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Post by stardiamond on Aug 9, 2018 13:25:11 GMT -5
Deciding what to do next. I spend a lot of time on it. Pulling out slabs, looking for scenes and then coming up with a design. Some of these will require preliminary cutting to see if there are issues on the other side of the slab. My freeform designs are only approximate and will change as I'm working on the material. I'm not looking for necessarily the best scene on a slab; just what I like. The next 7 cabs I plan to work on.
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 10, 2018 9:31:19 GMT -5
I hear ya! I gotta do that tonight.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2018 14:46:11 GMT -5
I don't know if there is any interest in posts like this. Most posts are about the finished product. Sorry about the bad pictures. These aren't ready to be dopped,.I ran out of gas. The last cab seems clunky and the slab is 3/8" thick. I framed what I wanted to but sometimes it is better to leave something out to get a better shape. Since it is going to be thick, I'll dome it as is and then reshape and regrind if necessary. The fifth cab slab got lost and when I was looking for it, I found the sixth cab slab behind my Genie. The fifth cab was suppose to be a fat pear but it fractured on the trim saw, So I turned it upside down and truncated it.
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zekesman
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2016
Posts: 637
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Post by zekesman on Aug 10, 2018 15:12:36 GMT -5
I don't know if there is any interest in posts like this. Most posts are about the finished product. Sorry about the bad pictures. These aren't ready to be dopped,.I ran out of gas. The last cab seems clunky and the slab is 3/8" thick. I framed what I wanted to but sometimes it is better to leave something out to get a better shape. Since it is going to be thick, I'll dome it as is and then reshape and regrind if necessary. The fifth cab slab got lost and when I was looking for it, I found the sixth cab slab behind my Genie. The fifth cab was suppose to be a fat pear but it fractured on the trim saw, So I turned it upside down and truncated it. That Bone will be killer!
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Post by pauls on Aug 10, 2018 15:51:46 GMT -5
Always interested to see what other people do. I'm glad you made that last piece of Crazy Lace a bigger cab, it captures the pattern better.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2018 16:29:34 GMT -5
I select the slabs that have a scene I like and then lay templates over the slab to find the scene. I drew the shape on the slab and noticed there were knife edges on the back, so I need to move it up I thought it was the best shape for the scene.
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mgrets
spending too much on rocks
Member since February 2011
Posts: 321
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Post by mgrets on Aug 10, 2018 20:55:06 GMT -5
I hate deciding whether to cut one really nice cab from a slab and waste a lot of material, or get several lesser cabs from the same slab. Usually I go for the one killer cab.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2018 21:53:18 GMT -5
I hate deciding whether to cut one really nice cab from a slab and waste a lot of material, or get several lesser cabs from the same slab. Usually I go for the one killer cab. On this batch I didn't have that dilemma. I got a big piece of the lace and for all the slabs there were very few scenes when dealing with healed fractures. The rest were single cab slabs or ones that had multiple scenes. I generally try to get the best cab out of a slab even when the slab is sacrificed. The more similar material I have the easier the decision. There are also some slabs best left alone. The slab might be worth more than the cab cut from it. The first slab I posted is very nice and I had to decide whether it was worth cutting. I believed that it had two scenes; small and large and I could remove the small scene and still maintain some value for the slab. Going off topic. I am finding it increasingly more difficult to find material as good as what I have. What I've seen on ebay and etsy is either not very good or very expensive. I've been unable to find cabbing quality Horse Canyon, Butterfly Wing, Clam chowder fossil stone, Tahoma, Willow Creek, Biggs. There seems to be a lot of expensive Blue Mountain and Morrisonite.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 11, 2018 12:36:25 GMT -5
I'm ready to dop 7 cabs and will cut 4 tomorrow. I cut the pet wood through 220 soft and it was a learning experience/wake up call. I spent a lot of time getting the girdle area even and smooth. Being impatient, I tend to try to fix small issues on the next wheel. This time, I cut and checked and cut and checked until I couldn't find anything to fix. Assuming that a problem is fixed because I tried to fix it, doesn't work. Looking at it now, it's much better than usual, but still needs some correction in a few places. I'll work on it some more when I do the other cabs.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 11, 2018 19:31:24 GMT -5
