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Post by deb193redux on Nov 19, 2011 12:13:35 GMT -5
I got what looked to be a fairly solid chink of Morgan Hill a few years back. ALthough the outside was in the direcction of mustard yellow, it also looked like there might be some strong red rings and black areas inside. The 1st couple slabs look very promising. I plan to cut 4 or 5 more slabs today. Later I will post a scan of the slabs. ---------------- OK, here are today's slabs. I won't cut more until I change out the blade. The chunk still weight 3lb 2oz.
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Nov 19, 2011 12:45:49 GMT -5
Thats some beautiful Morgan Hill!
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Post by tntmom on Nov 19, 2011 12:54:13 GMT -5
That looks like very nice material Daniel! Just out of curiousity, I always see high grade rough and slabs from you, but I don't recall seeing finished pieces... what do you do with all of your cuts?
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 19, 2011 13:26:37 GMT -5
Fair question Krystee. The short answer is mostly I look at them, but I am working on it. I like selecting rock and slabbing it and trimming it, and it is hard for me to make time for other activities.
The longer answer is, that to some extent, the slab, and the trimmed (composed) pieces - I have about 200 pieces cut out - are in furtherance of a project about visual design and perception that I am working on. But, I have finished about a dozen or more pieces over the last few years, and do plan to do more.
over 60 of the pieces I have trimmed or partially doomed are bolos that I plan to wear. I am just very lackadaisical in finishing things. I also pursue better photos of rocks, better ways to seal cracks, ways to dye stones, and even ways to grow dendrites. With a full time job, this means a lot of unfinished projects. Also, I can run the slab saws while I put out the trash, clean house, do laundry, and fix dinner. I can't multitask so much when cabbing or drilling stones. Also my cabber and drill press are on the same circuit as my slab saws.
I also am very resistant to finishing a stone until I know how it will be set. Unless it is intended to be a display piece. Most of what I have finished are double sided and were made for pinch-bail pendants. A lot of folks finish flat backed cabs, with or without a girdle, often freeform, and except for some thought that they or someone might wire-wrap it, they do not think a lot about how the next person in the process will integrate it into a finished piece. often it ends up on a piece of sheet silver with a traditional bezel. But just looking at the pages of jewelry artist or artist web pages or museum catalogs shows that the leading edge of design is not the traditional bezel.
Since I am not in business, and thus have flexibility in configuring my hobby pursuits to maximize my interest and enjoyment, I am going slow and thinking about the whole design process and the finished piece. I have taken several metalsmithing classes now, and purchased most of the equipment for a fairly good home metal smith bench.
I have started to sketch out some designs that use non traditional bezels, or use creative tabs instead of bezels, and I am thinking about some new way to use grooves in the side of the stone. This would go faster if I could draw worth a damm. But I am crawling along with the help of photoshop.
One day some finished pieces will start to show up, or not. I may just keep collecting and cutting and photographing. Hobbies are not always logical, nor is collecting. But, I have fun.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2011 13:30:13 GMT -5
That is beautiful stuff. I have the same saw. Can you tell me anything about it. I bought mine from a friend of a niece for $50. Her father had died a few years back and she was clearing out her shed. The motor did not work but a friend had a 3/4 horse that he was not using so he loaned it to me. It is super slow but gets the job done. I just wish that the feed had two speeds so I could cut smaller stones faster. Jim
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2011 13:33:17 GMT -5
btw Where does that stone come from? And do you know where I can get new pads for the clamp? Mine are still usable but getting pretty wore out. It looks like fiber board. Jim
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Post by tntmom on Nov 19, 2011 13:49:34 GMT -5
Hobbies are not always logical, nor is collecting. But, I have fun. That makes perfect sense! I'm that way with cabbing and tumbling. And yes, I'm that person "who doesn't usually put any thought into the finished piece". I don't typically do anything with them except put them in display boxes to pull out, hold and admire. I find it therapeutic to slowly find a perfect shape and pattern. I have done a bit of wire wrapping but I don't enjoy it the way other artists do, so, I don't finish most of my pieces unless I want to make a gift for someone. BTW, you have a very good eye. I enjoy seeing the material you carefully choose!!!
