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Post by stardiamond on Sept 1, 2023 14:59:59 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 1, 2023 14:46:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the id. I did some searching and the material is rare. Not many cabs. I found a link to some Jason posted here.
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 1, 2023 14:44:29 GMT -5
It would make nice cabs but better as a slab.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 31, 2023 13:20:18 GMT -5
The slabs arrived today. The Stinking water had more distinct plumes than the listing photo. Dry Wet
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 30, 2023 12:22:26 GMT -5
Two years ago I bought this parcel of Blue Biggs from an ebay seller in Thailand. I exchanged emails with the seller before buying. Without a reference size what I bought was smaller than what I imagined Listing picture: What I got: What I made: A link to a recently sold BB parcel sold by the same seller. This one has a reference image bbI don't know how material from Oregon from the 70's ended up in Thailand except that jewelry is manufactured there and someone used local labor to make cabs. I decided to list the pieces as a lot and since they were so small they have been kept in a jewelry box I use to ship cabs. I sold the item today and it is on the way to Georgia.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 29, 2023 14:18:39 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 29, 2023 14:14:09 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 28, 2023 14:04:01 GMT -5
Recut as an oval through 325 soft. I'll finish it tomorrow when fresh. I dopped 4 other preforms.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 27, 2023 22:06:50 GMT -5
My first trim saw was a blade, arbor and motor bolted to a piece of wood. The instructions were to use a wet sponge to cool the blade.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 27, 2023 21:27:19 GMT -5
I have a flip phone and take pictures with a very good digital slr. Good pictures help sell cabs.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 27, 2023 16:29:33 GMT -5
I started with a large, thin piece of Tahoma rough. The layers of different material can be thin and the layers follow the contours of the rock. I glued the piece to the board and cut a face at the highest point. I trimmed around the high point to see how thick the layers were and ended up with a piece that represented the high point of the material. I marked a line parallel to the face and cut a 3/8 slab which is twice the thickness of the top layer so the pattern will not go away when doming. I split a piece of Montana with the slab saw and trimmed the slab into preforms. I also evened two of the smaller Tahoma pieces, created a flat bottom and a preform shape. The other five preforms are Howardite slabs that I cut a while ago.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 27, 2023 14:10:27 GMT -5
I am far removed from anything to do with claims. I buy rocks on the internet.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 26, 2023 17:20:41 GMT -5
Cheapest solution I can think of would be a piece of 2x4 and a C clamp. Make a facing cut freehand and then glue the flat surface to the board with wood glue or water glass.
I have a Genie trim saw attachment and tried cutting some slots in the deck and attached a piece of angled aluminum to the deck with bolts and wing nuts. It didn't work because the aluminum was to flexible.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 26, 2023 15:21:08 GMT -5
From Mindat:
An unusual gem/lapidary material (improperly) called "Howardite" and also known as "Rattlesnake Jasper" from a "lost" locality in Nevada.
This material was said to be an opalized/agatized/jasperized tuff infused with chalcedony, in which the plaided or wood grain "appearance" was stated (1940's ?) to be created from the pulsation of iron bearing waters infiltrated through the tuff. Sinkankas (GNA, Vol.1, 1959) depicts similar material which he stated more closely resembled Chert. It has been mistaken as petrified wood in the past. I have not had any tests performed on the material, so can only go on what little I can find in the literature, which is scarce. It is a highly desirable material in the lapidary community.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 26, 2023 13:13:54 GMT -5
It looks more like the pattern of scales on a rattlesnake than any plaid material I've seen. My history only goes back about 20 years. When were there tons that were tumbled?
"The specific locality for Howardite appears to be unknown. Howardite is said to have been discovered in a small occurrence/pocket in the 1940's or 1950's, and the locality/deposit was thereafter said to be mined out, lost, or closed to entry for military purposes (depending on which account you hear). From what I have heard it was last dug in the 1970's and the discoverer could not find his way back to the deposit. Rediscovered about 2015-2016 by dominion gems. Four claims were located on the deposit in january 2018 by dominion gems, but not recorded to keep the locality "Private" and to deter poaching and highgrading; shortly thereafter the deposit was rediscovered by others."
