweller or rock fossicking club in your area for some guidance? Maybe you can convince someone to do it for you for the price of a six pack of beer?

[mistermikev]

i imagine thinning it down would be fairly doable on cnc... but I guess we'll find out.  will have to snag a bit made for stone.  I know they just use routers to make quarts countertops so... worst case scenario is it takes time.  I ordered some diamond wheels for my dremel... and some diamond blades for my jewelers saw.  will keep reaching out to a stone enthusiast group as a backup, good call.  

thank you again for the reply/input!!

[mistermikev]

necro bump.  so saw this thread searching random stuff about recon stone.  Had to laugh.  Have learned a few things processing recon and one of the things I've learned is that lapis is much harder than the other types of recon stone I've processed.  Broke a bit pretty quick on it and had to slow things down fyi.  

that said... still have not found a good way to resaw the stuff.  I imagine a bandsaw with a fine tooth blade would work pretty good but I don't want to get that close to a bandsaw blade any time soon.

I'm starting off with approx 1/8" thick slices and really need to get it down to 1/16" as 1/8 would just be a big waste... so I've been flattening it on my cnc... and saving the dust.  

I was thinking it might be more sensible to make my own recon stone.  If I just had a nice square mold around 1/16" thick I could maybe mix up some epoxy and crushed lapis and pour it in?  I think an experiment is in order... might be a bit before I get to it... but imma try it!

anywho... this has been "deep thoughts" with jack handy.

[Bizman62]

53 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

still have not found a good way to resaw the stuff.  I imagine a bandsaw with a fine tooth blade would work pretty good but I don't want to get that close to a bandsaw blade any time soon.

I wonder if you could inlay the pieces in a bigger piece of wood or even MDF for a safer grip. And maybe after that use something like http://www.accu-slice.com/accu-slice-system.html to cut thinner pieces. And then just remove the excess.

[mistermikev]

3 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

I wonder if you could inlay the pieces in a bigger piece of wood or even MDF for a safer grip. And maybe after that use something like http://www.accu-slice.com/accu-slice-system.html to cut thinner pieces. And then just remove the excess.

 

well it's certainly good thinking.  I was thinking I could just use the ca glue/tape trick and mount them to a piece of mdf... but A) not sure how well that would withstand a bandsaw blade and B ) the bigger problem... is that I have 1/8" of material and the cut would have to be really precise.  I have too much to just process and too little to resaw given the thickness of the bandsaw blade. 

I can buy 1/4" thick version of this for 2x the cost and maybe i could get 3 x 1/16" slices out of it... but at that point I get one color for $40-60 bux.  that started me down the road of thinking "well what if I just made my own?"

that is a cool bandsaw accessory.  by the looks of it they get some amazing accuracy but I would guestimate my bandsaw just isn't good enough to get anywhere near that precision.  my motor is pretty weak but more importantly the bearing system is very hard to dial in.

[MiKro]

@mistermikev, Just an FYI, you may look into the recon stone type you are using, as it may be this same type of process. MK

 

FAQ · Turquoise · Jun 01, 2015

Is Reconstituted Turquoise Real Turquoise?

Natural stones are formed in the earth over thousands of years and were formed in a very different way. Although we at Turquoise Skies do not feel it is ethical to call it real or genuine, these stones can technically be called “Turquoise” because the manufacturer actually uses a small amount of real turquoise in the composition.  A very rough low-grade version of turquoise in the form of chalk is crushed into dust and mixed with plastics, dyes, and resins to form the compound known as reconstituted turquoise. Using machines and special techniques, the factories can create matrix looking patterns such as the spider web to make the finished product look more natural. Reconstituted turquoise also has a plastic look and feel to it.

[mistermikev]

18 minutes ago, MiKro said:

@mistermikev, Just an FYI, you may look into the recon stone type you are using, as it may be this same type of process. MK

 

FAQ · Turquoise · Jun 01, 2015

Is Reconstituted Turquoise Real Turquoise?

Natural stones are formed in the earth over thousands of years and were formed in a very different way. Although we at Turquoise Skies do not feel it is ethical to call it real or genuine, these stones can technically be called “Turquoise” because the manufacturer actually uses a small amount of real turquoise in the composition.  A very rough low-grade version of turquoise in the form of chalk is crushed into dust and mixed with plastics, dyes, and resins to form the compound known as reconstituted turquoise. Using machines and special techniques, the factories can create matrix looking patterns such as the spider web to make the finished product look more natural. Reconstituted turquoise also has a plastic look and feel to it.

right on... thank you for the info. 

at this point I've processed some bloody basin jasper, couple types of turqoise and this lapis... all seem about the same consistency except this lapis.

anywho, will have to do some experimentation when time permits.