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Post by pghram on Jul 3, 2022 20:54:19 GMT -5
Rockoonz & Jasperfantastic, Thanks for the replies and sharing your methods. I have some experimenting to do.
Peace, Rich
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 6, 2022 19:44:38 GMT -5
When bringing the dome down to the layer, what grits do you run? I’m assuming even 600 will pull material when cabbing obsidian?
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jasperfanatic
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jul 7, 2022 10:07:58 GMT -5
When bringing the dome down to the layer, what grits do you run? I’m assuming even 600 will pull material when cabbing obsidian? I use the 280 soft until there's about 2mm of glass on top, give or take, then clean up the 280 marks with the 600 before camping out on the 1200 for a good long while. |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 7, 2022 10:59:56 GMT -5
When bringing the dome down to the layer, what grits do you run? I’m assuming even 600 will pull material when cabbing obsidian? I use the 280 soft until there's about 2mm of glass on top, give or take, then clean up the 280 marks with the 600 before camping out on the 1200 for a good long while. perfect!!!! I’m working on a piece right now (first piece) I’ll post when I’m done and have you tell me how I’ve done. |
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jasperfanatic
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jul 7, 2022 11:29:18 GMT -5
I use the 280 soft until there's about 2mm of glass on top, give or take, then clean up the 280 marks with the 600 before camping out on the 1200 for a good long while. perfect!!!! I’m working on a piece right now (first piece) I’ll post when I’m done and have you tell me how I’ve done. Looking forward to seeing what you find in there  |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 7, 2022 20:06:04 GMT -5
I think my piece is just crap at the end of the day. Now that I’m right on top of the fire bar, with not much room left to work, I’m noticing two things. First being that the bar has a concave to it. This leads to the problem that I’m right on the edges of the outer bar. Secondly, the obsidian is full of air bubbles/ash pockets. I put a fairy high polish on it to see what I’m really working with at this point. Not really sure what to do from here or if it’s worth add anymore time into the piece.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 7, 2022 20:56:52 GMT -5
I think my piece is just crap at the end of the day. Now that I’m right on top of the fire bar, with not much room left to work, I’m noticing two things. First being that the bar has a concave to it. This leads to the problem that I’m right on the edges of the outer bar. Secondly, the obsidian is full of air bubbles/ash pockets. I put a fairy high polish on it to see what I’m really working with at this point. Not really sure what to do from here or if it’s worth add anymore time into the piece. It's always worth your time, even if it's just for the experience and learning process.  |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 7, 2022 21:04:25 GMT -5
I think my piece is just crap at the end of the day. Now that I’m right on top of the fire bar, with not much room left to work, I’m noticing two things. First being that the bar has a concave to it. This leads to the problem that I’m right on the edges of the outer bar. Secondly, the obsidian is full of air bubbles/ash pockets. I put a fairy high polish on it to see what I’m really working with at this point. Not really sure what to do from here or if it’s worth add anymore time into the piece. It's always worth your time, even if it's just for the experience and learning process. Very true. I was just texting jasoninsd and talking about it. Realistically, I’ll probably just finish it off best I can, put a good polish on it and just keep it around. It’s got great fire in it. The stupid air bubbles right on the fire bar just really take away from the piece. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 7, 2022 21:11:45 GMT -5
It's always worth your time, even if it's just for the experience and learning process. Very true. I was just texting jasoninsd and talking about it. Realistically, I’ll probably just finish it off best I can, put a good polish on it and just keep it around. It’s got great fire in it. The stupid air bubbles right on the fire bar just really take away from the piece. That's why lots of people carve fire agate instead of cabbing it. If you were interested, you could use medium bristle brushes that fit in a Dremel or Foredom and diamond paste and get those bubbles polished up. |
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jul 7, 2022 21:49:18 GMT -5
