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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 9, 2015 20:17:53 GMT -5
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jun 9, 2015 20:20:16 GMT -5
Those turned out nice. I'm slicing up some pudding stone right now.
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cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 880
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Post by cardiobill on Jun 9, 2015 20:30:02 GMT -5
I laughed as I saw you say "OK more than a few" as that was exactly the thought going through my head as I saw the pics. Those are great and look like they would make the perfect souvenir for anyone visiting puddingstone land er I mean Drummond Island Bill
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 9, 2015 22:11:18 GMT -5
Beautiful work!!!!!!!!
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Post by snowmom on Jun 10, 2015 4:51:01 GMT -5
neat! love the uniformity even though you are working with very un-uniform stuff, lots of time and trouble in these! They look great!
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Post by cobbledstones on Jun 10, 2015 9:08:52 GMT -5
Amazing precision! I am curious, what are the lessons that you learned?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 10, 2015 9:28:39 GMT -5
Amazing precision! I am curious, what are the lessons that you learned? Well the first lesson was that key chains in general will not demand as much money as a pendant so there were a few of these cabs that I was reluctant to use for this project. I could have cut a groove into a few of these and did a simple groove wrap and that would bring in at least double the price of what a key chain sells for. The second lesson was a core drill bit I bought for $60 + shipping and it quit cutting after 10 uses. I guess that would not be a problem if I could charge more for the end product but my price was already set beforehand. The third lesson is one that has bit me in the butt before. I am always tempted to give a better price for quantity orders like this but in reality these orders are not as much fun for me and therefor turn into work instead of hobby so I really need to set my price accordingly. Chuck
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Post by cobbledstones on Jun 10, 2015 9:43:54 GMT -5
Good to know, thanks Chuck. Would you still make them to increase the diversity of your offerings despite the opportunity costs? I can imagine that with the right drill set, the production of these could be automated to get the costs down. What comes to mind is that sweet core drilling setup that Shotgunner made a while back.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 10, 2015 9:59:11 GMT -5
Good to know, thanks Chuck. Would you still make them to increase the diversity of your offerings despite the opportunity costs? I can imagine that with the right drill set, the production of these could be automated to get the costs down. What comes to mind is that sweet core drilling setup that Shotgunner made a while back. How to make the preforms is not really a big factor for me. I trimmed and custom fit half of these just as quick I as I core drilled the other half. No matter how fast you get the preforms done these all still get the full dopping and cabbing process. It all comes down to how nice of a cab can you afford to put into a key chain that is going to top out at $20. This order was for a really good repeat customer and I liked the fact that they are all going out as gifts. Chuck
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Post by cobbledstones on Jun 10, 2015 10:44:29 GMT -5
That begs the question, do they have to be cabbed? Are thinner slabs, thickness set to be flush to the surface, that are vib-finished a possibility?
Just spit-ballin' here. I am always fascinated by people that have the ability to make a little cash in this hobby, and what needs to be done to make profitability viable.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 10, 2015 11:03:29 GMT -5
That begs the question, do they have to be cabbed? Are thinner slabs, thickness set to be flush to the surface, that are vib-finished a possibility? Just spit-ballin' here. I am always fascinated by people that have the ability to make a little cash in this hobby, and what needs to be done to make profitability viable. making a little money in rocks is not too difficult but making good money is another story. I have not figured that out yet. Pudding stone cabs cant be tumbled due to the varied hardness . I have done a few flat top cabs for these in the past. The problem with that is that when you try to cut this material in 1/8" thick slabs they tend to break very easily and sometimes the slabs even shatter when they fall in the slab saw. These are actually harder because they have to be exact thickness and they also show imperfections in the circle shape much more. Chuck
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bcrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 418
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Post by bcrockhound on Jun 11, 2015 10:07:48 GMT -5
Wow! Good idea for using rocks too. Great work.
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