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Post by radio on Feb 11, 2016 18:35:31 GMT -5
I finally got around to reworking three of the Bots so they are suitable for bezel setting. The Wife looked over my shoulder while i was making the sketches and went all gaa gaa over the cab and design. I'm taking votes on which design to go with on this Bot. #1. Simple design with twisted silver on the left side and beads on both sides of the bail #2. Twisted silver on both sides, beads at the bottom and left side of bail Please forgive the crappy cell phone pics     |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2016 19:09:23 GMT -5
Beads all around. Reflects the bots.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 11, 2016 19:19:23 GMT -5
OMG, that piece is mighty fine. Never dreamed I would find a rock that deserved such a setting.
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Post by radio on Feb 11, 2016 19:27:48 GMT -5
OMG, that piece is mighty fine. Never dreamed I would find a rock that deserved such a setting. Thank you! (blushes, says Aww, shucks, hangs head and kicks at can :-) Maybe in another 10 years or so I will graduate to working in a "studio" instead of a "shop"  Nah! On second thought, I'll never get that full of myself!  |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 12, 2016 9:31:50 GMT -5
OMG, that piece is mighty fine. Never dreamed I would find a rock that deserved such a setting. Thank you! (blushes, says Aww, shucks, hangs head and kicks at can :-) Maybe in another 10 years or so I will graduate to working in a "studio" instead of a "shop" Nah! On second thought, I'll never get that full of myself! Nothing says a large gun toting avid deer hunter can not be a kick butt jeweler. |
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Post by radio on Feb 12, 2016 9:49:34 GMT -5
Thank you! (blushes, says Aww, shucks, hangs head and kicks at can :-) Maybe in another 10 years or so I will graduate to working in a "studio" instead of a "shop" Nah! On second thought, I'll never get that full of myself! Nothing says a large gun toting avid deer hunter can not be a kick butt jeweler. Large guys can take the recoil of large calibers When my old 7 mm Remington Mag goes off, something in front of it is gonna drop, and usually in it's tracks! Took my first ever deer with a .50 caliber muzzle loader last December. I've had an El Cheapo ML for a few years, but it is so pathetically inaccurate I only hunted with it one time, then set it aside. A guy on a hunting forum I frequent was selling his Knight MK85, so I grabbed it. It is listed as one of the top ten modern muzzle loaders ever made and is as accurate as a good centerfire rifle. As I write this, a very accomplished leather guy is making me a kick @## possibles bag to carry the needed reloading stuff. We are bartering the bag for a Sugilite pendant for his wife. He is very well known and his bags go for $250 to $500. I'll post a pic when he gets it done as I will be very proud of it! |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 12, 2016 10:07:30 GMT -5
I knew you were going to go off on guns LOL. Makes the contrast of gun toter/jeweler come alive radio. Gun lovers tickle me, not sure there is a deeper passion than that of a gun lover and their guns. Last week I had a possum getting into the cat food container and another getting into the bird seed container. Darn if I didn't have to shot them both. .22 Beretta semi-auto, arms reach away as typing. Slow torturesome round for those wanting to make trouble. Shot that cannon before. We always know when Bob pulls the trigger on his 7mm. Dwarfs the sound of the 270/30.06 |
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Post by rockjunquie on Feb 12, 2016 11:34:29 GMT -5
I like the first one- less to compete with the stone.
