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Post by holajonathan on Nov 2, 2021 23:16:18 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 2, 2021 23:21:20 GMT -5
Beautiful! I think your pictures are fine. They show how gorgeous these are. I LOVE the first one and the shape you chose for that capture. The second is amazing, too. Well, and I like the last one, too.  |
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Post by stephan on Nov 3, 2021 0:36:10 GMT -5
Those are cool, and the last one, as some would have said, back when I was in high school, “is, like, totally tubular.”
I did not realize that they offered AP classes in fourth grade now.
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 3, 2021 1:18:06 GMT -5
Jonathan, I think they're all spectacular! I especially like the shapes you chose for each one of these. The material in that last cab is fantastic.
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 3, 2021 1:45:25 GMT -5
Beautiful! I think your pictures are fine. They show how gorgeous these are. I LOVE the first one and the shape you chose for that capture. The second is amazing, too. Well, and I like the last one, too. Thanks. I recently slabbed a 6 pounds Montana agate that had almost no fractures! Not the most amazing moss or dendrites, but just enough to make it cab worthy. I've got raw material for about 100 more similar to the first one, which means my patience will run out before I ever cab it all. I finally got some good quality palm root / fly larvae. I bought some last year and it had lots of pits and soft spots. The good stuff is hard, super solid, and polishes like an agate should. Most pieces have more color, but I like the gold + translucent just fine. I domed that one like one the photos you posted for me a few weeks ago. I started with pronounced ridges and rounded them off but did not eliminate them. That approach seems to work well for triangles. |
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 3, 2021 1:52:22 GMT -5
Jonathan, I think they're all spectacular! I especially like the shapes you chose for each one of these. The material in that last cab is fantastic. The last two look good because I used... get ready for it... templates! It pains me to admit it, but my template drawn cabs do look better most of the time. I bought some new templates this morning from an Etsy seller that you recommended recently. West Coast Gemstones on Ebay has been selling really nice palm root / fly larvae agate recently. That's the material in the last photo. All the rough I have bought from them has been top notch, but the larvae infested palm root is especially good. I will send you a few slablets if you want to try it out. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 3, 2021 6:30:40 GMT -5
The reason I like templates is that you can better utilize the slab. If pieces are left- freeform them.
When you do a freeform that you like- make it into a template.
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CLErocks
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 342
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Post by CLErocks on Nov 3, 2021 8:32:31 GMT -5
That first one reminds me of a sea-scape! Excellent. Thanks for ssharing!
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Post by fernwood on Nov 3, 2021 8:54:45 GMT -5
Beautiful. Way beyond 4th grade level.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 3, 2021 9:18:51 GMT -5
I believe you have graduated to high school now. 
I love the Montana. Gorgeous cab!
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Post by miket on Nov 3, 2021 9:22:05 GMT -5
Excellent cabs, nice work sir!
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Nov 3, 2021 10:20:09 GMT -5
These look great! I'll post some of my first ones and give you more of a 4th grade level appreciation |
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 3, 2021 11:00:37 GMT -5
Jonathan, I think they're all spectacular! I especially like the shapes you chose for each one of these. The material in that last cab is fantastic. The last two look good because I used... get ready for it... templates! It pains me to admit it, but my template drawn cabs do look better most of the time. I bought some new templates this morning from an Etsy seller that you recommended recently. West Coast Gemstones on Ebay has been selling really nice palm root / fly larvae agate recently. That's the material in the last photo. All the rough I have bought from them has been top notch, but the larvae infested palm root is especially good. I will send you a few slablets if you want to try it out. Welcome to the Dark Side! LOL I really do have a genuine respect for the artists who are able to do the freeforms. I like the "paint by number" approach of using a template! LOL Once you get the templates, I'd love to see which ones you chose. I've got some more templates sitting in my "cart", but haven't pulled the trigger on them just yet. I've bought from WCG as well...it was awhile ago, and I think it was some picture jasper. I thought it was a good buy. I believe they might have something to do with the Polka Dot Mine...but I could be mistaken and might be thinking of someone else. Heck yeah...I wouldn't object if you tucked a piece away for me to try sometime. I'm not in a rush...I still have 1000+ preforms sitting around waiting to be cabbed! LOL |
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 3, 2021 11:11:13 GMT -5
A nice way to get a freeform is when you have a precab with issues that you end up having to work around. You can get some interesting freeforms that way.
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 3, 2021 11:17:19 GMT -5
These look great! I'll post some of my first ones and give you more of a 4th grade level appreciation It is not false modesty on my part. Because I am self-taught, I still feel like I'm making it up as I go along. In fairness, I should say I have been taught by the RTH community. If you set the same high standards for cabbing as you have for tumbling (as flawless as reasonably possible), I suspect that you will soon understand where I'm coming from. But the challenge is what makes it so rewarding. I have probably made about 100 to 150 cabs total, and just recently do I feel like things are starting to click. |
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 3, 2021 11:22:55 GMT -5
The reason I like templates is that you can better utilize the slab. If pieces are left- freeform them.
When you do a freeform that you like- make it into a template.
This is oh-so-true. The second cab in my post is from a slab that I carefully marked out to maximize yield. It's not expensive or spectacular material. I wanted to see how many cabs I could squeeze our of a slab. Yesterday I carefully cut it up, with many cut lines falling right between the edges of two preforms. I got 7 or 8 good preforms from one 4" x 6" slab. Analyzing a slab and marking out preforms is the best part of the whole process. It is when the cabs first start to come to life. |
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 3, 2021 11:27:44 GMT -5
The reason I like templates is that you can better utilize the slab. If pieces are left- freeform them.
When you do a freeform that you like- make it into a template.
I want to make 4 or 5 of my own templates and get tons of practice cabbing a limited number of shapes. Free forms are not as good from a learning perspective because it's too easy to keep tweaking the shape to fix mistakes. Triangles and 4-sided shields are becoming my favorite shapes. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 3, 2021 11:28:05 GMT -5
The reason I like templates is that you can better utilize the slab. If pieces are left- freeform them.
When you do a freeform that you like- make it into a template.
Analyzing a slab and marking out preforms is the best part of the whole process. It is when the cabs first start to come to life. That's my favorite part, too. I get my bins out, admire my pretty rocks and let them- as you so aptly put it- come to life. |
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 3, 2021 11:28:48 GMT -5
I believe you have graduated to high school now.
I love the Montana. Gorgeous cab!
Seeing as I have no formal training, we'll call it a self-study GED. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 3, 2021 11:29:50 GMT -5
The reason I like templates is that you can better utilize the slab. If pieces are left- freeform them.
When you do a freeform that you like- make it into a template.
I want to make 4 or 5 of my own templates and get tons of practice cabbing a limited number of shapes. Free forms are not as good from a learning perspective because it's too easy to keep tweaking the shape to fix mistakes. Triangles and 4-sided shields are becoming my favorite shapes. Those were my favorites, too!!!! I don't do as much of them anymore. They are good to learn on, though. |
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