Post by liveoak on Aug 15, 2023 10:43:51 GMT -5
So I thought it was time to try a true intarsia piece.
And I had this very nice piece of opalite, that I was gifted a while back from wpotterw ( thank you again Bill).
The edge stone is some Emerald Green Jasper I slabbed up & the back is plain old window glass.
I had thought to back it with the same green jasper, but after sizing up the opalite, the transparency of the stone was just too nice to waste.
My clear quartz wasn't quite large enough & Tom kept suggesting glass & so I went with it & I'm glad I did.
I always enjoy showing a new project- so I hope you'll bear with me.
First step was to size the opalite & make thin strips with the jasper.
Then of course I had to square up all the strips & what not, and thin it all out & start gluing the strips on with crazy glue.(equals LOTS of time inserted here)
I ended up giving it a slight dome, although I've read many people leave their intarsia flat on top.
It was a fun project that I'm now working on a setting for.
Thanks for looking,
Patty
And I had this very nice piece of opalite, that I was gifted a while back from wpotterw ( thank you again Bill).
The edge stone is some Emerald Green Jasper I slabbed up & the back is plain old window glass.
I had thought to back it with the same green jasper, but after sizing up the opalite, the transparency of the stone was just too nice to waste.
My clear quartz wasn't quite large enough & Tom kept suggesting glass & so I went with it & I'm glad I did.
I always enjoy showing a new project- so I hope you'll bear with me.
Here's the slabs I started with.
First step was to size the opalite & make thin strips with the jasper.
I decided no one really needed to see my tile saw throwing all it's water at me, so you'll have to take my word for it, it's messy work !
I always kind of dread using the little 7" tile saw, as I wind up with cement in my hair , by the time I'm done.
But cutting thin strips on the 10" rock saw is NOT user friendly.
One thing I did discover, using the tile saw & the fence, to cut the thin strips is that a simple pencil (2 in fact) with an eraser on it,
worked pretty good as helpers.
I used one pencil (eraser side down) as a hold down on the slab, next to the fence, and the second eraser as a push stick.I felt a whole lot safer this way than pushing my fingers that close to the blade.
Then of course I had to square up all the strips & what not, and thin it all out & start gluing the strips on with crazy glue.(equals LOTS of time inserted here)
That worked out OK, although when I was thinning the glued up cab, I found out that crazy glue doesn't hold for heavy grinding ! 
Last but not least I glued with epoxy, the window glass on the bottom,
keeping it a little oversize so I was sure to cover the stones.
And then on to the cabbing wheels.
I ended up giving it a slight dome, although I've read many people leave their intarsia flat on top.
It was a fun project that I'm now working on a setting for.
Thanks for looking,
Patty
.
.
... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew