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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 25, 2021 18:41:07 GMT -5
Here's some pics of the cabochons I finished up today.  Pics 1-2:. Black & White Agate. I got this from holajonathan . Here's another material I just couldn't get past a matte-type finish. Jonathan, if you cab any of this, please let me know how you fare. Pics 3-4: Brian Head Agate. This piece came from paulshiroma . As I was grinding this, it didn't look like it was going to be all that interesting...boy was I wrong! The white area does undercut a smidgen...but talk about a high polish! And the backlit photo is awesome. Pics 5-6: Prairie Agates. These would be the "hardest" material I worked today. The second cab is one of my favorite Prairie Agate cabs I've done. Even though it does have a fracture across the bottom, I think the pattern is killer in this one! Pic 7: Variscite. This piece came from stephan . I was working another cab, but the cab had a fracture and shattered while I was working it, but I'll be able to salvage it at some point. This material is EXTREMELY soft! I fought to get the scratches out...but I'm very VERY happy with how this one finally polished! The "scratches" didn't come out fully until I put it on the buffing pad with 14,000 diamond paste. I tried to use my 8000 disk, but it tore up the surface. I had to take it back down to 500 and use the lightest touch I've ever used! Anyway...I finally got it to polish! WHOOT WHOOT!  PIC 1  PIC2  PIC 3  PIC 4  PIC 5  PIC 6  PIC 7  Thanks for taking a gander! |
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Post by stephan on Oct 25, 2021 18:51:00 GMT -5
Whoa! Nice ones, all around, my friend.
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Post by knave on Oct 25, 2021 18:56:10 GMT -5
The last one steals the show
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 25, 2021 18:56:40 GMT -5
Whoa! Nice ones, all around, my friend. Thanks Stephan! That Variscite is off-the-charts gorgeous! I'm blaming you when I have to tell my wife I'm going to need to get some more of this material. LOL |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 25, 2021 18:57:53 GMT -5
The last one steals the show Thanks Evan! I knew it looked good when I got done polishing it...but I didn't know I was going to get a great picture of it like I did! LOL |
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 25, 2021 19:06:33 GMT -5
I had a Mook that had both and it was a challenge. The right side ground like wood and the left was hard. Making an even dome with two different surfaces required patience.  |
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Post by knave on Oct 25, 2021 19:17:07 GMT -5
Jason
With the light touch
How do you keep from making “facets”?
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Post by miket on Oct 25, 2021 19:18:33 GMT -5
Beauties, every last one!
Good work Jason
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Post by stephan on Oct 25, 2021 19:20:09 GMT -5
Whoa! Nice ones, all around, my friend. Thanks Stephan! That Variscite is off-the-charts gorgeous! I'm blaming you when I have to tell my wife I'm going to need to get some more of this material. LOL I'll take the blame. I'm glad you like it. I wish I had a crate of that stuff. Just a few pieces, though, and most will require stabilizing or creativity. |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 25, 2021 19:31:57 GMT -5
Here's some pics of the cabochons I finished up today. Pics 1-2:. Black & White Agate. I got this from holajonathan . Here's another material I just couldn't get past a matte-type finish. Jonathan, if you can any of this, please let me know how you fare. I got the black and white jasper pretty shiny in the Lot-O. Not agate shiny, but better than a high matte finish. I haven't cabbed it yet. The Lot-O is a magic polishing machine. I can rarely equal a Lot-O polish with wheels + rawhide, except perhaps on Montana agates or other hard agates. I will try to photograph or take a short video of the black and white jasper saw scraps that I tumbled. Capturing shine is tough when the sun goes down, but I will try. As for the cabs, they are all nice, as usual, but 6 and 7 are both stunning! That prairie agate looks like an expensive and rare jasper that Tela or Tommy have tucked away in their stash. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 25, 2021 19:33:42 GMT -5
I agree with everyone else- that variscite is da bomb. Not all are that soft, though. Typically it is the whiter parts that are uber soft and will undercut. You got an amazing polish on that one. Patience paid off.
