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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 12:33:54 GMT -5
Great Googly Moogly! This material is insane!! I don't normally post just one Cabochon, but this one gets its own thread! I know nothing about Vivianite...so if someone has some info...or if you think this isn't Vivianite, I'm willing to listen!! First the Cabochon...then we'll get to the nitty gritty!    Here's some pics from the eBay listing. I bought it on a hunch. My winning auction was the $81. Then two weeks later the other half of the nodule went for 350% more! Holy Crap!!     Here's what the slices look like. Yes...it lost all yellow color and pattern! (Dry and wet)   Okay...I've never worked a material as soft as this stuff! I kept thinking I was trying to put a polish on a freaking marshmallow!! I rolled the dice and shaped it first on the 220 hard. It was like a hot knife through butter! I skipped the 280 soft and went straight to the 600...which also acted like the wheel was a hot knife! The 1200 was still removing massive amounts of material...which raised an eyebrow! So I went to the 3000. The pic below shows the scratches left from the 3000...yes...you read that correctly!  Well...I tried using the higher grit spin on disks I have for the end of the arbor, but the shape of the cab wasn't working on a flat surface. So I decided to order some wet/dry sandpaper and try finishing it with the Dremel. I got 3000, 5000, 7000, and 10,000 grits. Got the disks glued up with the sandpaper...and went to town on the cab. Nope!! The Dremel was too aggressive. CRAP!! I actually had to do the sanding and polishing by hand! That worked fantastically well! However, the 10,000 didn't put enough of a polish on the cab. The seller did mention in the auction that Zam seems to be the best for polish. I don't have Zam. (I keep forgetting to get some! LOL). So I rednecked the final polish! LOL - I used Meguiar's ScratchX ...yep...the stuff for cars! LOL I showed the cab to my wife and asked her if she thought the end result was worth all the effort. She said absolutely it did. She didn't have to do any of the work, so I'm still on the fence! LOL |
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dreamrocks
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 12:50:26 GMT -5
Great Googly Moogly! This material is insane!! I don't normally post just one Cabochon, but this one gets its own thread! I know nothing about Vivianite...so if someone has some info...or if you think this isn't Vivianite, I'm willing to listen!! First the Cabochon...then we'll get to the nitty gritty! Here's some pics from the eBay listing. I bought it on a hunch. My winning auction was the $81. Then two weeks later the other half of the nodule went for 350% more! Holy Crap!! Here's what the slices look like. Yes...it lost all yellow color and pattern! (Dry and wet) Okay...I've never worked a material as soft as this stuff! I kept thinking I was trying to put a polish on a freaking marshmallow!! I rolled the dice and shaped it first on the 220 hard. It was like a hot knife through butter! I skipped the 280 soft and went straight to the 600...which also acted like the wheel was a hot knife! The 1200 was still removing massive amounts of material...which raised an eyebrow! So I went to the 3000. The pic below shows the scratches left from the 3000...yes...you read that correctly! Well...I tried using the higher grit spin on disks I have for the end of the arbor, but the shape of the cab wasn't working on a flat surface. So I decided to order some wet/dry sandpaper and try finishing it with the Dremel. I got 3000, 5000, 7000, and 10,000 grits. Got the disks glued up with the sandpaper...and went to town on the cab. Nope!! The Dremel was too aggressive. CRAP!! I actually had to do the sanding and polishing by hand! That worked fantastically well! However, the 10,000 didn't put enough of a polish on the cab. The seller did mention in the auction that Zam seems to be the best for polish. I don't have Zam. (I keep forgetting to get some! LOL). So I rednecked the final polish! LOL - I used Meguiar's ScratchX ...yep...the stuff for cars! LOL I showed the cab to my wife and asked her if she thought the end result was worth all the effort. She said absolutely it did. She didn't have to do any of the work, so I'm still on the fence! LOL Not really familiar with working with this material however it definitely does not step up to the plate as my first choice of materials to work with. Because of its softness and perfect cleavage plane. This is only referring to facet material can’t imagine the cabbing material being any better.    From Vivianite on the left the stone is #10 on the right It’s no easier to work with then kunzite being harder at 6 1/2 on the Mohos scale it’s the perfect cleavage that’s the problem |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 12:56:17 GMT -5
dreamrocks - Thank you SO SO much for posting this! The picture of #10 definitely doesn't look like the material I have...but the Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2 definitely matches!
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
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Posts: 1,232
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 12:57:06 GMT -5
If I were determined to work with puppy poo I would use Diamond past on a polishing pad I would think it maybe slightly easier to shape then polish with out any huge issues.
