icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 28, 2017 8:46:35 GMT -5
Truly beautiful work. Hope you sell 'em all!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 25, 2017 7:07:38 GMT -5
It would take me a week to do 5 in that quality. Great stuff!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 17, 2017 7:57:15 GMT -5
Really well done. Great work!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 10, 2017 7:48:12 GMT -5
All beautiful. You're fantastic at this!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 8, 2017 7:29:43 GMT -5
Wow, that's really beautiful. Love the notches. Great work! Don't think the few small uneven cuts matter at all. Turquoise to me always seems like a rough stone, not really elegant, so I never thought it needed a "perfect" setting. I do love turquoise. I think it's earthiness works in more settings than most stones. Is it possible to see the underside? Forgot it's name.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 7, 2017 6:52:40 GMT -5
Just lovely. Question. Chrysocolla is somewhat brittle, was it stabilized first? Do you think it will hold up well?
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 4, 2017 7:32:23 GMT -5
Thank you! That's a good question. Offhand, I can think of 2 things for free that will oxidize sterling. 1) Time. Lots of time. 2) Fire. But then there's the chance of ruining your stone and melting your silver. Liver of Sulphur or Hydrofluoric Acid (both available at your jewelry supply store) do just fine.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 2, 2017 7:09:42 GMT -5
Thanks all. Bennett, steal away. It was basically an accident. When in doubt, oxidize! You can always remove it later if you want. I know, it's lazy, but I'm sorta lazy.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 1, 2017 8:21:58 GMT -5
Never heard of stick agate before. Is there another name? You did a wonderful job on them. Beautiful work.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jul 1, 2017 8:16:12 GMT -5
Haven't soldered anything for well over a year, but got the bug yesterday. Decided on a different look. The stone is lab and the silver ball is just that. Melted scrap, with a flat bottom. When I oxidized it, these great patterns showed up on the ball because I didn't file it smooth first. Textured the band.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 26, 2017 5:31:11 GMT -5
Same as Pat. Or nylon jaw pliers, but they don't hold up very well.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 22, 2017 8:07:04 GMT -5
Did you ever figure out what this was? Inquiring minds with similar specimens want to know No, never did. I'm not sure where I put it. I have rocks all over the house. Oops.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 21, 2017 8:55:07 GMT -5
Yeah, ammolite is what most people think of that are unaware of FA. True, a lot of pieces are rather dark and dissapoint after seeing the vivid colours in pictures. But, don't have to be. There are extremely bright vivid colours out there that can be seen at any time anywhere, but those are rare and gives the material its value (thats where the comparison with diamonds comes in when relating to how much rarer FA is). In Quartzite I have looked at hundreds of finished pieces of fire agate. I have never seen a piece like Dons. Diamonds are way more common. Diamonds are not rare at all. They've been controlled by a cartel for the last 100 years to set prices. They are so many diamonds they have to hold a lot back to keep the prices artificially high. The story of diamonds in the last century is interesting, bloody and greedy. Fire agate is far rarer, yet I got a small piece I made into a ring for $5 recently. Zircon is 1,000 times rare than diamonds, as are lot of other stones that aren't seen as valuable. I have a few pieces of FA that I collected at Saddle Mountain but I can never photograph them properly. I also have a beauty that someone gave me, probably Deer Creek. I am terrified to try and bring out the color by sanding down my collected pieces. It's a true art. I made this little sterling ring from the $5 piece of FA. The entire thing has the boytroidal (sp?) formations and color all the way down, but the camera couldn't pick it all up.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 21, 2017 7:46:25 GMT -5
Damn, that's a nice ring!!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 20, 2017 6:23:13 GMT -5
Not sure how you did it, but it's a real eye-catcher!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 20, 2017 6:21:37 GMT -5
Great start. Love that green stone. Squares are hard, but pear shapes are the worst!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 19, 2017 19:08:18 GMT -5
Yeah, the dental floss to check bail size with stone is silversmith 101. The few times I've forgotten I've regretted it! How did you make the flower, if I may ask? I cut out two tiny figure 8s, then set each of them into a dapping block and used a punch with a tiny ball on the end of it in the very center of each figure 8. The curve of the impression in the dapping block curled the petals upwards and the punch thinned out the center. I then stacked the two pieces on top of each other in an X with flux painted between the pieces. Last I added a tiny silver ball into the center, more flux, and two pieces of solder on either side. I've actually removed the flower from the ring and filed that side down. I couldn't make it look right. Uh, I meant bezel, not bail. That's too bad you removed the flower. It was really cute. Maybe use it on a pendant?
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 18, 2017 7:51:09 GMT -5
Two things. Did you make the flower? I have never thought of the ribbon under the stone. I have fought getting stones out LOL. hanks Vic I did make the flower. It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. The ribbon is actually dental floss! I figure it won't break, no matter how hard I yank on it. Yeah, the dental floss to check bail size with stone is silversmith 101. The few times I've forgotten I've regretted it! How did you make the flower, if I may ask?
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 17, 2017 8:45:00 GMT -5
What an adorable idea! You're coming along great.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Jun 12, 2017 7:39:31 GMT -5
That's your first ring? You're already intermediate level. Great work.
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