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  1. #1
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    Mendip's Avatar
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    Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?

    Looking for a bit of advice...

    I've got a piece of fossilised tree trunk and I want to get it cut in half so I can polish up the surfaces for display.

    I've tried builders' merchants, but they're not interested. I think all their circular saws are set up with blades to cut metal.

    I've tried a couple of places that sell stone paving blocks and the like, but they won't do it either. I ask if they know anywhere that could do it (because someone must be cutting the paving blocks they sell), but I just get the typical blank 'I don't know' response.

    Has anyone any idea where I could get this done? The fossilised trunk is around 12inch (30cm) diameter at its thickest point. What kind of place would have a circular saw with stone cutting blades set up? And this will be very hard stone... I imagine a lot harder than the sandstone that's cut to make the paving blocks.



    Last edited by Mendip; 12-01-2020 at 03:17 PM.

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    I'd imagine a quarry would be your best bet.

  3. #3
    I'm in Jail

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    Mendip, there's loads of the stone places on the road from Pak Chong to Korat, they must have diamond bladed wet saws - stop and ask

    Especially the ones that cut granite and marble for worktops, they'll need to go really slow as the fossil will have fracture lines and so don't surprised if it splits

  4. #4
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    Klondyke's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    Has anyone any idea where I could get this done? The fossilised trunk is around 10inch (30m) diameter at its thickest point. What kind of place would have a circular saw
    Ask in the timber selling shops where they get their timber from. The usual saw mills in villages cutting teak, acacia or other trees - not always fully legal - they can cut your pieces, it will not be much more harder than their usual wood.

    Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?-0803190029-jpg
    But do not scare them with your dimension - 30 m...
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?-0803190029-jpg  

  5. #5
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    ^ Ha ha... thanks, dimensions edited!

    This is fossilised (petrified) wood, ie stone, and probably around 800,000 years old. It's an awful lot harder than wood, even teak.

    I think it's a lot harder than your usual sedimentary sandstones and the like, and I'm looking for a place that deals with hard rock, like granite.

  6. #6
    I'm in Jail

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I think it's a lot harder than your usual sedimentary sandstones and the like, and I'm looking for a place that deals with hard rock, like granite.
    As mentioned Mendip, go where they sell the worktops and ask if they cut or know where the cutting is done.

  7. #7
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    NPT, yes thanks, I think you're right. I was hoping to do it closer to home but I could incorporate this with a day trip with the littlun, maybe to Farm Chok Chai.

    This week I'm bussing it down to Bangkok so I'll keep a look out for places. There's certainly a lot of stone places on the road after Lam Takong, heading SW.

  8. #8
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    Like NPT says, Pak Chong is a good bet, and also Klang Dong and Saraburi. There are quite a few places dotted along Mitrapap Road that sell and dress stone.

    Below is a link to one place in Pak Chong with an internet presence, but there will likely be a place nearer to you.

    หินทราย และหินกาบ หินจิ๊กซอ สุดารัตน์ อุตสาหกรรมหิน
    Last edited by Neverna; 12-01-2020 at 04:19 PM.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat Airportwo's Avatar
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    Where did you acquire from (if not Top Secret!) I got a nice piece from the petrified forest just outside Cairo many years ago, I used to have a nice collection of "rocks" wonder what happened to them!
    *We have an identical cup as pictured, wondered where it came from, bet they were giving them away "free" with something or other - Thai women love their "freebies".

  10. #10
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    Many thanks Nev!

    If I can find the right place they can probably give me advice on polishing the surfaces as well.

  11. #11
    I'm in Jail

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    Failing that you could try phoning these and if they won't entertain it they may be able to suggest someone

    https://www.stonecontact.com/suppliers-115105/siam-dura-stone-co-ltd

    https://www.anmarbangkok.com/contact-us

    http://www.thaiwebsites.com/marble-granite.asp


  12. #12
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    ^ Thanks again, NPT. More food for thought.


    Quote Originally Posted by Airportwo View Post
    Where did you acquire from (if not Top Secret!) I got a nice piece from the petrified forest just outside Cairo many years ago, I used to have a nice collection of "rocks" wonder what happened to them!
    *We have an identical cup as pictured, wondered where it came from, bet they were giving them away "free" with something or other - Thai women love their "freebies".
    Well... I was walking the dogs a few years ago when I came across a parcel of land that had been recently filled, and sticking out of the fill were two lovely pieces of petrified wood... the geologist in me just took over!

    It was quite a secluded spot and very easy to discretely get the car close by...

    The second piece is similar diameter but three or four times longer. This one was a bit heavy for one person to lift, to be honest.



