standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325 
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Post by standles on Mar 18, 2021 8:57:32 GMT -5
Morning all:
I am looking for recommendations on a stone to cut into a highly polished cabochon for a friend of mine. She is going through a rough bout and I thought a gift would cheer her up and provide some joy in the midst of the strain.
Basically I am looking for a stone that is blue and can be cut and polsihed into a nice cab. I'll then try my hand at metalsmithing a mount for it out of silver.
I had thought about Sodalite or blue chalcedony however I have not had luck with sodalite polishing up well and never used chalcedony.
I could go searching instead of asking here but with your opinions come the experience of working with them.
Anyway suggestion would be appreciated.
Thanks, Steven
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 18, 2021 9:00:48 GMT -5
I wouldn't give up on sodalite. I have never had a problem polishing it. It comes from so many different places. Maybe you just need to try some different rough.
Blue lace agate and angelite polish up well. They are baby blue. Angelite is very soft whereas the blue lace is hard. There is also lapis.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 18, 2021 9:11:56 GMT -5
I wouldn't give up on sodalite. I have never had a problem polishing it. It comes from so many different places. Maybe you just need to try some different rough.
Blue lace agate and angelite polish up well. They are baby blue. Angelite is very soft whereas the blue lace is hard. There is also lapis.
Thanks for the pointers. I have a few pieces (none big enough) of spotted lapis I can play with. I will see if I can find a slab or two of the others. Might go blue lace as right now I have a heavy hand. Need to develop that softer touch. lol... Steven |
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 18, 2021 9:14:54 GMT -5
I wouldn't give up on sodalite. I have never had a problem polishing it. It comes from so many different places. Maybe you just need to try some different rough.
Blue lace agate and angelite polish up well. They are baby blue. Angelite is very soft whereas the blue lace is hard. There is also lapis.
Thanks for the pointers. I have a few pieces (none big enough) of spotted lapis I can play with. I will see if I can find a slab or two of the others. Might go blue lace as right now I have a heavy hand. Need to develop that softer touch. lol... Steven Off the top of my head, I don't know if blue lace is actually agate. It seemed softer to me, however, it is till harder than, say, angelite or rhodo. |
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USMC15
Cave Dweller 
I feel like I just came out of the tumbler ...
Member since March 2021
Posts: 273
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Post by USMC15 on Mar 18, 2021 9:21:12 GMT -5
I like the lapis idea. If you get the right piece with the deep blue and silver. Magnificent! And I don't think it is soft so cabbing it should not be a problem for you with your "heavy hands" as you called them.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 18, 2021 9:36:34 GMT -5
Lapis has a 5-5.5 mohs. There's also blue Pietersite, Blue Mountain jasper and Turquoise to throw in the mix. Depends on the color blue you want, I guess.
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 18, 2021 10:07:06 GMT -5
Just throwing this out there, but Lapis Lace Onyx is a mohs 6.5-7. "As it happens, this gorgeous, stripy, supportive mineral is a blend of Scheelite, Dolomite and Calcite." That came from the following site - interesting read on the material: serendipitycrystals.co.uk/sheelite-lapis-lace/ |
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 18, 2021 12:04:36 GMT -5
OK, now a true agate onyx, which Lapis Lace onyx material is not, does have a mohs hardness of 6.5-7. However, dolomite is mohs is 3.5-4. calcite is about mohs 3, and scheelite, which is a common tungsten ore and not rare as the fru fru crystal site says, is mohs 5 at hardest. IMHO most soft stones like this should not be used on any jewelry that is going to get rubbed or abraded ie something with an exposed stone in a bracelet, as it will get scratched and dull rapidly requiring repolishing. Also as I understand it the blue is not even Lapis but just blue dolomite. Another of those super aggravatong trade name things.
Nicest blue I know is gem chrysocolla which is deep blue chalcedony. As mentioned above, blue pietersite is expensive too but gorgeous. Blue Tigers eyes ie Hawks eye is nice as is turquoise. African Blue Lace, which is an agate, is pale blue but easy to work and not as expensive as some of the other blue stones.
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 18, 2021 12:13:40 GMT -5
OK, now a true agate onyx, which Lapis Lace onyx material is not, does have a mohs hardness of 6.5-7. However, dolomite is mohs is 3.5-4. calcite is about mohs 3, and scheelite, which is a common tungsten ore and not rare as the fru fru crystal site says, is mohs 5 at hardest. IMHO most soft stones like this should not be used on any jewelry that is going to get rubbed or abraded ie something with an exposed stone in a bracelet, as it will get scratched and dull rapidly requiring repolishing. Also as I understand it the blue is not even Lapis but just blue dolomite. Another of those super aggravatong trade name things. Nicest blue I know is gem chrysocolla which is deep blue chalcedony. As mentioned above, blue pietersite is expensive too but gorgeous. Blue Tigers eyes ie Hawks eye is nice as is turquoise. African Blue Lace, which is an agate, is pale blue but easy to work and not as expensive as some of the other blue stones. This is why I shouldn't trust Google! Thanks for clarifying this Mel!  |
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Post by stephan on Mar 18, 2021 13:58:30 GMT -5
The blue lace agate I've used was hard enough.
