|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 12, 2023 15:17:17 GMT -5
A Facebook seller had a $5 slab sale. Since the shipping was almost double that I bought 4 slabs. One was Maryellen. I haven't bought any in a while and this wasn't what I was expecting. Since I have no idea how this material will finish, I can't design, so I cut a rectangle representative of the piece as a sample of what I have.  |
|
realrockhound
Cave Dweller 
Chucking leaverite at tweekers
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4,495
|
Post by realrockhound on Sept 12, 2023 15:41:25 GMT -5
Dang man… the amount of grinding/cabs you do. Still got all your fingers? 😂 I’ve been lucky if I can get a cab out a month.
|
|
|
|
Post by chris1956 on Sept 12, 2023 16:26:34 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 12, 2023 16:57:19 GMT -5
I am retired and have a lot of free time. I am not able to do much yard work or house cleaning. I have a bad hip so I can't watch much tv lying in bed. That leaves the internet and grinding. I work in short periods with frequent breaks. A few years ago, I developed arthritis in my thumbs and took a break from grinding. I saw a doctor and he said use my thumbs less. Thumbs are used for a lot of tasks like opening jars. I adjust my grip on the dop and my thumbs don't bother me. When I cabbed only on the weekends, I worked dopless and my fingers got chewed up but healed by the next weekend. Working more often I went to a dop and use a hybrid method where most of my grinding is with my fingers but where they would touch the wheel, the dop protects them.
I cab very fast. I changed my approach to do most of the work with 80 grits and the first one is textured and
aggressive without chipping. I hike how it melts rock.
|
|
dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,158
|
Post by dshanpnw on Sept 13, 2023 7:08:42 GMT -5
I think that one will look great. I love seeing your cabs. Keep on working those fingers and thumbs. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rockoonz on Sept 13, 2023 7:56:34 GMT -5
stardiamond for the arthritis, if you haven't already add unflavored gelatin to your food or drink. It's worked wonders for me, I have to do something a lot more physical than cabbing before my thumbs start hurting. I put the gelatin in a bulletproof coffee concoction I drink in the mornings. I buy a 3# tub off of Amazon and it cost a lot less than the packets.
|
|
michiganpebbler
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2023
Posts: 344 
|
Post by michiganpebbler on Sept 13, 2023 9:00:07 GMT -5
Gorgeous swirls in that!
|
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 13, 2023 14:59:51 GMT -5
When I saw the slab, I knew it was inferior material. It was pitty and lacked the metallic swirls. At a show I would never buy it. It was $5 and I'm an optimist but this is a good example of what you see is what you get.  I bought two $5 Nellite slabs. One is chatoyant and the other was mixed colors so I didn't care if it was chatoyant or not. I made a free form from a corner of the slab. It has one speck of flash in the middle.  This one is from a one pound super seven crystal specimen that I slabbed. Looking at the picture it was hard to tell what the cabs would look like. I like a lot of amethyst and cacoxenite. This one had the amethyst and not much if any cacoxenite. Super seven contains seven minerals in varying amounts in a crystal.  |
|