    And as for the cup... much more common... we've got two identical ones and both came from Tesco Lotus!

    I use it for my morning tea when Isaan is getting me down!

  13. #13
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    Mendip its a real shame you didn't get the second bit. I'd have been tempted to get cross sections cut, polished and then set in resin as a table top.

  14. #14
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    I did! That's the second bit by my flip flop!

    A true geologist doesn't overlook an opportunity like that!

    NPT, with more thought, that's a great idea. I worry about cracking and the sluces falling apart, but I can use this first piece as a test. The plan is to give half to my daughter's science class lab... I'm forever trying to spread the word about geology!

    The second piece stays in our sala on display. I was hoping it would be a talking point, but to he honest I may as well thrown down an old broken breeze block.

    Bloody plebs.
    Last edited by Mendip; 12-01-2020 at 06:57 PM.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    800,000 years old
    Most have taken you an afternoon to count those annual rings

  16. #16
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    Hi there, I would suggest a place that makes granite countertops. There are a bunch near Tak city and other places I'm Sure.

    They would be able to cut and polish it for you.

    Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?-img_1596-jpg

    I think one of these would do it.

    Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?-img_1598-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?-img_1596-jpg   Fossilised tree trunk - where to cut?-img_1598-jpg  

  17. #17
    I'm in Jail

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    I did lapidary for a year in grade 12. Diamond saws for rock are like a very blunt saw.....you can't see teeth at all, and you can put your finger on the blade briefly when they are rotating. But as they have diamond embedded, they cut through rock more quickly than you would think. And yes....water is used.

    As has been pointed out....go to the guys who regularly cut rock / marble

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat
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    ^^, ^

    Yes thanks, these are exactly the kind of places. Anywhere that can cut hard rock like granite should be able ti handle my fossilised tree trunk.

    There is a lot of quarrying between Korat and Pak Chong as you descend the Korat Plateau, and I'm sure there are similar places to ^^ alongside the road. A lot of the quarrying is limestone, for aggregate and cement, but there's also a lot of marble stonework and I'm pretty sure places that make granite worktops.

    Marble is crystalline, metamorphosed limestone, so there must have been igneous activity in the past, the origin of the granite. I should really know more about the local geology around Korat considering my background.

    On Wednesday I travel down to Bangkok by bus, so it's an excellent opportunity to keep a look out for places, and then I can drive down at the weekend.

  19. #19
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    ^Remembering many years ago somewhere near ChokChai farm being invited (by a rich Chinese-Thai owner speaking German) to see a large factory cutting granite. And surprised to see they made also steel wires of different diameters for construction - protruding technique.

  20. #20
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    Polishing is faster and easier than you may think, too. Or you may just like to put some clear varnish over the cut. Depends on you. Varnish can look a bit tacky.

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat
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    ^ I remember when I was doing my geology degree we had to make thin sections of rocks to look at on slides under a microscope.

    After the sections were sliced off a piece of rock, we polished them on a stone table with a fine abrasive grit of some kind, mixed with water to make a sludge. I'm guessing the polishing process for a large section of tree trunk would be similar?

  22. #22
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    Come on, get on with it, I'm looking forward to finding this beautiful piece of open polished rock with 800,000 year old animals and bugs in it! David Attenborough has heard about the thread and is currently packing his camera gear and making flight arrangements!



    David asked me to ask: is it fossilized or petrified? He also asked if you could remind him of the difference because his memory isn't what it used to be...
    Cycling should be banned!!!

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat
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    ^ You can tell David that 'petrifaction' means turning to stone, and is a form of fossilisation. And that he is always welcome, of course!

    When the original material is replaced by minerals while preserving the structure, that is petrifaction. So my pieces of tree trunk are fossilised and petrified. And if you're a Brit, as I'm pretty sure you are, there is no 'z' in fossilised, by the way.

    At least, that sounds about right to me... I'm a different kind of geologist, but I do know for sure that there will be no bugs... you're getting confused with amber.

    Please be patient... the project kicks off tomorrow... as I head down to Bangkok in the morning on a bus I'm going to try and spot likely places around the Pak Chong area that could cut my tree trunk, and then talk about it all afternoon with a mate in a bar on Sukhumvit. All good projects need a planning stage.

  24. #24
    Thailand Expat
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    ^^ This is the sort of thing I'm hoping for, but maybe I'm being a bit ambitious.




  25. #25
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    . the project kicks off tomorrow... as I head down to Bangkok in the morning on a bus I'm going to try and spot likely places around the Pak Chong area that could cut my tree trunk,
    Don't forget to take photos of the places you spot, so you can remember where they are.

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