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Post by HankRocks on Jan 9, 2022 11:11:51 GMT -5
jasoninsd You are in luck. I just put a load of slabs into Polish in the UV-18. Included in the batch is 5 or 6 larger slabs on the Black Skin Agate. I had forgotten about them until I cleaned out the pre-polish run from the model B. Too many irons in the fire!! Had to buy a new hopper for the UV-18, the old one finally wore through after about 3 years of polish runs. Of course I bought it used so not sure of it's usage before I got it. It's also bad when the picture queue is backed up !!!
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Post by stephan on Jan 9, 2022 13:25:16 GMT -5
Awesome work, my friend. Love them all.
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Post by holajonathan on Jan 9, 2022 13:43:24 GMT -5
jasoninsdFirst off, you did a nice job with the Amethyst which is a PITA in my experience -- whether it's chevron Amethyst or "regular" Amethyst, and whether you're cabbing or tumbling it. It seems like every "crystal" represents a potential fracture. I've tried tumbling it and only ended up with 2 or 3 really nice tumbles out of pounds of rough.  It's hard to appreciate the high dome in #4 in a photo, but it did catch my eye as being something different before I even read your description. Nice to see you experimenting. I'm torn on the Blackskins as a more solid Montana agate "replacement" (my word, not yours). Your cabs looks superb -- especially #6, for obvious reasons, and #8, for the way the dendrite bands follow the shape of the cab. You've got me excited to cut and cab my stash of Blackskins. I'd say they look more like a Montana agate half-brother than a twin. There are many similarities, but here are a few differences. First, there's something about the base agate being milky (Blackskin) instead of complete clear (many Montanas) that fundamentally changes the appearance for me. Second, Montana agates seem to have more variety in the size and shape of the dendrites, while Blackskin agates seem to more consistently have dendrites. Third, most Blackskin agates have banding, although often very fine or barely visible. Most Montana agates have no discernible banding, although some do. Fourth, Blackskin often have bluish-gray and white tones that are much less common in Montana agates. Finally, this doesn't concern appearance, but Blackskin agates look like they are will be even harder to slab (in a slab saw) than Montana agates, which are a real challenge. Blackskin seem to be on the small-to-medium size nodules (better for hand feeding), and the shape is even more irregular than Montana agates. That's not to say one is better than the other. They certainly have more similarities than differences. Every since I fell in love with Montana moss agates I've been looking for an alternative with less fractures. I bought a ton of Madagascar dendritic river agates which were advertised as being a lot like Montana agates with less fractures. They are in fact similar to Montana Moss Agates, but a finely tuned Montana agate radar can tell them apart. I would put the Mad river agates, Montana agates, and Blackskin agates all on a list of very fine cabbing material, but if you want a cab that looks just like a Montana agate, I think you're stuck with Montana agates, fractures and all...
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Post by holajonathan on Jan 9, 2022 14:34:07 GMT -5
I just went to check out my Blackskin agates, which are windowed but uncut. After taking another a close look, here is what I can say about my Blackskin vs Montana agates: most Blackskin agates could be Montana agates, but most Montana agates could not be Blackskin agates. In other words, Blackskins do look very much like a certain subset of Montana agates, but they don't capture the full range of Montana agates.
I don't know why I'm so interested in these comparisons.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 9, 2022 17:25:31 GMT -5
jasoninsd You are in luck. I just put a load of slabs into Polish in the UV-18. Included in the batch is 5 or 6 larger slabs on the Black Skin Agate. I had forgotten about them until I cleaned out the pre-polish run from the model B. Too many irons in the fire!! Had to buy a new hopper for the UV-18, the old one finally wore through after about 3 years of polish runs. Of course I bought it used so not sure of it's usage before I got it. It's also bad when the picture queue is backed up !!! Sweet to hear there's potential for some Black Skin Agate slabs in the near future! My UV-18 has been sitting idle for months! I've got quite a few Teepee Canyon Agate slabs that I want to run through the vibe...I really need to get that thing going, dang it! LOL It sounds like you're backed up on your pics like I'm backed up on my tumbles! LOL Awesome work, my friend. Love them all. Thank you so much Stephan!  