Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 12:19:11 GMT -5
Ok, finally got access to a camera. However, I didn't primp things to take these photos and there are quite a few reflections. They're frightflully close photos...so be gentle with me! Matt's off with his camera again on Wednesday...so will likely have more photos taken when he returns. Would love your feedback.... I think this is a fair batch to use for my upcoming silversmithing class at the end of October. (hopefully) Crazylace Agate  Assorted Moss Agates  Picture jasper - top (of sorts) Dendritic Agate, Moonstone - bottom  Petosky Stone  Turritella  Sagenite? (almost sure that's what this is called) REALLY hard material!  Petrified Wood  Side-view of Petrified Wood  |
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flowoxsgarden
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 196
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Post by flowoxsgarden on Jun 24, 2005 12:29:33 GMT -5
nice stuff you have there
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Post by americanbulldogsnj on Jun 24, 2005 13:02:39 GMT -5
I love your work! Especially the Dendritic Moss Agate. Excellent job on the Petosky Stone, not an easy stone to polish!  Marian |
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 24, 2005 13:23:35 GMT -5
Nice cabs- Man I can't wait to start some!!! Love the crazy lace! that just jumps out at me!
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 13:32:28 GMT -5
Marian,
I have a few personal favorites.
The Petosky really was fun to work with. Maybe not the best to set in silver, but VERY fun to work with. I had a tiny Petosky like stone from when I was a kid, and recently polished it by hand. (It wasn't true Petosky though, just a soft stone with a fossil embedded in it) When I polished it, it really was cool.
When I saw the Petosky at the Rockfest I was all excited to try it out. (I bought 5 Petosky for 5 bucks.) Petosky on a Lapidary Unit really does require a soft touch or you'll gouge and have flat spots on the finished piece. The photo shows the druzy in the center of each fossilized structure. I really thought that was exceptionally cool. It's actually quite smooth, the druzy areas really make it appear as if it's pitted, but it's not.
The Dendritic Moss piece should be striking if I mount it in silver. That's a personal favorite of mine.
My son likes the crazy-lace agate. So I did those for him. He says they're still too big....will have to make even SMALLER ones. (the smallest one is a bit smaller than a penny)
The Sagenite is really beautiful close up....and the surface is as close as I'll ever get to perfect. The material is so dense that you don't get ANY undercutting. All of the other stones were pretty tricky, but the Sagenite....ohh it just was about as easy as can be to work with even though it's a very hard/dense material. (For short....the material is very forgiving)
On the Turritella you'll see 2 spots...more druzy. It's also a smooth finish, but the druzy makes it look damaged.
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 13:38:13 GMT -5
Oh, I should tell you about the Moonstone.
It's really tough to find the "perfect" way to cut it to emphasize the sheen/glow of the stone. If I cut it just right, the stone will be brilliant, if not (I have alot of duds) it's flat and lifeless. The one above actually will turn out nice as a pendant. I have a box of duds though. :-(
I really don't understand where the sheen comes from. It reminds me of mica...in layers, yet depending on the way you turn it, it will suddenly pick up light in an entirely different way and appear like someone turned it "on" (like a lightswitch)
Any ideas?
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 24, 2005 13:51:07 GMT -5
I was just reading about the sheen in Labidorite and such- It was in on of those Hal something or others Lapidary Journals (helpful huh?) the sheen comes from a twined Feldspare crystal- the trick with the sheen is to cut the stone at an angle to the plane of the sheen- they were recommending like 20 degress to the plane. I shearched for the article again and could not find it- sorry- I'll keep searching and if I stumble across it I'll grab it
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 24, 2005 13:55:27 GMT -5
great cabs, Emerald! good luck with your silver course!
KD
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 13:55:37 GMT -5
Stefan thanks! I really appreciate your looking. If you ever find it, just send me an instant message so I know you've found it. No rush. I'm holding off on the rest of the moonstone till I figure out how to get better results. The pieces are small, so it's such a shame to keep experimenting and wasting the material. There really isn't much info about it on the net. If I ever figure it out, I'll try and photograph the process and send it to Mark for the site. Very pretty stuff...that's for sure! If that's the case though... the cut should be something like this?  The yellow lines are the normal sheen.... the red is the way to emphasize the light of the stone? Just guessing at this point, but it does make sense. The moonstone I have naturally is in rectangles, so it makes shifting the angle difficult at best. |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 24, 2005 14:10:36 GMT -5
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 24, 2005 14:13:10 GMT -5
BTW Yes I think you got the jest of it- I have some very low grade moonstone (very very very low grade) and that seems to be extent of the way the sheen shows!
