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Post by holajonathan on Sept 28, 2021 14:19:32 GMT -5
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Post by miket on Sept 28, 2021 14:31:41 GMT -5
Fantastic, hard to pick a favorite!
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 481
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Post by hypodactylus on Sept 28, 2021 16:32:35 GMT -5
I love me some Utah moss agates! And Mozambique agates! And Brazilian agates!.....Well, I guess I just like most agates! 😁
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Sept 28, 2021 16:44:59 GMT -5
Beautiful cabs! The peanut obsidian is my favorite.  |
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller 
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,641 
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Post by RWA3006 on Sept 28, 2021 16:53:24 GMT -5
Nice collection and I'm glad there was a keeper I sent.
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Post by knave on Sept 28, 2021 17:14:49 GMT -5
Oh my!!! So shiny and wonderful
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Post by holajonathan on Sept 28, 2021 19:10:22 GMT -5
Nice collection and I'm glad there was a keeper I sent. I liked that piece of red moss enough that I already cut 4 cabs from it. They all look like the one in the photo, just different shapes, so I thought one was enough to post here. The moss has a certain depth to it that is nicer in person than in the photo. Took a good shine as well. |
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Post by holajonathan on Sept 28, 2021 19:13:56 GMT -5
I love me some Utah moss agates! And Mozambique agates! And Brazilian agates!.....Well, I guess I just like most agates! 😁 I hear ya. The Brazilian was kind of a dud. I had hoped that the agate around the black circle would be lighter / clearer once polished, so that the black center was floating in the middle. It's didn't turn out that way. But I like to post photos of all cabs that I complete, not just the good ones. At the very least, others might learn something about what not to do. |
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Post by knave on Sept 28, 2021 19:31:32 GMT -5
What machine, wheels, and polish?
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catskillrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,270
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Post by catskillrocks on Sept 28, 2021 20:07:54 GMT -5
Some great stones with a liquid
polish. The first one is my
favorite, a perfect finish.
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 28, 2021 20:42:00 GMT -5
That Botswana is flat-out gorgeous...but that Peanut Obsidian is absurdly fantastic!  |
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Post by holajonathan on Sept 28, 2021 21:48:05 GMT -5
Some great stones with a liquid polish. The first one is my favorite, a perfect finish. My favorite too. The Botswana agates are a little chippy and fracture prone, but they take a magnificent shine. Right up there with Montana agates. |
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Post by holajonathan on Sept 28, 2021 22:02:52 GMT -5
That Botswana is flat-out gorgeous...but that Peanut Obsidian is absurdly fantastic! The Bots take some patience to do well (as you know) but when they turn out it's worth it. I've cut a lot of them, cabbed the best 10%, and tumbled the rest. With the peanut obsidian, the brown lines are super soft and undercut horribly. And the black part is fractured and soft in spots as well. Nevertheless, the flashy orbs steal the show and I am not bothered by the undercutting and fractures. I was going to try to stabilize the slabs or completed cabs, but I am starting to think it's not worth it. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 28, 2021 22:05:09 GMT -5
That Botswana is flat-out gorgeous...but that Peanut Obsidian is absurdly fantastic! The Bots take some patience to do well (as you know) but when they turn out it's worth it. I've cut a lot of them, cabbed the best 10%, and tumbled the rest. With the peanut obsidian, the brown lines are super soft and undercut horribly. And the black part is fractured and soft in spots as well. Nevertheless, the flashy orbs steal the show and I am not bothered by the undercutting and fractures. I was going to try to stabilize the slabs or completed cabs, but I am starting to think it's not worth it. You're right about the orbs stealing the show! I never noticed the fractures or undercutting! |
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fencejumper
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2021
Posts: 441
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Post by fencejumper on Sept 28, 2021 22:18:49 GMT -5
Killer
Yhe peanut gets my vote!