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Post by perkins17 on Oct 25, 2021 19:34:54 GMT -5
The last one steals the show I agree! Those are great! |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 25, 2021 19:37:40 GMT -5
I had a Mook that had both and it was a challenge. The right side ground like wood and the left was hard. Making an even dome with two different surfaces required patience. It was worth the effort. The contrast in textures is eye catching. Your cab is a good example of how "flawed" material can often make the nicest cabs. |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 25, 2021 19:42:44 GMT -5
My attempt at capturing polish with a short cell phone video. It's tough to gauge the polish since they are flats and the light just skips across the surface. All I have in my barn are tube lights, which don't show off polish like regular light bulbs.
Nevertheless, I think what I said previously stands. Shiny but not sunglasses shiny.
One day you should fill up your vibe tumbler with a bunch of ceramics or other smalls, add a little AO polish, and toss in some of your cabs that you could only get to a matte shine. I'm sure many will not improve, but I bet that some day. Something about a vibe tumbler is simply different than wheels and discs with certain materials. You will know after 8 or 12 hours if the finish is going to improve, and you shouldn't get any rounding off of the girdle with a fine grit AO polish.
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 25, 2021 19:50:35 GMT -5
My attempt at capturing polish with a short cell phone video. It's tough to gauge the polish since they are flats and the light just skips across the surface. All I have in my barn are tube lights, which don't show off polish like regular light bulbs. Nevertheless, I think what I said previously stands. Shiny but not sunglasses shiny. One day you should fill up your vibe tumbler with a bunch of ceramics or other smalls, add a little AO polish, and toss in some of your cabs that you could only get to a matte shine. I'm sure many will not improve, but I bet that some day. Something about a vibe tumbler is simply different than wheels and discs with certain materials. You will know after 8 or 12 hours if the finish is going to improve, and you shouldn't get any rounding off of the girdle with a fine grit AO polish.
They look pretty shiny to me.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 25, 2021 20:04:27 GMT -5
I had a Mook that had both and it was a challenge. The right side ground like wood and the left was hard. Making an even dome with two different surfaces required patience. Thanks for posting this! Jason With the light touch How do you keep from making “facets”? Well, I try to get my shape as close to possible on the 80 grit. I have the speed on the disk turned way up when it comes to doing the actual shaping, then turn the speed to the slowest setting to get rid of as many "facets" as possible before moving onto the 180 grit hard wheel. The I usually keep the 180 speed down low in order to get rid of the vast majority of "facets"...and anything leftover is taken off with the 220 soft. Now with the Variscite, I didn't even touch it to the 80 grit wheel. The 180 cut through it like soft butter. I barely worked the cab on that 180. I relied on the 220 soft to smooth out the surface. I used a "light-medium" pressure...much lighter than I normally would on other material - like the Prairie Agates. The 220 smoothed it out amazingly well! Beauties, every last one! Good work Jason Thank you my friend! I was super stoked to see you making some cabs...I know it's been awhile. Thanks Stephan! That Variscite is off-the-charts gorgeous! I'm blaming you when I have to tell my wife I'm going to need to get some more of this material. LOL I'll take the blame. I'm glad you like it. I wish I had a crate of that stuff. Just a few pieces, though, and most will require stabilizing or creativity. You're darn right you're going to take the blame...I have no other idea how I'm gonna explain it to her! LOL The one that shattered was a heartbreaker...but I'm hoping I can still get a decent looking (wait for it.................) freeform out of it! LOL Here's some pics of the cabochons I finished up today. Pics 1-2:. Black & White Agate. I got this from holajonathan . Here's another material I just couldn't get past a matte-type finish. Jonathan, if you can any of this, please let me know how you fare. I got the black and white jasper pretty shiny in the Lot-O. Not agate shiny, but better than a high matte finish. I haven't cabbed it yet. The Lot-O is a magic polishing machine. I can rarely equal a Lot-O polish with wheels + rawhide, except perhaps on Montana agates or other hard agates. I will try to photograph or take a short video the black and white jasper saw scraps that I tumbled. Capturing the shine is tough when the sun goes down, but I will try. As for the cabs, they are all nice, as usual, but 6 and 7 are both stunning! That prairie agate looks like an expensive and rare jasper that Tela or Tommy have tucked away in their stash. Thanks Jonathan! When I looked at the pattern after the initial grind, I was already drooling. It didn't quite look the same as a preform...and I was good with that! LOL I totally agree it compares to some of the "desired" jaspers out there! I agree with everyone else- that variscite is da bomb. Not all are that soft, though. Typically it is the whiter parts that are uber soft and will undercut. You got an amazing polish on that one. Patience paid off. Thanks Tela! The piece that shattered had more of that "white" material than this one. This one didn't really have any...and I love the tones that come across as "cloudy" to me. The last one steals the show I agree! Those are great! Thanks Perk! I will say I finished the work today with a big smile on my face. |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 25, 2021 20:07:49 GMT -5
They look pretty shiny to me.
