julieooly
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721 
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Post by julieooly on Apr 30, 2020 16:40:43 GMT -5
It's been a LONG time since I looked at this thread so my ideas aren't going to flow with the current conversation BUT one of the things I really needed when I was trying to teach myself all this was an actual cabochon that was made properly that I could hold in my hand and look at. I'm working on trying to figure out how to simply make some prototypes of different cab styles using different domes and girdles & etc. I am also going to find some willing volunteers to make their versions of the "same" shape and styles and build a little prototype kit that helps me see what others are doing compared to the way I do it. I would LOVE to have a second set of these prototypes for a new cabbing friend, and if it's simple enough to do maybe it could be a great learning tool that could be somehow marketed for new learners. I'm not interested in the marketing or any of that, I simply want a set of cabs made by different people in all kinds of shapes and sizes and styles.
I'm getting in touch with a woman I know who does a ton of ceramics, I'm hoping that blank ceramic tiles could be just the thing to make these prototypes out of. What are ya'll's thoughts?
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721
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Post by julieooly on Apr 30, 2020 17:03:45 GMT -5
OH wow just remembered entangleddreamer has a 3D printer! Maybe she could make copies of them with it? |
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Post by knave on Apr 30, 2020 17:13:33 GMT -5
I agree with this, just holding a model in your hand can really help me see what I am after. I have a whole bunch of ceramic tile laying around in boxes that came with the house.
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Post by entangleddreamer on Apr 30, 2020 17:16:32 GMT -5
OH wow just remembered entangleddreamer has a 3D printer! Maybe she could make copies of them with it? I do have a 3D printer. I've just started learning how to model objects and convert them to readable files. Maybe it would be possible to make what you are asking for. I would have to tinker around with it a little bit. 🤷☺️ |
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721
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Post by julieooly on May 1, 2020 7:37:04 GMT -5
I agree with this, just holding a model in your hand can really help me see what I am after. I have a whole bunch of ceramic tile laying around in boxes that came with the house. How thick are they? All I have is terrazo and they're full of holes. Hoping I can get some tile blanks about 8mm thick. |
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 9, 2020 15:43:18 GMT -5
I am self taught. I have been making a lot of cabs and as a result I am refining my technique through trial and error. The doming has never been a problem because it is dictated by what I see. Two problem areas were girdles and flat spots and scratches near the edges. For the girdles I have added steps to get the girdle 90 degrees after doming starting out holding the edge perpendicular the wheel and then 90 degrees to the wheel making the top shape more symmetrical. For the area near the edges, I couldn't find the right technique. I was holding the face towards the wheel and then sanding toward the edges, trying to make sure I hit everything. I frequently had to go back and fix. I now hold the cab with the edge toward the wheel and work perpendicularly. I also rock any corners and any point when I'm done. I do this starting at 325 soft. I sand the rest of the face as before.
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 14, 2020 7:56:54 GMT -5
I just found this on YT. She's a newbie, but the video is pretty good. The one thing she is really missing is wiping the stone between wheels. You really should examine the cab between wheels to see if you have gotten all the scratches out. I like that she is a jeweler and is cabbing for herself. You get a good idea of what jewelers are looking for.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 14, 2020 16:33:08 GMT -5
I watched the video through the start of the 220. She is skilled and I expect she gets good results. Cutting a cab is personal and I do a lot of things differently. My eyesight with wet reflective surfaces isn't good , so I leave more room from the line. Subtracting is easy, adding is impossible. The biggest technique change I've made in the last year is to work circular above the girdle line. It is faster than herky-jerk and constantly making adjustments. Since my dexterity is only ok, I work from the girdle line up instead of down to the girdle and am less likely to hit the girdle line. Grinding into the girdle line means having to lower the girdle and there is no guide mark. I noticed that the Pixie has only one geyser and the more water on the wheel is better. Faster cutting and except for messy material I don't have to rinse the cab frequently. One basic step that I didn't see in the video is looking for flaws; pits and fractures when designing.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Nov 14, 2020 17:50:38 GMT -5
Wow, she's pretty brutal. Lol
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Jan 20, 2021 22:58:22 GMT -5
I noticed this thread kinda died off in November, but I have yet to read through it all... I can offer my knowledge if anyone has questions, I have been teaching basic & advanced cabochons for the last 5 years and am always happy to answer questions as I can. Did anyone put up any tutorials on cabbing yet?
