Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 24, 2009 12:49:35 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Spent most the morning cutting cabs for the great tumbler polish experiment but I did manage to finish these two on the wheels. Thanks for lookin....Mel Probably the first and last of this stuff I'll ever fool with. This is what they call thunderegg matrix from the Little Naches River Canyon near my sister in laws ranch at Naches , Washington. I self collected this stuff while knee deep in frozen mud on a freezing October morning so I figured I should at least try to cab some of it. It's actually more of an orbicular rhyolite very much like Rainforest Jasper. Most is green matrix but this ivory colored piece looked more solid. Wasn't though! This cab started much larger and just kept getting smaller and smaller as I had to resize it to eliminate defects. Mixed hardness all over the darn cab too. Final size is about 50 X 22 MM. Now this stuff I love and haven't seen any for sale in ages. It was sold as " Dying Lace" because it accepts colors real well. Another name is Chinese Writing Lace". Used to be sold as multicolored tumbled stones ( the blue was fake gem silica) by Greiger's Gems in LA and I was lucky enough to get some rough from them maybe 30 years ago. Calibrated 22 x30 MM.
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desertdweller
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2006
Posts: 1,803
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Post by desertdweller on Sept 24, 2009 13:13:56 GMT -5
Love the 2nd one but they are both beauties. Would the Missouri lace dye very well? I'd like to try that.
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Sept 24, 2009 13:14:25 GMT -5
really nice job on both ... love the lace
Wolf
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 24, 2009 13:20:19 GMT -5
Jamie: Seems to me I've seen Missouri Lace dyed black at quartzite years ago. Some lines in the pattern took the treatment and some stayed white or clear so it looked pretty cool. I've never seen any other treatments of the stuff so I don't know about other colors. Most banded, lacy type agates in shades of gray or white will take dye to some extent though....Mel
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Post by Toad on Sept 24, 2009 13:22:29 GMT -5
Beautiful stuff and appears worth the effort - you might disagree though. :-)
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Sept 24, 2009 21:13:00 GMT -5
These are awesome Mel! I love the story of the knee deep mud. Truely worth the effort I must say!
Nate
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Post by Tonyterner on Sept 26, 2009 14:19:55 GMT -5
Both those are really nice Mel. That second one is so monochromatic that it just draws the eye. I'm sure it looks much better than if it were dyed. I like the top one too and would cab it but you know me, I like tough to cab material.
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Sept 26, 2009 20:20:25 GMT -5
Sweeeet Cabs Mel! I really like your threads because it always seems like you have unusual material...and most of the time stuff I've never heard of. Glad you froze your knees off to get some really cool material. It was WORTH the frostbite. Steve
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Post by montanamuskrat on Oct 2, 2009 21:35:18 GMT -5
I do like all I have seen of yours. Very nice cabs. Tom
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Post by Tony W on Oct 4, 2009 0:16:40 GMT -5
The "frozen knee" is pretty cool, but the writing lace is my favorite. I like the tight pattern outlined with the dark. T
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Post by frane on Oct 4, 2009 9:57:21 GMT -5
Those are both beautiful Mel! I really like the dying lace with the pattern that you captured. Fran
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