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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 21:22:35 GMT -5
Wow, have fun with the yard work guys... Not really my idea of fun. Just noticed the new avatar, sounds like a good choice. One question, was he born in the U.S.? Sorry just trying to get the tough questions answered ahead of the election.... Actually, yes. He was birthed in Providence RI of all places.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 15:27:31 GMT -5
paulshiroma I'm planning on getting a vibe lap soon. I am looking at the Covingtons. Do you like yours? Thanks for sharing the steps you take to get such a great shine. Garage Rocker. What kind of vibe lap did you just get? Andrea Hi meviva: Well, the Covington is the only one I have any experience with so, while I am very pleased with it, I don't have anything to measure it against. I did pickup mine through "The Agateer" (https://www.facebook.com/theagateer/info). I think the contact was Judy. She was great and gave me a LOT of advice and information on using and setting it up. She even dropped by to giveme a hand with the setup and drop off an extra pan. I use two pans, one for the "rough" grits up to 1000 AO and one just for the cerium oxide. I did that mostly so that I can keep as much cerium oxide as possible (it's expensive) in a single pan and not have to worry about constantly washing pans all the time. I met Judy at one of the local shows one year and made something of an impulse buy - which is not always a good idea LOL. In this case, it's been one of the best tools I've bought for the hobby. Ping me if you have questions; I'll answer with whatever I've done that has or has not worked. A lot has not worked. Thanks Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 15:20:07 GMT -5
Wow, have fun with the yard work guys...
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 15:18:35 GMT -5
My Next Read. Ordered on Amazon. Can wait to get it. nypost.com/2016/10/09/how-dumb-does-washington-think-we-all-are/www.amazon.com/What-Washington-Gets-Wrong-Misconceptions/dp/1633882497?tag=nypost-20What Washington Gets Wrong: The Unelected Officials Who Actually Run the Government and Their Misconceptions about the American People Summary from Amazon: Each year unelected federal administrators write thousands of regulations possessing the force of law. What do these civil servants know about the American people whom they ostensibly serve? Not much, according to this enlightening and disturbing study. The authors surveyed federal agency officials, congressional and White House staffers, and employees of various policy-making organizations about their attitudes toward and knowledge of the public. They found a significant chasm between what official Washington assumes they know about average Americans and the actual opinions and attitudes of American citizens. Even in such basic areas as life circumstances (e.g., income levels, employment, racial makeup) the surveys revealed surprising inaccuracies. And when it comes to policy issues--on such crucial issues as defense, crime, social security, welfare, public education, and the environment--officials' perceptions of the public's knowledge and positions are often wide of the mark. Compounding this ignorance is a pervasive attitude of smug dismissiveness toward the citizenry and little sense of accountability. As a result, bureaucrats tend to follow their own preferences without much reference to the opinions of the public. The authors conclude with recommendations to narrow the gap between official perceptions of the American public and the actual facts. These include shorter terms, rotation from the Washington beltway to local offices, compulsory training in the responsibilities of public office, and better civic education for ordinary citizens in the realities of government and politics
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 10:21:39 GMT -5
welcome to the forum and that's a great way to get the kids out into nature! Love it! And I agree with you that this addiction ... rather HOBBY (excuse me, I relapsed), is a definite money pit. And a fun one at that.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 10:19:04 GMT -5
Hi Mike: These are great looking pieces. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 10:16:58 GMT -5
Nice colors that 2nd photo is that fracture healed? I like that one! Nope, I found that piece to be, unfortunately, very well fractured. The end cut came apart in my hands. Not sure how this is going to polish out. I'll end up putting this one on the vibe lap.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 9, 2016 10:15:23 GMT -5
Reflections or not, very good polish on some really nice pieces. Thank you, sir!
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 8, 2016 21:37:30 GMT -5
*** APPLAUSE *** the came out great, Donnie!
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 8, 2016 21:36:37 GMT -5
i've got some large pieces of what look like outdoor carpet that came with my lap for the higher stages (1000 AO and above). Mine, however, is one of those vibe laps so the process is slightly different.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 8, 2016 21:34:04 GMT -5
x2 on the above comments ... nice job - they came out beautifully!
