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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 14:10:37 GMT -5
I knocked out a few last night. Mahogany Obsidian from Mexico with a subtle sheen effect.  Cactus Lace from Mexico  Royal Imperial Jasper from Mexico. A thin end cut.  Together with friends  Amy Sage "rescue" cab. It was an oval until the top broke off.  Fantasia jasper from Utah. Solid material that took a great polish.  |
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 19, 2021 14:18:03 GMT -5
They are all awesome, but each one of the RIJ steals the show- especially the blue orb!
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 14:40:24 GMT -5
rockjunquieMy wife said (about the RIJ) -- "no one is going to believe that is a rock." That was a good little nodule that is going to give me a few more cabs. I've got another one half way there. This photo is from after the 220 resin wheel.  I installed the 220 resin I bought from JB. Works great after I broke it in. It is considerably more aggressive than a 280 Nova, but it should continue to mellow out with use. Most importantly, it has about the same feel as a DP wheel. It is way more flexible and cushy than the other off-brands resin wheels I have tried. I am very happy with the wheel so far, and if it holds up, the JB super nova wheels will be the only thing I buy in the future.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 19, 2021 14:51:03 GMT -5
That's a sweet cab!
Good to know about the 220 soft. Yes, my DP was pretty aggressive til I broke it in, but it still cuts real good.
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cadefoster117
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2021
Posts: 62 
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Post by cadefoster117 on Dec 19, 2021 14:52:51 GMT -5
These are great, I think the cactus lace is my favorite!
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 15:46:56 GMT -5
rockjunquie I kept my 280 Nova on the Genie for a quick pass after the 220, until the 220 breaks in a little more. This photo is after I used the 220 for at least an hour. I barely wore off the high points of the resin, so it seems like it will be durable.  I've got my Genie set up with resin wheels only. I love how much cleaner it keeps the machine and the water. I've got 140 / 220 / 280 on the left hand arbor, as shown in the photo. A quick pass with the 140 resin is great at removing scratches on hard material. It scratches much less than a 220 hard wheel, and it great for shaping obsidian as well.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 19, 2021 15:50:18 GMT -5
rockjunquie I've been using my Genie with resin wheels only and doing the grinding on an 8" grinder. I love how much cleaner it keeps the machine and the water. Great idea! I have a bunch of spin on Novas for the right. |
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 15:51:55 GMT -5
rockjunquie I've been using my Genie with resin wheels only and doing the grinding on an 8" grinder. I love how much cleaner it keeps the machine and the water. Great idea! I have a bunch of spin on Novas for the right. I just added the photo after your reply. Not that it shows anything all that interesting. But you can see how the 220 didn't wear much after at least an hour of heavy handed use. |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Dec 19, 2021 16:14:25 GMT -5
Pretty cabs — your cactus lace is my favorite due to your diagonal orientation of its curving patterns. I also really like the amethyst sage. It looks like a very interesting lake or sea bottom.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Dec 19, 2021 17:00:26 GMT -5
I knocked out a few last night. Mahogany Obsidian from Mexico with a subtle sheen effect. Cactus Lace from Mexico Royal Imperial Jasper from Mexico. A thin end cut. Together with friends Amy Sage "rescue" cab. It was an oval until the top broke off. Fantasia jasper from Utah. Solid material that took a great polish. Beautiful cabs, holajonathan! I am a sucker for the RIJ and that blue orb cab is outstanding. It reminds me of a Picasso painting. Outlined in the white jasper the blue and brown just jump out. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 19, 2021 17:15:17 GMT -5
Great idea! I have a bunch of spin on Novas for the right. I just added the photo after your reply. Not that it shows anything all that interesting. But you can see how the 220 didn't wear much after at least an hour of heavy handed use. Cool. I never even thought about a 140, but I bet it's great to have, too. |
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lunker
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2021
Posts: 430
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Post by lunker on Dec 19, 2021 17:51:57 GMT -5
Dang those are cool. I really like that obsidian one
ETA. Those rij cabs are hard to believe, they don't even look like they could be natural at all. Awesome 😎
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Post by knave on Dec 19, 2021 17:57:58 GMT -5
Great work!
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Post by jasoninsd on Dec 19, 2021 20:13:58 GMT -5
Way to nail the Obsidian! That one is probably my favorite out of the batch...though it was pretty hard to choose...
