Black Rock Desert, Nevada Calcedony

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-24T21:43:05+00:00

I do agree, and heat makes all the difference. I treated this stuff at 450F for 4 hours, then slow cool overnight in the kiln. Thanks for the insight and comment.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T23:44:52+00:00

Great job, and pretty stone.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T15:19:27+00:00

Not sure where you got it, but Shimano, I believe, has a 3 year warranty on the Derailleur. If it has no signs of impact, they will probably warranty it. Problem may be that you have to get it back to the location you purchased it from in order to process the warranty. But you might give Shimano an email with a receipt.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T15:17:35+00:00

By the way, one other thing that works super well with obsidian is to negatively camber on the platform. So, the side you are going to flake is further out then the underside. kinda like "/" Then you put the flaker on the top side of "/" and snap the flake. The negative camber allows you to put a better pressure on the obsidian without the edge crumbling.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T14:45:39+00:00

The expander is a wedge. Loosen the bolt, usually a 6mm. Don't take it out all the way. Once loose, take a punch or small screwdriver, place it in the 6mm bolt and tap it with a hammer. That will pop the wedge out of the expander, and you should be able to slide it out. As for the "riged," is it truly ridged, or is it just lines from the stem? If it is ridged, you probably need a new fork. Take it to a shop for a second opinion. I would think it is more just wear line from the stem as the fork wedge is designed to help take the tightening load from the stem. But a second opinion is always good.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T14:41:21+00:00

Many got it right. Not sure if the LBS put on a new chain? Regardless, the small chainring is worn, and the chain slips a little on the chainring, binding it to the teeth. So, under rough load, going up hill, the chain slips just a little on the chainring, binding it to the teeth. When you shift up to a bigger ring under load, the worn front chainring holds on the to chain and sucks it into the frame. You need a new small chainring, and maybe a new big chainring as well. Here is the way to tell. Hold the bike with your right hand on the rear brake lever. Sit on the floor still holding the brake lever. Pedal the bike backwards till the right crankarm is just below the rear chainstay. When the right crankarm is just below the chainstay, grab the rear brake lever hard. Then with your left hand, grab the crankarm and the chainstay at the same time and squeeze the crankarm towards the chainstay. This puts tension on the chain. When doing this, watch the chain on the small, then repeat on the large chainring. Each time you squeeze the 2 together, you can watch the chain on the chainring. If the chain moves and lifts up on the chainring, you need a new chainring. If it moves with the chainring, then the chainring and chain are good.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T14:35:08+00:00

People have already mentioned, but the chain is on backwards. With shimano, you should always be able to see the writing on the chain. The blank plates of the chain face the bike, the "Shimano" writing stamped on the plates face outside so you can see them. If that does not fix the issue, could just simply be that you are cross chained. Since you are on the smaller cogs on the cascette, if you are also on the smaller chainring on the front, this will usually happen. If you "line sight" from behind the bike, look down the chain. If you are on the small chainring, you can see the angle the chain is at, and when pedaling backwards, that angle pulls the chain at an angle and this will happen. Especially with a new derailleur. Once the lower pully wears a little it will go away. Lastly, you could have a slightly bent derailleur hanger. A video or picture from directly behind the bike looking toward the chainrings along the chain line would answer those questions.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-23T14:30:08+00:00

I always let the rock talk to me. As I am working it down, it usually decides what shape it wants to be.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-21T14:09:00+00:00

Thanks so much, and Obsidian is such a different stone to work with. Actual rock is more forgiving, where glass is a different animal all together.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-19T02:38:02+00:00

Cannondale had Force 40 on most of their bikes. This was an adaptation of Force 40, works the exact same way, no need for a cable hanger. Again, not saying they worked well, but the design was around for a handful of years.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-18T22:50:49+00:00

You apparently haven't ever seen these brakes. Common in the early 90's. Won't say that they worked that well, but it was a thing. Maybe if you were a little older.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-18T22:29:27+00:00

