nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
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Post by nik on Feb 28, 2022 5:10:31 GMT -5
IMG20220228164353 by nik1924, on Flickr After a month or so in the new house, and a couple weeks off island, I have finally gotten the grinder back up and turning. It lives outside, under the carport now, and I like it. Having a bit of a breeze and natural light are nice additions. On an unrelated note, I'm finally getting closer to solving the under cutting and poor polish issues with boulder opal. Disregard the scratches, I skipped from 1200 to 14000, just as one more test in a long series. the final polish was done with metalurgical 1 micron diamond lapping film, backed with hard leather, so just a tiny bit of drape. I'll try again with at least a 3000 and possibly 8000 as intermediate steps, but the undercutting is finally gone. IMG20220228163813 by nik1924, on Flickr And just as a thanks for looking and to share an amazing beach that I got to hike to a couple weeks ago while I was on Saipan. Bird Island beach. IMG20220220082404 by nik1924, on Flickr IMG20220220082412 by nik1924, on Flickr
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Post by rockjunquie on Feb 28, 2022 7:54:06 GMT -5
Looks like paradise.
That opal is amazing! Thanks for sharing your process. I hadn't heard of the film before.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 28, 2022 9:46:00 GMT -5
nik the boulder is going to be gorgeous when you're done with it! With the darker matrix in that one, I wouldn't expect any undercutting from it. It's usually the lighter and yellowy colored matrix that is softer and crumbly. Please post a picture when it's finished. That beach looks beautiful and deserted. Perfect.
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 28, 2022 19:14:20 GMT -5
It's nice to see that beast set back up...and nice you won't have to remove a wall if it ever has to move again! That beach is absolutely stunning!
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on Feb 28, 2022 21:21:19 GMT -5
Looks like paradise.
That opal is amazing! Thanks for sharing your process. I hadn't heard of the film before.
Johnson Bros carries a film, I’m guessing this is what it is. I was wondering about it lol and here we are on a thread and now I know what it is!
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nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
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Post by nik on Mar 1, 2022 0:37:07 GMT -5
Looks like paradise.
That opal is amazing! Thanks for sharing your process. I hadn't heard of the film before.
Johnson Bros carries a film, I’m guessing this is what it is. I was wondering about it lol and here we are on a thread and now I know what it is! IMG20220301152752 by nik1924, on Flickr this is what I'm using, I picked them up on ebay for way too cheap a couple years ago, I just found them during the move.
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nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
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Post by nik on Mar 1, 2022 1:50:04 GMT -5
IMG20220301163117 by nik1924, on Flickr IMG20220301163212 by nik1924, on Flickr IMG20220301163137 by nik1924, on Flickr This is where I finally admit that I need to get glasses, the camera just sees so much more than my ageing eyes. Time makes fools of us all I suppose. Anyhow, moment of self reflection over, I am thrilled to have finally come up with a solution to the undercutting issue, and also to have the grinder and saws set back up. I didn't realize how much I missed the lapidary therapy. The other two cabs are a little scrap of boulder opal from the same parcel and some psilomelane that had been bouncing around in the drip tray for a while.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Mar 1, 2022 9:59:31 GMT -5
My aging eyes think that boulder opal turned out very nice! I even have my reading glasses on.
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