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 23, 2021 21:14:48 GMT -5
I noticed this thread kinda died off in November, but I have yet to read through it all... I can offer my knowledge if anyone has questions, I have been teaching basic & advanced cabochons for the last 5 years and am always happy to answer questions as I can. Did anyone put up any tutorials on cabbing yet? If you are offering to write or film a cab tutorial, that would be flat out AWESOME!  |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 23, 2021 23:30:15 GMT -5
I noticed this thread kinda died off in November, but I have yet to read through it all... I can offer my knowledge if anyone has questions, I have been teaching basic & advanced cabochons for the last 5 years and am always happy to answer questions as I can. Did anyone put up any tutorials on cabbing yet? Mario The Dad_Ohs good to hear from you! Somehow I missed your post. About 30 pages just to go back 3 days! My God, the people here are gabby, lol. I didn't know that you are teaching basic and advanced cabbing, good for you! In the club I used to belong to, the older members were dying off, and no one was passing on their knowledge to the younger members. Cabbing, silverwork, everything. Or even just identifying rocks. Now, I've got to ask you a question... Where did you learn to cab? Do your cabs follow the orginal design/intent/ yes - "rules" - for cab making? If so, I think that's great! Seems a lot of people these days, just do it Frank Sinatra style (they do it "their way"), not following any standardization or guidelines. It is why I quit joining in the cabbing contests here on RTH, because everyone had their own idea on how they should be. I'm not going to enter a contest where the participants can't agree on the rules. Apples and oranges. Not picking on you or anybody. I think it is wonderful that you are teaching! Just curious on "how you do it." Thanks, Mario! Hope to see more of you around, and also the cabbing tutorial you are going to write.  Stay safe! |
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Feb 2, 2021 13:51:39 GMT -5
Now, I've got to ask you a question... Where did you learn to cab? Do your cabs follow the orginal design/intent/ yes - "rules" - for cab making? If so, I think that's great! Seems a lot of people these days, just do it Frank Sinatra style (they do it "their way"), not following any standardization or guidelines. It is why I quit joining in the cabbing contests here on RTH, because everyone had their own idea on how they should be. I'm not going to enter a contest where the participants can't agree on the rules. Apples and oranges. Not picking on you or anybody. I think it is wonderful that you are teaching! Just curious on "how you do it." It's Jan, right?? How have you been!! I learned from the original club teacher who was an award winning cabber back in the day.... He taught us all the knife edge "competition" cab style as well as making a 'usable' cab design I believe he was almost 90 when he finally passed away... he was a great teacher & friend to me. I still have his original papers that he gave out for teaching cabbing and I use information from those with what I have learned when I teach. I also took a cabbing class from another man in our sister club who had slightly different style of teaching focusing more on usable calibrated cabs and not the competition style. Between the 2 and a little juggling on my part I put together a program that I use to teach, which while combining parts of both of my teachers, also has a definite spin that is all mine, I teach people to relax and enjoy what they are doing and have fun with it. I've been known to poke and even gone as far as to grab someones elbows and flap them like a chicken to get them to loosen up.... yeah, it's a lot of fun!! All my students know before the class starts that I have an offbeat sense of humor and if they want strict learning, I'm not the guy to give it. |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Feb 2, 2021 14:32:31 GMT -5
Now, I've got to ask you a question... Where did you learn to cab? Do your cabs follow the orginal design/intent/ yes - "rules" - for cab making? If so, I think that's great! Seems a lot of people these days, just do it Frank Sinatra style (they do it "their way"), not following any standardization or guidelines. It is why I quit joining in the cabbing contests here on RTH, because everyone had their own idea on how they should be. I'm not going to enter a contest where the participants can't agree on the rules. Apples and oranges. Not picking on you or anybody. I think it is wonderful that you are teaching! Just curious on "how you do it." It's Jan, right?? How have you been!! I learned from the original club teacher who was an award winning cabber back in the day.... He taught us all the knife edge "competition" cab style as well as making a 'usable' cab design I believe he was almost 90 when he finally passed away... he was a great teacher & friend to me. I still have his original papers that he gave out for teaching cabbing and I use information from those with what I have learned when I teach. I also took a cabbing class from another man in our sister club who had slightly different style of teaching focusing more on usable calibrated cabs and not the competition style. Between the 2 and a little juggling on my part I put together a program that I use to teach, which while combining parts of both of my teachers, also has a definite spin that is all mine, I teach people to relax and enjoy what they are doing and have fun with it. I've been known to poke and even gone as far as to grab someones elbows and flap them like a chicken to get them to loosen up.... yeah, it's a lot of fun!! All my students know before the class starts that I have an offbeat sense of humor and if they want strict learning, I'm not the guy to give it. Thanks for the reply, Mario. It sounds like you have a great handle on it, you have a well rounded curriculum. Seems you were born to teach, and I'm sure your students enjoy your classes. Learning should be fun! Jean ETA - Unfortunately, the lapidary club we were in lost their shop location. The owners (husband and wife club members) of the property were generous enough to offer an outbuilding for the club to use for a number of years. But then they sold their property and moved to Branson, MO. The club was without a shop for some time, they do have one now. In the meantime, so many of the older, long time lapidarists have passed on. |
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 2, 2021 16:10:05 GMT -5
The contests here are not about precision work to a well defined standard. They are more like a beauty contest or running for homecoming queen/king. I am more interested in pattern than calibrated stones. There are many techniques for making a cab. I have incorporated standard techniques with things that work for me. I took one lesson. My instructor was an old timer who would keep putting the cab back into a template. That would drive me crazy.