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 26, 2023 12:24:36 GMT -5
One of my bedrooms was my wife's artist studio. She stopped painting years ago and the room was used for storage including some of my rocks. I bought a 6 tier shelves on wheels at Costco so I could store things vertically. This caused me to revisit some boxes of rocks and slabs I haven't looked at for a while. The Highland Park Zoom rock sale was yesterday and there were a few Howardite slabs that went for good money. What is being sold today is not Howardite, it is something that was called Royal Flamingo or Red Howardite, but now they just call it Howardite. Howardite is also the name of some meteorites. My introduction to Howardite started with Silverhawk's cabs. My wife collected cabs and his Howardite always sold for a good price at auction. He had some kind of connection to the miner. I emailed his wife and she had rough for $5 a pound. I didn't have a saw and buying rough blind is risky. I asked about buying slabs and she said it would take a while. I was at a rock show in Reno about three months later and visited he table. She said the price of Howardite rough was now $55 a pound. I've managed to pick up some small rough and slabs over the years. A nice Howardite cab sells for over $100. What is distinctive is the rattlesnake pattern. Only some of the old Howardite has it. I have been buying new Howardite rough and slabs from John Zawicki who sells as Altmanontbeads on Etsy and on Facebook. His prices were a lot lower than HP. After seeing the HP prices, I went to his Etsy shop and the quality of his slabs was inferior from what I got in the past. After going through my boxes, I already have a good supply. The new Howardite can be a lot more silicated than the original and less likely to fracture. Top picture shows the translucence, the middle picture original Howardite. The bottom picture shows three different slabs. The one on the left is about as close in color and pattern as original,the middle is a piece that is mostly clear and the right is a very silicated transluscent piece.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 25, 2023 14:17:47 GMT -5
Problem solved is always good. This may be a little technical. In 1972, I was a computer operator in the air force. That was when input was punch cards. There was a small deck of cards that was punched at an operational facility, like motor pool. A punched card must have two holes in a column, no more or no less. When reading the deck with a card reader, the job would stop before completion. I didn't want to inspect every column (80) in every card maybe a hundred for extra holes.
I did what is called a binary search which is dividing the deck in half and reading each half to identify which half had the problem. The next step would be to divide the problem deck in half until the bad card was found. This deck had failed multiple times so it was surprising that neither half had a problem. I put the deck back together and it was read completely.
What I was suggesting with the wheels was the same approach and your result (no problem) was the same.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 24, 2023 12:53:51 GMT -5
Except for a trim saw, I don't believe there is a beginner's saw. Anyone who wants to start slabbing should go through a program, like driver training and introduction to equipment repair.
A trim saw is simple. Make sure there is coolant for the blade and that you don't bind it. Worst case, you buy a new blade.
I waited 7 years to unpack my 16 inch Covington combo saw. When I started using it we had a rocky (no pun intended) relationship. Blade binding, clutch slipping, carriage drifting, rock slipping in the vise and expensive blades getting damaged.
I bought a 10 inch Highland Park slab which is almost idiot proof. Put the right amount of oil in it and not much can go wrong. Most slab saws have a vise like a wood vise which is great for wood. This saw comes with a vertical vise which is good for cutting small, odd shaped rough. The only issue I had with the saw was the carriage release lever was balky and the clutch spring (very small part broke). Supposedly, they fixed the carriage release problem which was likely responsible for the spring breaking. It is slow, doesn't jam and the blade thickness (kerf) is small (.032) which wastes less expensive material.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2023 21:57:20 GMT -5
I had multiple presentations before picking a contractor. I own it. One proposal was for having panels installed but I wouldn't own them. It was a 20+ year contract for a guaranteed rate. It might make sense for someone who couldn't afford to buy. For me, it was an excellent investment. My understanding is that I get my electricity from the grid and contribute to the grid with the January reconciliation. I get reports and my system is producing what it was designed to. The battery is just to keep the lights on. With the new reimbursement plan a battery becomes essential to sell power during high demand. I'm on the previous plan where a battery is not needed.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2023 21:12:42 GMT -5
This only step 1. Step 2 is trimming and step 3 is the preforms. I know this isn't Sutter's Mill, but there is more here to be discovered.
Jason, given a large slab with a lot of visible fractures, I like to slam the slab into my worktable. No decision making about partially healed and invisible fractures. Slabs don't fracture in a straight line.
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