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jun 24, 2005 14:30:55 GMT -5
love them all but the petoskey really jumps at me mainly because you are the 1st to show some polished to us. thanks for that emerald!
kim
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 15:24:29 GMT -5
Stefan the article is very helpful! I guess it all depends on what I'm going to use the moonstone for pendant/earrings or a ring. I cut the one above for a ring and thankfully, it's cut in a way that I think would be correct. So, when I look down at the ring... the "light" of the stone is on. It wouldn't work at all for a pendant.
Guess it all depends on the individual stone. I'll try to cut a pendant one next. It'll be interesting to see if I can get it to work....
Rocky...
A few months back, there was a discussion here on Petosky and was really quite anxious to work with it. I've really grown to like to work on "softer" stones. (Did alot of flourite) The petosky is very similar in that respect. (similar mohs) With the Petosky you find it has a definite "direction" to it. The lower left stone was cut horizontally....and it has a totally different look than the other 3 which were cut perpendicular to the fossil structure.
I will take some more photos to show you how nappy the stones look at first. Also, I think I saw Petosky for sale on Kingsley North.... If you're all interested.
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Post by Alice on Jun 24, 2005 16:50:59 GMT -5
that Petosky Stone is one cool rock!!!
Great job on all of them Emerald
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Jun 24, 2005 17:24:06 GMT -5
They're all beautiful, but I really like the Petrosky Stone and the Turritillo. How do you work the florite. I worked on two cabs and about ground it away. I can see it will take a very light touch. How do you polish it?
Trish
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 18:17:18 GMT -5
Trish,
If you have a lapidary unit, you can use it to shape and polish.
However, if you don't have access to one you can easily shape flourite with a dremel (keep the stone wet to prevent inhaling the dust) and you can hand-finish/polish them. I've found that an old pair of jeans works great! Cut the jeans into squares. Then use one for each grit.
Lay the jeans square on a hard surface/worktable.
Dampen the center of the square with water.
Sprinkle grit on the dampened area. (start with 60/90)
Rub all surfaces of whichever stone, either petosky or flourite on the jeans. You'll want to hit all the surfaces. Add more grit and water as needed.
When you think you have and like the shape you want and have removed any imperfections, wash your stone, fold the jean material and put in a baggy (mark the bag 60/90...you can reuse the jean square for another time)
Move to 120/220. Take a fresh jeans square, wet the center and add grit. You'll know when you need to add water & more grit. (You'll be working too hard!)
Lather/rinse/repeat till 600 grit.
With 1000, you can use a piece of jeans or possibly sweatshirt material. I hand-polished flourite this way. (I'll show you a half finished bracelet I did tomorrow. The center stone is Flourite and it was hand/shaped and hand polished with jeans!
Yeah, you will eat up flourite on your lapidary unit. It shapes like soft butter! I think the Petosky I have is just a bit harder. Dremel or lapidary is the way to go on the lower grits. You can get a high-shine either by hand or lapidary....just depends on the material at hand. I shaped and polished the petosky on my lapidary unit. (polished using sisa with a felt wheel)
Writing this quickly, so not sure if I'm being clear. Forgive me!
*waves*
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Jun 24, 2005 18:26:58 GMT -5
Thanks Emerald. That helps a lot. I used my Genie all the way through. I have several flourite slabs. This lavender flourite is really pretty. I'll try your method and see what I get.
Trish
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Jun 24, 2005 18:37:20 GMT -5
You can also tumble the preshaped flourite...cushion it with lots of pellets and only tumble with itself. (Nothing else) Hand-polish 1000 & polish.
It shapes faster than you would believe! (Goes in the size of a walnut...comes out the size of a pea) So check it OFTEN! I lost alot this way from fracturing, but the largest chunks did ok...
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Jun 24, 2005 20:10:48 GMT -5
All are sweet, but I'm an agate lover...very nice plume and lace. Susan
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cuervo73
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2005
Posts: 185
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Post by cuervo73 on Jun 24, 2005 22:26:00 GMT -5
Hi emerald, Those petoskies... how did you do the final shine/polish part? I have about 13-14 of those my officemate gave me to polish. [He's from MI] And, I tested one in the tumbler with agates in 120/220, and in 1 week, it wore it down alot.  I then found an article on the web about petoskies saying that they used some kind of gloss urethane sealant to make them look polished. ed |
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I then found an article on the web about petoskies saying that they used some kind of gloss urethane sealant to make them look polished. 