They are pretty shiny, but not agate shiny: Agate shiny is when you see all the specs of dust and fingerprints, and they are so slippery that you can't hold on to them. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 25, 2021 20:07:54 GMT -5
My attempt at capturing polish with a short cell phone video. It's tough to gauge the polish since they are flats and the light just skips across the surface. All I have in my barn are tube lights, which don't show off polish like regular light bulbs. Nevertheless, I think what I said previously stands. Shiny but not sunglasses shiny. One day you should fill up your vibe tumbler with a bunch of ceramics or other smalls, add a little AO polish, and toss in some of your cabs that you could only get to a matte shine. I'm sure many will not improve, but I bet that some day. Something about a vibe tumbler is simply different than wheels and discs with certain materials. You will know after 8 or 12 hours if the finish is going to improve, and you shouldn't get any rounding off of the girdle with a fine grit AO polish. Freaking A! You got an amazing polish on those...cell phone vid was sufficient to show it! Yeah...I might to the AO polish on the vibe on some of them...at some point, just to see. |
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 25, 2021 20:17:11 GMT -5
My attempt at capturing polish with a short cell phone video. It's tough to gauge the polish since they are flats and the light just skips across the surface. All I have in my barn are tube lights, which don't show off polish like regular light bulbs. Nevertheless, I think what I said previously stands. Shiny but not sunglasses shiny. One day you should fill up your vibe tumbler with a bunch of ceramics or other smalls, add a little AO polish, and toss in some of your cabs that you could only get to a matte shine. I'm sure many will not improve, but I bet that some day. Something about a vibe tumbler is simply different than wheels and discs with certain materials. You will know after 8 or 12 hours if the finish is going to improve, and you shouldn't get any rounding off of the girdle with a fine grit AO polish. Freaking A! You got an amazing polish on those...cell phone vid was sufficient to show it! Yeah...I might to the AO polish on the vibe on some of them...at some point, just to see. I run use the same sub-micron AO polish (I think we agreed we've got the same stuff) on both rawhide as a final polish or in my Lot-O as a final polish. So it's not the polish itself, but something about how a vibe tumbler works as opposed to a rotary wheel / disc / disc pad. I have seen amazingly well-polished cabs finished only with diamonds (up to 100,000 grit) or with diamonds + cerium oxide or aluminum oxide on a polishing pad. But I personally have not figured out how to do that except with Montana agates, Botswana agates, Brazilian agates, Bahia agates, and similar rocks that polish with ease. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 25, 2021 20:27:42 GMT -5
Freaking A! You got an amazing polish on those...cell phone vid was sufficient to show it! Yeah...I might to the AO polish on the vibe on some of them...at some point, just to see. I run use the same sub-micron AO polish (I think we agreed we've got the same stuff) on both rawhide as a final polish or in my Lot-O as a final polish. So it's not the polish itself, but something about how a vibe tumbler works as opposed to a rotary wheel / disc / disc pad. I have seen amazingly well-polished cabs finished only with diamonds (up to 100,000 grit) or with diamonds + cerium oxide or aluminum oxide on a polishing pad. But I personally have not figured out how to do that except with Montana agates, Botswana agates, Brazilian agates, Bahia agates, and similar rocks that polish with ease. I tried it once...a long time ago (relatively speaking) and totally screwed up. I started them out at the 500...bad move! I'll try it again using just the AO... |
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