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Post by stardiamond on Oct 16, 2019 14:57:58 GMT -5
I'm starting to replenish my lapidary material and have spent some time on ebay. The issue I have is pictures. A big picture isn't a big slab. I saw a really nice slab of Morrisonite. It had some pictures with a ruler but the slab looked generous. I copied the picture into paint reduce it to actual size, printed it out and put a template over the picture. The best case scenario was a 40x30mm pear.
Some sellers are diligent about marking defects on a slab and others require a person to carefully study the picture.
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 16, 2019 16:05:11 GMT -5
Yes, wading through all the crap to get to the gold is a huge time waster. But, there are some really stellar sellers on eBay and not just the big name sellers.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 16, 2019 17:24:54 GMT -5
Big name sellers = pay too much. I'm seeing a lot of expensive junk (IMHO). I keep looking and find a few nuggets. I haven't seen any decent Blue Mountain, Willow Creek or Morrisonite that I could get my money back cabbing and my labor is free.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Oct 16, 2019 20:16:47 GMT -5
... I copied the picture into paint reduce it to actual size, printed it out and put a template over the picture.
I always do that, too, for any slab that I'm considering. I also look at the seller's other listings (and sometimes other folks' listings of the same material) to try to gauge whether the seller might be amping up contrast and/or color.
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bsky4463
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2013
Posts: 1,696
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Post by bsky4463 on Oct 17, 2019 6:53:54 GMT -5
In addition to clearly demonstrating the size, I think it is equally important that sellers show dry photo(s) to best see the condition and imperfections of the slab.
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Post by greig on Oct 17, 2019 9:14:59 GMT -5
My wife went looking for some rocks to get me for my birthday. I had to warn her that the pictures for some were not what you are going to get. They slip in "similar to those in the photo". I always want to see the rock that they will ship. In one the pic there were about a dozen stones and the description was "shipping weight 18 grams. Yeah, well then.
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MommaGem
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2019
Posts: 312
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Post by MommaGem on Oct 17, 2019 10:00:13 GMT -5
"shipping weight 18 grams. Yeah, well then. Ha ha - Exactly!! I always have have a ruler handy and I know how much stones I'd be getting with grams, but when they start using carats, then I need to do a conversion  |
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Post by greig on Oct 18, 2019 18:39:20 GMT -5
"shipping weight 18 grams. Yeah, well then. Ha ha - Exactly!! I always have have a ruler handy and I know how much stones I'd be getting with grams, but when they start using carats, then I need to do a conversion  Agreed. Call me cupid, not stupid. ;-) |
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 24, 2019 12:29:58 GMT -5
I bought an almost one pound piece of what was described as opalized or agatized Blue Biggs. It was inexpensive so I took a shot. The first two pictures are from the item description and the third is the picture I took whe the piece arrived and then corrected with photoshop to make it as close as possible to the actual rock.    [img My wife saw the listing picture and went thumbs down because she hates dark material. The lesson learned was that it was obvious light was shined on the rock and that I should have taken that into account. I'll cut a slab and try to find a decent scene that will look ok without having alight shined on it. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2019 13:22:48 GMT -5
Once you've cabbed a piece you can try putting it out in direct sunlight for several weeks. Many times this will lighten up the darker pieces. Works best during late Spring and Summer - takes longer other times of year. If you don't like the result (especially if the blue disappears), you can always put it back to the fine wheel to wear down a few nanometers to the darker color.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 18, 2019 12:35:10 GMT -5
I've ramped up my buying on ebay and my approach is too buy cheap and cross my fingers. The "good stuff" isn't all that good and overpriced. I eyeballed this small Morrisonite slab and it was worth taking a chance. A little under 3x2 and looks like there are chipped areas.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 18, 2019 16:42:31 GMT -5
This is an inexpensive small piece of small Morrisonite rough from the same seller. It arrived today. I cropped the image in my mind before buying. I cropped it using photoshop when I got it.   I get at least one cab of nice Morrisonite. The slab goes from 3/4 inch in the center to knife edges on the face so maybe I get a second smaller slab. |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 19, 2019 10:38:42 GMT -5
Why don't you buy the rough and slab your own material? That's the best route to go.... Roy and Tony sell great material...