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Post by jakesrocks on Nov 19, 2011 14:31:56 GMT -5
You got a laugh out of me on that one Krystee. I have several of those plastic boxes that they store needle point thread in, that are stuffed full of finished cabs. It really is therapeutic to sit and develope the beauty in an ugly old piece of stone.
Beautiful Morgan Hill Daniel. The few slabs I have are full of cracks.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 19, 2011 15:56:36 GMT -5
Awesome hunk of Morgan Hill! I'll be that was not a cheap hunk of rock *L*. When you get a good one, that variety of poppy jasper is tops in my book. I'm on the same page with you Daniel. I love hunting rocks and slabbing rocks and have thousands of slabs I mostly look at, template, think about, sometimes trim but hardly ever cab *L*...Mel
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Nov 19, 2011 16:26:04 GMT -5
I haven't had the desire to purchase any of the Morgan Hill I have seen because of all the cracks in it! But that piece is beautiful & I am truly impressed with the colors & patterns in it.
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 19, 2011 16:49:48 GMT -5
@wampidy: I have not had to replace the pads. I had a guy replace the arbor on my LS10, and he tuned it up and replaced pads. The pads on the LS12 were fairly new when I got it. Lortone is pretty good about stocking parts. You can download their catalog in PDF.
The Morgan Hill, as well as several other poppy jaspers, and stone canyon jasper, and a few others come out of the California, geologically the Franciscan formation. The material is often fractured because the rock has seen its share of earthquakes. I have yet to see a coherent theory about the formation of the orbs.
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 19, 2011 16:54:51 GMT -5
Mel from Yuma & Spokane: it did cost more than some rough, but not the $25 or $35/lb I have seen in some retail shops. I got it from a small barrel of good stuff that Bruce (rocksj2b2) had. He gave me the in-person and the accquaintance discount, but did warn me it would not be as cheap as a lot of the other rough I got from him. But, I paid more per pound for Royal Sahara jasper when it 1st came out - although I bought smaller nodules.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 19, 2011 19:17:48 GMT -5
Yeah, one year at Snyders some folks had Morgan Hill at $5 a pound but so covered with red mud that I didn't fool with it as it was just too hard to check for pattern and fractures. I think Ed ( stoner) bought a lot at that show. The better stuff was $15 per pound and that was not too bad a deal so I picked up a little in trim saw sized hunks. Figured it would slab one cab wonders and would maybe be more solid. My Morgan Hill technique is still, slab em and drop them on soft ground or use my breaking pliers to get the solid sections for cabbing. Good Morgan Hill was not cheap even when I first started in the hobby. I remember one guy sold me some at $2 per pound but that was back when two bucks was a lot of money.....Mel
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shermlock
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2011
Posts: 612
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Post by shermlock on Nov 19, 2011 20:41:39 GMT -5
Those pads look to be rubber? If they are, you can get them at Tractor Supply. Ask for combine and tractor belts. They'll cut you a foot and it will last you a long time. Scott
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Post by philosophersstone on Nov 19, 2011 21:37:39 GMT -5
From the looks of it that is very high-quality Llagas creek variety The best of the Santa Clara county poppy jaspers came from that location. I wonder If I had met Mel over at the Synders Ranch a few years ago. I was acually selling poppy jaspers there a few years back with the Reidels at $5 dollars a pound. This jasper came from there ranch several miles away from the Llagas creek location. It had a lot of fracture but much more colorful.
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Post by Rockoonz on Nov 19, 2011 22:03:47 GMT -5
The pads on the lortone saws are Phenolic board. I would just find a business that recieves lots of heavy goods on pallets and ask them for a scrap oak pallet board or find a hardwood board at home depot about the same thickness and cut and drill them to fit..
Lee
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greaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 201
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Post by greaser on Nov 20, 2011 18:12:17 GMT -5
wow great stuff i cant wait to see the rest of the slabs. what blade are you using?
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Post by beefjello on Nov 20, 2011 18:44:53 GMT -5
That's some sweeeet lookin' poppy!!!
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 20, 2011 19:53:53 GMT -5
wow great stuff i cant wait to see the rest of the slabs. what blade are you using? the 1st set is cut with the MK 301. It has more runout than I like, and does not cut as smooth as my 10" MK 303C. I am not crazy about the 301 blade. I have an MK 303C on order and will wait to cut more until I can try the new blade.
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 20, 2011 20:07:44 GMT -5
OK, slab pics added to original post.
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