jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,557
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Post by jamesp on Jul 5, 2014 18:26:14 GMT -5
Almost reminds me of a Petoskey stone.
But the first pictures are just outstanding! You really have the Midas touch! Thanks fantastic5. I am in to the coral. Finding pretty corallite patterns is difficult unfortunately.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jul 5, 2014 18:38:24 GMT -5
Once again, some mighty fine looking corals, James. Especially like those first two in the second batch of pics posted. Jean, would it be possible to grout or fill those holes after a cab was shaped ? And then finish the excess filler off. Like black filler to make black spots ? James, theoretically, yes. And wouldn't that look awesome? Would have to figure out how to go about it, and what type material to use as "grout". Some kind of black rock crushed into a powder, then mixed with an epoxy. Has anybody here done this before? Any ideas on what would be best to use?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,557
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Post by jamesp on Jul 5, 2014 18:56:40 GMT -5
Jean, would it be possible to grout or fill those holes after a cab was shaped ? And then finish the excess filler off. Like black filler to make black spots ? James, theoretically, yes. And wouldn't that look awesome? Would have to figure out how to go about it, and what type material to use as "grout". Some kind of black rock crushed into a powder, then mixed with an epoxy. Has anybody here done this before? Any ideas on what would be best to use? I have made kitchen counter tops for tables. When you cast it you almost always get air bubbles. They are filled w/a portland paste matched to the concrete color. Just like you said, mixing the color additive, sand and portland. And epoxy sure seems perfect for such. Well mixed cement is a very hard material too. Then you wet sand as you would granite or agate. They polish the concrete to a fine shine with one of those angle grinders w/water center feed. 100 200 400 1500 grit diamond pads. Just seems like a cool twist. Stuck w/incomplete stone here. Why did we get slighted ?
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jul 5, 2014 19:10:25 GMT -5
I've got a feeling there are many people here that would love nothing better than to relieve you of your "incomplete" stone, lol!
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donkeyrokman
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since June 2014
Posts: 78
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Post by donkeyrokman on Jul 5, 2014 19:15:39 GMT -5
Jean, would it be possible to grout or fill those holes after a cab was shaped ? And then finish the excess filler off. Like black filler to make black spots ? James, theoretically, yes. And wouldn't that look awesome? Would have to figure out how to go about it, and what type material to use as "grout". Some kind of black rock crushed into a powder, then mixed with an epoxy. Has anybody here done this before? Any ideas on what would be best to use? I've always found it to be a gamble. With some stone, it blends in nicely, and the repolish isn't a ridiculous amount of work, and life is good. Most of the time, though, something is off. Enough so that it bothers my eye every time I look at it. Either the color comes out wrong, or it stands out as a big, weird blotch against the nice pattern, or the texture (or lack of texture) doesn't blend, or a hundred other pain in the butt issues. I usually end up re-doing it at least once, often twice. What's wrong with using a clear, non-yellowing epoxy? (Be sure to overfill it so it doesn't shrink below the surface when it dries, and you end up with a dip, then have to sand down the entire surface to level it.) FYI, they do also make a "black" two-part epoxy, though in reality, it usually comes out looking dark grey.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,557
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Post by jamesp on Jul 5, 2014 20:25:50 GMT -5
Jean, donkeyrokman Look at these expensive rings. They pour concrete in the saddle and then turn them on a lathe with lapidary abrasives. A new concrete called Hobby Concrete/jewelry concrete has been produced to make jewelry. It has extreme bond strength and uses reducers to bring shrinkage to zero. It can be mixed with various grits of sand to fill various size voids. Or comes pre gritted. Can be polished to water shine w/lapidary abrasives. Basically it is wiped on and wiped off like grouting tile. Small and numerous voids filled. Then finished after setting well. Small voids having great bond strength. Closer views
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donkeyrokman
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since June 2014
Posts: 78
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Post by donkeyrokman on Jul 5, 2014 21:20:37 GMT -5
Jean, donkeyrokman Look at these expensive rings. They pour concrete in the saddle and then turn them on a lathe with lapidary abrasives. A new concrete called Hobby Concrete/jewelry concrete has been produced to make jewelry. It has extreme bond strength and uses reducers to bring shrinkage to zero. It can be mixed with various grits of sand to fill various size voids. Or comes pre gritted. Can be polished to water shine w/lapidary abrasives. Basically it is wiped on and wiped off like grouting tile. Small and numerous voids filled. Then finished after setting well. Small voids having great bond strength. It's all about having the right tools for the job, eh? Very cool.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Jul 5, 2014 22:51:03 GMT -5
After piecing pics. and stories of your trips, I figured you worked pretty hard for the coral. This last description sealed it, you do indeed put a lot of effort into collecting that material. And too, putting up with all the nature critters. Having fun can be a lot of work.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,557
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Post by jamesp on Jul 6, 2014 6:20:30 GMT -5
After piecing pics. and stories of your trips, I figured you worked pretty hard for the coral. This last description sealed it, you do indeed put a lot of effort into collecting that material. And too, putting up with all the nature critters. Having fun can be a lot of work. Thank God for riparian rights, a common law that allows citizens the right to travel on waterways, in Georgia and Florida anyway. All the land is privately owned along this river. At county bridge crossings it has public boat ramps at each bridge. At low water the concrete ramps create an issue in that the concrete stops and drops off. Making the boat trailer fall of a high ledge. So my boat trailer has big tires and a strongly mounted axle so it can be pulled out without tearing the axle off. Point being, low water collecting requires special equipment. I have had to use these trailers for many years in my plant business. A low river has many resources and treasures. Such conditions are worth specializing for. Collecting the coral is weight metered. By filling eight 10 gallon pots half full each boat trip out. At about 75 pounds when half full my boat will make it back to the ramp without dragging bad on the shoals. That is 600 pounds of rock each trip out. So in three days I get at least 1800 pounds. When unloading to truck I combine the 10 gallon pots to full once unloaded to the truck so that i can slide the weight up to the back of the cab. And leave some in the boat to distribute the weight to the trailer. Now that I know what to collect I can simply pick up the loose coral that has washed down into the river. No digging, no prying. But only few pockets are worth collecting due to quality. So the boat fills up fast, and have to resort to artifact hunting, fishing and new coral exploration. I leave the collected piles in the water and pick them up on the way back so the boat is not loaded. It seems like a lot of work. But the boat carries a lot of weight. And ends up being an efficient method of transport considering it only has a 5 HP engine. It serves as a mini-barge. The little aluminum flat bottom boats last about 12 trips before the rivets start getting loose and leaking. Used ones cost $200 and the scrap yard pays $100 for the old boat. You can get an all welded boat but they are way to heavy and are expensive. I saw only one other boat on the river those 3 days and they were spear fisherman harvesting the salt water mullet that come up the river from the ocean. And a family was sitting on the bank collecting knapping material. They must have had land owners permission.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Jul 7, 2014 0:57:43 GMT -5
Interesting read, thanks. Oregon has the same navigable waterway rights, so much waterway in the valleys are also running through private ground. Boat ramps here, not near that common. Larry
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