Very true. I was just texting jasoninsd and talking about it. Realistically, I’ll probably just finish it off best I can, put a good polish on it and just keep it around. It’s got great fire in it. The stupid air bubbles right on the fire bar just really take away from the piece. That's why lots of people carve fire agate instead of cabbing it. If you were interested, you could use medium bristle brushes that fit in a Dremel or Foredom and diamond paste and get those bubbles polished up. If it's what I think it is, there's nothing you can do about those bubbles/pockets. They usually get called air bubbles or ash pockets, but they're actually phenocrysts. There's a lot of material that has killer fire but the glass is just lousy with those phenocrysts - it can be heartbreaking. That super colorful piece in the first video in this thread, the one titled IMG 4824, is from a rock that had a bunch of those pockets. You can see the white spots in the video, and the black dots in the color are either shadows or an actual phenocryst that formed in the magnetite layer. This particular piece really saved itself by being super bright, it flashes all the colors even in the shade. realrockhound - I'm smiling while reading about your experience, you're hitting all the main reasons this material is so hard to work with. The fire won't get a ton brighter past 600, so if it seems dull/dim (even if it has great fire), it's probably not going to get much better even completed, often it's just the luck of how those micro-magnetite crystals are oriented to reflect light. That doesn't mean it isn't a great rock though, and if it has pretty colors and/or patterns, I still finish the dimmer pieces up. I have 10 times as many finished as I've shared online, but the others are kind of just OK if you know what I mean. It's like any other material I suppose, different grades, but even the lowest grade fire magnetite can be super cool and unique. I hope you post some pics/vids when you're done, I always love seeing what people find in this stuff, they're each a story on their own. |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 7, 2022 21:58:34 GMT -5
That's why lots of people carve fire agate instead of cabbing it. If you were interested, you could use medium bristle brushes that fit in a Dremel or Foredom and diamond paste and get those bubbles polished up. If it's what I think it is, there's nothing you can do about those bubbles/pockets. They usually get called air bubbles or ash pockets, but they're actually phenocrysts. There's a lot of material that has killer fire but the glass is just lousy with those phenocrysts - it can be heartbreaking. That super colorful piece in the first video in this thread, the one titled IMG 4824, is from a rock that had a bunch of those pockets. You can see the white spots in the video, and the black dots in the color are either shadows or an actual phenocryst that formed in the magnetite layer. This particular piece really saved itself by being super bright, it flashes all the colors even in the shade. realrockhound - I'm smiling while reading about your experience, you're hitting all the main reasons this material is so hard to work with. The fire won't get a ton brighter past 600, so if it seems dull/dim (even if it has great fire), it's probably not going to get much better even completed, often it's just the luck of how those micro-magnetite crystals are oriented to reflect light. That doesn't mean it isn't a great rock though, and if it has pretty colors and/or patterns, I still finish the dimmer pieces up. I have 10 times as many finished as I've shared online, but the others are kind of just OK if you know what I mean. It's like any other material I suppose, different grades, but even the lowest grade fire magnetite can be super cool and unique. I hope you post some pics/vids when you're done, I always love seeing what people find in this stuff, they're each a story on their own. if it’s ok with you, I’ll post a few pics here for you to see? The pockets are right on the fire bar, and I’m too scared to go that low haha. I’m already micro meters above the bar haha. |
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jasperfanatic
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jul 8, 2022 0:07:00 GMT -5
If it's what I think it is, there's nothing you can do about those bubbles/pockets. They usually get called air bubbles or ash pockets, but they're actually phenocrysts. There's a lot of material that has killer fire but the glass is just lousy with those phenocrysts - it can be heartbreaking. That super colorful piece in the first video in this thread, the one titled IMG 4824, is from a rock that had a bunch of those pockets. You can see the white spots in the video, and the black dots in the color are either shadows or an actual phenocryst that formed in the magnetite layer. This particular piece really saved itself by being super bright, it flashes all the colors even in the shade. realrockhound - I'm smiling while reading about your experience, you're hitting all the main reasons this material is so hard to work with. The fire won't get a ton brighter past 600, so if it seems dull/dim (even if it has great fire), it's probably not going to get much better even completed, often it's just the luck of how those micro-magnetite crystals are oriented to reflect light. That doesn't mean it isn't a great rock though, and if it has pretty colors and/or patterns, I still finish the dimmer pieces up. I have 10 times as many finished as I've shared online, but the others are kind of just OK if you know what I mean. It's like any other material I suppose, different grades, but even the lowest grade fire magnetite can be super cool and unique. I hope you post some pics/vids when you're done, I always love seeing what people find in this stuff, they're each a story on their own. if it’s ok with you, I’ll post a few pics here for you to see? The pockets are right on the fire bar, and I’m too scared to go that low haha. I’m already micro meters above the bar haha. Totally cool with me. |
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adrian65
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Post by adrian65 on Jul 8, 2022 1:06:31 GMT -5
Amazing material! And beautifully cabbed!
