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Post by stardiamond on Feb 25, 2024 15:23:31 GMT -5
Another warmer day. High is 66 and then it is cooling off. I dopped four. The water in the saw was from yesterday and it was cold so my hands stung trimming. I poured a bowl of hot water in the cabbing tray and it was like springtime. Blue Plume, Mexican agate, trimmed heel of BFW and a thin preform of old stock Howardite.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 24, 2024 17:41:47 GMT -5
Warmest day of the year at 68 degrees so I decided to face some recently arrived small rough. Butterfly wing Jasper and Indonesian Blue Plume agate from the HP Lapidary auction. I have experience with the BFW. It took me two days of auctions to get a Blue Plume. It was flying. All I could see was a brief image and it was gone. I believe I got a good piece and am not overwhelmed by it. I'll know more when I cut a cab and that is weeks away.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 18, 2024 20:00:48 GMT -5
That's a great kitchen and a good investment. I'm too old to do the work on a remodel. I had the hall bathroom remodeled by a contractor. It was shot. He wanted to do my kitchen, but it would be a bad investment. People spend a lot on kitchens where I am and would likely redo it when they bought my house. I did replace my almost 35 year old 24 inch oven with a 30 inch convection and two new cabinets in order to install it.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 12, 2024 18:06:11 GMT -5
7 oz El Sueco half arrived today.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 11, 2024 14:34:48 GMT -5
pm sent
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 9, 2024 14:11:55 GMT -5
My 80 grit wheel is aggressive and leaves scratches. My 220 grit hard wheel was not very useful. A well worn 80 grit does a better job of scratch removal. I mounted a 140 soft wheel in place of the 220 and it handles the lighter scratches from the worn 80. I don't use the 140 or 280 to shape, so I no longer use a 220 soft. One nice thing about a Genie is being able to add a second spin on arbor and try out different wheel combinations.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 5, 2024 20:56:57 GMT -5
glennz01, I set up a facebook page for selling cabs. I need to take photos and list. I had a technique for getting shop visits which is to list a lot of more unusual material which results in better placement in web and Etsy searches. That doesn't work for FB. I do FB searches for material. It allows me find listings that are not easy to find. FB pages are not structured well for finding stuff. My traffic will be driven the FB search.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 4, 2024 14:33:22 GMT -5
I look for expensive material at a good price. That is part of the hobby for me. I don't compete with India or China. I also don't have sales or coupons. I'm not looking to undercut prices for those who are trying to make wages selling. I tried selling on one of the facebook pages and sold one cab. There is a two tier system at Cabs and slabs. Selling as a guest; days and items are restricted. They also did an image scan before approving posts to check that the cab wasn't being offered elsewhere. I had posts rejected when they were ok. I tend to use the same shapes and material. If the mod looked closely he could see the difference.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 4, 2024 12:27:26 GMT -5
I make a lot more cabs than I sell and if I sold more, I would be motivated to make more. My average cab sells for around $35 and I sell around 10. From an ego standpoint I would like to be selling more. My goal was to make the hobby self funding, paying for material, equipment and supplies. I have been able to do that. I like making cabs. I make them and list them and let the rest take care of itself.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 3, 2024 19:54:42 GMT -5
After the second 80 grit wheel, all work is sanding through polishing. Shaping is complete. Two things limit my speed; taking frequent breaks to get off my feet and reviewing progress and having to go back because of discovering scratches. I would hope that technique would hit all of the area but it doesn't for me. The frequency of having to go back is dependent on the hardness of the material. Morgan Hill is very forgiving. Montana, Blue Mountain and gem Owyhee are not.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 3, 2024 17:09:38 GMT -5
I live in Northern California in Lafayette. CNN had a rainfall map so I looked at my area. I'm getting some rain.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 2, 2024 20:17:58 GMT -5
I like to cut fast and with a heavy hand. The scratches are the same width as a regular 80, but a little deeper.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 2, 2024 19:21:10 GMT -5
The 80 grit BA textured wheel eats rock, doesn't chip but does leave deep scratches. My second wheel is a worn 80 grit DP wheel for refining the shape and removing scratches.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 2, 2024 17:06:02 GMT -5
FB feeds content based on previous visits. Since I usually only look at lapidary, I get a lot of lapidary content.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 2, 2024 16:47:36 GMT -5
Sunset Lapidary is Russ and Ben Kuniuth. The two pages are cabs and slabs (cabs) and cabs and slabs the slab depot. Guests are allowed to post offerings and are limited by day and number. I buy from the slab depot, Wild West Slabs and Rocks, Full Moon Rock Shop and Creative Slab Connection. Each has multiple sellers with days assigned to each. I buy at the seller level and follow their listings. Soem really good people. Thanks stardiamond! I ripped my facebook bandaid off and signed up with the group - looking forward to seeing (and maybe buying) some fun items! I am not a social media person. I don't collect friends. I had a spat with a FB seller who also sold on ebay. He misidentified a slab and I posted a correction. He banned me partially because my friend count was low. I signed up for FB a while ago trying to find some long, lost real friends. FB changed and has a lot of corporate advertising and merchandise for sale through interest groups. I usually don't use marketplace but will when I'm trying to buy something difficult find. I get directed to web sites that have what I am looking for. I stay far away from Craigslist. I have never had a bad experience or any experience but prefer to remain anonymous.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 2, 2024 15:37:32 GMT -5
Sunset Lapidary is Russ and Ben Kuniuth. The two pages are cabs and slabs (cabs) and cabs and slabs the slab depot. Guests are allowed to post offerings and are limited by day and number. I buy from the slab depot, Wild West Slabs and Rocks, Full Moon Rock Shop and Creative Slab Connection. Each has multiple sellers with days assigned to each. I buy at the seller level and follow their listings. Soem really good people.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 31, 2024 14:23:43 GMT -5
A 14 oz piece of Butterfly Wing rough arrived today. It is unfaced so no point taking a picture. This was a freebie:
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 29, 2024 20:52:24 GMT -5
It is unavoidable to not buy Chinese manufactured products. I was watching the mini series 'Blackberry' and the company was reluctant to move manufacturing to China. They did and all the phones were defective.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 29, 2024 20:40:29 GMT -5
Yes, at least 4 or 5. I wish I had an id. The matrix on the sides says seam and it looks like Mexican material. It is tough to keep up with material. The rest of the order was a Prudent Man which is becoming harder to find and is usually expensive. I also got a really nice Kentucky agate.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 29, 2024 19:17:41 GMT -5
Purchased as Mexican seam agate. About the size of a dollar bill. I couldn't find it on the internet. I looked for Moroccan seam agate and they didn't look the same. I'm finding that a lot of Mexican material is designated as Mexican without a specific location. I bought in on looks.
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