We Went For Stone and Bought Equipment

DH and I went to the annual Minnesota Mineral Club show and sale yesterday. We've been there in the rain, in the snow and in the heat in prior years, but this year turned out just about perfect. It was cold when we got there, but had warmed up to shirt-sleeve weather by the time we left, and there was bright sunshine which brought out the people. All of the vendors we spoke to said they had a dynamite Saturday and Sunday was looking to be just as busy. 

We wanted to clean "The Machine" thoroughly before
bringing it into the house, so we set it onto the patio
table and started work. Here it is from the front. The
right side houses either a blade or a grinding wheel, and
a polishing pad or sanding wheel is housed across the
left side. 

I hadn't intended to buy any rocks (I have drawers and drawers full of them), but did end up with some Blue Lace Agate, several pieces of Selenite and two stunning pieces of Calcite which I'm hoping will cleave into windowpane slices without difficulty. I didn't spend a lot, so if it doesn't work, I'll live with it. DH bought quite a lot of varied stone, and bought some things for me as well. 

Here's the left side showing the polishing pad disk. This side needs
a bushing and we need to figure out what we would like to put onto
the pad, but we're thinking some fine-grip polishing papers for the
disc, for final shaping. 

The best find was the last one of the day. While we were looking at some Picasso Jasper and settling up with the vendor, I looked over his shelving unit of old tools, finding one of interest. I called DH over and he was intrigued also. It's small, it uses a 4-inch wheel, but what really attracted us is that it also accommodates a trim saw - it has a blade guard that gets attached for sawing - and it's a water-cooled blade. The owner fired up his generator and we plugged it in. It worked. We bought it. We figured we couldn't go too wrong for $25. 

The right side houses the blade or grinder. It came with a grinding
stone, but we're looking for a good 4" trim saw to use
instead. It's a water-lube, getting the water for cooling and
lubricating the blade from the pan at the bottom. It was
worth the $25 gamble. Small trim saws cost $400 new. 

We brought our findings home to bag and label the stone and clean "The Machine" as we're currently calling it. We spent a while getting everything cleaned up using water, WD-40 and a few tools. It's now free of built-up mud and dirt and we're searching for a trim saw for a 1/2" arbor. The Skil-craft Gem Maker Model 940 dates from the 1950's-1960's and is typical of the higher-end children's toys of that era. I remember chemistry sets that would set the house on fire or send caustic smoke through a house, and rock tumblers that did what they still do today. Toys of that era taught adult skills, sized down for small hands. This is one more example of what children were allowed to play with. I assume there were some cut or abraded fingers because of this equipment, but for us it's a nice addition to our workroom. It will be able to handle small pieces of stone without having to fire up the bigger trim saw. We're looking forward to using our $25 bargain. 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's a busy day today and I can't laze around - LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow.