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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 10, 2021 22:14:17 GMT -5
Here's some cabs I finished up today. The first three pictures are Botswana Agates. These can be a bear to grind... The 4th picture is Green Moss Agate that I picked up at at the Fairburn Agate and Rock Swap a couple weeks ago. I have several pounds of this stuff. The 5th picture is Plasma Agate that I got from miket awhile back. I love the looks of this material!  Pictures 6-7 are Dino Bone. There is some slight undercutting...but I love the colors in this stuff. I picked up a huge chunk of this at the auction in Crawford, NE last month.        |
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Post by miket on Jul 10, 2021 22:29:32 GMT -5
All are beautiful, but those bots....
Fantastic work, Jason!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 10, 2021 22:36:32 GMT -5
All are beautiful, but those bots.... Fantastic work, Jason! Thanks Mike!  I've been putting off working the Botswana Agates because they can be a pain in the initial grind. But I think I figured out something doing these three. I use the outer 3/4" of the disk where it's rarely used, so the diamonds aren't as worn. As soon as it starts to feel like it's not grinding like it was to start, I run a red brick over the disk to clean out the diamonds. I believe what is happening, is the ground off Botswana is "clogging up" the diamonds on the disk and once I use the red brick, it cleans off the residue, allowing the diamonds to cut again. (If that makes sense...) If this keeps working, I'll work some of these more often. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 10, 2021 22:46:31 GMT -5
Excellent cabs, Jason! Have to agree with Mike -- the Bots are Oooh-la-la!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 10, 2021 22:51:13 GMT -5
Excellent cabs, Jason! Have to agree with Mike -- the Bots are Oooh-la-la! Thanks Robin! Right!?! There really is something special about Botswanas! I had seen a bunch of them being posted as tumbles and love seeing them polished up that way...so I just had to try my hand at cabbing them. And I'll agree. ME LIKEY! |
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Post by mohs on Jul 11, 2021 0:21:59 GMT -5
well done stones jase really nice your really honed in as much as like them all quartz river running thru the verde jungle to the sea  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 11, 2021 7:19:24 GMT -5
well done stones jase really nice your really honed in as much as like them all quartz river running thru the verde jungle to the sea Thanks Ed! I just LOVED your description of the Green Moss Agate! I see it! |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 11, 2021 8:07:06 GMT -5
Beautiful bots. You did them proud. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jul 11, 2021 8:07:30 GMT -5
well done stones jase really nice your really honed in as much as like them all quartz river running thru the verde jungle to the sea Thanks Ed! I just LOVED your description of the Green Moss Agate! I see it! And there is even a little boat chugging along on the bottom third of the quartz river. Must be a steamboat because there is a little white puff of smoke coming up from the middle of the boat. The rest are gorgeous, too! Bots are near the top of my favorites list because they almost always look amazing. That dino bone is beautiful too! |
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Post by miket on Jul 11, 2021 8:34:13 GMT -5
All are beautiful, but those bots.... Fantastic work, Jason! Thanks Mike! I've been putting off working the Botswana Agates because they can be a pain in the initial grind. But I think I figured out something doing these three. I use the outer 3/4" of the disk where it's rarely used, so the diamonds aren't as worn. As soon as it starts to feel like it's not grinding like it was to start, I run a red brick over the disk to clean out the diamonds. I believe what is happening, is the ground off Botswana is "clogging up" the diamonds on the disk and once I use the red brick, it cleans off the residue, allowing the diamonds to cut again. (If that makes sense...) If this keeps working, I'll work some of these more often.  |
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Post by stephan on Jul 11, 2021 10:42:49 GMT -5
Wow! Those are all incredible. I love the Botswanas. Very striking. Another to add to the list. Ok, they were already there, but are now getting promoted.
I’m always amazed at the variety that’s present in Dino bone.