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dreamrocks
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Member since November 2018
Posts: 1,232
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 12:58:57 GMT -5
jasoninsd your welcome even though it’s not a gem as I posted it’s most likely a hodge podge of soft minerals all clumped together
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
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Posts: 1,232
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 13:05:03 GMT -5
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 13:06:47 GMT -5
jasoninsd your welcome even though it’s not a gem as I posted it’s most likely a hodge podge of soft minerals all clumped together Interestingly, I've seen Vivianite rough that looks crystalline...and then I've seen other than looks like the stuff I picked up. I just did some more looking. The stuff like mine looks like it comes from Australia...while the "gem or crystal" looking stuff comes from elsewhere. I actually thought I'd done some digging before...but apparently not enough. I just found this website which has some great information on Vivianite: chromagems.com/blog/gemstone-information/vivianite-definition-uses-appearance/ |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 13:07:57 GMT -5
I'm such a knucklehad! I should have gone to mindat! LOL Thanks for posting these!!  |
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dreamrocks
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Posts: 1,232
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 13:15:00 GMT -5
I wonder how well it fluoresces? It could fluoresce much better then being cabbed Except from those links I posted everything else is showing gem Crystals   |
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 13:16:14 GMT -5
I'm such a knucklehad! I should have gone to mindat! LOL Thanks for posting these!! Hahaha |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 13:16:55 GMT -5
I wonder how well it fluoresces? It could fluoresce much better then being cabbed Except from those links I posted everything else is showing gem Crystals Great question! Now I'm going to have to get a black-light!! LOL |
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dreamrocks
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 13:20:51 GMT -5
Round rock Texas was $80.00 plus shipping about $10 maybe comes with long wave short wave and starter rock kit.
If I ordered a new one today I would also get the mid wave bulb to
It does like to suck up the d size battery’s life to fast other then that it’s a great light
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 13:31:54 GMT -5
Round rock Texas was $80.00 plus shipping about $10 maybe comes with long wave short wave and starter rock kit. If I ordered a new one today I would also get the mid wave bulb to It does like to suck up the d size battery’s life to fast other then that it’s a great light I know there's a couple threads on here about the different ones people are using. Thanks for the info on this one! |
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dreamrocks
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 13:44:02 GMT -5
jasoninsd in case you were wondering what cleavage I was talking about. Check out time stamp 4:24 any gem with cleavage this can happen with or similar results
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Post by chris1956 on Oct 13, 2024 17:30:30 GMT -5
You need a 50K wheel. Better put some epoxy on that because shirt fabric is going to scratch it. Certainly looks good though. |
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Post by pebblesky on Oct 13, 2024 19:15:27 GMT -5
The cab looks cool. Do you know why the slice doesn't look very similar to the listing photos?
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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Oct 13, 2024 20:32:36 GMT -5
Somebody sneezing may scratch it! :-) Great post, good reading! And your cab came out lovely.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 13, 2024 21:18:55 GMT -5
jasoninsd in case you were wondering what cleavage I was talking about. Check out time stamp 4:24 any gem with cleavage this can happen with or similar results It was actually your use of the word that really made me raise another eyebrow! I did kinda know what cleavage was (not THAT kind! LOL). You need a 50K wheel. Better put some epoxy on that because shirt fabric is going to scratch it. Certainly looks good though. Thanks Chris! I've got a 50K flat disk for the end of the arbor, but they weren't working well for me on this one! The cab looks cool. Do you know why the slice doesn't look very similar to the listing photos? Thanks PS! Great question. I'm going to have to read the link I posted earlier...maybe when a few more brain cells are firing...but I'm understanding the material is both hydro and oxygen reactive. When I got the nodule, I noticed it had been face polished...which I thought was weird at the time. However, had the seller not done a face polish on it, I think it would have been that "dull blue" like when I cut the slabs. Somebody sneezing may scratch it! :-) Great post, good reading! And your cab came out lovely. Thank you! Funny you say that. When I brought it in the house after taking it off dop, I told my wife I was afraid to breath on it as I didn't want to scratch it! LOL |
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since November 2018
Posts: 1,232
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Post by dreamrocks on Oct 13, 2024 22:09:54 GMT -5
The cab looks cool. Do you know why the slice doesn't look very similar to the listing photos? Shhhh I was trying to be nice to jasoninsd by not telling him I think he got scammed. Comparing the photo to the slab he cut, it definitely looks like someone painted a design on that so called stone. |
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Post by pebblesky on Oct 13, 2024 22:19:23 GMT -5
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... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew