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Post by holajonathan on Oct 7, 2021 12:02:18 GMT -5
I'm a long way from my 30 minute per cab goal, but I cut these in a day. Today is a fingertip regrowth rest day. 1. Mexican crazy lacePerhaps my favorite cab to date. Parallax banding almost everywhere. Cutting the slab was the hardest part. Silcing through the orbs with a slab saw is tricky with small rough.    Unpolished slabs from the same piece of rough, cut in the other direction.  2. Mexican "laguna" lace
Some fractures in this one, but the areas with the best banding & colors are almost always like that.  3. Mexican "laguna" laceFrom another fractured slab. But I couldn't resist. Fractures got worse during polish on raw hide. I should have stopped after the 14,000 wheel. Those bubbly pink, orange, and red orbs get me every time.  4. Mexican crazy lace (Noriega lace)A more classic and classy lace pattern.  5. Mexican crazy lace (red lace)
The dark, matrix like areas undercut, but as far as undercutting goes, it is not very distracting visually. The bright red pattern in the bottom middle reminds me of a Teepee Canyon agate.  6. Montana Agate
A tumble ground into a cab. Tumbling Montana agate slablets is a great way to find the solid ones. Those that survive tumbling will usually not break when cabbed.   7. Montana agateThin (about 4mm), low dome, with sharp points. Nothing shines like a Montana agate.   8. Cheetah "agate" (jasper)The shape is just a little off on this one. Not my best cheetah.  9. Royal Imperial Jasper cab-babiesA couple of small RIJ cabs from fractured end cuts / scraps. The second one has a 8mm girdle, sort of by accident.  Just fooling around with these ones.   The end. |
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Post by knave on Oct 7, 2021 12:23:01 GMT -5
BEAUTIES
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Post by mohs on Oct 7, 2021 12:28:13 GMT -5
very productive crafting day
parallax smooth
& fine clear >
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 7, 2021 14:26:40 GMT -5
These are really great. thanks for posting the photos.
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Post by fernwood on Oct 7, 2021 14:56:59 GMT -5
Very nice. I agree about the Montana's.
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 7, 2021 15:25:29 GMT -5
They are all top notch, but that polka dot MT aggie really takes it for me.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 7, 2021 16:24:15 GMT -5
They are all top notch, but that polka dot MT aggie really takes it for me. Thank you. I was fortunate to cut a medium-size Montana agate with that pattern throughout -- and dare I say -- it appears to be fracture free. In theory I could make 10 more similar cabs. But I have to be in a patient mood to cab MT agates. The temptation is to press harder as the agate laughs at the 80 grit wheel. If I do that, however, I can never get the scratches out. There is no going back a wheel when you find scratches on a MT agate. It is straight back to 220 hard in my experience. And given how well Montana agates polish, there is no hiding even the smallest of scratches. And if that drama weren't enough, half of them have hidden fractures that show up during cabbing. With all that said, it's easy material to cab in a lot of ways. It just takes twice as long. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 7, 2021 19:01:41 GMT -5
Gorgeous...and all drool-worthy cabs Jonathan!  1. I like the way you caught the four fortification patterns on that one! 3. Those "orbs" always get me too. If I can capture them, I will at all expense. LOL 5. I TOTALLY see the resemblance to Teepee Canyon Agates in that lower fortification area! 7. I'm just starting to work a Montana Moss Agate right now...close to yours on the shape and the "speckled" look. Thanks for posting that about the necessity not to rush these...I probably would have gone full-bore without reading this!  8. The polish on those RIJ cabs is outstanding! |
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Post by Pat on Oct 7, 2021 22:05:41 GMT -5
Wow! Thanks!
