julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 31, 2009 2:14:18 GMT -5
HI Gang, here is the revised link to photobucket version of my cabbing tutorial. I wrote this little cabbing tutorial recently and posted it over on LA Rocks group website; using a montana agate for the exercise. Pretty basic oval, showing how to use an aluminum scribe to set the girdle height, and then using to scribe to help spot flats on the cab while you are cutting and shaping the dome. Im no great expert cabber by any stretch, but I had fun doing the series. s17.photobucket.com/albums/b71/ThomasClark/cabing%20tutorial/?albumview=slideshow
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 31, 2009 2:01:12 GMT -5
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 31, 2009 1:52:52 GMT -5
Thanks for all the wonderful comments! The preforms look good because they were photographed wet. I dome them out on an old frantom combo fitted out with an 80hex and a 220 galaxy diamond wheels; just something to pass the time while Im babysitting the big slab saws.. That gorgeous looking poppy jasper cab in the bottom corner of the second picture is a rare old piece of Pope Creek Poppy jasper, from the napa valley, collected back in the 50s.
I will try to get those opals out of the safe and shoot some pics of the back, but the backs look very similar to the fronts, all swirly and pretty looking. I form the bail first and then all the wrapping is done free hand with no pliers or anything. I just weave the ends of the wires back into the design, using the tension of the curves to retain the stone in place. About 1 in 10 wraps works out, and the rest of the time the wires just go back to the scrap pile... lol. That big blue opal is a 53ct black nobby from lightning ridge.. the pic with the 3 opals, are shown with them still on the dop sticks, as they still are, just sitting in the safe. Im waiting to see what shape I will need for the piece of jewelery that I create for them to fit in. I have an old homemade 8in flat lap that I cut most of my opals on. alternately I have a set of nearly worn out genie wheels that I like to use when Im cutting and shaping precious opal rough. I polish them on smooth elkhide, a little 6 inch attachment on the end of the genie. I did a cabbing tutorial around one of those montana agates, maybe it was that one or another piece off that same cobble. It is about 34 pictures long covering all the usual steps in cabbing on a genie. If anybody was really interested, I could post a link to the tutorial. I think its up on several rockhound yahoo groups that I belong to. I will go try to round up a link to it.
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 21:50:51 GMT -5
HI Dean, Ive heard that you can buy a type of arc-welding rod that has diamond abrasive as a part of it's makeup. Ive been told that you just hard-face the sharp edge of your saw with an arc bead and your all set to cut.
Remember those huge drag saws down at the salinas estate, several years ago? those were made that-a-way. speaking of which, do you remember the little drag-saw from the workshop there, that used 16" flat blades? Ive been waiting to figure out where I can find some diamond blades for that puppy.
Best, Thomas
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 21:19:22 GMT -5
I use a little pot-pori pot from the goodwill, which preheats the wax pretty well. I use a combo of that and a heat gun to suppliment the heat process. I get my dop sticks all set, each with a blob of wax, before I start dopping preforms up. When Im ready, I reheat the dop-stick with the heat-gun, blowing down onto the dop while also preheating the preform cab at the same time. as the heat causes the dopwax to melt down onto the preform, I position the dop onto the cab, remove the heatgun, and lick my fingers to smooth the hot wax into positon. crude, but I like to dop up a day's worth of cabbing, first thing in the morning, while drinking my coffee.... LOL
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 21:04:06 GMT -5
that is totally slick! Thanks Mucho!!!!
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 20:56:20 GMT -5
HI Rick, here's another old trick. take old tin cans and melt some sash-weight lead, or some weight-belt lead into the tin can. maybe a 1/2" full of lead or so. Now trim your tin can so that it has about 3/16" extra lip above the level of the lead. The trick here is to have the lip a little bit shorter than the thickness of your slab. Now put your round lead weight over the top of the slab, and happy grinding.
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 20:40:31 GMT -5
Here is some of the preform cabs that I will select from to go into my first tumblevibe batch: Im selecting some of my less-favorites from among a bowl full of these preforms. Im trying to stick to fairly well healed jaspers, agates, and jasp-agates, leaving the oddballs and precious looking ones for finishing out on the genie...
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 20:30:56 GMT -5
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 19:52:58 GMT -5
Yep, that's us! julie-tom on ebay and also on the lapidary auctionsite 'Dragonsaye Auctions'
Good to hear from you Scott!
Randy, It's rare as hen's teeth. There is a fellow over on dragonsaye auctions, by the name of Emory Coons, 'Coons Lapidary' who has a bit of it listed on the site.
These slabs have quite a history. The guy who orig found the Fire Obsidian at glass buttes, after much prodding, sold a bit of it to John Richardson, "AKA Richardson's Rock Ranch" over in Madras, Oregon back in the early 1990s. John slabbed it up and stashed it in the rockshop. Several years ago, my sister was noodling thru the big dollar-slab trough out in front of Richardson's shop, and dug out a few of these slabs. Richardson said that they had gotten out there by mistake, but he honored the dollar price, and let her have them. GOOD GUY Award, right there.... My sister had been yearning for some material out of my collection, so we did a swap.
It turns up once in awhile like that, but according to most oregon old timers, there never was much of this stuff to begin with. They called it a 'Hat Mine", inferring that you could cover the whole pocket of fire agate with your cowboy hat...
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 19:30:27 GMT -5
Thanks Mel, I will keep an eye on it!!! My main problem is that I only have the 60-90 right now.... I will go order some fresh grit this evening!! Kingsley North, I suppose... Thomas
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 19:28:04 GMT -5
Hi There! I just posted some videos of some of the tire tumblers Ive built. Go to the home-made equipment thread on here, and have a look. Im happy to provide you with any pointers re the specs on driver shaft distances and so forth. Thomas
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 18:53:46 GMT -5
here is a second slab of this amazing old material.
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 18:46:26 GMT -5
Click on the picture and it will take you to the video. It takes a moment to buffer and start.
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 18:35:35 GMT -5
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 18:32:31 GMT -5
I had to wrap a cross-section of inner-tube to each end of the 5 gal bucket, to get it to turn on the hex shaped driver spindles. This was a forgettable effort, with the rubber bands not holding up for more than several hours. dismal failure.....
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 18:24:07 GMT -5
Click on the photo for a short video. Most informative!!!
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 17:50:41 GMT -5
Here is the big tire tumble revision 2 - I cut chamfered disks out of plywood, and used a threaded rod with wing-nuts to tighten the chamfered edges into the bead of the tire rim. Note the V8 soda pop can at the end of the video, to get a sense of the size of things. This is a special large tire that is typical of the front tires of a large cement mixer truck.
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 17:45:53 GMT -5
Oh Yeah, you have to click on the picture, and it will take you to the video, which takes a few moments to buffer and start running.
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julietom
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 57
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Post by julietom on Oct 30, 2009 17:43:51 GMT -5
This is a 46" x 20" tire, and it works well, but tends to spill filler rock and grit pretty badly out the sides.
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