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Post by scienceteacher79 on Nov 20, 2020 17:02:34 GMT -5
In late summer, I had stopped at Idaho Rock Shop in Gooding, ID to visit Tony and picked some obsidian. He has huge piles of different kinds in weathered bags. He told me this material came from Davis Creek, CA. Banded and Rainbow obsidian were mixed together in the pile. I though I was getting gray sheen obsidian. I should have taken pictures of the rough before cutting, but I did not to my disappointment. Three fist sized pieces yielded the following pictures. As a relative newbie to cutting, I was sure how to orient my rocks for cuts or to really know what to expect inside. I was very pleased with these finds. Thanks, Tony! I am excited to tumble these in the near future. Any tips in orienting rocks to cut would be appreciated. Pictures are taken wet but not polished or tumbled in any way.
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 766
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Post by lordsorril on Nov 20, 2020 20:20:04 GMT -5
Nice stuff! I couldn't tell you how to cut it though. I got my hands on some Davis Creek obsidian that I have been tumbling-looks almost identical to yours...good solid pieces. I am currently running Corundum in Matrix ('Crystal Ruby') with banded obsidian from Davis Creek to see if I can polish both simultaneously in my vibe. I know I can do either separately, but, can I do both of them together? I will probably have to shoot a video of the cleanout in case I succeed...or else no one would believe me.
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 20, 2020 20:42:01 GMT -5
Congrats on the score! Those really are some remarkably beautiful pieces! I wish I could help you with your orientation question, but I'm a newbie myself when it comes to cutting slabs. I'll be curious to see what some more experienced people have to say. I'm going to guess the answer will be...experience...and the more you have, the better you'll become at "reading" the piece and you'll have a better idea which way to orient...
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Nov 21, 2020 8:15:35 GMT -5
Those are lovely obsidian pieces. I'm still learning to cut specimens myself but here's what I do. I try to look at the patterns and imagine how they would continue into the rock. Then I cut the rock to try and preserve or expose what caught my eye. Sometimes a little test shave exposes something totally unexpected and better. So don't be afraid to shave a window on a side to see.
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