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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 14:52:43 GMT -5
Once again, I was up until 1:00am last night working on these. It was so cold in the garage, I was shaking while buffing the last cab...but I'm no quitter! I justified it by telling myself the extra movement of my hands shaking was aiding the buffing process! LOL I crawled into bed but couldn't warm up, so I didn't get any sleep. I took these off the dop sticks around 4:30 this morning...and being a little tired, I completely forgot to bevel the bottom edges while they were still dopped. So, that got missed once again. Arghhhh. There's always next time because I'm not trying it by hand! LOL Here's the culprits: Jasper - Unknown collected down at the Cheyenne River. There's a lot of this type of jasper (I think it is) that's around this area. I've cut a bunch of pieces I've found, but this had the nicest innards. It's one of the harder (mohs-wise) I've worked. Fairburn Signer - Not quite a Fairburn Agate. This cab was about twice as long, but a pit developed in the edge, so I had to keep grinding it down to get past it. It's a pretty small cab! LOL Turritella Agate - I picked up quite a bit of this material and a lot of the pieces had fractures. So these two were some of the smaller pieces I had to work with. I just wanted to give this material a try. I do love it so far.  Stone Canyon Jasper - I picked up some tumbling rough from stephan awhile back. (Thanks Stephan!). I was looking at it the other day and couldn't see the sense in tumbling a couple of the nicer pieces. So, I slabbed them on the trim saw. I have another five on dop sticks ready to go...maybe tonight! LOL. I really love this material! As always, thanks for taking a gander and critiques are always welcomed.                |
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Post by stephan on Jan 7, 2021 15:38:11 GMT -5
Dang! I'm gonna say it again. You have skills! A lot of natural ability, and quick learning. Those look nice jasoninsd. Glad the SCJ is working out for you. I've made a couple of cabs from that same material. Still waiting on my friend to slab a bigger rock (fingers crossed that it doesn't come apart). |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jan 7, 2021 15:46:00 GMT -5
That turritella sure is interesting. I like the patterns in both, but especially how you framed the long skinny one against the grain of the shell. It’s cool to see the pattern on the side, too. Well done!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 15:51:32 GMT -5
Dang! I'm gonna say it again. You have skills! A lot of natural ability, and quick learning. Those look nice jasoninsd. Glad the SCJ is working out for you. I've made a couple of cabs from that same material. Still waiting on my friend to slab a bigger rock (fingers crossed that it doesn't come apart). Thanks Stephan! I'm chomping at the bit to cab those other five...and I've got one other slab of it which I think came from Mel. I think you're gonna love the looks of that one too. It's not cut yet, but I've got the shapes drawn on it. I saw that fracture appearing in that first cab and got nervous, but I do believe it's a healed fracture as I can't feel anything and it appears to be just fine. I seriously can't thank you enough for sending me this material. It's fun to work and I think it's stunningly beautiful. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 15:55:22 GMT -5
That turritella sure is interesting. I like the patterns in both, but especially how you framed the long skinny one against the grain of the shell. It’s cool to see the pattern on the side, too. Well done! Thanks Brian. Honestly, I lucked out with the framing of that one. It was a long skinny piece that had fractured off the slab I had cut. I didn't want to waste it, so I picked the best spot out of the 2" piece and this is the section I ended up with...so, I can't take all the credit...or any of it really! LOL I've got a bunch of this material and look forward to cabbing a lot more of it. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 7, 2021 16:07:09 GMT -5
Nice! I like stone canyon, too. But, I think I like your turritella even better.
Cabbing in the cold is the worst!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 16:24:21 GMT -5
Nice! I like stone canyon, too. But, I think I like your turritella even better.
Cabbing in the cold is the worst!