jasoninsd First off, you did a nice job with the Amethyst which is a PITA in my experience -- whether it's chevron Amethyst or "regular" Amethyst, and whether you're cabbing or tumbling it. It seems like every "crystal" represents a potential fracture. I've tried tumbling it and only ended up with 2 or 3 really nice tumbles out of pounds of rough. It's hard to appreciate the high dome in #4 in a photo, but it did catch my eye as being something different before I even read your description. Nice to see you experimenting. I'm torn on the Blackskins as a more solid Montana agate "replacement" (my word, not yours). Your cabs looks superb -- especially #6, for obvious reasons, and #8, for the way the dendrite bands follow the shape of the cab. You've got me excited to cut and cab my stash of Blackskins. I'd say they look more like a Montana agate half-brother than a twin. There are many similarities, but here are a few differences. First, there's something about the base agate being milky (Blackskin) instead of complete clear (many Montanas) that fundamentally changes the appearance for me. Second, Montana agates seem to have more variety in the size and shape of the dendrites, while Blackskin agates seem to more consistently have dendrites. Third, most Blackskin agates have banding, although often very fine or barely visible. Most Montana agates have no discernible banding, although some do. Fourth, Blackskin often have bluish-gray and white tones that are much less common in Montana agates. Finally, this doesn't concern appearance, but Blackskin agates look like they are will be even harder to slab (in a slab saw) than Montana agates, which are a real challenge. Blackskin seem to be on the small-to-medium size nodules (better for hand feeding), and the shape is even more irregular than Montana agates. That's not to say one is better than the other. They certainly have more similarities than differences. Every since I fell in love with Montana moss agates I've been looking for an alternative with less fractures. I bought a ton of Madagascar dendritic river agates which were advertised as being a lot like Montana agates with less fractures. They are in fact similar to Montana Moss Agates, but a finely tuned Montana agate radar can tell them apart. I would put the Mad river agates, Montana agates, and Blackskin agates all on a list of very fine cabbing material, but if you want a cab that looks just like a Montana agate, I think you're stuck with Montana agates, fractures and all... Thanks Jonathan! You put WAY more thought into this than I thought you would! LOL - When you come over this way for a visit, you need to send me a preapproved list of conversation topics so I can get a couple theses prepared...so I'm not "unarmed" in any discussion we have! LOL I just went to check out my Blackskin agates, which are windowed but uncut. After taking another a close look, here is what I can say about my Blackskin vs Montana agates: most Blackskin agates could be Montana agates, but most Montana agates could not be Blackskin agates. In other words, Blackskins do look very much like a certain subset of Montana agates, but they don't capture the full range of Montana agates. I don't know why I'm so interested in these comparisons. See?!? That's all I was trying to say earlier! LOL *I'm seriously teasing on the "thesis" comparison. I love your perspectives that you put out there. They really are full of quite a bit of thought processing on various subjects. |
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Post by holajonathan on Jan 10, 2022 0:11:23 GMT -5
jasoninsd You are in luck. I just put a load of slabs into Polish in the UV-18. Included in the batch is 5 or 6 larger slabs on the Black Skin Agate. I had forgotten about them until I cleaned out the pre-polish run from the model B. Too many irons in the fire!! Had to buy a new hopper for the UV-18, the old one finally wore through after about 3 years of polish runs. Of course I bought it used so not sure of it's usage before I got it. It's also bad when the picture queue is backed up !!! Sweet to hear there's potential for some Black Skin Agate slabs in the near future! My UV-18 has been sitting idle for months! I've got quite a few Teepee Canyon Agate slabs that I want to run through the vibe...I really need to get that thing going, dang it! LOL It sounds like you're backed up on your pics like I'm backed up on my tumbles! LOL Awesome work, my friend. Love them all. Thank you so much Stephan!  jasoninsd First off, you did a nice job with the Amethyst which is a PITA in my experience -- whether it's chevron Amethyst or "regular" Amethyst, and whether you're cabbing or tumbling it. It seems like every "crystal" represents a potential fracture. I've tried tumbling it and only ended up with 2 or 3 really nice tumbles out of pounds of rough. It's hard to appreciate the high dome in #4 in a photo, but it did catch my eye as being something different before I even read your description. Nice to see you experimenting. I'm torn on the Blackskins as a more solid Montana agate "replacement" (my word, not yours). Your cabs looks superb -- especially #6, for obvious reasons, and #8, for the way the dendrite bands follow the shape of the cab. You've got me excited to cut and cab my stash of Blackskins. I'd say they look more like a Montana agate half-brother than a twin. There are many similarities, but here are a few differences. First, there's something about the base agate being milky (Blackskin) instead of complete clear (many Montanas) that fundamentally changes the appearance for me. Second, Montana agates seem to have more variety in the size and shape of the dendrites, while Blackskin agates seem to more consistently have dendrites. Third, most Blackskin agates have banding, although often very fine or barely visible. Most Montana agates have no discernible banding, although some do. Fourth, Blackskin often have bluish-gray and white tones that are much less common in Montana agates. Finally, this doesn't concern appearance, but Blackskin agates look like they are will be even harder to slab (in a slab saw) than Montana agates, which are a real challenge. Blackskin seem to be on the small-to-medium size nodules (better for hand feeding), and the shape is even more