Post by Tousled Owl on Nov 27, 2012 19:10:48 GMT -5
G'evening, all:
These are test stones run in test processes then photographed in test circumstances.....you get the idea. Everyone has to start somewhere, so this is mine. One thing I've learned is when you blow up your cabs to 5X life-size in a macro shot, things that escaped your failing reader-glasses-assisted vision are visible in full IMAX glory. Next time I will shave all the cabs first, or something.
Tiffany Stone/Bertrandite preform from the Mines Of Ebay. Moh's hardness 2-8, depending on where I was on the stone.
Lake Michigan Agate (I think) from a box of such from a vendor (I think) recently mentioned on another thread, theagatehunteradam. Moh's hardness ~ 1046.
Green River (Utah?) Agate. A number of you took advantage of this Ebay vendor's 20# of snowflake obsidian for $20 (shipping included). I went for the Green River Agate deal from the same seller. Cabbed this up then I went back for more. There'll be some in everyone's Christmas stocking this year.
Little Wood River Blue Moss Agate (or something like that). I swear those scratches weren't there when it came off the AO....
Gneiss/schist found by an actual rockhound (me) on an actual rockhound expedition (US Silica quarry in Louisa, VA). If I can figure out how to get this stuff to hold together, it'll be right pretty. I might have to say a few magic words like E-POCHS-ZEE over it.
Blue G (trademark) from our friends at Hand-2-Mouth Mining. Somehow I turned it into Tan-G (no trademark), maybe the AlMag oil in the rock club's saw? This stone will be next appearing in the dictionary to the left of "Orange peel". Not it's fault, I'm still accumulating the various alternatives for late stage polishing. Whatever I used wasn't the right stuff.
Ocean Jasper. I swear that's what the rock claims to be. The stone is about equally red and blue spots, drips and stripes, but through some miracle I managed to take away the ocean part and leave naught but the jasper behind. AlMag victim #2?
Variscite (I think). Came in a box from one of the folks on the board as I recall. Yes, there's a pit (or three). Yes, I will fill them in next time.
Washington State Lapis (by way of The Mines Of Ebay). In this case, the little pin-fire of the pyrite is ONLY visible in the macro sized version, so that's one plus. Moh's 3, except for the good parts, which are Moh's -1 (If I breathe hard on it, the rest of the blue is going to fall off).
Chrysocolla of some sort (Sonoran Cattle Tank?). OK, so this one I DID "stabilize" with epoxy. Stabilized it right good to the paper plate I was working in. Got a great polish on the back trying to take the paper plate off. The front, not so much. What's the best polishing agent for epoxy anyhow?
Ruby in Schist. Or Spinel in Schist. Something Dang Hard in Something Not So Hard. I've seen this called at least three different things on TMOE; I'm going with the first for the time being. This beast is 55 mm on the long axis and I thanked my lucky stars (and jsgems) that I got a machine with a 3" Expando drum.
OK, I think that's it for now. Maybe by the next time I try this, I can get the pictures done in LESS time than it took me to do the cabs. All pictures significantly adjusted in post-production to try to overcome the fact that I'm DSLR-challenged and can't seem to get beyond the idea that the camera should be seeing what I'm seeing, just better.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled viewing of cabs by people that have a much better idea of what they are doing than I do.
Thanks for lending me your eyes for this little moment in time.
Jack
These are test stones run in test processes then photographed in test circumstances.....you get the idea. Everyone has to start somewhere, so this is mine. One thing I've learned is when you blow up your cabs to 5X life-size in a macro shot, things that escaped your failing reader-glasses-assisted vision are visible in full IMAX glory. Next time I will shave all the cabs first, or something.
Tiffany Stone/Bertrandite preform from the Mines Of Ebay. Moh's hardness 2-8, depending on where I was on the stone.
Lake Michigan Agate (I think) from a box of such from a vendor (I think) recently mentioned on another thread, theagatehunteradam. Moh's hardness ~ 1046.
Green River (Utah?) Agate. A number of you took advantage of this Ebay vendor's 20# of snowflake obsidian for $20 (shipping included). I went for the Green River Agate deal from the same seller. Cabbed this up then I went back for more. There'll be some in everyone's Christmas stocking this year.
Little Wood River Blue Moss Agate (or something like that). I swear those scratches weren't there when it came off the AO....
Gneiss/schist found by an actual rockhound (me) on an actual rockhound expedition (US Silica quarry in Louisa, VA). If I can figure out how to get this stuff to hold together, it'll be right pretty. I might have to say a few magic words like E-POCHS-ZEE over it.
Blue G (trademark) from our friends at Hand-2-Mouth Mining. Somehow I turned it into Tan-G (no trademark), maybe the AlMag oil in the rock club's saw? This stone will be next appearing in the dictionary to the left of "Orange peel". Not it's fault, I'm still accumulating the various alternatives for late stage polishing. Whatever I used wasn't the right stuff.
Ocean Jasper. I swear that's what the rock claims to be. The stone is about equally red and blue spots, drips and stripes, but through some miracle I managed to take away the ocean part and leave naught but the jasper behind. AlMag victim #2?
Variscite (I think). Came in a box from one of the folks on the board as I recall. Yes, there's a pit (or three). Yes, I will fill them in next time.
Washington State Lapis (by way of The Mines Of Ebay). In this case, the little pin-fire of the pyrite is ONLY visible in the macro sized version, so that's one plus. Moh's 3, except for the good parts, which are Moh's -1 (If I breathe hard on it, the rest of the blue is going to fall off).
Chrysocolla of some sort (Sonoran Cattle Tank?). OK, so this one I DID "stabilize" with epoxy. Stabilized it right good to the paper plate I was working in. Got a great polish on the back trying to take the paper plate off. The front, not so much. What's the best polishing agent for epoxy anyhow?
Ruby in Schist. Or Spinel in Schist. Something Dang Hard in Something Not So Hard. I've seen this called at least three different things on TMOE; I'm going with the first for the time being. This beast is 55 mm on the long axis and I thanked my lucky stars (and jsgems) that I got a machine with a 3" Expando drum.
OK, I think that's it for now. Maybe by the next time I try this, I can get the pictures done in LESS time than it took me to do the cabs. All pictures significantly adjusted in post-production to try to overcome the fact that I'm DSLR-challenged and can't seem to get beyond the idea that the camera should be seeing what I'm seeing, just better.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled viewing of cabs by people that have a much better idea of what they are doing than I do.
Thanks for lending me your eyes for this little moment in time.
Jack