How’d the plasma hold up? That stuff can be a little unstable.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 11, 2021 18:37:39 GMT -5
Beautiful bots. You did them proud. Thanks Tela! It sounds like I need to move the rest of the batch up a little further on the "to-do" list! Thanks Ed! I just LOVED your description of the Green Moss Agate! I see it! And there is even a little boat chugging along on the bottom third of the quartz river. Must be a steamboat because there is a little white puff of smoke coming up from the middle of the boat. The rest are gorgeous, too! Bots are near the top of my favorites list because they almost always look amazing. That dino bone is beautiful too! Thanks Brian! The color on the Dino Bone is a lot more vibrant than I thought it was going to be. It really turned out to be a sweet golden brown. Wow! Those are all incredible. I love the Botswanas. Very striking. Another to add to the list. Ok, they were already there, but are now getting promoted. I’m always amazed at the variety that’s present in Dino bone. How’d the plasma hold up? That stuff can be a little unstable. Thanks Stephan! I had one smallish rock and got three useable slabs/slabbettes off it. This cab was the only cab I could get off that one slabbette. The cab itself is very stable. There was a little pitting in that quartz area on the right side of the cab, so I had to thin that spot a little more than I would have liked just to get under the pit. I really do love this the looks of this material. I have another slab of it with Cinnabar, but I don't think it has the variety of different material quite like this piece. |
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Post by stephan on Jul 11, 2021 21:01:54 GMT -5
Wow! Those are all incredible. I love the Botswanas. Very striking. Another to add to the list. Ok, they were already there, but are now getting promoted. I’m always amazed at the variety that’s present in Dino bone. How’d the plasma hold up? That stuff can be a little unstable. Thanks Stephan! I had one smallish rock and got three useable slabs/slabbettes off it. This cab was the only cab I could get off that one slabbette. The cab itself is very stable. There was a little pitting in that quartz area on the right side of the cab, so I had to thin that spot a little more than I would have liked just to get under the pit. I really do love this the looks of this material. I have another slab of it with Cinnabar, but I don't think it has the variety of different material quite like this piece. Alright, someone’s gonna say it, so it might as well be me… cinnabar is mercury ore. Realistically though, it is about 1000x LESS toxic than methyl mercury*, the most toxic form. Mask probably isn’t needed, as long as you’re using plenty of water. That will be really key, as you’ll want to avoid getting the rock hot. It’s not a huge risk, especially for a couple of cabs, but avoid licking your fingers, and avoid watering your tomatoes with the slurry. * Absorption by skin or ingestion is low for cinnabar and elemental mercury. Inhalation of the native mercury, and even more so, methyl mercury vapors (not dust) is the most efficient delivery system. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 11, 2021 21:38:20 GMT -5
Thanks Stephan! I had one smallish rock and got three useable slabs/slabbettes off it. This cab was the only cab I could get off that one slabbette. The cab itself is very stable. There was a little pitting in that quartz area on the right side of the cab, so I had to thin that spot a little more than I would have liked just to get under the pit. I really do love this the looks of this material. I have another slab of it with Cinnabar, but I don't think it has the variety of different material quite like this piece. Alright, someone’s gonna say it, so it might as well be me… cinnabar is mercury ore. Realistically though, it is about 1000x LESS toxic than methyl mercury*, the most toxic form. Mask probably isn’t needed, as long as you’re using plenty of water. That will be really key, as you’ll want to avoid getting the rock hot. It’s not a huge risk, especially for a couple of cabs, but avoid licking your fingers, and avoid watering your tomatoes with the slurry. * Absorption by skin or ingestion is low for cinnabar and elemental mercury. Inhalation of the native mercury, and even more so, methyl mercury vapors (not dust) is the most efficient delivery system. Thank you very much for the reminder on this. I was aware of the inherent risks with Cinnabar...but I was also reminded as I was looking up the different materials in Plasma Agate. I was looking to see if it contained Copper as I was hoping to use it for the cab contest this month - but found it it has Nickel. I do however have a different material that I KNOW contains Copper...and will see about that one. Very seriously, it's really nice to know you've got our back when it comes to the safety aspects. |
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Post by stephan on Jul 11, 2021 22:13:23 GMT -5
Alright, someone’s gonna say it, so it might as well be me… cinnabar is mercury ore. Realistically though, it is about 1000x LESS toxic than methyl mercury*, the most toxic form. Mask probably isn’t needed, as long as you’re using plenty of water. That will be really key, as you’ll want to avoid getting the rock hot. It’s not a huge risk, especially for a couple of cabs, but avoid licking your fingers, and avoid watering your tomatoes with the slurry. * Absorption by skin or ingestion is low for cinnabar and elemental mercury. Inhalation of the native mercury, and even more so, methyl mercury vapors (not dust) is the most efficient delivery system. Thank you very much for the reminder on this. I was aware of the inherent risks with Cinnabar...but I was also reminded as I was looking up the different materials in Plasma Agate. I was looking to see if it contained Copper as I was hoping to use it for the cab contest this month - but found it it has Nickel. I do however have a different material that I KNOW contains Copper...and will see about that one. Very seriously, it's really nice to know you've got our back when it comes to the safety aspects. Ha ha. My pleasure. I like to help out and give people realistic info. And, speaking of… nickel and copper can both be toxic… the severity depending on the form. I don’t have any copper-containing rocks, so I’ll probably skip. Skipped last month, too. Didn’t want to want to enter yet another Stone Canyon, and I misplaced the Trinidad jasper I was going to use. I found last weekend, of course. |
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