irregular than Montana agates. That's not to say one is better than the other. They certainly have more similarities than differences. Every since I fell in love with Montana moss agates I've been looking for an alternative with less fractures. I bought a ton of Madagascar dendritic river agates which were advertised as being a lot like Montana agates with less fractures. They are in fact similar to Montana Moss Agates, but a finely tuned Montana agate radar can tell them apart. I would put the Mad river agates, Montana agates, and Blackskin agates all on a list of very fine cabbing material, but if you want a cab that looks just like a Montana agate, I think you're stuck with Montana agates, fractures and all... Thanks Jonathan! You put WAY more thought into this than I thought you would! LOL - When you come over this way for a visit, you need to send me a preapproved list of conversation topics so I can get a couple theses prepared...so I'm not "unarmed" in any discussion we have! LOL I just went to check out my Blackskin agates, which are windowed but uncut. After taking another a close look, here is what I can say about my Blackskin vs Montana agates: most Blackskin agates could be Montana agates, but most Montana agates could not be Blackskin agates. In other words, Blackskins do look very much like a certain subset of Montana agates, but they don't capture the full range of Montana agates. I don't know why I'm so interested in these comparisons. See?!? That's all I was trying to say earlier! LOL *I'm seriously teasing on the "thesis" comparison. I love your perspectives that you put out there. They really are full of quite a bit of thought processing on various subjects. Don't encourage me. I've thought a lot about this specific topic (prior to you posting your cabs) because I love Montana agates, but the fractures drive me crazy. So I've always been keenly interested in agates that look similar to Montana agates but less fractured. Indeed, "like Montana agate but less fractured" is a very effective description from a marketing standpoint. Once I slab a bunch of Blackskin agates maybe I will host a name-that-agate contest, where participants must identify cropped slab photos as either Montana agate, Blackskin agate, or Mad river agate. That may not sound like a fun contest to anyone except me, but I can probably "bribe" some people into participating by offering slabs to the winner. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 10, 2022 1:08:34 GMT -5
Sweet to hear there's potential for some Black Skin Agate slabs in the near future! My UV-18 has been sitting idle for months! I've got quite a few Teepee Canyon Agate slabs that I want to run through the vibe...I really need to get that thing going, dang it! LOL It sounds like you're backed up on your pics like I'm backed up on my tumbles! LOL Thank you so much Stephan! Thanks Jonathan! You put WAY more thought into this than I thought you would! LOL - When you come over this way for a visit, you need to send me a preapproved list of conversation topics so I can get a couple theses prepared...so I'm not "unarmed" in any discussion we have! LOL See?!? That's all I was trying to say earlier! LOL *I'm seriously teasing on the "thesis" comparison. I love your perspectives that you put out there. They really are full of quite a bit of thought processing on various subjects. Don't encourage me. I've thought a lot about this specific topic (prior to you posting your cabs) because I love Montana agates, but the fractures drive me crazy. So I've always been keenly interested in agates that look similar to Montana agates but less fractured. Indeed, "like Montana agate but less fractured" is a very effective description from a marketing standpoint. Once I slab a bunch of Blackskin agates maybe I will host a name-that-agate contest, where participants must identify cropped slab photos as either Montana agate, Blackskin agate, or Mad river agate. That may not sound like a fun contest to anyone except me, but I can probably "bribe" some people into participating by offering slabs to the winner. I think that would actually be a "hoot" of a contest! I think it would be very difficult to differentiate amongst the three with only cropped shots. It would be interesting to see people's guesses and their reasoning for thinking it's one over the others... I will admit, the reason I like Montanas so much - which you mentioned - is the clear base agate...which isn't present in the others...or isn't prevalent. I do hope you'll do another thread for the Black Skins when you cut them like you did when you cut the Montanas. That was a fun thread...that had a TON of drool-worthy pictures! LOL - I think that thread was responsible for several sales of Montana Agates from members of the forum! LOL - I don't think I'm wrong with that...so when you decide to cut the Black Skins, shoot me a PM first to let me know...I need to make sure I can still buy them before they're sold out everywhere after you post the pics! LOL |
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Post by holajonathan on Jan 10, 2022 2:18:50 GMT -5