I like the dragons in #5, and all the polka dot cabs 6-7-8. Thanks for the show.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 7, 2021 22:11:55 GMT -5
Stunning cabs! I really like those spotted Montanas, too.  |
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lunker
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2021
Posts: 430
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Post by lunker on Oct 7, 2021 23:04:53 GMT -5
Those are all great. I'm of course partial to the Montanas but they're all cool as hell. And those slabs are really something.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 7, 2021 23:57:47 GMT -5
jasoninsdThanks, Jason. I've been keeping an eye out for any new cab photos you might post. I think you were on a slabbing and pre-form cutting marathon, if I recall correctly. Did you finish that and start cabbing again? The other part of not rushing the Montana agate is to start with a thin slab and do as low of a dome as you can. If you start with a thick slab and try to do a normal dome height, patience turns into pure torture. That's my experience at least. The Montana agates that are clear with something floating around inside look better thing anyways. #7 is about 4mm, and it would have looked better at 3mm. The black specs have a wavy pattern to them, but that is lost if it is too thick and the there are too many dots stacked on top of one another. Hope that makes sense. The good thing about the Montana agates is that if you get all of the scratched out by the time you're finished with the first resin wheel / disc, the finer grits seem to go just as fast as any other agate.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 8, 2021 0:10:51 GMT -5
jasoninsd Thanks, Jason. I've been keeping an eye out for any new cab photos you might post. I think you were on a slabbing and pre-form cutting marathon, if I recall correctly. Did you finish that and start cabbing again? The other part of not rushing the Montana agate is to start with a thin slab and do as low of a dome as you can. If you start with a thick slab and try to do a normal dome height, patience turns into pure torture. That's my experience at least. The Montana agates that are clear with something floating around inside look better thing anyways. #7 is about 4mm, and it would have looked better at 3mm. The black specs have a wavy pattern to them, but that is lost if it is too thick and the there are too many dots stacked on top of one another. Hope that makes sense. The good thing about the Montana agates is that if you get all of the scratched out by the time you're finished with the first resin wheel / disc, the finer grits seem to go just as fast as any other agate. I posted a couple cabs I finished today...a couple Syringopora Sponge Fossil I found hounding here along with a couple unknowns. I'm dying to try and find out what the unknowns are... LOL - Yeah...I've stopped the preform marathon. Final count on the preforms was 1,139! LOL I'm working on two Montana agates and two West Texas Plume Agates from a slab you sent me...and a couple Teepee Canyon Agates. I should have those done tomorrow I'm thinking. The Montana's were from a hodgepodge of material that I picked up off eBay a long time ago. The slabettes were already cut and one is pretty thick. It was a nightmare on the 80 grit. The other one is thinner. I got through the 180 hard tonight. So, I'll have a better idea of any issues tomorrow morning after the 220 soft. |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 8, 2021 0:42:39 GMT -5
jasoninsd 1,139 preforms??? You'd better get a cab machine or a second lap and learn how to cab with both hands. I like having a few preforms laying around, but I keep most of my slabs intact until I'm ready to cab them. If I ever discover that I have more rocks that I can cab in a lifetime (probably there already), I figure I'll have an easier time getting rid of the slabs than I would preforms. Cutting them all into preforms would be good for consolidating them however. I have stacks of slabs everywhere right now... I can't remember what west Texas plume agate slab I sent you. Is it clear agate with black plumes? I haven't been able to get good slabs out of many of those, and if I send it to you, I must have thought it had some potential. You don't have to describe it. I'll wait for photos of the cabs.    That is just the start of them. If you're a preform hoarder, I'm a slab hoarder, I suppose.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 8, 2021 1:08:21 GMT -5
