djaxon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2015
Posts: 159
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Post by djaxon on Sept 18, 2016 12:08:32 GMT -5
I have several small pieces of broken Chrysocolla-Shat​tuckite from recent cuts and a post I read this morning made me think: Can I grind (mortar and pestle) these small pieces and then mix the powder with some 330 > to make a composite stone? Anyone with experience in this area? Any and all responses are welcome. thanks, Don
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 12:33:55 GMT -5
You could, but there are tons of such stuff on the market and I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble. You might consider cutting the scraps into small tesserae and try your hand at gemstone mosaic techniques - doesn't have to be a picture, just a pleasing arrangement of colors/patterns. Using chips for gemstone mosaics has been done for centuries - some spectacular turquoise mosaic pieces from Aztecs and this is still being done for jewels today. You get to see the real stone in the final piece, less resin gumming up your wheels, possibility of less undercutting and no requirement to disclose treatment (unless you are also doing stabilizing). If you decide to powder, though, be sure to grind and mix the color shades separately so that you can fold colors together to avoid getting an unstonelike, uniform plastic result.
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djaxon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2015
Posts: 159
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Post by djaxon on Sept 18, 2016 13:03:08 GMT -5
Great advice rocks2dust! I'll do some research in tesserae and mosaic techniques. This gives me a good place to start. I appreciate your input. thanks
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 14:15:37 GMT -5
For some inspiration you can google images like HERENavajo jewels often use turquoise, chrysocolla, shell and other materials in interesting combinations that might also give you some ideas (see this link) Don't know about tiny size pieces used for things like micro-mosaics, but to make larger tesserae for floor/wall-type mosaics, I've just used a chisel to split tessera from the scrap material (less waste and faster than sawing). Doesn't work for some materials that split/shatter in all kinds of directions, but does for many and worth a try. For cabs and panels, choose a sturdy preformed base (basanite, nephrite or similar) and epoxy your tessera onto that, then gently sand and polish. I've also seen some micro-mosaics capped with quartz, triplet-style, and wondered what the advantage was for that? If you are setting directly into silver, you can skip the base, but will have to be more exacting in trimming the pieces. The technique can be adjusted to a variety of projects - you have me thinking of doing another mixed material box - it's been a while, though.
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 19, 2016 12:47:54 GMT -5
You might try something like this. This cab started out as a bunch of turquoise chips left over from a project. I just mixed up a batch of epoxy , mixed in the chips & cast a preform.
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Post by HankRocks on Sept 19, 2016 13:38:08 GMT -5
What kind of Epoxy do you use? and do you think it would hold up in a tumbler?
Thanks
H
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 19, 2016 14:47:20 GMT -5
At the time I did that, (early 90's) all I had handy was common household epoxy.
Epoxy is much softer than the rock chips. It would undercut in a tumbler.
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Post by johnjsgems on Sept 21, 2016 15:12:20 GMT -5
My brother was a prize winning wood worker. He made a few jewelry boxes with crushed low grade turquoise in epoxy to fill voids and cracks in the wood. Looked pretty nice in dark woods.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Sept 22, 2016 12:11:35 GMT -5
Just waiting on a rainy day now ...
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