gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 21, 2024 12:45:08 GMT -5
Mom medicine is the best! My son had a wicked wart on top of his hand when he was a kid. I kept a bandaid on it. Out of sight; out of mind. It soon went away. Warts are weird.
Mom medicine works only as long as belief in it is strong. When I was a little older Mom told me the old rubric about catching birds by putting salt on their tales. Being naturally of an inquisitive nature, i put it to the test. I realized quickly I'd been tricked, and could no longer put full faith in everything Mom told me. That newly-awakened cynicism may have had something to do with my later career in journalism (back in the days when there was such a thing), where the by-word was "Even if your Mother says it's true, check it out."
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 21, 2024 0:01:07 GMT -5
We went outside and she told me to throw the bag over my left shoulder, wish [...] gone, and to not look where the bag had gone. Wondering if I can get away with leaverites or I have to use some good stuff. : ) Leaverite is good as long as you believe what your Mom says with all your heart.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 20, 2024 14:21:15 GMT -5
I am not a believer in the healing properties of minerals. However...
When I was quite young I suffered terribly from warts on my hands. One day my Mother told me to gather 10 little pebbles. She rubbed each pebble on my warts, then placed them in a little drawstring bag she'd made. We went outside and she told me to throw the bag over my left shoulder, wish my warts were gone, and to not look where the bag had gone.
I did, and she told me: 'Now you've wished your warts away." And believe it or not, they were gone in a week, never to return. There's a lot of power in the psychosomatic process. How the mind works with the body remains a great mystery.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 17, 2024 15:27:23 GMT -5
What grit sequence do you use before the 50K? I go to 3k on my cabber, then to the 50k belt. My previous sequence had been 3k to cerium, so I only swapped out that last step. I think that's too great a jump. You probably need 8k & 14K before 50K. Cerium, tin oxide and others sometimes seem to help as a final polish, depending on the material. You have to experiment a bit. Sometimes a LOT!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 17, 2024 14:34:15 GMT -5
What grit sequence do you use before the 50K?
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 17, 2024 14:31:04 GMT -5
I get the paper copy and have enjoyed it for many years. I inherited some old versions from the 1970's from my grandpa and I like those much more. They were full of vendors with everything to do with the lapidary hobby and it was fascinating to browse through because it was like being transported back to the glory days of the hobby. What I wouldn't give to rock hound back in the 1960's! I think that was the Shedenhelm (Sp.?) editorship. Can't recall who preceded him. Those were great days. A woman editor took over after him but the mag seemed to go downhill over time. It was locked into a set formula with pretty much the same writers each edition. It got boring and I canceled just before the current editor took over. Looks like I've been missing something.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 16, 2024 18:08:07 GMT -5
Is there a concen with the weight of the sintered wheels and causing an imbalance on your cabbing machine? Assuming you only got one sintered wheel. I run 1 metal sintered and 2 plated on the left side of my Genie. No imbalance problem if they're properly balanced to begin with). Can't speak for any other machine brand. I've also run 2 metal sintered on it simultaneously with no problem. It might cause wear on the bearings eventually but after about 3 years of use I'm not having a problem.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 16, 2024 17:02:54 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced. Any recommendations on where to buy? As soon as the current textured 80 on my Cabmate is finished I want to try the sintered 60 there. I use the 1 wheel unit for all the initial material removal since it runs with fresh water, makes the genie stay clean a lot longer that way. If you're asking me specifically, I got Newsints through Kingsley but they've changed brands. They're the only ones I've had experience with so I really have no recommendation.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 15, 2024 13:49:42 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here. I forgot to mention dressing your plated wheel. Also, reversing direction can sometimes improve cutting speed for a while. Re: 60 grit sintered: they also chip a fair bit. They can also be dressed. I just dressed mine and it's cutting much better after lots of heavy use on hard materials.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 14, 2024 18:23:57 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 14, 2024 12:10:16 GMT -5
Great little Lake Superior agatewhisperer !! Really pretty agate dshanpnw !! I love the color. Also really pretty realrockhound ! Is the fracture along the bottom at a diagonal? I wouldn’t have even noticed or realized. But, it sucks that it makes it less stable/not useable for setting. Yeah, it’s right there at the bottom. Lighting isn’t great and pictures a lil blurry, but it’s that faint diagonal line that goes side to side. I got some other types of nice material to cut, but I’m pretty over it at this point. Sorry about the fracture. I've had a lot of those issues myself over the years. It reminds me of the Mark Twain complaint about "the innate cussedness of inanimate objects."