Don't encourage me. I've thought a lot about this specific topic (prior to you posting your cabs) because I love Montana agates, but the fractures drive me crazy. So I've always been keenly interested in agates that look similar to Montana agates but less fractured. Indeed, "like Montana agate but less fractured" is a very effective description from a marketing standpoint. Once I slab a bunch of Blackskin agates maybe I will host a name-that-agate contest, where participants must identify cropped slab photos as either Montana agate, Blackskin agate, or Mad river agate. That may not sound like a fun contest to anyone except me, but I can probably "bribe" some people into participating by offering slabs to the winner. I think that would actually be a "hoot" of a contest! I think it would be very difficult to differentiate amongst the three with only cropped shots. It would be interesting to see people's guesses and their reasoning for thinking it's one over the others... I will admit, the reason I like Montanas so much - which you mentioned - is the clear base agate...which isn't present in the others...or isn't prevalent. I do hope you'll do another thread for the Black Skins when you cut them like you did when you cut the Montanas. That was a fun thread...that had a TON of drool-worthy pictures! LOL - I think that thread was responsible for several sales of Montana Agates from members of the forum! LOL - I don't think I'm wrong with that...so when you decide to cut the Black Skins, shoot me a PM first to let me know...I need to make sure I can still buy them before they're sold out everywhere after you post the pics! LOL Do you have a good source for them? The ones I've got are so called "yellow blackskin agates," not to be confused with "yellowskin agates." Yellowskin agates (which I also have) are from India as well. They are yellowish on the outside and tend to have rather boring yellow and white bands on the inside. "Yellow blackskin agates" are yellowish white on the outside but look like blackskin agates on the inside, or so I was told when I bought them. Then the "true" blackskin agates have .... wait for it ... a black skin, I assume? These have to be the worst rock names in the world. I've thought about buying some Blackskin agates from Riverbend Lapidary @ $3 a pound, but I should first cut my yellow blackskin agates to see what they are all about. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 10, 2022 2:37:37 GMT -5
I think that would actually be a "hoot" of a contest! I think it would be very difficult to differentiate amongst the three with only cropped shots. It would be interesting to see people's guesses and their reasoning for thinking it's one over the others... I will admit, the reason I like Montanas so much - which you mentioned - is the clear base agate...which isn't present in the others...or isn't prevalent. I do hope you'll do another thread for the Black Skins when you cut them like you did when you cut the Montanas. That was a fun thread...that had a TON of drool-worthy pictures! LOL - I think that thread was responsible for several sales of Montana Agates from members of the forum! LOL - I don't think I'm wrong with that...so when you decide to cut the Black Skins, shoot me a PM first to let me know...I need to make sure I can still buy them before they're sold out everywhere after you post the pics! LOL Do you have a good source for them? The ones I've got are so called "yellow blackskin agates," not to be confused with "yellowskin agates." Yellowskin agates (which I also have) are from India as well. They are yellowish on the outside and tend to have rather boring yellow and white bands on the inside. "Yellow blackskin agates" are yellowish white on the outside but look like blackskin agates on the inside, or so I was told when I bought them. Then the "true" blackskin agates have .... wait for it ... a black skin, I assume? These have to be the worst rock names in the world. I've thought about buying some Blackskin agates from Riverbend Lapidary @ $3 a pound, but I should first cut my yellow blackskin agates to see what they are all about. I don't have a good source for them, other than the ones I saw at The Rock Shed when I was there last month. I might buzz up there in the next couple of days. We're getting a break in the weather and the snow cover might have melted off their bins. LOL - I only had three Black Skin Agates and they came from a member on here quite a long time ago as part of a large selection I got from him...kind of a "filler" to the box. I liked the filler! LOL - The ones at The Rock Shed were actually "black skinned". I just looked at Riverbend's website. Those look like they're actually the Yellow Blackskin Agates. I'll be curious to see what yours look like when they're cut. At $3 a pound, if there's no discernable difference between the interiors of those and the actual "black skin" Agates, then I think they're well worth the $3 a pound! |
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Post by holajonathan on Jan 10, 2022 14:28:15 GMT -5
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jan 10, 2022 14:32:12 GMT -5
I assume that is price/lb? |
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Post by holajonathan on Jan 10, 2022 14:38:05 GMT -5
I assume that is price/lb?  |
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Post by miket on Jan 10, 2022 16:52:19 GMT -5
Missed this one, awesome cabs Jason! 'Course, I don't like the way you posted the gallery... 
Just kidding, excellent work!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 10, 2022 19:42:16 GMT -5
Thanks for this link! Now I've got two more sources (this and Riverbend) to wile away the time while my wife watches reality TV! LOL *Oh...and I highly doubt $3.50 is the price Snoop Dogg is paying for his "pound"! LOL Missed this one, awesome cabs Jason! 'Course, I don't like the way you posted the gallery... 
Just kidding, excellent work!
Thanks my friend! I actually busted out laughing on that one! LOL |
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