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Post by roy on Nov 19, 2019 11:58:34 GMT -5
Big name sellers = pay too much. I'm seeing a lot of expensive junk (IMHO). I keep looking and find a few nuggets. I haven't seen any decent Blue Mountain, Willow Creek or Morrisonite that I could get my money back cabbing and my labor is free. huh really!? you should come tour my shop |
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 19, 2019 12:02:17 GMT -5
I just bought some Owyhee rough from Tony and It isn't even on his site. I looked at Roy's site and didn't see material That I was looking for. I slabbed and cabbed 5 pounds of Owyhee from Tony already. I bought a 5 pound chunk of Morgan Hill from an ebay seller that I had bought slabs from before. I just bought a nice thick slab of Blue Mountain and I asked the seller if he had more. He does but sells by the square inch without pictures.
Making connections for buying is good because a lot of the rough on ebay is not very good and overpriced. I want great scenes for cabs that I make and a big chunk of rock might not produce any. Crazy lace, laguna and OJ are easier to design with but there hasn't been much interest in the cabs I made (with the exception of OJ which I haven't made a lot of cabs with.)
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Post by catmandewe on Nov 20, 2019 0:19:48 GMT -5
I only have bulk rough on my site as I dont really have the time to keep up with individual pieces, I sell individual pieces once a week in a group on facebook but I know many people here dont do facebook but it is the easiest way for me to showcase certain individual pieces.
I have been collecting estates for a bit now so I now have about 300 tons of material and not enough time to put it all online. If you want something just let me know and I will see if I can find it, OR come by and look through the $1 a lb pile that has over 100 tons in it.
Not trying to hijack your thread, just explaining why there isnt really that much on the website.
Tony
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 20, 2019 11:32:19 GMT -5
Valuable information. What is the facebook group?
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Post by catmandewe on Nov 20, 2019 13:09:54 GMT -5
Full Moon Rock Shop for slabs and Full Moon Rough Rock Shop for rough.
Roy and I are part of the admin team in these groups.
There is usually a link on my web page to the most recent album.
Tony
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Post by roy on Nov 21, 2019 12:39:39 GMT -5
I only have bulk rough on my site as I dont really have the time to keep up with individual pieces, I sell individual pieces once a week in a group on facebook but I know many people here dont do facebook but it is the easiest way for me to showcase certain individual pieces. I have been collecting estates for a bit now so I now have about 300 tons of material and not enough time to put it all online. If you want something just let me know and I will see if I can find it, OR come by and look through the $1 a lb pile that has over 100 tons in it. Not trying to hijack your thread, just explaining why there isnt really that much on the website. Tony LOL BULLCR@#!! more like 300,000 ton people if you have not noticed the north pole has shifted i blame it on Tony to much rock in one place lmao!! |
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Post by roy on Nov 21, 2019 12:43:30 GMT -5
I just bought some Owyhee rough from Tony and It isn't even on his site. I looked at Roy's site and didn't see material That I was looking for. I slabbed and cabbed 5 pounds of Owyhee from Tony already. I bought a 5 pound chunk of Morgan Hill from an ebay seller that I had bought slabs from before. I just bought a nice thick slab of Blue Mountain and I asked the seller if he had more. He does but sells by the square inch without pictures. Making connections for buying is good because a lot of the rough on ebay is not very good and overpriced. I want great scenes for cabs that I make and a big chunk of rock might not produce any. Crazy lace, laguna and OJ are easier to design with but there hasn't been much interest in the cabs I made (with the exception of OJ which I haven't made a lot of cabs with.) easy if your looking for something let me know if i dont have any Tony for sure will im slowly building my inventory on the web page so dont give up on me yet i have two full time jobs so the web page gets added to every Saturday |
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