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Post by stardiamond on Sept 23, 2020 19:31:41 GMT -5
I've made two pairs of earrings; Owyhee and Blue Biggs. I gave away the Owyhee to a repeat customer and the BB recently sold. When I started selling cabs, I didn't know what to expect. A high percentage of sales have been large orders to silversmiths. One repeat customer asked for earrings. Earrings are a challenge for me because they are smaller than I usually work, need to reasonably match and the effort required doesn't match what they can sell for.
On the plus side, I can use material that doesn't have a suitable pattern for a cab and it is the same material I have used to make cabs.
The challenge will be to figure out a way to do a decent job quickly.
The biggest mistake I've had so far is on the trim saw. I tried to match patterns and drew the shapes too close to each other and botched the trimming. My new approach will be to match the material to cabs I've made or will make and leave plenty of distance where I mark the shapes. They will all be 23x18 pears from the gold template. I will then rough grind the shapes leaving some room around the markings.
Next step will be to stack the preforms with the each half of the pair on opposite ends. I'll glue them all together and try to grind the shape to the glued together piece through 325. I was thinking of starting with 4 pairs. Dome, sand and polish both ends, freeze and pop off the cabs on the ends and repeat the process. It might not work, but I'm going to try. The stack will act like a dop. The part I'm unsure of is my ability to make an even pear shaped cylinder. Fat ovals might be easier, but I'm going to try the pears.
Tomorrow, I will mark, trim, rough grind and glue. If the cylinder approach doesn't go well, I can take it apart and do the cabs in a more traditional way.
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Post by pauls on Sept 23, 2020 21:18:02 GMT -5
Faceted Ear ring stones are even worse, two identical size faceted stones at several hours each, people just can't see the effort and skill required to do that and wont pay what they are worth.
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 24, 2020 12:11:27 GMT -5
Preforms trimmed with the saw and a few fractures to recover from. Owyhee, Horse Canyon, Willow Creek, Blue Mountain.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 24, 2020 14:23:57 GMT -5
Rough ground and glued stack. Not sure if I left enough room. I will grind the stack tomorrow. The rock had little value so the experiment costs time.   |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 24, 2020 15:57:00 GMT -5
I did some work on the stack. Hard to figure out if I'm saving time. Figuring out the grinding pattern; vertical, horizontal. I'm able to do a better job of lining up the points and matching the shapes. Tomorrow I'll refine the stack and cab the outside ends.  |
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 24, 2020 16:47:11 GMT -5
Interesting thread to follow.....  |
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Post by mohs on Sept 24, 2020 17:28:56 GMT -5
yes this interesting Stephen
what type adhesive did you use ?
thanks
Ed
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 24, 2020 17:36:33 GMT -5
Super glue, same as I dop with. I hope I will just be able to freeze and pop off the cabbed ends with a razor blade and something to tap it with.
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Post by mohs on Sept 24, 2020 17:45:35 GMT -5
interesting
I wasn't aware that super glue popped off when froze
I use combination of Elmer cement
and just a little super glue for the heart halves
carburetor cleaner spray or little acetone applied
had success getting them apart
pretty easily
good experiment
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Sept 25, 2020 9:11:15 GMT -5
Interesting way to approach matched pairs.
One way we were taught to do it was to use a thick slab, grind the shape to what you want and then slice the slab in two. Viola! A perfectly book matched pair.
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 25, 2020 12:10:13 GMT -5
Smoothed out the stack and cabbed the ends. Next step is getting them off the stack. Working both earrings at the same time was very helpful; 80 grit,flip,220 grit, flip through polishing. I don't think I could match as well one at a time.   |
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Post by mohs on Sept 25, 2020 13:14:03 GMT -5
an excellent gang style way to pre-forn
excellent
and ya
get loose
mohs
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 25, 2020 14:28:19 GMT -5
I got one off and the other will need acetone. One of the bottoms was chipped, so I disassembled the stack so I could flip it. I'll work on the small stack first the same way as the original stack without a dop. Freeze and pop or soak in acetone later. I'll put the 5 preform stack back in the freezer and hopefully separate the two preforms as a group from the left.   |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Sept 25, 2020 16:14:24 GMT -5
At this point, what advantage do you see to shaping a glued stack of four pair rather than shaping four individually glued pairs? Or compared to hummingbirdstones' sawing a pair from one thick shape? It doesn't seem like the stack would have a time advantage. |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 25, 2020 17:26:53 GMT -5
The problem I have now is the glue. I couldn't separate the 5 preform stack, so I am soaking it in acetone. I have 4 pairs of matching shape earrings with square edges and two pair will need to done on dop. Since I can't snap them off, the best I can do two at a time with double sided tape or water glass.
I don't have the skill or equipment to accurately split a preform. If I could accurately mark the top of the pair and the bottom of the pair, two at a time would be fine. The approach I took got 4 matching pairs but took some time.
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 26, 2020 12:19:46 GMT -5
I cabbed the short stack on the left. It came apart easily after freezing.  I ground 2 more pair the regular way and one is dopped. The 5 preform stack came apart in the acetone. I can work on the one pair and there is enough a gap to get a razor blade so they should pop apart after cabbing.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 26, 2020 14:37:48 GMT -5
I did the 2 preform stack and was able to separate with freeze and a razor blade.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 26, 2020 15:28:50 GMT -5
Two soaks in acetone. I ran razor blade around the space between the cab and a preform to get more penetration but the cab separated. I have one two cab stack left that I will be able to separate when I've cabbed both sides. So I should get 4 pairs from the 8 cab stack. I've got a pair of Owyhee through 280 soft done the regular way and need to square the edges so I'll finish those tomorrow and the remaining pair or the original 8 preform stack. I'm also working on a Morgan Hill regular size and a Blue Dream.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 27, 2020 12:41:18 GMT -5
I completed the fourth pair from the stack on the left and a similar pair done the regular way on the right.  I will need to dop the pair on the left and go back to 220 hard. This Owyhee is very hard and needs a dop to get it smooth. It has a bunch of flat spots. Both pairs did but I was able to correct the dopped pair. What I learned using the stacking method. 1. Use the least amount possible of superglue. 2. I like the shapes better with the stacked method. 3. I like being able to do a pair back to back without a dop but really hard material needs to be dopped. 4. To get what I want from a stack two pairs would be adequate. I'm still deciding if I want to pursue the stack approach. I have 3 more pairs of trim saw preforms and one is ground and ready to be dopped. |
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Post by mohs on Sept 27, 2020 13:00:07 GMT -5
gang style pre-forn !
I like it
and ya got loose
knohjs what your saying about flat spots
I'm going to start employing some dops
for smoother domes and some fine polishing
occasionally
think your onto a pre -form path to calibration
right on !
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