I've been reworking over and over again the cabs on 220 soft. 2 of 5 are ready for 600. The wood has been worked on at least 6 times. I've been using a pencil to find scratches on the face and the girdle. Hopefully the next pass will be the last. The pencil mark arc show scratches on the top of the c curve.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2018 15:50:03 GMT -5
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Aug 23, 2018 16:19:51 GMT -5
I don't know if there is any interest in posts like this. Most posts are about the finished product. Sorry about the bad pictures. I'm certainly interested! I would love to see more work-in-progress threads. And lots of pictures. Many of my rockhound friends get bored when I want to talk about this aspect of lapidary. I love the very process you're describing - figuring out the best cabs hiding in a slab, or even a chip. I've met with a friend at a Mexican restaurant & brought slabs, pencil & a Sharpie to talk composition between tacos. As for quality vs quantity of cabs, I go for the best cab in a slab. I have several lifetime's worth of material to cut. Why scrimp? I aim for the best. It seems that much of the material I work has to be babied, as in treated with Hxtal, backed or other fixes. For that reason, I'm not a cabbing maniac. I don't crank them out. I'm proud of every cab I cut. Lynn
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 23, 2018 16:28:16 GMT -5
I just spent the last 3 hours marking out some cabs. I usually go for the best cab first and then put the rest away for another day. I also cut some freeforms today. Hopefully, tomorrow I can get some cabbing in.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2018 16:36:48 GMT -5
My brain works on a much smaller scale. Since i have the ability to slab my own rough, I usually cut as many slabs from the first Orientation of the rock, looking as i go, Then keep the best slab( to my liking) And make one cab. On the werkend i may make 2 cabs. If i tried to do 5 or six like you guys? My brain would pop
Many props! I
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2018 17:25:02 GMT -5
This is the fun part for me; deciding what to do next. I never know how many pieces I am going to select. The cutting is the work. After the trim saw I can decide how many cabs I want to work on. It's not a job for me, it's a way to relax.
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Roger
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2013
Posts: 1,487
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Post by Roger on Aug 23, 2018 18:26:23 GMT -5
It is always interesting to see others processes. I only know one person who cuts cabs and we have never seen each other working. I don't think we have ever even talked about the actual process of material selection, deciding shapes or locations, techniques, or preforming.
I rarely mark slabs or performs. I did early on but found that if I marked a shape, I was incapable of changing my mind once I started. "There are lines and I must follow them". I have a strong OCD tendency. Lines and templates were killing me creatively.
When I have a slab with more than one area that interests me, I may draw a few cut lines for the initial trimming but for everything else I pretty much wing it. My method has a very obvious drawback; I have taken some very expensive material and "winged it" into pretty much worthless trashcan scraps more than a few times..
I agree with the others when it comes to selecting where to cut the cab. I would rather have one nice $50 cab from a slab than five $20.00 cabs. It is much harder to find quality material and I hate to waste an opportunity to cut a really decent cab.
My one recommendation to anyone new'ish is; if you have some really killer material and you see one awesome cab in it OR several decent cabs; dont trace out any shapes on it. Put the slab on the shelf and come back to it in a few months. Time and an unmarked slab will give a different perspective.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2018 20:16:06 GMT -5
You have a really good eye and can wing it. When I am trying to cut a symmetrical shape, I need lines. Asymmetrical, I change the shape until it pleases me.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 26, 2018 18:28:34 GMT -5
I'm going to put away the Montana because what I was going to do with was silly; follow the outside of the color bands with c curves. I'm going to try to cut 3 cabs from this slab. Everything is healed, but....
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mjflinty
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 358
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Post by mjflinty on Aug 27, 2018 10:51:47 GMT -5
Great topic! I sketch out way more cabs than I ever cut. When I do, I trim them out first and usually stick with my sketch. I do like to freeform though and have a tendency to just do that instead these days.
Michael
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2018 12:55:56 GMT -5
I haven't been able to do any rock work for a week and I set up the trim saw. Things didn't go as planned. The Montana slab fractured whenever it touched the saw. It is now land fill. I had an incomplete cut on a Montana piece I had slabbed and when I tried to complete the cut it fractured and what was left wasn't even interesting. I had a good size piece of stefoinite and I started with trimming it up. With fractures I ended up with one preform. Stefoinite, MH, Pietersite and two lace.
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