Quote from: ChrissyRyan on August 07, 2025, 09:42:09 PMNorthern Arizona is much cooler than the south.  Even Prescott and Flagstaff are much better temperature wise than Phoenix.

The difference is the elevation. The northern part of the state has mountains, while the south is desert.

PRO SURVIVAL TIP: For every 1,000 feet increase in elevation, the temperature drops about 10 degrees.

Some full-time nomads use this year-round. When the weather gets hot, they head uphill to cooler climates. When the weather starts getting cold, they head downhill. I had friends who were full-time nomads who traveled in a group. Their story was told in the movie, Nomadland, starring Francis McDormund. Part of the movie was filmed near the Badlands in South Dakota.

Quote from: Northern Star Girl on August 07, 2025, 10:07:20 PMToday, here where I live, the low early this morning was 47 deg (f) and late this afternoon
the high was 61 deg(f) .... partly cloudy.

No Air Conditioning needed.   

That wouldn't be bad.

I think the roughest part would be months of too much sun or not enough sun. I do hibernate in Winter. I just don't want to hibernate for six months out of the year. I have too much to do! 

Hugs!

The weather here on the east coast has been tolerable but we are down wind of all of those Canadian forest fires.

The smoke got so bad you couldn't see the Manhattan skyline across the harbor.

I think the Canadians are getting even with the American tariffs...

Quote from: Emma1017 on Yesterday at 02:18:15 PMThe weather here on the east coast has been tolerable but we are down wind of all of those Canadian forest fires.

The smoke got so bad you couldn't see the Manhattan skyline across the harbor.

I think the Canadians are getting even with the American tariffs...

I saw a headline that said the smoke from Canada was the equivalent of smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.

A friend of mine said that if Trump put a tariff on the wildfire smoke, Canada would keep it on their side. 

We have some wildfires here on the West Slope of the Rockies that are contributing to the smoke further east. (My apologies.  ) We are not affected here in southern Colorado because the jet stream goes north, then over the Rockies. In the winter, it goes south, so we might get it then.

Yesterday, I placed an order for my polishing abrasives. I get mine from The Rock Shed in Keystone, SD, just a few miles from Mount Rushmore. They have a top-notch reputation and supply rock polishing supplies (including rocks) all over the U.S. My best friend went to high school with the owner. The business was started by his mother back in the day.

I ordered:

5 lbs of 46/70 Silicon Carbide grit
2 lbs of 500 Silicon Carbide grit
3 lbs of 1000 Aluminum Oxide pre-polish grit

I got an email this morning that my order has shipped!

I still have some grit, but this is the stuff I was low on or out of.

The 46/70 is a very coarse abrasive grit used for shaping hard rocks. I use Silicon Carbide because it is harder than quartz, and when it breaks down, the edges remain sharp, so it retains its abrasive ability.

The second step is with 120/220 Silicon Carbide. Same as above, except it is a finer grit. Like sandpaper, when you use a coarse grit, it leaves scratches. Then you use a finer grit to remove those scratches. But that leaves scratches, too, so you go finer and finer until the scratches are so small they are invisible to the naked eye.

The third step is with 500 Silicon Carbide (the higher the number, the finer the grit).
The fourth step is with 1000 Aluminum Oxide. AO does not retain its abrasiveness when it breaks down. The edges become rounded, which makes it a great pre-polish.

The final step is an Aluminum Oxide polish, which I think is about 8000 grit. There are other polishes available, and some people prefer Cerium Oxide over AO, but it is more expensive. I also mix the stones with plastic pellets in the polishing stage. That helps cushion the stones so they aren't bashing against each other, causing chips and cracks. The pellets also help spread the polish evenly all over the stone for a better final finish.

The first step takes the longest. It can take anywhere from a week to several months, depending on the hardness and starting shape of the rocks. Softer rocks, or those that are already rounded, can skip this step. If a rock has a lot of jagged edges, I will lop them off with a Dremel cutting wheel before they go into the barrel.

All of the other steps take about a week to complete. At the end of each week, I empty the barrels and inspect each stone. If it needs more work, it will go back into the barrel for another week. If it is ready to move on, it will go into the next stage's barrel.

Start to finish, it can take five to ten weeks, or more, to finish polishing a stone. Even then, sometimes I need to do some touch-ups with a Dremel, then drop it back into a barrel for another week.

Each week is also a maintenance day. Before starting the next stage, I do a quick check of the machines, clean any dust or debris, and see if they need a drop of oil on the bearings.

It won't be long now and I'll have the machines rolling again.

Can you do the final polishing of rocks with just a Dremel or similar hand tool?

My workroom is mostly organized for now.



General workbench on the left, with rock tumblers on the lower shelf. Well, the Chicago Electric (Harbor Freight) tumbler is on the bench for repairs.

The bench on the right is my jewelry workbench. Tools and supplies are handy, and it is well-lit.



The jewelry bench with mining gear stuffed in the corner. The lower shelf makes a good place for rocks that are stored waiting for the various polishing stages. Under the shelf is where I store the tubs of polishing grit.

The mining gear is just stashed here until I get ready to go to a site. I normally leave some of it stored in my Jeep because it is easier than loading and unloading. My back windows are blacked out, so no one can snoop to see what's inside. I don't leave my rifle or metal detectors (black bag on the floor) in the Jeep.



The general workbench is mostly just a place to store household tools for when I need them. It is a convenient spot to do maintenance on the machines, and the lower shelf is nice for them to run, and they are out of the way. In my old apartment, everything on these two benches was on my kitchen island or in the drawers. This is a much better space to work in.

And lots of room for more rocks!

Beautiful, Lori! And so organized!

Please forgive me if you've already said, but where did you get those workbenches? Are you pretty happy with them?

Quote from: Pema on Yesterday at 08:40:46 PMBeautiful, Lori! And so organized!

Please forgive me if you've already said, but where did you get those workbenches? Are you pretty happy with them?

Thanks, Pema.

I got them online. I am happy with them in general, but I left a scathing review on Amazon.  My review was quite lengthy, correcting the assembly instructions.

The English, translated from Chinese, instructions were wrong in many cases. One of the benches was damaged in shipping, so I made notes as I assembled it. That made the second one go together much more easily.

There are things that I will likely change. The work surface is pretty, but not durable. It is made of laminated paper. Like composite wood or particle board, but this is pressed paper with something like a Formica covering. It dings and scratches easily, and you can't drill it to mount a vise. So I will eventually replace the work surface with a solid wood plank.

The top shelf has the durable steel surrounding it, but the bottom of the shelf that the light is mounted to is just a piece of cardboard. Literally, cardboard. I don't expect it to hold any weight, and storing anything oily or damp on that shelf would compromise its integrity.

I might replace the pegboard, too. It is of good quality, but the holes are two inches apart. All of the organizer hooks that I have are made for holes one inch apart. So far, I haven't needed to, but I could just drill more holes as needed.

Overall, it was okay for the price. It looks nice, and the frame is heavy steel construction, so it is durable. The price wasn't bad. It is just the work surfaces and shelving that leave a lot to be desired.

My review:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2SUOU3NXATRUN?ie=UTF8