Sodalite polishes fine for me, but is prone to chipping
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 18, 2021 14:05:49 GMT -5
I like the lapis idea. If you get the right piece with the deep blue and silver. Magnificent! And I don't think it is soft so cabbing it should not be a problem for you with your "heavy hands" as you called them. I will definately be looking for some lapis... Even if it is not for this I love the color. Lapis has a 5-5.5 mohs. There's also blue Pietersite, Blue Mountain jasper and Turquoise to throw in the mix. Depends on the color blue you want, I guess. thanks I saw some of the Blue mtn Jasper and they were very proud of it based on price  Turquoise is nice but not my favoite. I will have to look up the blue Pietersite as I had not heard of it before. Just throwing this out there, but Lapis Lace Onyx is a mohs 6.5-7. "As it happens, this gorgeous, stripy, supportive mineral is a blend of Scheelite, Dolomite and Calcite." That came from the following site - interesting read on the material: serendipitycrystals.co.uk/sheelite-lapis-lace/Thanks will add it to the list. OK, now a true agate onyx, which Lapis Lace onyx material is not, does have a mohs hardness of 6.5-7. However, dolomite is mohs is 3.5-4. calcite is about mohs 3, and scheelite, which is a common tungsten ore and not rare as the fru fru crystal site says, is mohs 5 at hardest. IMHO most soft stones like this should not be used on any jewelry that is going to get rubbed or abraded ie something with an exposed stone in a bracelet, as it will get scratched and dull rapidly requiring repolishing. Also as I understand it the blue is not even Lapis but just blue dolomite. Another of those super aggravatong trade name things. Nicest blue I know is gem chrysocolla which is deep blue chalcedony. As mentioned above, blue pietersite is expensive too but gorgeous. Blue Tigers eyes ie Hawks eye is nice as is turquoise. African Blue Lace, which is an agate, is pale blue but easy to work and not as expensive as some of the other blue stones. Great. I found a piece of african blue lace I liked and bought it. I will look blue tigerseye and see what I can find as I assume it has same chatoyance as golden tigereye. I have seen chrysocolla but most like low grade as while it was blue it was mixed with alot of matrix. More options to look for. Thanks! Blue topaz and sapphire come to mind for me regarding hardness and ability to take a polish. Hmm I just assumed those would be out of my price range. Will give them a look see as well. |
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 18, 2021 14:31:22 GMT -5
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Post by rmf on Mar 18, 2021 16:29:21 GMT -5
Most people like the light powder blue of Blue Lace Agate. It is a softer agate but beats the pants of angelite for hardness. It would be much more forgiving if you wire wrap. I also have seen a nice blue Chalcedony from Africa. Not much more expensive than Blue Lace but a nice lite solid blue tone. If you like sapphire go to a place that buys gold jewelry and see if they have stones removed from the jewelry. I have found linde stars and recut them where they were chipped.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 18, 2021 18:16:03 GMT -5
Sodalite is easy to cab if you treat it like opal. Easy on the pressure, heavy on the water. If you start getting a waxy like slurry coming off it your just about right on the pressure.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 18, 2021 20:55:28 GMT -5
That is some pretty stone. Might just have to get some of that whether I use it for this or not. Most people like the light powder blue of Blue Lace Agate. It is a softer agate but beats the pants of angelite for hardness. It would be much more forgiving if you wire wrap. I also have seen a nice blue Chalcedony from Africa. Not much more expensive than Blue Lace but a nice lite solid blue tone. If you like sapphire go to a place that buys gold jewelry and see if they have stones removed from the jewelry. I have found linde stars and recut them where they were chipped. Yes I am leaning towards the Blue Lace Agate. I saw several slabs and rough online I drooled over. Still lookiing for some blue chalcedony as well. Great tip on the removed stones. we have several gold buyers (dosen't every place now) and next time I am out will stop in a s ee what they have. Sodalite is easy to cab if you treat it like opal. Easy on the pressure, heavy on the water. If you start getting a waxy like slurry coming off it your just about right on the pressure. Well that explains my issues I guess. Referring back to my heavy hands comment i probably was pushing to hard and too little water cause it was chipping up a storm/ I discounted it as full of fractures since it came from a piece of tumbling rough. |
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 19, 2021 10:50:35 GMT -5
DECISION MADE (sort of) LOL
I have some blue lace agate, Blue Chalcedony, and a nice Sodalite slab coming. It will be one of these three. Once I get the rough in I will look and see which one speaks to me and go that route. Man I hope the blue lace speaks to me. *grin* I have also discovered that is is very easy to become rock poor. My monthly budget is hemorrhaging. Com on Lotto for the win!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 19, 2021 13:56:49 GMT -5
LOL Yea I went on a real buying spree about 10 years ago. There was a couple members here clearing out some estates they had purchased. I picked up like 10 boxes of material in less than 6 months. My wife has BANNED all boxes of rocks since then. Oh I sneak one in once in a while when she lets her guard down, but that doesn't happen often. Amazon has had some stuff (I do reviews for them in exchange for products) but it is usually geared more towards the "healing" community and often just so-so quality. On another note this represents my 13000 post. Yea I should probably spend more time work the rocks and less time giving my opinion!
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treadledad
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2021
Posts: 48
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Post by treadledad on Mar 22, 2021 9:29:36 GMT -5
Have you seen ocean picture stone? It's amazing the patterns that come out of it that look like an ocean scene.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 22, 2021 16:00:45 GMT -5
Have you seen ocean picture stone? It's amazing the patterns that come out of it that look like an ocean scene. Nope but i will go look it up. Thx |
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 22, 2021 16:04:16 GMT -5
The slab of blue lace i ordered came in. Now i dont want to cut it because its so pretty. Lol. It looks purple for some reason in pic but it is baby blue irl.  |
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Turquoise is nice but not my favoite. I will have to look up the blue Pietersite as I had not heard of it before.