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Post by holajonathan on Sept 29, 2021 2:13:53 GMT -5
knave Here is my current setup / process. I think it's a winner in terms of speed and results: Step 1: Cut preform on trim saw and shape preform on 8" flat lap with 60 or 80 grit diamond disc. Flat lap grinds faster than wheels. Discs are cheap, so I work them hard. Step 2: Fine tune preform shape and cut dome on 8" Covington grinder with 80 grit and 220 grit sintered wheels from Kingsley North. This machine gets me through the hard wheels twice as fast as grinding on the Genie. The Kingsley sintered wheels are great. They work as well as Inland wheels costing more than twice as much. (I have an Inland sintered wheel, so my comparison is justified.) And the diamond layer is 6mm thick, unlike 3mm for the Inland. I lightly dress the sintered wheels often because I'd rather them grind fast for a few years than grind slowly for the next 30 years. I have no patience for spending a half hour on the 80 grit wheel.  Step 3: My Genie is setup with resin wheels only with these grits: Left arbor 140 280 600 Right arbor: 1200 3000 8000 140 resin quickly removes scratches from the 220 hard wheel and smoothes out the dome. Even though 140>220, the 140 resin is less aggressive and scratches much less than the 220 hard. On the Genie, most of my time is spent on the 140 and 280 resin wheels. If I do things right, I can't feel scratches with my fingernail after the 280 resin wheel, at which point I run through the last 4 resin wheels quickly. With resin wheels only on the Genie, I can cab all day without cleaning out the pans -- only adding some water once in a while. Step 4: I do a final polish on a flat lap with 0.3 micron AO on rawhide. Or I throw a cab or two in the Lot-O tumbler with ceramic media and the same AO polish. Sometimes I do both. This sounds like a lot of machines and steps to make a cab, but adding more steps / wheels / machines has cut in half the time it takes me to make a cab. Most importantly, I never get bored using this process, and I am happy with the results.
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Post by knave on Sept 29, 2021 5:05:49 GMT -5
knave Here is my current setup / process. I think it's a winner in terms of speed and results: Step 1: Cut preform on trim saw and shape preform on 8" flat lap with 60 or 80 grit diamond disc. Flat lap grinds faster than wheels. Discs are cheap, so I work them hard. Step 2: Fine tune preform shape and cut dome on 8" Covington grinder with 80 grit and 220 grit sintered wheels from Kingsley North. This machine gets me through the hard wheels twice as fast as grinding on the Genie. The Kingsley sintered wheels are great. They work as well as Inland wheels costing more than twice as much. (I have an Inland sintered wheel, so my comparison is justified.) And the diamond layer is 6mm thick, unlike 3mm for the Inland. I lightly dress the sintered wheels often because I'd rather them grind fast for a few years than grind slowly for the next 30 years. I have no patience for spending a half hour on the 80 grit wheel. Step 3: My Genie is setup with resin wheels only with these grits: Left arbor 140 280 600 Right arbor: 1200 3000 8000 140 resin quickly removes scratches from the 220 hard wheel and smoothes out the dome. Even though 140>220, the 140 resin is less aggressive and scratches much less than the 220 hard. On the Genie, most of my time is spent on the 140 and 280 resin wheels. If I do things right, I can't feel scratches with my fingernail after the 280 resin wheel, at which point I run through the last 4 resin wheels quickly. With resin wheels only on the Genie, I can cab all day without cleaning out the pans -- only adding some water once in a while. Step 4: I do a final polish on a flat lap with 0.3 micron AO on rawhide. Or I throw a cab or two in the Lot-O tumbler with ceramic media and the same AO polish. Sometimes I do both. This sounds like a lot of machines and steps to make a cab, but adding more steps / wheels / machines has cut in half the time it takes me to make a cab. Most importantly, I never get bored using this process, and I am happy with the results. , wow, thanks for taking the time to do a detailed report like this. Wonderful setup! Complete with brands, reviews, tips and tricks! Very insightful, thanks again. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 29, 2021 7:57:02 GMT -5
Another beautiful shiny set! My fave is the peanut obsidian. It's one of my favorites materials.
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Post by knave on Sept 29, 2021 8:17:50 GMT -5
rockjunquieWith Jonathan’s permission of course, I’d like to see that post in the cabbing thread. Very informative.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 29, 2021 8:48:21 GMT -5
rockjunquie With Jonathan’s permission of course, I’d like to see that post in the cabbing thread. Very informative.
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