julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 2, 2019 18:01:05 GMT -5
Hello everyone. I've been self-teaching myself cabbing over the last couple months, and I'm about ready to start posting pics and asking for critique. I bought a Lortone LU6X in August for the purpose of making "better tumbled stones" without even realizing the machine had another purpose, the CABOCHON!! Well now, the first week I learned the word cabochon I was already making them!! Then the first of November, after a couple months goofing off and becoming totally hooked on I treated myself to the CabKing 6" which is the most amazing thing on Earth! Well, maybe not the best on Earth but ya'll know what I mean? It was an expensive treat to say the least and now my goal is to make some cash so I can keep up with my rock addiction.
So now, long story short. I've been using Esty shops (Hello Tela, Susan set the bar super high when she said to make mine look like yours!), Facebook Groups, and just Google searches for information on how to cab, and well YEAH, I should have spent more time here! My thought is that my cabs will be either bezel set or wire wrapped oh and maybe set in prongs, but this seems to be less popular. I know NOTHING about jewelry. So here's my biggest issue now:
My cabs appear to be slimmer than most but I haven't found anywhere that sets any parameters on the overall height of cabs, nor the height of the girdle. So.... my cabs are ranging in the 22-45 mm length range, with the height being 3.75-6, with the girdles ranging from 2.25-3. (I'm mostly using Cabtopia shapes and they too are amazing.) All my cabs are girdled with a straight edge and have the tiny bezel for solder & chipping, just like the 1986 book told me to.
Second biggest issue (for now I'm sure there will be more!), is the overall length of the cabs. I bought a bunch of little pieces of slabs on Ebay, and little pieces of slabs obviously result in little cabs. So how small is too small for selling?
I'll be posting some pics over next day or so and hope for some honest feedback!
Julie
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 2, 2019 18:02:58 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Julie.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jan 2, 2019 18:13:04 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH. When I slab I always cut at 1/4" thick. Sometimes when buying online the slabs are only 3/16" which allows the seller to get a few more slabs and in turn make more money. My girdle height usually falls in the 2mm to 3mm range. For me I don't care as much about the height of the girdle as I do about the consistency of the height. When wire wrapping more or less side wires can be used for height adjustment and for silversmithing the bezel materials come in different sizes too. When wire wrapping I prefer a 90 degree edge but if I know I am going to bezel set a stone I will cut the girdle tapered. Overall size of cabs is just a personal preference. Personally I have a difficult time with wrapping and setting anything small so my cab sizes reflect that.
Sounds like we started off about the same. I too started with and still have my Lortone LU6X but I quickly moved to a Genie for cabbing. The LU6X is my tumbling prep workhorse.
Chuck
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Post by pauls on Jan 2, 2019 18:16:45 GMT -5
Welcome Julie
It sounds like you are well and truly hooked.
The simple answer is there's no simple answer, any size, shape, height will be just right for something, big is good for wrapping, small for rings and dantier pieces of bling, whatever gets the best out of your stone is best.
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Post by MsAli on Jan 2, 2019 18:19:16 GMT -5
Welcome from Fresno, Ca I agree with pauls -whatever brings out the best in the stone Looking forward to seeing what you have done
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 2, 2019 18:58:09 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 2, 2019 19:06:37 GMT -5
Chuck,
but if I know I am going to bezel set a stone I will cut the girdle tapered
How is a girdle tapered? if I'm making mine straight up, then would tapered be angled OUT? and then cut a bezel?
So for instance if I had a stone with a 3mm girdle, how many mm would the bottom edge be wider than the top of the girdle?
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 2, 2019 20:23:18 GMT -5
DAMN! I had a nice long post, hit create post and my connection dropped along with my post! Argh! I'll try again- Hi Julie! Sounds like you got bit by the Cabbing bug! LOL! You must be starting out pretty well if Susan said that. She has a good eye, too. I had the same questions starting out. In general, Chuck is right, but so are the others. You do want to work with the material you have. A small pattern will dictate how small you can go. A larger one will dictate how you big you need to go to capture it. Plus, you have to work between fractures and other problems in a slab. I like to work abt 30mm to 40-50mm. I rarely cut small stones- for no reason, really. I just like them larger. Your wheels will dictate how big you can get. For the girdle thickness, I generally cut it abt 3mm. I think the smallest bezel wire is 3mm. For the height of the stone (dome) you can cut what you want to do. High dome, low or "buff". As for the angle, you want the top diameter of the top of the stone to be a hair smaller than the bottom. I usually shoot for abt 20 degrees. I use a dop stick. The angle of the stick shows the degree of the cut. But, if the cabking came with a cab rest, like the genie does, then that will have the right angle. I used to cut them straight up and down for myself, but as a wire wrapper, it really doesn't make much difference to me, but it does to a silversmith. To be bezel set, you really need an angled girdle. I just cut the angle on all of them now. Online somewhere, you can find the "magical" correct degree you're supposed to have. Welcome the addiction hobby.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 2, 2019 20:39:56 GMT -5
Here's a few visuals. This cab has a natural face and they are usually cabbed a bit thicker than normal, so you can (hopefully) make out the angle. Plus, I was able to trace around the top of the stone. The angle doesn't have to be drastic. You can just make out that the top sketch is larger.
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 2, 2019 20:44:46 GMT -5
Ok Tela! So the hand rest thingy is something to use other than for my hands? Gosh I'm totally confused on this one. And can you see my question to Chuck? The angle of the girdle will flare "OUT?" a little bit? So if I had a 5 mm high stone with a 3 mm girdle, the girdle may flare out from the top of the girdle to the base of the stone maybe 1 mm?