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 13, 2024 15:58:47 GMT -5
Working on mine. I'll see when it's finished if I want to enter it. Have a couple of back-up ideas if it doesn't work out.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 12, 2024 16:21:11 GMT -5
If your objective is picture jasper and opal, I'd suggest somewhere near Marsing, ID. It's been years since I've been there and I don't know what the current situation re: accommodations. Graveyard Point and the East Oregon picture jasper sites as well as the Succcor Creek collecting areas are all reasonably close. There's also a great rock shop there, Service Station Gems, that can give you much more current info than me. In fact you might give them a call to get their input. The owner's another Tony, Tony Schultz.
Tony Funk (Idaho Rock Shop) is located a considerable distance from those sites, in Gooding, near Twin Falls Maybe you can drop in on him on your way to the rock club outing, depending on your route. He will also have god info on accommodations. Happy hunting!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 10, 2024 16:57:02 GMT -5
Really nice batch Jason. Nice photography too. The rutilated quartz is my favorite but I'm partial to the stuff and always have been. Years ago it was abundant and cheap. But in the 90s top cutters' work was often featured in magazines and it became very popular among the many new lapidary people who hadn't previously been aware of its potential. Predictably, the supply of quality rough went down and the price went up.
It varies greatly in type and quality. Some, with tiny, thin rutile inclusions is called Angel's Hair Quartz and it has its own appeal. Some cutters prefer the rare "stars,' with rays of golden rutile growing star-like from a metallic inclusion. Some rutile is reddish, with a copper-like quality. Other occurs as what I call 'swords," broad rutile crystals with impressive "flash.' Anther variety is the sort you cut here. Sometimes the bundles of rutile are thick and bunched like my stone you refer to. It also occurs in a range of quartz colors, from water clear to fairly dark smoky. I have one large smoky piece that has amazing bright rutile inclusions but it will be a display piece only. Lots of cutting to do on it.
Really fine work, thanks for showing it.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 8, 2024 13:20:15 GMT -5
That's a nice one! Posting pics on the forum is a really good way to make the scratches show up! You are sooo right!! Didn't notice them even with 10X inspection until I posted. Or maybe they eyes just aren't what they used to be.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 7, 2024 18:49:16 GMT -5
About 15 years ago I attended a Federation show in Ventura, CA. A couple was selling both slabs and rough Namibian Pieersite. I've been kicking myself ever since for not buying more (I could have mortgaged the house!) but instead I tried not to break the bank. On piece of larger rough I did buy yielded what I think is an unusual pattern. I finally got around to cabbing some of it last week. Knowing I'd end up with what will probably be just a specimen cab, I decided to try to make a finished stone from the entire pattern of a slab adjacent to the one shown here. I ended up with this stone which measures a bit over 3 inches long. It was a bit of a chore manipulating it between the crowded wheels of my Genie but managed. But I don't think I'll try it again. (ETA: After posting this I noticed some scratches that had escaped notice previously. Back to the wheels!)
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 6, 2024 20:36:26 GMT -5
A number of members have been concerned that Robin hummingbirdstones hasn't posted recently. I'm happy to report that she's doing just fine. We had a lovely dinner with her to celebrate her birthday recently and are in touch with her on a regular basis. Summer is the busy time for realtors and she's busy, busy! Which is a very good thing because realtors who aren't busy don't do very well. My wife had a long phone chat with her today and she promises to return to the forum when her time allows. She thanks you all for your concern,
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 5, 2024 18:13:25 GMT -5
chris1956 and jasoninsd I figured calcite or something similar. I Googled but didn't find a precise answer. Thanks both.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 5, 2024 16:26:33 GMT -5
New to me and absolutely stunning! What is the replacement mineral? It doesn't look like quartz.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 4, 2024 20:04:33 GMT -5
That's killer! Doesn't look like any Stone Canyon I have. Some areas look almost sagenitic. Fun cabbing ahead!
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