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Post by fernwood on Jun 10, 2019 6:53:38 GMT -5
Here is my next victim. Was given this partially finished cab. There is a little gloss on the surface, but a lot of scratches as well. Looking for suggestions on how to best transform it. Have never worked with this material before. Know it is 6.5 - 7 hardness and can be a tough material to work with. Prone to undercutting and scratches. Plan on doing some shaping and then polishing. All with Dremel. Here is what I have.     A rough estimate of what I want.  In some ways I feel bad about removing the shaping that has already been done. The surface has a nice dome on it. Some girdle. Do not know how much of the dome I will need to remove to eliminate the scratches. Advice appreciated. Either tell me to go for it, or convince me I should just do a little work on the present shape and proceed from there. The eye pattern reminded me of an alien, so was thinking an alien pendant. It will be for me. Thanks. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 10, 2019 6:58:16 GMT -5
It looks like ruby in fuchsite, which is softer, but I can't tell for sure.
When I cab ruby in fuchsite or zoisite, I stay away from the ruby with coarse grits. The scratches are really hard to recover from. That's where you end up with undercutting.
I would reshape it. The eyes are cool.  |
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Post by fernwood on Jun 10, 2019 7:02:27 GMT -5
It looks like someone hit it with coarse grits on the ruby.
Could be ruby in fuchsite. I have to do more testing to be sure.
Funny thing is that I was playing dulcimer with my alien Roswell pick and this cab was nearby. I looked at the pick, then the cab. The shape jumped out at me.
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tanstaafl
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2018
Posts: 17
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Post by tanstaafl on Jun 10, 2019 7:12:34 GMT -5
Another dulcimer player! I'm learning how to play - an experienced beginner at this point. I'm just finishing my first dulcimer build; I just glued the fretboard onto the box yesterday. I was just thinking about shaping some stones and setting them into the fretboard, though probably in the next one I build.
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 10, 2019 7:33:06 GMT -5
It looks like someone hit it with coarse grits on the ruby. Could be ruby in fuchsite. I have to do more testing to be sure. Funny thing is that I was playing dulcimer with my alien Roswell pick and this cab was nearby. I looked at the pick, then the cab. The shape jumped out at me. Still have my alien picks from a visit to Roswell many moons ago. Don't really use them as I prefer smaller picks but everyone gets a kick out of them. Al |
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Jun 10, 2019 8:19:40 GMT -5
Looks like Fuchsite to me, too. We have both here, and the harder Ruby makes it a challenging material to work.
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Post by fernwood on Jun 10, 2019 8:33:42 GMT -5
Hardness test says fuchite.
I love challenges.
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Post by fernwood on Jun 10, 2019 8:34:43 GMT -5
Another dulcimer player! I'm learning how to play - an experienced beginner at this point. I'm just finishing my first dulcimer build; I just glued the fretboard onto the box yesterday. I was just thinking about shaping some stones and setting them into the fretboard, though probably in the next one I build. Have had my dulcimer since the early 90's. Custom built from Walnut by a luthier friend. A 6 string. |
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Post by fernwood on Jun 10, 2019 8:35:36 GMT -5
It looks like someone hit it with coarse grits on the ruby. Could be ruby in fuchsite. I have to do more testing to be sure. Funny thing is that I was playing dulcimer with my alien Roswell pick and this cab was nearby. I looked at the pick, then the cab. The shape jumped out at me. Still have my alien picks from a visit to Roswell many moons ago. Don't really use them as I prefer smaller picks but everyone gets a kick out of them. Al I love mine. They are fairly thin and glow in the dark. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jun 10, 2019 8:49:20 GMT -5
Cool alien, Beth! Go for it. Start with the finest grits you can get away with first and go up from there. Those look like some honkin' scratches in the ruby. Corundum is a 9 on the mohs, so you may be spending a lot of time trying to get those out without whittling the fuschite down to nothing. Good luck!
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Post by fernwood on Jun 10, 2019 9:54:09 GMT -5
Plan now is to use various hand techniques on the fuchite and by default, ruby, first. Then smaller rotary techniques, using various grits/polishes on the ruby eyes. Have some felt triangle shaped rotary bits, which will help with targeted applications of grits/polishes. The smaller rubies above one eye may end up with some scratches. Those are not as deep as the ones in the eyes.
Depending on how the ruby eyes react, I might end up with concave eyes, lol. Would applying epoxy work to make them more rounded? Then hand polishing the epoxy to even it out. Since it is just for me and a major experiment, I am open to all options.
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