|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 6, 2023 14:47:03 GMT -5
I worked on some recent material. Top two are polka dot. Two Royal Flamingo. Howardite is hard to find and expensive so I have been looking for a less expensive alternative. The circled preform is as close as I have ever come to the Howardite rattlesnake pattern. Two Nydegger that was sold as Stinkingwater. A Tahoma that has a nice pattern on the other side. I trimmed the edges to see how deep the white was and found out that it isn't going away. With the druse pockets I decided to pick the bolder side.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 5, 2023 14:55:10 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 5, 2023 14:08:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 4, 2023 22:32:38 GMT -5
I just bought two more slabs. Check Etsy and eBay for price comparison. I am buying from: www.barnhouselapidary.com/Easy to cut with a bright finish and very messy.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 4, 2023 21:58:10 GMT -5
I have a customer who makes jewelry and I have sold her some ring size cabs to make rings. I was running out and Nipomo has become hard to find and expensive. I did a facebook search and bought two nice slabs. The cab I made came from that slab. I have two preforms left that I will finish tomorrow. The pattern on the slab was outstanding. I checked Etsy and a shop has been selling similar material (not listing) for as much as $150. I don't sell for anything close but will get a great roi on the slab.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 4, 2023 19:29:45 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 4, 2023 18:26:50 GMT -5
I was looking at a Montana cabn at my worktable and noticed some turtle back. I don't like polishing backs because I don't use wax to dop and handheld is tough on my fingers. I had some Scotch double sided waterproof tape. I've tried dopping with it and it didn't hold. I did use it to put a cab on the dop to take a picture. I ran out of tape and ordered some more. The old tape was gray and this is black. The back of the cab needed some work. Saw marks and incomplete cut. I taped the face to a dop and used an 80 grit wheel, an 80 grit flat lap and then 160 soft, 280 soft and 325 soft where the tape gave. Since the cab was large, I could go dopless. It flew of the polishing pad a few times but wasn't damaged. I made multiple attempts to take a picture and these are the best I could do today.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 4, 2023 17:15:23 GMT -5
I took some pictures outside. I have a very good camera with auto focus and the only good picture was holding the cab in my hand.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 4, 2023 15:41:07 GMT -5
I dopped five and jumped the line on one. I like to start on one that I don't know what it will look like finished. The Tahoma on the right of the previous picture. I kept grinding the dome until I got the right layers. Cab is darker than the picture. I will have better ligth tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2023 23:32:52 GMT -5
They may not have it listed it was a big piece of equipment with jigs.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2023 22:15:23 GMT -5
I sit through the Friday and Saturday HP zoom rock sales and both days they were showing the features of their new tumblers and also offering them at a discount to those attending the rock sales. If you are interested, go to the HP lapidary site and take a look. There is also a link to the zoom sales.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2023 21:58:42 GMT -5
They were selling them at a discount and showing them on both the Friday and Saturday zoom rock sales. They also were doing the same for their intarsia equipment.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2023 20:44:33 GMT -5
beautiful work.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2023 17:50:38 GMT -5
I went to the HPL site and they have a Labor day sale. No email received. The items on sale were expensive, unusual and not heavily discounted. They are very likely to have a BF sale with across the board discounts. They had one in 2022. I bought 4 soft wheels. They have been good quality and tax and shipping is included in the price.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 3, 2023 13:49:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 2, 2023 16:28:04 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 2, 2023 14:22:56 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 2, 2023 14:08:34 GMT -5
Some amazing Nipomo material, unusual amethyst lace and Tahomas I have been working with. Many slabs are 2d, but the Tahoma are 3d and I had to guess/calculate how to slab them because of thin layers of different materials.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 2, 2023 12:19:17 GMT -5
That last one in the first set of pictures is stunning. I believe you said it is Howardite. It looks almost brecciated. Pardon my drool. All the others are great too. I know I have some Tahoma Agate in the storage unit. I got it a long time ago and never cut it. Guess it intimidated me. The Howardite is the new material. With the old material, you hoped for the rattlesnake pattern otherwise there was nothing. It was also very fragile and now rare. The new material is much sturdier and has a wider variety of looks. The cab is not brecciated. The material is described as 'opalized/silicate volcanic tuff' This cab is mainly clear material with non clear floating in it and has a surface vug that allows you to look inside the cab.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 1, 2023 22:26:25 GMT -5
|
|