jasoninsd 1,139 preforms??? You'd better get a cab machine or a second lap and learn how to cab with both hands. I like having a few preforms laying around, but I keep most of my slabs intact until I'm ready to cab them. If I ever discover that I have more rocks that I can cab in a lifetime (probably there already), I figure I'll have an easier time getting rid of the slabs than I would preforms. Cutting them all into preforms would be good for consolidating them however. I have stacks of slabs everywhere right now... I can't remember what west Texas plume agate slab I sent you. Is it clear agate with black plumes? I haven't been able to get good slabs out of many of those, and if I send it to you, I must have thought it had some potential. You don't have to describe it. I'll wait for photos of the cabs. That is just the start of them. If you're a preform hoarder, I'm a slab hoarder, I suppose. Holy Crap I'm drooling because of all those slabs! LOL I keep all my slabs in Ziploc bags - stuck in small totes. I have to keep them all together with a sticky-note inside the bag or I'll forget what they are! (Well, all of them except Teepee Canyon Agates! LOL) Yeah...that really was the final number of preforms from about a month of slabbing/trimming/shaping. They're all ready to be dopped - yes, I'll dop them as I value my knuckes! LOL - I was probably WAY overzealous with getting them all done like that. There's 63 different materials...and some only have one preform...but others, like Teepee Canyon Agates have 96 preforms ready to go. I have well over 200 various Mexican Lace agates ready to go. Yes...I still need a cabbing machine! LOL The West Texas Plume Agate you sent me was clear agate with yellow/gold plumes. It definitely has potential, if I can make it sing, we'll be good! LOL - It was a small slab and I only got two preforms out of it. I do have 11 preforms of the Spotted Jasper ready to go...which was the catalyst for our relationship! LOL |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 8, 2021 10:09:46 GMT -5
I have well over 200 various Mexican Lace agates ready to go. * * * I do have 11 preforms of the Spotted Jasper ready to go... If I turned all my slabs into preforms, I would have about 1000 Mexican lace agate preforms, and a few hundred of everything else combined. I really do have a sick obsession with that stuff. I should cut some preforms of the more uncommon Mexican lace varieties and we can trade some preforms if you'd like. Would be cheap to ship and less likely to get damaged by the overzealous (or disgruntled) USPS package handlers. I sent stephan some unintentional preforms a few weeks ago. That's to say, I sent him slabs that the USPS was kind enough to turn into preforms. One of us needs to cab that spotted jasper to see how it polishes. Maybe I'll cut a little cab later today to see how it turns out. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 8, 2021 11:07:11 GMT -5
It is NOT a sick obsession...since I have it as well, it must be "normal"! LOL (Of course, I am reasonably sure...okay I KNOW you have way more material than me! LOL) Trading preforms isn't too bad of an idea really...but you'd probably want to shoot me with regards to how thick I cut the dang things! Of course, you might be able to split a couple of them right down the middle to get two for one!  It must be stephan's fault...there have been several packages damaged in transport either to or from him...or else he just has a very clumsy postage worker on his end. You'll beat my on getting that Spotted Jasper done...I have to wait for super glue on the dop to dry two days before I can work it. I do have it next in the lineup after I get this current batch of cabs done. |
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Post by stephan on Oct 8, 2021 12:32:44 GMT -5
holajonathan jasoninsd : IDK about “clumsy.” Probably more like resentful, so they sent to an artillery range first.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 8, 2021 15:07:20 GMT -5
Those are great, Jonathan! You know I like Crazy Lace, but the polka dotted Montana is pretty hard to ignore. It might be my favorite. I don't even know what I love about that stuff so much. Maybe it's the shine that you talked about. My wife doesn't get excited about it at all. she says something like "it's interesting, but it's not pretty". I think it's both.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 8, 2021 16:19:36 GMT -5
Those are great, Jonathan! You know I like Crazy Lace, but the polka dotted Montana is pretty hard to ignore. It might be my favorite. I don't even know what I love about that stuff so much. Maybe it's the shine that you talked about. My wife doesn't get excited about it at all. she says something like "it's interesting, but it's not pretty". I think it's both. Thanks, Rob. I am pretty sure I sent you a slab from the polka dotted Montana a few months back. Look familiar? My cab is thinner than the slab I sent you, but it's the same rock. I think the Montana agate charm is that, other than the good inclusions (plumes, dots, moss, etc), it is something approaching pure chalcedony. That is why it polished so well, but also why it stand out in its simplicity. With the crazy lace, for example, there is a fine line between an amazing pattern, and too much going on (hence, crazy lace). With the Montana agates, there is often just the right amount going on. I cab mostly with my bare fingers. By the time I get to the 3000 wheel, it is hard to hold on to the Montana agates. They feel slippery and oily they are so well polished. They start to shine pretty well after the 600 wheel. I polish the back of the translucent ones, making them even harder to grip. |
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Just fooling around with these ones. 