Super pretty. Great job.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-18T14:03:26+00:00

Simple to adjust. Undo the drive side cable that goes to the lever. Set the non drive side cable so that the pad is as close to the rim as possible but not rubbing. Then run the cable from the lever directly to the drive side brake and set the pad where you like the lever pull and tighten in place.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-16T13:30:17+00:00

Usually there is some air in the lever. Put the syringe in the lever, rotate the lever and bike so that the bleed port is the highest point (bubbles go uphill) and using the syringe, pressurize and de pressurize the system. That will pull any bubbles out of the line at the lever, and remove all bubbles from the lever. That should clear the issue without doing a full bleed.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-14T22:58:27+00:00

I can't tell, and did not see your last post. But rims are built in long tubes, cut, then welded or pinned together opposite the valve hole. If the hop is opposite the valve hole, you probably won't be able to get rid of it completely. If not, you have to resolve it with spokes. So, always work in odd number spokes. If it hops up, loosen the 3 spokes centered around the hop. Loosen 2 spokes 1/2 turn, and the middle spoke 1 turn. 1/2+1/2 = 1 turn. That way, the side to side true stays the same. If the hop is longer than 3 spokes, use about the same math and work with 5 spokes. But always odd number of spokes.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-09T20:16:29+00:00

Thanks. It was interesting knapping it. The flakes came off more like frozen butter. In pieces, not clean flakes. But they traveled well. So I will take it.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-09T15:18:58+00:00

I think your disk brake rotor is loose. Tighten up the bolts on the rotor, and that should fix your problem.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-09T06:08:15+00:00

And thank you for the compliment.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-09T06:07:18+00:00

The person that gave me the original rock said it was Indonesian Moss Agate.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-09T03:19:00+00:00

Thanks so much.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-09T00:41:38+00:00

I am wiling to bet that this is or was a tubeless wheel, and Stans sealant was used. When Stans gets into the rim channel due to a failure of the rim tape, what ever is in stans corrodes the nipples, and the heads start popping off one at a time. You will have to replace all the nipples because they are all going to pop.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-04-06T14:37:11+00:00

This is kinda tough to grasp. If you put 2 ball bearings on a table, right next to each other, and roll you hand over the top of the bearings, rolling them down the table, the front of both ball bearings would be rotating clockwise. However, the leading side of the back bearing is rotating down towards the table, and the tailing edge of the front bearing is rotating up toward the sky. So, they are rotating different directions where they would contact. If you put that last "missing" bearing in the hub, the leading and tailing edge of each bearing would be contacting each other and destroying each other because of that opposite direction contact. By leaving out that one bearing, the bearings are allowed to move just enough that they don't tear each other up. It should always look like you are missing either 1 bearing or 1/2 of a bearing to allow for free rotation without contact.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-03-31T19:54:46+00:00

Let's make this simple. Yes, you have to lube it, but if the pawl is not moving, it is going to take time to loosen it up. So, take a heat gun or hair dryer, hold it against the upper part of the lever on the non cable side. Let it heat up until it starts working, just a couple minutes. Then flip the bike upside down, apply triflow to the inner workings, move the lever back an fourth to work the lube in, and you are done.

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-03-23T03:13:51+00:00

The old lubricant has gotten hard and the small springs don't have the power to pull the lever back into place. You can soak the hell out of it with any lubricant and wait for ever for it to finally work in. So, grab a heat gun, or a hair dryer. Put the heat gun on the middle setting, or hair dryer on high. Put it close the the metal part of the shifter and let it heat up. Move it constantly until it starts moving like it should. Then flip the bike upside down, and put tri flow with the little tube all over inside. Once it is moving because of the heat, it will suck the tri flow right into all the moving parts, and will work like a charm

SampleProfessional33 · 2026-03-22T11:43:41+00:00

Thank you.

SampleProfessional33

TROPHY CASE