Thanks Tela! I know I already said it, but I really look forward to working more of that Turritella. I love the contrasting dark brown with the white/off-white Elimia Tenera (the actual name of the fossilized snail). I definitely felt like I froze my toes off last night! LOL  |
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Post by miket on Jan 7, 2021 16:25:31 GMT -5
Very nice, Jason! I like them all, but especially the turritella- you knocked it out of the park. Just curious, is the signer from your monster? |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 16:33:14 GMT -5
Very nice, Jason! I like them all, but especially the turritella- you knocked it out of the park. Just curious, is the signer from your monster? Thanks Mike! No, it's from a different one. I cut two other signers in half and was able to get a slab out of each one. This one is fractured to a small degree, but held together. The other one, I tried to cut a pre-form and it just fractured all apart. It would not hold together. I'm afraid if I try to make a cab out of the slab I took from the monster, it's going to fracture all apart as well. When (far down the road from right now) I get into stabilizing, I'm going to try and stabilize the slab before I cut out the preform. There's some really nice banding in the slab I took from the monster and I really do want to make a cab out of that section. |
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Post by mohs on Jan 7, 2021 17:06:05 GMT -5
sides are seven heaven cool jase ya got eagle  of the angle of that dang on the slant of the lap plus I see a shy shell heart peaking out from the side  makes me want to get try one of those machines dopp'n ! are you using super glue? I always heard wax and cold could frost the holding power.... in other words frustrating... |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 17:57:44 GMT -5
sides are seven heaven cool jase ya got eagle  of the angle of that dang on the slant of the lap plus I see a shy shell heart peaking out from the side makes me want to get try one of those machines dopp'n ! are you using super glue? I always heard wax and cold could frost the holding power.... in other words frustrating... Thanks Ed! I started marking the girdle line awhile back as well as using a lighted magnifying lens over the top of the cabber. Both of those helped enormously! There's several slabs that have shells I've seen that look like a heart from one angle (I thought of you when I saw them from this angle) and a hiney if you turn it upside down (thoughts turned to my wife at that point!)! LOL I'm still using the super-glue. I do like it. I've figured out a seemingly ok method to getting them off the dop. I like using the metal dop stick as it's easier to remove the cab, but it's colder to hold onto right now...so during the winter months I'll likely stick with the sticks! |
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Post by mohs on Jan 7, 2021 18:06:47 GMT -5
Ha ha jase Ya knohs what mohs always says: Dop, cab, roll softly and stick w/a big stick  Mechanic of the slant Is going to make you a natural on cabbing grinding wheels That in your future The wheels will give you other angle options But that slant experience is rocking! |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 18:26:22 GMT -5
Ha ha jase Ya knohs what mohs always says: Dop, cab, roll softly and stick w/a big stick  Mechanic of the slant Is going to make you a natural on cabbing grinding wheels That in your future The wheels will give you other angle options But that slant experience is rocking! Funny that you bring that up. For the last couple nights I've been grinding, I've been pondering the differences between a wheeled cabbing machine and a flat lap (slant cabber). I can see (in my near-empty noodle) how working a cab on a cabbing machine would seemingly be easier as you're only working a single point on the cab at a time. With the flat lap, I'm forced to work a larger area of the cab, with no way around it. It's easier for me to work a circular shaped cab than it is a cab with any straight edges. I'm forced to grind the entire straight edge at the same time whereas with a circular wheel on a cabbing machine, someone only works a "single point" along the straight edge at one time. It's easier for me to maintain an exact straight edge, but getting there is a lot more work. If any of that makes sense... |
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Post by mohs on Jan 7, 2021 19:20:25 GMT -5
If any of that makes sense... O I capice jase in crafting and grinding all types of various forms of abrasives, machinery, tooling have there niche and, become the grinders delight Fundamentals such as Angle, elbow room & light are all necessary rites Endlessly fascinating,,, |
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Post by mohs on Jan 7, 2021 19:39:11 GMT -5
and I got to say that some serious slant swirling on the big stick  those forms turt oval w/ slant gird and the rectangle smooth cornering double thumbs uP! |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 19:52:14 GMT -5
If any of that makes sense... O I capice jase in crafting and grinding all types of various forms of abrasives, machinery, tooling have there niche and, become the grinders delight Fundamentals such as Angle, elbow room & light are all necessary rites Endlessly fascinating,,, I hear ya! Problem I have is every time I see or think of a new technique it requires a different tool or machine...of course I don't really see a problem with that, but my wife is starting to get suspicios! LOL and I got to say that some serious slant swirling on the big stick  those forms turt oval w/ slant gird and the rectangle smooth cornering double thumbs uP! I really appreciate that Ed! I've got a long ways to go just yet, but I'm happy with the progress. I'm learning something new or picking up on the "how to's" of a certain technique often enough that I'm happy with it. Like the other night, I realized I could feel the slight uneven points on the dome if I held the dop with a VERY light grip while the cab was getting ground on the 180 grit wheel. It came across as a very very slight "bump", but if I paid close enough attention, I could feel the surface of the dome smoothing out while it eliminated the "bumps"... |
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Post by lpl on Jan 7, 2021 20:15:07 GMT -5
Those are indeed a magnificent seven...well done Jason! They are excellent.
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Post by Mel on Jan 7, 2021 20:25:12 GMT -5
Nice work!!! Curious to see more.
Good reminder that I need to start using my equipment.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 7, 2021 21:14:47 GMT -5
Those are indeed a magnificent seven...well done Jason! They are excellent. Thanks John! I'm inching closer and closer to feeling comfortable enough to work that Kaleidoscope Prism Stone. Nice work!!! Curious to see more. Good reminder that I need to start using my equipment. Thanks Mel! You need to get off that new slab saw and get to cabbin'!   I thought I might try and cab those other five Stone Canyon's tonight, but I got such a chill last night, I'm reluctant to go out there and work in the high 20's temps tonight. Thankfully I'm not on a time schedule for these! LOL (I would, but it's hard to cab out there dressed like Ralphie's little brother in A Christmas Story! LOL)  |
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Post by mohs on Jan 7, 2021 21:30:16 GMT -5
yep that when the heartbreak start, fella jase !  inclement weather makes for miserable nose2grindstohn & it last a long time too! Ha Ha especially being this is your first season doubly difficult when I first started trying to master the heart I could only hobby on weekends off from work Early to rise Saturdays late into the night Sundays obsessional even anyway pal keep on the best ya can... |
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