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Post by knave on Mar 3, 2020 18:43:30 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 3, 2020 19:23:07 GMT -5
A template should contain the shapes a person wants to cut. I like to cut pears so I use the two aluminum templates. They are available from Graves, Kingsley North and ebay when available. I use the set of plastic templates a lot and are available from the Houston Gem and Mineral Society and I have no idea how I found them. hgms.org/sections/lapidary/purchase-lapidary-templates/   |
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Post by lpl on Mar 3, 2020 19:26:04 GMT -5
Evan, I have an oval template similar to the top left in your picture. I use it sometimes, but not that often. I don’t know the usefulness of most of the other templates fromAmazon, at least for the shapes I like to cut. I got some excellent templates from Etsy, the shop was “Cabtopia” iirc. Really good stuff there. Just my .02!
John
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Post by Pat on Mar 3, 2020 19:32:10 GMT -5
I bought a set from John H.... online. Very good set. That's John F. Heusler UPDATE: go to www.slabstocabs.com He has two sets of thick translucent templates Very good. |
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pizzano
Cave Dweller 
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Mar 3, 2020 20:15:09 GMT -5
Yep.......drafting templates make great tracers.........if they are large enough.
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Mar 3, 2020 20:17:20 GMT -5
I got the Lortone ones.
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 3, 2020 20:25:58 GMT -5
I have the round and oval ones. The rest... dunno how useful they would be.
Cabtopia is really good, though their prices have really gone up since I got some.
I have a pear one from metal clay supply.
Really, whatever works for what you want is good. You can make your own, too.
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Post by knave on Mar 3, 2020 20:30:45 GMT -5
They look good. Found them for $15 shipped on The Bay. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 3, 2020 20:34:46 GMT -5
I like Cabtopia's templates, too, but they are rather spendy. We have a lot of architectural templates like the ones you posted from Amazon and a bunch of stone templates. Vince already had the architectural ones, being a drafter, and we've accumulated the others from who knows where.
Anything that gives you the shape you're looking for will work. Also check out the templates Tela uploaded ( rockjunquie do you have the link handy?) |
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 3, 2020 20:39:59 GMT -5
I like Cabtopia's templates, too, but they are rather spendy. We have a lot of architectural templates like the ones you posted from Amazon and a bunch of stone templates. Vince already had the architectural ones, being a drafter, and we've accumulated the others from who knows where.
Anything that gives you the shape you're looking for will work. Also check out the templates Tela uploaded ( rockjunquie do you have the link handy?)
right here
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Post by MsAli on Mar 3, 2020 20:58:15 GMT -5
I got some off amazon I like that were not as spendy
Evan, if I find the link I'll post it
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Post by parfive on Mar 4, 2020 12:47:12 GMT -5
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,991
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Post by Tommy on Mar 4, 2020 15:07:43 GMT -5
I prefer the Great Shapes templates - they are pricey but every shape is a realistic cabochon depending on what shapes you like to do. They sell them at The Gem Shop - not sure if there are other sources for them. I see them sold at gem shows occasionally. thegemshop.com/search?q=template |
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 4, 2020 19:53:47 GMT -5
I prefer the Great Shapes templates - they are pricey but every shape is a realistic cabochon depending on what shapes you like to do. They sell them at The Gem Shop - not sure if there are other sources for them. I see them sold at gem shows occasionally. thegemshop.com/search?q=templateThanks for the info. I bought #5. I was looking for the shapes. Since I hate paying for shipping I also bought a pound of select Royal Imperial jasper. |
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Post by rmf on Mar 4, 2020 22:23:53 GMT -5
The Gem Shop in Cedarburg WI has templates on their web site. they are not cheap but they have a good variety. Also the Blue/Red/Yellow set Gem TEMP listed above is a good place to start
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Post by Pat on Mar 5, 2020 14:05:04 GMT -5
Go here: UPDATE: go to www.slabstocabs.com He has two sets of thick translucent templates Very good. |
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721 
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Post by julieooly on Mar 5, 2020 14:47:28 GMT -5
 I have a bunch from Cabtopia and some are wonderful and some I've never used, my fav's are Essence, Imagine, . Be careful with ones like Flame, Morphed, & Flare because of the funky curves and Tension because of all the points (plus you can draw all these with a straight edge). The Lortones came with something I bought along the way and they're ok but mostly smalls and you can't see through the metal like you can the clear plastic ones. Cool Tools has some good ones on Amazon too. My favorite three are the two green ones that came from Joann or Hobby and my new super favorite of all time, the blue one I found at Michaels.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 10, 2020 11:06:37 GMT -5
My template #5 from the Gem Shop arrived yesterday. It is large; more than twice the size of my aluminum templates and the thickness is about he same as other plastic templates I have. The shape are graduated with the longest being at 60mm. The Royal Imperial also arrived, shipped separately. This is the pound I received:  |
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 10, 2020 13:54:18 GMT -5
I have a slab of Morgan Hill that I marked the fracture lines with a sharpie and had been trying some shapes with my old templates and nothing was a good fit. I tried the new template and got some nice shapes and patterns that fit between the fracture lines.  |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Mar 10, 2020 18:55:00 GMT -5
Yet another alternative is a low cost, low-tech, custom template method. An example ... 1. Take a piece of plastic and draw one side of a cab. Here I've cut a piece from a cottage cheese container bottom, making a straight cut (well, pretty darn straight) and then making just two simple strokes with a sharpie:  2. I cut out my half-cab template:  3. And then I traced out two copies that share the straight side. It guarantees a symmetrical cab shape, which in this case is my pointed shield shape: |
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