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Post by radio on Mar 10, 2016 13:27:21 GMT -5
Broke out the box of Bots James sent me and selected several for mounting in Sterling. Fist I will have to back them with plastic steel to level them, then dop them and fire up the Cab King. I will even them up, then cut a bevel around them so the bezel will lay somewhat evenly for a more finished look much like the one I sent James earlier. It's a pain working with tumbled pieces, but no other way to get a Polish on the uneven surfaces of the bots. Seen some on e bay not even mounted all that well going for $150 and up, so there must be a market out there. I'll get some pics of the progress a bit later Chose which would be the front and wrapped them in masking tape, then mixed the plastic steel and filled the back with it. It will dry for at least 24 hours then I will unwrap the tape and even up the backing on the 200 grit flat lap. I will then dop them and shape and bevel them into freeform cabs to be set in Sterling. Some pretty nice Bots here, but James got the pic of the litter for his generosity.   |
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Post by radio on Mar 10, 2016 16:09:44 GMT -5
Some of you expressed interest in how I backed stones and how one would level a thin, uneven stone for cabbing . The first pic above shows the tape wrapped around the stones to form a dam of sorts to hold the plastic steel until it sets.
If the stones are thin, i cut off 3 to 4 inches of masking tape, lightly stick it to the bench then use a sharp knife to cut it lengthwise into 2 or 3 strips depending on the thickness of the stone and how much backing it needs.
It's a slow and messy process,but it allows one to cab stones that otherwise would be unsuitable for setting
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Mar 10, 2016 18:31:42 GMT -5
Fascinating Arlen. That coral will be flattered with your embellishments. Plastic steel, I suppose that would be epoxy with steel powder in it. I had to post it again, sorry  |
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Post by radio on Mar 10, 2016 18:47:31 GMT -5
Fascinating Arlen. That coral will be flattered with your embellishments. Plastic steel, I suppose that would be epoxy with steel powder in it. I had to post it again, sorry Yes, it is a two part epoxy of some type with steel in it. Very durable stuff and perfect for backing any type of stone. The Bot I mounted for you was not backed, but it would have made setting it much simpler had it been. Nothing in this batch will measure up to piece you have, but will still make some cool pieces. I should have taken a pic of the faces of the ones I back, but clean forgot until the steel was on there, then it was too late |
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Post by beefjello on Mar 10, 2016 19:40:10 GMT -5
Cool, thanks for showing your process for backing the stones. Looking forward to seeing what you do with them!
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Post by radio on Mar 10, 2016 20:09:41 GMT -5
Cool, thanks for showing your process for backing the stones. Looking forward to seeing what you do with them! Thanks. I have no idea at this point until I get them in a condition to mount, then I'll make some sketches and decide on what I like best. I've been known to get a stone mounted, then unmount it, scrap the mount and start over. Just did that again this week with a Gel Sugilite custom pendant for a customer |
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718 
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 10, 2016 20:13:34 GMT -5
Nice,very nice!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by radio on Mar 11, 2016 8:07:19 GMT -5
Thanks. I'll post some pics after I get them evened up and ready to set. The tourists have returned to Branson, so leisure time will be less and less from this point forward. Took 4 custom orders just this week, so looking forward to a busy (and profitable) Spring  |
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Post by orrum on Mar 11, 2016 10:14:35 GMT -5
Need to see the finished work too! Lookin sharp!
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Post by radio on Mar 11, 2016 14:38:27 GMT -5
Need to see the finished work too! Lookin sharp! Gonna take a few days. I have custom orders to get done before I work on pet projects. Took in 4 just this week bing, bang boom. Kind of early in the season for such orders, so hopefully this is a sign it will be a banner year for me in Branson. One job is tearing down an 80's Squash Blossom and repurposing the stones into rings, pendants and cufflinks for family members. It appears to be one made in one of the Az sweat shops cranking out shoddily made stuff for the tourist trade, or I wouldn't tear it apart. The Turquoise is decent, but not spectacular and the silver work is very sloppy and unsigned |
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Post by radio on Mar 12, 2016 17:06:33 GMT -5
here is the face of the bots and a couple others I backed the other day. The funky shaped one at 2:00 in the pic is the one I decided to work on for a while today. Got the bezel made, the back soldered in and the bail on it. With the Victorian style bezel I chose for this piece, soldering it on the backing doesn't work well, so I cut the back to fit tightly inside the bezel, the solder it   I used a bezel burnisher to close up the gaps between the bezel and the backing before soldering so no seam will be visible. Lots of work to do them this way, but the end result is worth it |
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 12, 2016 17:55:33 GMT -5
This is a really great thread! Thanks for showing how you do the tumbles. I have some killer psilomelane tumbles to work. I'll have to try this. So, after you cab them, do you find it necessary to flatten the backs (thin the cab) on a flat lap?