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 23:51:28 GMT -5
Way to nail the Obsidian! That one is probably my favorite out of the batch...though it was pretty hard to choose... Not as cool as your obsidian, but your amazing results motivated me to try cabbing obsidian again. The mahogany obsidian is all I've got slabbed at the moment. I domed it with a 220 sintered wheel that I've used a lot never dressed, so it probably cuts more like a 300 or 350 grit. It left hardly any scratches, and I flew through the rest of the wheels. I used a light touch on 220 / 280 / 600 resin wheels, and then normal pressure on 1200 and 3000. It was sort of shiny after the 3000, but a few a few licks of cerium gave it a glassy shine. I'm not sure why my prior attempts to cab obsidian (6-12 months ago) never turned out well. I don't think I never used an 80 grit hard wheel, but I was probably using a much more aggressive 220 wheel. I might have been using aluminum oxide instead of cerium for final polish as well, if that makes a difference. In any event, this time it was one of the fastest and easiest cabs that I've made in a long time -- a nice break from hard agates. Now I want to slab a bunch of obsidian. I've got a ton of it -- gold sheen, silver sheen, rainbow, velvet, mahogany, snowflake, midnight lace... It's all been sitting in boxes since I decided that obsidian was impossible to cab. Time to dig it back out! |
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 23:55:18 GMT -5
Dang those are cool. I really like that obsidian one ETA. Those rij cabs are hard to believe, they don't even look like they could be natural at all. Awesome 😎 I agree that the RIJ does not look real. Orbs are strange enough, but I have no clue how they can have such different colors within the same rock. I'd be interested to know how they formed. Much be similar to Bruno jasper, Blue Mountain, Morrisonite, and the other jaspers with big, beautiful orbs, even though most of those form inside rhyolite, whereas the RIJ nodules are chalky on the outside and just dug out of the dirt as I understand it. |
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 19, 2021 23:59:29 GMT -5
I just added the photo after your reply. Not that it shows anything all that interesting. But you can see how the 220 didn't wear much after at least an hour of heavy handed use. Cool. I never even thought about a 140, but I bet it's great to have, too. The stock Genie setup 80/220 -- 280/600/1200/3000 will cab about anything. But having courser grit resin wheels, and at least one finer grit hard wheel, come in handy for certain materials. The 140 resin is amazing if you accidentally put some deep groves into a hard agate or jasper cab. Rather than go back to the 220 hard wheel, the 140 removes deep scratches without leaving ridges. One of these days I'm going to get a 60 or 80 grit resin wheel as well. I have no idea what it will be good for, but I am curious to find out. |
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Post by holajonathan on Dec 20, 2021 0:04:52 GMT -5
I knocked out a few last night. Mahogany Obsidian from Mexico with a subtle sheen effect. Cactus Lace from Mexico Royal Imperial Jasper from Mexico. A thin end cut. Together with friends Amy Sage "rescue" cab. It was an oval until the top broke off. Fantasia jasper from Utah. Solid material that took a great polish. Beautiful cabs, holajonathan ! I am a sucker for the RIJ and that blue orb cab is outstanding. It reminds me of a Picasso painting. Outlined in the white jasper the blue and brown just jump out. Thanks, Robin. I love the little RIJ nodules for the reason you state: the white exterior frames the orbs. As a bonus, the white exterior is softer than the orbs, so it's fast to shape, easy to remove scratches on the girdle, and doesn't chip. Best of all, the RIJ cabs about like Bruno jasper, which is to say, it polishes extremely well without much drama. I'm sure you've cabbed both, and you know what I mean. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Dec 20, 2021 10:28:29 GMT -5
Way to nail the Obsidian! That one is probably my favorite out of the batch...though it was pretty hard to choose... Not as cool as your obsidian, but your amazing results motivated me to try cabbing obsidian again. The mahogany obsidian is all I've got slabbed at the moment. I domed it with a 220 sintered wheel that I've used a lot never dressed, so it probably cuts more like a 300 or 350 grit. It left hardly any scratches, and I flew through the rest of the wheels. I used a light touch on 220 / 280 / 600 resin wheels, and then normal pressure on 1200 and 3000. It was sort of shiny after the 3000, but a few a few licks of cerium gave it a glassy shine. I'm not sure why my prior attempts to cab obsidian (6-12 months ago) never turned out well. I don't think I never used an 80 grit hard wheel, but I was probably using a much more aggressive 220 wheel. I might have been using aluminum oxide instead of cerium for final polish as well, if that makes a difference. In any event, this time it was one of the fastest and easiest cabs that I've made in a long time -- a nice break from hard agates. Now I want to slab a bunch of obsidian. I've got a ton of it -- gold sheen, silver sheen, rainbow, velvet, mahogany, snowflake, midnight lace... It's all been sitting in boxes since I decided that obsidian was impossible to cab. Time to dig it back out! I don't know...I think it's just as nice as the obsidian I did... I'm still curious to see what happens when I work it start to finish on the new cabbing machine. I figure the 220 is pretty well broken in on mine already. LOL I'm the same way right now with wanting to try more. I know I have some...I looked for it the other day, but couldn't find where I put it all. I need a better "Inventory Management" person! LOL |
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realrockhound
Cave Dweller
Chucking leaverite at tweekers
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4,506
Member is Online
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Post by realrockhound on Dec 26, 2021 14:55:55 GMT -5
All great cabs and great work. Especially the tear drop shapes. Don’t know why, but there is something aesthetically pleasing about tear drop shaped cabochons.
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