My wife was a painter and talked about a shape having a push/pull effect because of the pattern and what matters is how the shape looks to the eye.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Feb 20, 2021 19:11:33 GMT -5
I just found this on YT. She's a newbie, but the video is pretty good. The one thing she is really missing is wiping the stone between wheels. You really should examine the cab between wheels to see if you have gotten all the scratches out. I like that she is a jeweler and is cabbing for herself. You get a good idea of what jewelers are looking for.
Thank you for the video.
I wipe the stone down a lot now. A few of my old rocks have flat spots that I never saw. I remember asking about drying the stone off way back when you started this thread. And been doing it since. I really should catch up on this thread. I left it a year ago and have not been back to see any of the new posted advice.
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USMC15
Cave Dweller
I feel like I just came out of the tumbler ...
Member since March 2021
Posts: 273
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Post by USMC15 on Mar 13, 2021 1:33:00 GMT -5
Okay, I am 100% new to this. I have yet to cut my 1st stone and there is nothing in here covering the basics.
1. What is a girdle?
2. What is a girdle line?
3. Are there any good resources out th er re that can teach me these things.
There are many YouTube videos about this, but don't really cover anything.
Someone please point me in the right direction.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 13, 2021 10:41:59 GMT -5
Okay, I am 100% new to this. I have yet to cut my 1st stone and there is nothing in here covering the basics. 1. What is a girdle? 2. What is a girdle line? 3. Are there any good resources out th er re that can teach me these things. There are many YouTube videos about this, but don't really cover anything. Someone please point me in the right direction. The girdle is the circumference of a cabochon which is usually flat and slightly angled toward the dome (top) of the stone. The girdle is used for actually setting the stone in metal (the bezel). Girdles can be different sizes depending on the stone, but usually around 3mm. The girdle line is where the girdle ends and the dome starts.
If you look at some of the contest pictures in the Cab Challenges you should get a good idea. Here should also give you a clue. |
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 13, 2021 11:59:57 GMT -5
I was unhappy with my girdles not being even (wavy) and found an approach that works for me. I grind the edge of the preform through 280 soft and mark the girdle line. I work the stone at 90 degrees to the wheel and grind down to girdle line. My preform edges are wider on the face than the bottom. When I have completed doming through 280 soft, I square the edges starting with the wider area where it meets the face working with the stone at 90 degrees to the wheel. When it is close I work the stone face up and adjust the lines to be even and smooth. 80,220 hard, 280 soft. I'm rebuilding the girdle. It only takes me a few minutes to do this.
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rocket
spending too much on rocks
Quality slabs for quality cabs in 2022
Member since September 2020
Posts: 292
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Post by rocket on Mar 13, 2021 21:58:45 GMT -5
I was unhappy with my girdles not being even (wavy) and found an approach that works for me. I grind the edge of the preform through 280 soft and mark the girdle line. I work the stone at 90 degrees to the wheel and grind down to girdle line. My preform edges are wider on the face than the bottom. When I have completed doming through 280 soft, I square the edges starting with the wider area where it meets the face working with the stone at 90 degrees to the wheel. When it is close I work the stone face up and adjust the lines to be even and smooth. 80,220 hard, 280 soft. I'm rebuilding the girdle. It only takes me a few minutes to do this. Lol..I’ve read this three times and still can’t visualize it...this must be one of those times when I got to see it to learn it |
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