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Post by radio on Feb 12, 2016 17:02:16 GMT -5
I like the first one- less to compete with the stone. Had a busy day at the shop, so didn't make much progress on the Bot. I did get the bezel made and the back cut from 22 ga sterling and soldered the two together. Maybe tomorrow I can get the wire and beads soldered on the piece along with the bail. I did choose the design in the first pic |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2016 7:02:34 GMT -5
Jewelers in discussion. Stand back. Here is an assortment of tumbled bots. Lots of challenges to make settings for. I don't think you can finish the face of the bots any other way that with a tumbler. Shaping the edges to fit a bezel is doable, but the back is never flat. Nature supplied quite an assortment of thin plates of this stuff. As mentioned it is very hard material and also tough in that it holds up to tumbling well. The ones with the oxide coatings are so ugly that they got tossed in the field. But they are the ones that reveal layers as tumbled and being the showiest. I think Arlen is persistent, these things went to a great home. Out of the tumbler: www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157657275043346 |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2016 7:22:22 GMT -5
It would help a lot if I had a very fine grit thin kerf steady saw blade to cut these before tumbling. Tile blades shatter the bots. That way the edges would be straighter to ease setting and thicker so that the backs could be ground flat. Or perhaps edge ground to ovals/circles before tumbling. And also would be best to grind the back flat after sawing/shaping before tumbling. Tumbling time in coarse grit is only 2-3 weeks. Pieces should be monitored closely during coarse shaping. As sent to Arlen, it does not lay flat. He ground it flat :  Unlike this one, many are 3/8 to 5/8 inch thick. In that case the back should be saw off them or ground. A good vise on a good jeweler's saw would greatly expedite processing this stuff for setting. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2016 7:44:55 GMT -5
Heat treating turns them blacker 600F  Variations, awkward shaped rough broken out of broken geodes damaged by nature. Collected before the realization that the oxide coated ones tumble out to better patterns:  Example of oxide coated bot tumble:  |
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Post by radio on Feb 13, 2016 8:42:21 GMT -5
It would help a lot if I had a very fine grit thin kerf steady saw blade to cut these before tumbling. Tile blades shatter the bots. That way the edges would be straighter to ease setting and thicker so that the backs could be ground flat. Or perhaps edge ground to ovals/circles before tumbling. And also would be best to grind the back flat after sawing/shaping before tumbling. Tumbling time in coarse grit is only 2-3 weeks. Pieces should be monitored closely during coarse shaping. As sent to Arlen, it does not lay flat. He ground it flat : Unlike this one, many are 3/8 to 5/8 inch thick. In that case the back should be saw off them or ground. A good vise on a good jeweler's saw would greatly expedite processing this stuff for setting. A few might look good as ovals or circles, but by far the most appealing to me is the free form shape. As you can see comparing this original pic, I reshaped the Bot very little, but it was so concave and uneven that the back and upward turned edges took a fair amount of grinding. The real challenge was polishing the edges where I ground on them. My diamond wheels are 8 inch and presented little problem, but my final polish is a canvas pad on a spin on disc, so the flat pad presented a problem polishing the inward curved part of the cab. I have no firm idea what this one would sell for when completed, but I would put it in in the $250-$300 range. My initials are on the backing, so If I ever become an "Artist", and work in a "Studio" the value could go up dramatically  |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2016 8:53:41 GMT -5
LOL. Lots of artists have not become 'Artist'. The only difference is the price.
Maybe if you holster up and attend the art studio tours. Tux and chest holster ? Pants and pink waist belt with two 6 shooters ?
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Post by radio on Feb 13, 2016 9:13:00 GMT -5
LOL. Lots of artists have not become 'Artist'. The only difference is the price. Maybe if you holster up and attend the art studio tours. Tux and chest holster ? Pants and pink waist belt with two 6 shooters ? LOL! i do have an old west getup I wear when tourist season is in full swing. I have a really old double barrel 12 gauge and a Colt Navy replica in .44 hanging on the wall at the shop. My friend Eddy Wood, alias Rattlesnake Eddy dresses up in full Doc Holiday Garb every day. Check out his Facebook page here www.facebook.com/ashkea1920/The belt he is holding that has "Sho Me Silver" was made for me and I wear it every day as a walking self advertisement . Just a little play on Missouri's nickname of the Sho Me State |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2016 11:56:09 GMT -5
Classic (art)  |
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Post by radio on Feb 13, 2016 13:06:44 GMT -5
Classic (art) That was a scene from the Baldknobbers movie shot here last fall. Eddy had a big part in it and my wife was an extra. I wasn't about to get in front of the camera! |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2016 13:24:03 GMT -5
If walking up on that bunch... final prayers Sirs ??
Now damn it, you shoulda. That's mantle material.
Anybody make some good change ?
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Post by radio on Feb 13, 2016 14:08:02 GMT -5
If walking up on that bunch... final prayers Sirs ?? Now damn it, you shoulda. That's mantle material. Anybody make some good change ? Very low budget, so locals only got credits. Not sure if it's even completed yet. Almost got the mount done for the bodacious Bot. Ice and sleet forecast for tomorrow and Monday. Taking a couple days off Wed and Thursday, so won't get it done before next weekend |
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Post by radio on Feb 13, 2016 19:31:54 GMT -5
Finished setting the Bot this afternoon. Even though I ground the back somewhat flat and worked the top edges over for a bezel set, this piece gave me some headaches . The Bots are just so wavy and uneven, getting the bezel to lay uniformly around the stone in an eye pleasing manner is tough! This will be going out to James early next week even though he has griped at me and muttered something about "Not a fair trade"   |
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Nah! On second thought, I'll never get that full of myself! 
