fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 23, 2016 20:30:52 GMT -5
Two more pieces I have completed. Different style. Slabbed, cabbed and mounted: lepidolite and stichtite.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 21, 2016 8:43:44 GMT -5
Those look incredible. Wow.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 14, 2016 13:44:51 GMT -5
There was some trouble at the image hosting site. After I posted I could not see the pictures either. When I checked just now all of a sudden every thing is good. Go figure. Thank you all for the nice comments. I appreciate the support.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 13, 2016 18:49:25 GMT -5
Here are the earrings that I made to accompany the pendent.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 8, 2016 18:54:14 GMT -5
Thank you all for your kind words. I am now working on a pair of earrings to go with the pendant.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 8, 2016 10:12:34 GMT -5
An update to my computer seemed to change everything and so I thought I would post this pendent I did while I made an effort to work with the computer. I used a piece of Chinese "turquoise" for the cab. Enjoy! Tell me what you think.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 31, 2016 9:41:54 GMT -5
Shotgunner I can believe that Fairborn's and Teepees are pretty closely related. But the rocks that I know as prairie agates are another thing altogether. I think the biggest confounding of the whole agate story here in South Dakota is that some unserious people want to make money off the unsuspecting and throw a bunch of BS in the sales pitch that we have to wade through. I know that you are pretty serious about these rocks so I figured you would have some basis for your statement.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 30, 2016 20:47:53 GMT -5
It does look somewhat like a prarie agate but not quite, definitely not a Fairburn? I have found both , looks like the agate chart mixes I find around Colorado, good banding should polish up nice, always a nice find when you pick them yourself! There is some unpublished science indicates prairie = fairborn Shotgunner, I would like to read about that. Do you have a source?
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 17, 2016 19:17:44 GMT -5
I had to replace the bearings in my slab saw as they had gone south. That project took about a week but I continued to trim preforms, polish cabs, and started drilling holes and making beads. Now that the slab saw is back in action you can normally find me in the shop watching the slab saw and the polisher while grinding and finishing cabs. I like having two or three activities going on at once .
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 17, 2016 19:03:14 GMT -5
Nice. The first one in the second set looks like a fish head. Just a thought. Have you thought about drilling the holes the vibratory tumbling the pieces to maintain the basic shape but without having to do all the grinding on a cabbing machine? Yes I guess I didn't speak too clearly. I am sorting through an old collection (around 600 lbs) of mostly Mt agate and pet wood. The previous hound that had the rocks, had slabbed and cut many of the rocks and I received a bunch of small slabbets, shards, flakes, of varying sizes, thicknesses, qualities. I got about a one gallon bucket of them and this was the only way I could figure to use them. I drill the hole, trim the bad fractures and make a nice shape, maybe grind a little to smooth the rough stuff, and then vibrate a nice polish on them. In this first picture I tried to show the shards and small shaped mt agates I have been working with. Some are just obviously too big for a bead so I trim them into 2 or 3 pieces to make a smaller or thinner size. Pretty much have to just go with the flow with the small stuff. The larger pieces as you can see in this second picture have a lot of potential for every kind of lapidary activity. I just don't get tired of looking through these piles. As you can see in the third picture I don't have to confine my efforts to the lowly Mt agate but also get to play with some very colorful Pet wood.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 17, 2016 14:50:54 GMT -5
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 13, 2016 11:49:54 GMT -5
How did you end up making the holes? I make beads with 1mm holes and drill them from both sides. I tried that with a larger hole and came close but missed by a small amount. I make a board with a broken drill bit (I used a small dowel for the big hole bead) sticking out of it. I line the drill bit in my drill press up with the drill coming out of the board, then I put the half drilled bead on the drill bit in the boards of that the bit sticks into the hole. Then when I drill, I know I'm lined up. I've also been making some cylindrical beads for my wife's Pandora bracelet. For those, I just let the drill blow out the back and then grind off the blow out, making the bead a little shorter. If you figured out a better technique, I'd love to hear it. I do not have a better way to make the holes. The hole is the first thing done on the stone. Then I take a diamond burr to dress up the hole. If at this point everything is too ugly I just throw it away and start again. After this point it is the standard grind and polish routine.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 13, 2016 11:49:20 GMT -5
How did you end up making the holes? I make beads with 1mm holes and drill them from both sides. I tried that with a larger hole and came close but missed by a small amount. I make a board with a broken drill bit (I used a small dowel for the big hole bead) sticking out of it. I line the drill bit in my drill press up with the drill coming out of the board, then I put the half drilled bead on the drill bit in the boards of that the bit sticks into the hole. Then when I drill, I know I'm lined up. I've also been making some cylindrical beads for my wife's Pandora bracelet. For those, I just let the drill blow out the back and then grind off the blow out, making the bead a little shorter. If you figured out a better technique, I'd love to hear it. I do not have a better way to make the holes. The hole is the first thing done on the stone. Then I take a diamond burr to dress up the hole. If at this point everything is too ugly I just throw it away and start again. After this point it is the standard grind and polish routine.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 13, 2016 11:37:21 GMT -5
Lovely colors and interesting shapes. What size are they? The beads are roughly 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 long and about 1 tp 1 1/4 wide. The holes are 6 mm. The shapes were basically the way the stones broke before I picked them up.
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Aug 11, 2016 16:57:17 GMT -5
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Jun 9, 2016 13:40:33 GMT -5
How about the so called "chalk" turquoise from nice hard blue chrysocolla?
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Jun 9, 2016 12:31:24 GMT -5
At the risk of creating a controversy, how do you identify a rock as being turquoise rather than chrysocolla or some other green/blue rock. As an example, I bought some very nice blue chrysocolla from Jeff Barnhouse. I am happy with it in every way. I do not doubt it is what he says it is. However, it sure looks like some "turquoise" I have seen. So what are the indicators you use short of sending the item to a lab?
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Apr 12, 2016 13:24:54 GMT -5
I'm going to say that geode is all calcite. Does the banded area scratch with a knife? In a word, no. It does not fizz when acid is applied either. Your rock on the other hand does not look like a typical fairburn and looks to me to be more some kind of a mexican agate. I am now signing off as you have destroyed all your credibility with me. Good bye
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Apr 12, 2016 11:24:25 GMT -5
OOOOOOKKKKKKK
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