Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Feb 11, 2010 13:19:00 GMT -5
Here's a piece of fire agate that I collected in AZ. It took me about 2 weeks to carve with my dremel. I worked it with diamond bits and then wooden dowels and diamond paste 320 - 50,000 grit. Polished with tin oxide on felt.
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Post by Toad on Feb 11, 2010 14:08:35 GMT -5
A lot of work, but it looks great.
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Post by beefjello on Feb 11, 2010 14:10:54 GMT -5
You did a fantastic job with that!
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Post by fishenman on Feb 11, 2010 14:11:48 GMT -5
That's awesome.
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,787
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Post by adrian65 on Feb 11, 2010 14:28:51 GMT -5
It's a beauty. Loking at the background fabric, it also seems to be pretty large, how big is it?
Adrian
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Post by NatureNut on Feb 11, 2010 15:17:31 GMT -5
Ohmy! THAT is a Jewel! Jo
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Feb 11, 2010 15:21:08 GMT -5
Adrian, it's about 2" high by 1.5" wide 1.5" x 1.25" at it's widest point.
Thanks for the compliments, now I know why finished pieces of fire agate are so expensive! It's a very labor intensive process.
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Post by rockrookie on Feb 11, 2010 15:27:37 GMT -5
WOW !! that's great !!! ---paul
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Post by Tonyterner on Feb 11, 2010 16:15:11 GMT -5
How big is it? Tons of great bubbles in there. You did a really fine job on it.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 11, 2010 19:40:27 GMT -5
Wow, beautiful job!! I've never seen that much fire in a fire agate, that one is awesome!
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Post by stonesthatrock on Feb 11, 2010 20:59:04 GMT -5
you did an outstanding job on that....... looks great
mary ann ps do you live in az?
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Feb 11, 2010 21:32:46 GMT -5
Now that was time well spent! Spectacular job Sir! Anyone else notice you can also see some fortification banding in the top right reflection! Wow, what a fantastic polish on that uneven surface!
Nate
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Post by montanamuskrat on Feb 12, 2010 0:42:09 GMT -5
That is awesome. Debby & Tom
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Feb 12, 2010 11:21:07 GMT -5
you did an outstanding job on that....... looks great mary ann ps do you live in az? Mary ann, I'm in so. utah, but have family in phoenix, tucson and havasu.
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Feb 12, 2010 13:14:12 GMT -5
That's a really nice polish on that agate. Is there a before picture? Tools and technique tips? How will you display that sweet baby?
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Feb 12, 2010 13:45:40 GMT -5
That's a really nice polish on that agate. Is there a before picture? Tools and technique tips? How will you display that sweet baby? Carlos, I wish that I had taken a pic of the rough. Here's a picture about mid-way through the process after I had ground off the host rock and completed the bulk of the heavy grinding and shaping with diamond bits. For tools, I used a Dremel with flexshaft attachement and cheap chinese diamond bits for grinding away the excess chalcedony. I used course bits to start with and then moved on to medium-fine bits for the detail work. One thing about those chinese bits is that they don't last long and there is no diamond on the tips of the very fine bits. However, they worked out well enough for this piece. I'll be buying better diamond bits in the future. When I was ready to start polishing with the diamond paste, I first painted the agate black with a sharpie and then created a wood polishing bit from a 1/8" hardwood dowel. I shaped the bit on a file first to get a point and then worked the diamond paste on the stone with the wood bit and a little oil. The black marker helped me make sure I didn't miss any spots. I worked through pastes 320, 600, 1200, 3000, 8000, 14000 and 50,000 using a fresh bit for each paste and washing the stone and my hands between grits. I haven't decided how I want to display it yet...it will probably make a very nice pendant, but the setting has to be gold for this baby.
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fossilbrain
spending too much on rocks
Cookie Monster agate
Member since October 2007
Posts: 360
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Post by fossilbrain on Feb 13, 2010 7:26:50 GMT -5
Phenomenal! I can appreciate spending hours and hours on the Dremel, firsthand, lol. Just terrific natural, organic, flattering work on it that compliments it so, so well! It looks like it's alive.
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Post by Tweetiepy on Feb 14, 2010 13:17:36 GMT -5
That looks like a yummy sweet caramel!
It's fabulous
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Feb 16, 2010 21:58:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply and once again, thats one to be proud of.
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