Post by herchenx on Mar 15, 2012 2:10:44 GMT -5
Hopefully no one lost too many brain cells reading my prior post on drilling cabs.
Here, I share my advanced cabbing techniques for posterity. More honestly I took a bunch of photos and didn't want them to go to waste.
First off, I have a drilled piece of Montana agate that could turn into an interesting cab. I have already drilled a hole in it, it is the same piece of material from my previous post.
I have been liking a few of the concave-edged cabs I have done recently. I took out my measuring and drawing tools and carefully set them aside and hastily scribbled some stuff on the rock.
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.56.59.jpg[/img]
I then used the tile snips I have been using to get closer on the shape of the slabs to carefully snip away material:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.57.31.jpg[/img]
Now, I didn't get a photo of the next part, where I wrap the whole stone and snips with a rag, so when I clip the stone it keeps all the pieces from flying everywhere. That is actually genuinely helpful and saves me from possibly getting hit with flying shards and makes clean-up simpler.
So I crunched down on the snips and opened the rag to see the nice clean cut:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.57.59.jpg[/img]
Well crap, there goes that idea. This is how most of my cabs get shaped. I honestly have been just dropping them straight onto the concrete floor so I see where they break BEFORE I spend time with them on the wheel. Otherwise when I accidentally drop them on the concrete floor later and they shatter, I've put at least a marginal amount of effort into the process and feel bad.
So I shape the remaining bit of the original stone:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.58.23.jpg[/img]
I then dome if a little:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.58.43.jpg[/img]
And here is where the magic really happens. I walk my newly-hatched cab over to my UV 10 and toss it in so when I run my next batch it actually takes a gorgeous shine and everyone thinks I have some clue what I'm doing.
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.59.10.jpg[/img]
I hope you enjoyed my post. Maybe someone can learn something, like other cautionary tales - about what NOT to do.
I'll post more of these if people think it's worth it. Some upcoming posts I'm considering are "If you can't get a pretty cab at least blood from your raw thumb is kind of a pretty color" or "How to ignore that little voice telling you that what you're about to do is probably not a good idea."
Here, I share my advanced cabbing techniques for posterity. More honestly I took a bunch of photos and didn't want them to go to waste.
First off, I have a drilled piece of Montana agate that could turn into an interesting cab. I have already drilled a hole in it, it is the same piece of material from my previous post.
I have been liking a few of the concave-edged cabs I have done recently. I took out my measuring and drawing tools and carefully set them aside and hastily scribbled some stuff on the rock.
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.56.59.jpg[/img]
I then used the tile snips I have been using to get closer on the shape of the slabs to carefully snip away material:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.57.31.jpg[/img]
Now, I didn't get a photo of the next part, where I wrap the whole stone and snips with a rag, so when I clip the stone it keeps all the pieces from flying everywhere. That is actually genuinely helpful and saves me from possibly getting hit with flying shards and makes clean-up simpler.
So I crunched down on the snips and opened the rag to see the nice clean cut:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.57.59.jpg[/img]
Well crap, there goes that idea. This is how most of my cabs get shaped. I honestly have been just dropping them straight onto the concrete floor so I see where they break BEFORE I spend time with them on the wheel. Otherwise when I accidentally drop them on the concrete floor later and they shatter, I've put at least a marginal amount of effort into the process and feel bad.
So I shape the remaining bit of the original stone:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.58.23.jpg[/img]
I then dome if a little:
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.58.43.jpg[/img]
And here is where the magic really happens. I walk my newly-hatched cab over to my UV 10 and toss it in so when I run my next batch it actually takes a gorgeous shine and everyone thinks I have some clue what I'm doing.
daharsh.net/r/2012-03-14 23.59.10.jpg[/img]
I hope you enjoyed my post. Maybe someone can learn something, like other cautionary tales - about what NOT to do.
I'll post more of these if people think it's worth it. Some upcoming posts I'm considering are "If you can't get a pretty cab at least blood from your raw thumb is kind of a pretty color" or "How to ignore that little voice telling you that what you're about to do is probably not a good idea."