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Techniques for CollectorsSmall sphere grinder

15th Dec 2012 02:13 UTCHenry Barwood

I was impressed by a machine I found on U-tube. Unfortunately I can't find any real instructions on how to make one of these Gizmos. I've got the motors, but need assistance on creating the rest of it. Anyone made one of these who would be willing to help out? Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPCTWJe08Fs

15th Dec 2012 07:50 UTCCharles Helm

Henry,

Checked out the web page and found nothing. I did a broader search and came up with this url that has additional information.

I hope this helps.

http://www.theglassmarble.com/sphere%20grinder.htm

Charles

15th Dec 2012 07:58 UTCCharles Helm

Henry,

I know that this url is the same one that you probably have already checked out. But when you click on the URL on my post it should take you to the page I found on the construction of the sphere machine. For some odd reason it did not copy the rest of the URL but when I clicked on the URL it took me to the page. Hope this helps.

Please advise.

Charles

15th Dec 2012 10:56 UTCRock Currier Expert

That's a neat little machine. Can you send the guy who uploade the video and email? Perhaps he can make you one for a not very big price.

15th Dec 2012 13:31 UTCBart Cannon

I'm sure that an old Lapidary Journal would contain instructions about building a sphere grinder.

Around 1977 I bought a used, commercial sphere grinder. It was painted in Lortone green.

Its construction was very simple. Two AC motors mounted opposite each other, but at 20 degrees off axis.

The sphere holders were one half inch cast iron pipe with 2.0 inch cast iron caps.

I was always amazed that I could produce a sphere from that set-up. I made spheres out of anything you can imagine.

I thought there was a market for spheres so I made business arrangement with Simon Sheline who was unemployed the time. For good reason.

He made a lovely nephrite sphere, and with great pride, presented it to me and then "palmed it" where upon it shattered on my basement floor.

Simon was famous for screw ups. He filled his motorcycle with deisel fuel, and then rebuilt the engine because it quit working. Then he rolled it down the hill to the gas station and he re-fueld it with more diesel.

His lovely girlfriend was just as bad. I hired her to fix a broken window pane. Paid her. And a short time later she was playing catch with my beloved Carbide the black lab who starred in my movie "A Fistfull of Garnet". Within about five minutes she had thrown a stick through another window.

I just took her straight to the bus stop after paying for fixing one window and breaking another. It seems that I was as stupid as my employees.

Bart

16th Dec 2012 13:32 UTCRock Currier Expert

How could you break a nephrite sphere by dropping it on concrete? That's very tough stuff.

16th Dec 2012 15:42 UTCBart Cannon

Rock,

Yes. Nephrite is one of the toughest rocks on earth, but Simon sent it at about 100 mph down on the hard concrete. It did break. Probably not a high quality nephite, and probably containing seams of softer silicates.

The toughest rock that I have ever come across is the barroisite schist from an eclogite in Skagit County, WA. The stuff can not be split even by my large Zuber German rock trimmer or a 4 pound crack hammer. It rings when you smack it. All trimming is done with a Micro-Blaster or by filling drilled holes with expaning mortar such as "Bri-Star". Takes a day for the action with the Bri-Star. When split the fragments always produce knife edges.

If the early NW indian tribes had found these schist outcrops and could knap them, they would have had a better source of tool rock than their favorite tool rock, "vitrophyirc dacite".

There were five specific quarries for it in the NW as long ago as 9,000 years bp, and an extensive trade network was well developed. If you're going to spend a day working on a scraper or a spear point you will demand the best raw material. Dacite is much tougher than obsidian. 9,300 year old Kennewick Man's ilium has a dacite spear point embedded in it.

I've seen it, and went to great trouble to create an analysis plan to determine which of the quarries it came from, but I was thwarted by local the Burke Museum staff. When I lowered my eyes to bring the specimen into the focus range of my Optivisor, I was tapped on my shoulder and informed that I was "too close". Nevermind that my hands were firmly clasped behind my back.

Rare seams in the in the barroisite schist exhibit emerald green druses of omphacite which resemble uvarovite garnet at first glance..

Bart

16th Dec 2012 16:16 UTCHenry Barwood

Bart, your experiences with the barriosite schist remind me of the hornfels associated with the contacts of the Arkansas syenites. The material at the Jones Mill Quarry at Magnet Cove is particularly tough.My son and I tried to drill a piece to use feathers and wedges and gave up on the first hole after 30 minutes of drilling resulted in a 2 inch deep hole! Normal drill rates in the syenite are about 2 inches per minute. The stuff is not only hard, but incredibly difficult to break and when it does break, it produces razor edges. I once split a tire in half when a muddy wheel spun on a piece of the hornfels.

16th Dec 2012 17:15 UTCEugene & Sharon Cisneros Expert

Henry,

You might want to take a look at this website for DIY sphere machines.

Gene

16th Dec 2012 18:12 UTCHenry Barwood

Gene,

Thanks. That site has a lot of ideas.

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