I would think then, that the angled girdle stones are desirable to more customers (wrappers and setters), so I need to learn how to do this. Maybe I can buy one of your stones! Pick me out a budget one?
Susan actually sent me one of your cabs but said it was from a while back. A pretty piece of mookaite, along with some wire and stuff and an amazing necklace, oh you need to see that. I've collected a dozen wire wrap books and most of the tools I need to get started, but won't get into that for a little bit. I did learn how to viking knit, but all of a sudden there aren't enough hours in the day. We're planning for her to come visit when it warms up and I'll teach her what I know about cabbing, and she'll get me started with jewelry... we're so psyched. Wow this is TMI for the forum LOLZ
I just uploaded a bunch of pics to a new thread and man is my photography terrible. Susan said I should be able to get away with using my Iphone. A fancy SLR is not in my budget after two machines and a BUNCH of material to play with.
Tela, you and Susan have been such huge inspirations, and you didn't even know it HA! I probably visit your Etsy shop 200 times a day! I also found Tommy Lay Originals about a week ago and when I read his bio I totally remembered about this forum!
My goal is to set up an Etsy shop when my technique gets "perfected". I don't have a huge goal for making money although I'm certainly not opposed to it. I just want to keep up with maintenance on the machines and keep buying material to cab. Keep the art alive right?
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 2, 2019 20:47:15 GMT -5
40.22 mm long x 29.49 mm wide x 8.95 mm thick; girdle, ~9 mm per your Etsy shop
So you've "barely" flared it out.
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Post by Pat on Jan 2, 2019 20:56:32 GMT -5
Welcome. The magical degree is 12.5degrees. The hand rest is angled to that degree. Somewhere I have posted a photo of it and where to put your fingers
If you are putting a bezel on it, that slant is helpful.
I’ll see if I can find that old post.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 2, 2019 21:08:40 GMT -5
40.22 mm long x 29.49 mm wide x 8.95 mm thick; girdle, ~9 mm per your Etsy shop So you've "barely" flared it out. That particular cab is different because the dome is flat. It's the angle I was trying to show. The flare comes from angle and is measured at the top edge of the cab and the bottom edge of the cab. I'll get you those measurements. Pat is right on. I usually eyeball it with my dopstick at about 3:00, so that's about 15 degrees. Sorry, I was wrong, it is more like 15 degrees for me. I know that sounds like gobbly gook right now. You'll get it, though. Just measured the stone- the top edge is 27.01mm; the bottom edge is 29.40mm. The difference is from the angle. If I knew math, I could figure it out. LOL! I just eyeball it. I'll PM you tomorrow about you and Susan.
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 2, 2019 21:12:49 GMT -5
Thanks Pat. The week I learned what a cabochon was I attended a Bellpoint Gem show and was overwhelmed with the number of cabochons for sale at such low prices. Obviously mass produced! The art that I see in this forum is what I want to learn, to keep those old techniques alive and be a part of this new "community". Both of our daughters have undergrad degrees in Geology from UGA (Go Dawgs!), and I was looking for something that would also interest them and I think I've hit on it.
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Post by Pat on Jan 2, 2019 21:37:31 GMT -5
If you compare a mass produced cab to a hand produced cab, you will be able to see the difference. It's fun stuff!
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Post by opalpyrexia on Jan 2, 2019 22:37:41 GMT -5
Hi, Julie.
Here are some of my random thoughts. I cab and make jewelry with a torch in silver and now and then in gold. If you want to sell cabs to people who metalsmith, they tend to have different needs based on how they work in metal.
There are people who work with purchased, standard size bezel cups, which means that your cabs would need to fit those specific dimensions. Other people who work with bezel wire use just about any size, shape, or height of cab. What standard heights are available for bezel strip can be found by checking Rio Grande. Then there are people who make their own bezel strip and settings to fit the stone.
I fall into the latter category. I cut my own bezels. I began and continue to cab opal (as well as other materials), so necessarily many of my cabs are freeforms with low, medium or high domes — and almost always gradual, sloping/curved sides with really no definite girdle or "break" where the dome starts. That's what I prefer in a cab. That's what all of my own cabs look like.
Cabs with the longest dimension of or exceeding, say, 40 to 50 mm give me pause. I can work with those, but the challenges in torchwork grow with size.
You'll see lots of beautiful, custom cabs with exotic curves and points on RTH. I love 'em! Convex curves and points present some challenges. I think that those shapes tend to limit the market to wirewrappers and very simple mechanical jewelry designs. Dealing with a sharp point in a bezel can be challenging.
I hope that this is helpful in some way. Looking forward to seeing some of your photos.
Gary
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 2, 2019 22:57:16 GMT -5
Thanks Gary. I had wondered if some of my points were too pointy. I've started softening them and like them better now.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 3, 2019 0:45:36 GMT -5
Welcome. The magical degree is 12.5degrees. The hand rest is angled to that degree. Somewhere I have posted a photo of it and where to put your fingers If you are putting a bezel on it, that slant is helpful. I’ll see if I can find that old post. That is exactly right, 12.5 degrees off of straight up and down (tipping in at top). Important for bezel setting cabs. Closer to 90 degrees, or straight up and down, can be helpful when wirewrapping. Pat , is this the thread you are looking for? question for genie users about the cab stand thingie
Edit to add another link forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/post/912825/thread
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Post by Pat on Jan 3, 2019 0:50:09 GMT -5
Thanks, Jean. That shows it clearly, but I think there is another one where I drew where to put fingers. Anyhow, I hope this is helpful.
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Jan 3, 2019 9:28:52 GMT -5
Wow great info. The hand thingy included with the new CabKings is just that, a hand thingy to rest your wrists. I'm going to look for a "cab rest" now. Thanks 1,000,000 to everyone
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