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 Post subject: A recommendation on attaching boules to dops for initial cut
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 12:52 am 
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Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:00 am
Posts: 1322
Location: Wylie Texas but in Alaska for a while
Wen I came up to Alaska, I did not expect to be here as long as I have been. I did bring my faceting machine to keep me busy, and a bag of rough.

But I did not bring a trim saw.

I do have a saw blade that I can mount on my UT, but so far I had only used it to preform pieces. I had used a trim saw at the local rock club to cut the material into manageable pieces.

While up here, I wanted to cut some of the boules of material I brought with me, and was not sure how to go about it.

In this picture you can see the approach that is working pretty well for me.

Image



The wire is the thermocouple that I put in when I t=was trying to figure out why my stones were moving.

I grind a bit of a flat on one end to get as much pf a clean flat surface as I can get.
I then superglue a flat dop to it.
I then take some Upholsters thread and carefully wrap it around the stone, and when I come to the dop I swing it around the dop and back around the stone.
I then use the thinnest superglue I have and saturate the thread.
I found that before the stone became stable, I often ended up with gaps in the thread as it met the stone.
I have worked a lot with an epoxy for boat building and I know that West Systems makes some nice filers. Some are microspheres to make the material thicker. They also have one that is specifically made as high strength filler for mounting hardware. It is more of a fiber than a sphere.
I had seen a repair material in the car parts store that was thin superglue and some powder. After looking at it, I was pretty sure that the powders were microspheres.


I have worked a lot with an epoxy for boat building and I know that West Systems makes some nice filers. Some are microspheres to make the material thicker. They also have one that is specifically made as high strength filler for mounting hardware. It is more of a fiber than a sphere.
So I went down to a local shop that I knew did a lot of fiberglass with some empty pill bottles and begged some samples of their filler materials They did not have any of the fiber material, but they did give me two types of microspheres.

So when I had gaps between the thread and the dop, I used an exacto knife and picked up some of the microspheres and added some to the holes. I then used the thinnest superglue I had and it immediately was drawn (by capillary action). I did not try to fill it all at once, because I knew that the glue would set up before it was drawn in too far. I tried two methods. First I would put in a drop of superglue, and then add the spheres. I also tried adding the spheres and then the glue. Both seemed to work, as long as I did not try to do too much at once.

WE all know what it is like to get a bigger drop of glue than we need and it slows down the cure, and can lead to a weak joint. In the past I used a corner of tissue to try and wick t up. Now I will be adding some of the microspheres. Not only will it take care of the excess, but it will build up a reinforcing corner around the stone.
When I ever get back home, I will try the high strength filler. It should do very well.


I have had a pretty long day and am to tired to facet. I know I wold mess up the cut, so I am taking time to try and post some things that have been on he back burner.


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