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Post by radio on Mar 12, 2016 18:24:05 GMT -5
This is a really great thread! Thanks for showing how you do the tumbles. I have some killer psilomelane tumbles to work. I'll have to try this. So, after you cab them, do you find it necessary to flatten the backs (thin the cab) on a flat lap? I try to wrap the tape around them in such a way that the plastic steel levels out the cab without much flattening other than running over a coarse file. Once backed, I dop them and then work them over on my Cab King. The Bots get evened up around the edges a bit, but still left freeform, then the edges are beveled much like a normal cab so the bezel can be rolled over the edges to hold the stone without gluing. The solid Corals like the tan one and the purple one will get the full cab treatment and reshaped somewhat, but still left freeform. I rarely do calibrated shapes unless by customer request |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Mar 13, 2016 6:50:58 GMT -5
Arlen The best colors of coral is the outside layer. Hard to slab as the outside layer is curved. So I make my flat tumbles by 'skinning' coral heads with a small hammer. And throw away the core. Try to tumble these flat chips most of the time. They are 'x-rayed' with back light before tumbling to reject the ones with fractures. To increase color variation a percentage can be heat treated and way increase the color band. The heat treating can be complex. 1) Heat treating chips before tumbling makes a rich layer of color on the outside 1/16 to 1/8 inch layer. As the chip is tumbled the rich colored layer can be removed at the edges where the wear is higher making color depth variations. 2) They can be cooked quick and do a much thinner color change layer. 3) The whole nodule can be heat treated which drastically changes the mechanical properties when chipping. In this case much longer chips are removed. Here is some photos of a chip tumble I did last year. Gives you and idea of the pendant size tumbles that I have been targeting for several years. www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157649230302913Another batch early on www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157651102059731Here is a tumble that was not heat treated until after it was tumbled. Then it was rerun in polish to clean it. Note the phantom effect. Inside cloudy, edges clear. This 'phantom' material often in large chunks. Got to do test pieces and keep up with which test chip came from which chunk to know which chunk will phantom. They seem to heat up from the inside out, the cloudy part is the heated part. Gotta time it just right in the oven.  |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Mar 13, 2016 6:56:16 GMT -5
This is what happens when you shoot a coral nodule with a 270 LOL. Crazy curved chips certain to give the bezel man fits. I need to shoot on that has been heat treated. No telling what chips will occur.  |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Mar 13, 2016 7:20:42 GMT -5
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Post by radio on Mar 13, 2016 7:41:01 GMT -5
This is what happens when you shoot a coral nodule with a 270 LOL. Crazy curved chips certain to give the bezel man fits. I need to shoot on that has been heat treated. No telling what chips will occur. Ballistic Coral!!! Gotta love it!  Strange how I'm looking at Coral tumbles as a challenge now. Guess I've been setting things so long I became a bit jaded and the Coral is kind of like starting over. I've cabbed many a tumbled stone, but they are easy compared to the irregular Corals. Grind a flat back on a tumble, dop it, then proceed to shape and dome it and you have a cab. See the Purplish one about 4:00 in my last pic? Tell me a bit about that one. I'm presuming heat treated? If it had some "flowers" in it, that would be an incredible piece!!! Still going to set it because I love the colors! The Mammoth Tooth in the center is destined to be a ladies ring before long |
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Post by radio on Mar 13, 2016 7:47:58 GMT -5
Wow, wow, wow! Double wow!  That last link >>> www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157635475315838 has soooo many possibilities! If it comes out half as good as it looks like it will, please reserve as much as this for me as you will allow me to have! Please message me the details on price and shipping. Gotta have some of those slabs on your hand! Heal up first, then we will devise a plan of attack  ! |
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Post by orrum on Mar 13, 2016 9:28:06 GMT -5
Hey keep the info coming! I luv silver smithing and am trying to get better at it!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Mar 13, 2016 9:58:54 GMT -5
The purple came from a single 35 pound coral head. As you can see it was a boring dull but rare brown color. Why it turned purple when heat treated I will never know. Tried to find more like it and failed. Go figure.  Here is a tumble from it  |
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Strange how I'm looking at Coral tumbles as a challenge now. Guess I've been setting things so long I became a bit jaded and the Coral is kind of like starting over. I've cabbed many a tumbled stone, but they are easy compared to the irregular Corals. Grind a flat back on a tumble, dop it, then proceed to shape and dome it and you have a cab.
That last link >>> 
!
