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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 30, 2014 10:40:00 GMT -5
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Post by frane on Mar 30, 2014 11:06:28 GMT -5
I would not call myself a pro by a long shot but I would think optical quartz for the base would be best. would not take away from any translucent qualities. Maybe if Randy or Tony Turner (and some others) pipe up, they have done doublet or triplets so they would have good advice. That is a beautiful piece, I completely understand your desire to preserve the best of it!
Fran
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Post by Tonyterner on Mar 30, 2014 12:39:41 GMT -5
Despite Fran's comments I'm hardly a pro. That said I'll give you my opinion. Don't use JB Weld, that isn't the right thing to use on that. I also don't think you need to use optical quartz as a backing unless you want to back light the cab to display it. Not having the cab in hand its a little difficult to say what to back it with. First I'd flatten out the side you want as the back. Then you can hold it against different materials to see how they affect the color of the gem silica. You'll have to pay close attention since the gem silica will be thinner in the finished cab. Since its light colored I'd suggest a white background. I've used howlite in the past although its a bit soft. If you have a white agate that would probably be the best choice.
Overall this is not the best piece to start doing doublets. Its not uniform and unless you can grind the back to thin it down you will loose quite a bit of material where it gets thin. Maybe grind the back to change the angle and save as much material as possible.
If you have any specific questions please ask me. Good luck.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,765
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Post by Tommy on Mar 30, 2014 14:50:56 GMT -5
I'm not an expert but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night ...
I would probably ruin it but if I were in your situation I would already have the whole thing baking in Opticon. After that I would try to leave the edges rough (wipe edges thoroughly before coating the surfaces out to the edges with hardened Opticon). After that I'd try to get a soft dome on about half of the height - and I might be tempted to seal it again after the rough dome grind.
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