As the Minnesota tundra thaws.......

As the Minnesota tundra thaws, I find myself very impatient for warmer days to get out into the garage to saw rock.  Carol and I have picked up some rough lapis lazuli and oco geodes that just invite sawing.  I need to clean out our 10" highland park saw, as the oil is very dirty and sludgy.  That means using the tile saw after I put on a new 6" thin diamond blade designed for cutting agates.  I was advised to "take it slow and use LOTS of water".

In the meantime, I have been tumbling a batch of rainbow moonstone for several days in 200 grit.  They are starting to look nice and I can stare for hours at the little rainbow flashes as pieces hit the light as they tumble.  In case you as the reader haven't picked up on it, working with rock is a very meditative and mystical thing for me (Jim).  I can be totally focused for hours and before I know it 5 hours can have gone by. 

Here is a representative piece from a google image search of the kind of material in the tumbler.



  As always, I can't say enough about the Belt Inc. Lot O' Tumbler.  The results are fast using vibratory motion and the polishes are beyond compare.