Adrian
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 9, 2022 14:13:20 GMT -5
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jasperfanatic
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jul 10, 2022 10:18:35 GMT -5
So the bar was almost a perfect triangle. So I tried my best to capture the shape of the fire bar. I apologize for crappy pics, as i'm sure you're aware its difficult to photograph. It does however flash a hell of a lot better out in the sun. But hopefully from theses pics you can see what im talking about. So on all three corners, its brought right down to the layer. in the middle however, it does have a little more room I could work it down as the layer is concaved. Here's where i'm at so far. I need to straighten up the cab a bit more and do some final touches, however any other advice to make it better would be appreciated if its possible. From what I can tell in the photos, it looks to me like you've got it, great work! The phenocrysts in that one are a little thicker than normal (for the stuff that has them), but I've seen worse and they're definitely not disqualifying. I totally understand your frustration with them, there have been so many times I've wished the glass were cleaner. That one looks like a keeper to me! I can't think of anything to suggest unless you have specific questions? A majority of the time my fire cab shapes are determined by the same method you described - I just try to clean up the edges of the fire layer, but do everything I can to preserve the whole layer as-is, the picture that Mother Nature left for us to find is usually so cool that I don't want to trim any off. Sometimes you get lucky and the base layer was pretty close to a traditional cab shape, but more often than not my fire cabs are in some pretty abstract shapes, though on occasion I'll use a stencil when I see something that's just begging to be a piece of jewelry. You're doing a great job with some challenging material! Don't let the phenocrysts ruin your party. For a long time I avoided the phenocryst-ridden stuff because it bothered me, but I learned to appreciate them, mostly because some of the hottest fire I've seen has had them |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jul 10, 2022 12:23:49 GMT -5
So the bar was almost a perfect triangle. So I tried my best to capture the shape of the fire bar. I apologize for crappy pics, as i'm sure you're aware its difficult to photograph. It does however flash a hell of a lot better out in the sun. But hopefully from theses pics you can see what im talking about. So on all three corners, its brought right down to the layer. in the middle however, it does have a little more room I could work it down as the layer is concaved. Here's where i'm at so far. I need to straighten up the cab a bit more and do some final touches, however any other advice to make it better would be appreciated if its possible. From what I can tell in the photos, it looks to me like you've got it, great work! The phenocrysts in that one are a little thicker than normal (for the stuff that has them), but I've seen worse and they're definitely not disqualifying. I totally understand your frustration with them, there have been so many times I've wished the glass were cleaner. That one looks like a keeper to me! I can't think of anything to suggest unless you have specific questions? A majority of the time my fire cab shapes are determined by the same method you described - I just try to clean up the edges of the fire layer, but do everything I can to preserve the whole layer as-is, the picture that Mother Nature left for us to find is usually so cool that I don't want to trim any off. Sometimes you get lucky and the base layer was pretty close to a traditional cab shape, but more often than not my fire cabs are in some pretty abstract shapes, though on occasion I'll use a stencil when I see something that's just begging to be a piece of jewelry. You're doing a great job with some challenging material! Don't let the phenocrysts ruin your party. For a long time I avoided the phenocryst-ridden stuff because it bothered me, but I learned to appreciate them, mostly because some of the hottest fire I've seen has had them That’s all the information I needed. Just helps me confirm I’m on the right path with how I’m work the material as it sounds like I’m doing exactly the same strategies you’re doing. I got a 5 gallon bucket full of the stuff so I suppose I’ll just keep working it until I finally fit a phenomenal piece. Thanks for the insight, I’ll be sure to post once I finally get some stellar pieces. |
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jul 10, 2022 12:57:05 GMT -5
From what I can tell in the photos, it looks to me like you've got it, great work! The phenocrysts in that one are a little thicker than normal (for the stuff that has them), but I've seen worse and they're definitely not disqualifying. I totally understand your frustration with them, there have been so many times I've wished the glass were cleaner. That one looks like a keeper to me! I can't think of anything to suggest unless you have specific questions? A majority of the time my fire cab shapes are determined by the same method you described - I just try to clean up the edges of the fire layer, but do everything I can to preserve the whole layer as-is, the picture that Mother Nature left for us to find is usually so cool that I don't want to trim any off. Sometimes you get lucky and the base layer was pretty close to a traditional cab shape, but more often than not my fire cabs are in some pretty abstract shapes, though on occasion I'll use a stencil when I see something that's just begging to be a piece of jewelry. You're doing a great job with some challenging material! Don't let the phenocrysts ruin your party. For a long time I avoided the phenocryst-ridden stuff because it bothered me, but I learned to appreciate them, mostly because some of the hottest fire I've seen has had them That’s all the information I needed. Just helps me confirm I’m on the right path with how I’m work the material as it sounds like I’m doing exactly the same strategies you’re doing. I got a 5 gallon bucket full of the stuff so I suppose I’ll just keep working it until I finally fit a phenomenal piece. Thanks for the insight, I’ll be sure to post once I finally get some stellar pieces. Good luck, hope that bucket has more winners than not. From my experience, digging with knowledge of the material and on a claim that I'm familiar with, the amount of high grade material might be 15% of the total haul if you're really lucky (there are exceptions, of course). That said, the stuff that isn't complete duds still usually has come cool stuff going on. Gold fire (not the same as gold sheen) is almost a base color and makes up a large percentage of the total haul, but the gold and silver mirror stuff that's often present can be out of site. In case you haven't bumped into it, make sure to check every layer you can find - just because the first two you isolated with the gold, the third could be super hot with color...and sometimes the gold shifts to colorful further on in the layer. Also, when a chunk tries to be everything by including rainbow, fiber optic, fire, mahogany, etc. all at once some pretty interesting things can happen. Have fun with it! |
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