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 8, 2016 21:30:40 GMT -5
I had a few minutes the other day so I cut a couple of the Dobell Ranch pieces and a nodule that I don't recall where it came from. It was with a pile of rocks from the Yermo/Calico area north east of Barstow CA but I can't guarantee that. Dobell Ranch material: They're both kinda dirty as I just pulled them out of the cat litter (oil absorber). The other nodule. Thanks for checking out the thread. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 8, 2016 21:26:13 GMT -5
Hey Paul, nice shine you've got going there. Are you using a flat lap or vibe lap to finish those? I just got a vibe lap and have got to put some time in figuring out how to get a polish on those faces. As far as the photography goes, you've got some good advice on fighting glare/reflections. With a flat surface, it's hard not to get your light source in the reflection. Shooting at an angle can get you and the camera out of the picture though. Phone cameras are always going to be tough to work with since they don't have a lot of the functions that are helpful on a DSLR, or even point and shoot camera. Tripods and adjustable exposure/ISO settings are great tools to manage light and reduce shake or blur with existing light. The polarizer will help more if you are shooting outdoors in indirect light, not so much if you decide to use a flash indoors. The tent that Scott recommended is popular with photographers shooting product shots. Firing a flash through any kind of diffuser helps control harsh glare also. There are many techniques that are used, but it's hard to set out a game plan until you have decided on which camera and light source you will be using. A dedicated 'studio' can consist of a small table, a light source, diffuser of some kind and a cheap tripod. Not pertaining to the reflection you are getting, but de-cluttering the background was great advice too. Try and make the subject the only focus, with nothing else to lead the eye away from it. Anyhow, if you have any specific questions, let me know.
Randy
ETA: Ok, it said flat lap in the thread, but the title says vibe lap. If that's the case, we definitely need to trade tips and suggestions. Hi Randy ( Garage Rocker): I have to watch my terminology. It's one of those covington vibe laps. As far as how I run it, there's a lot of trial and error although the basic pattern follows this: I spend most of the time using 46=70 grade grit. Often times, days, as I want to get rid of any uneven areas and saw marks. I usually run the slabs through this stage for a total of five to eight days (combined). Even then, I sometimes find a slab that needs to be restarted. I picked up a tip from "The Agateer" (I think her name was Judy) to use a Sharpie and run cross hatch marks across the face of the rock. When they've all been ground off, it's good to go to the next step. I spend a lot of time cleaning and rinsing in between recharding the lap. Next, I run them for several days, using 120-220 sized grit. This steps works out to a combined five to eight days as well, with a lot of washing in between. Some get rejected at this stage and are piled up and eventually re-done at the first stage. Now comes the harder steps. I run the slabs through 320 Graded grit. This is critical as now I want all graded grits from here out to get an even polish. Again, a two to three days days (total) at this stage. Your slabs should take on a matte appearance at this point. Next up is 500 grit. I've been using aluminum oxide but silicon carbide will work as well. It's simply what I bought. A lot get rejected at this stage and start over. Usually, it's at this stage where I can see if there are missed areas caused by uneven saw cuts that weren't take care of at the first two stages. Same amount of time at this stage. Now I switch to the 1000 AO. The photos above show some of the rocks done at this stage. I ran this particular batch for about three or four days straight. The last step is the cerium oxide for several days. This step gets you the awesome shine that you see at rock shops and museums. They come out beautifully, if you take your time. The rocks in the above photo are currently at this stage. Inside of each step, I clean the pan when the grit is used up, clean the rocks with a toothbrush, recharge and get the pan running again. Also, make sure to run rocks with equivalent hardness together. I have a parallel batch of obsidian that I'm running right now as well. I made the mistake of running them with agates and the edges chipped. I always wrap the rocks in rubber bands along the edge that is getting the polish just to help cushion them but inevitably, they get chipped here and there. Get the thick/wide rubber bands from Office Depot or Staples. They come in a big bag of 500 or something like that. I think the part that I have the hardest time with is getting the right ratio of water and grit. On my 16 inch diameter pan, I can put down about six tablespoons of 46-70 grit and about 1/3 cup of water and it seems to work well but that changes as I move up through the grit sizes. The other thing that I monitor is making sure that the grit doesn't get too dry, so I'm constantly in and out of the garage every hour or so to check. I hope that helps. This has been very much, a trial and error learning curve.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 22:09:54 GMT -5
APPLAUSE ... what an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing the photos. Looks like you all had a great time.
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Mo
Oct 6, 2016 22:06:11 GMT -5
Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 22:06:11 GMT -5
Welcome aboard!
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 20:46:00 GMT -5
I've been using my phone for most shots (10mp) but the above were done with my wife's Sony HD Cybershot fancy-shmancy camera. I think it's 10mp as well.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 19:32:38 GMT -5
A polarizing filter will help A LOT. You can get them for just about any camera, but I don't know about phone cameras. It screws onto your lens and you rotate the outside ring to eliminate glare. Works really well, I use one for cabs outside. Hadn't considered that one, thanks, rockjunquie. Might be the next step. Along with lots of practice as suggested above.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 19:31:30 GMT -5
With such nice mirror polishes, auto focus can be tricked into focusing on the reflection - ie the tree reflection above. Try a manual focus if that's a huge problem, some phones will let you do this, but not all. It'd also be good to pay attention to the possible reflections so that different parts of the rock are not seeing very different surfaces in the reflection. eg, I can see your dark phone, and bright sky in some above. In the same vein, I'd also suggest a paying attention to the background, if you don't want to do studio lighting, try to keep the background less busy, maybe just grass, or a table or leaves behind the rock, it'll greatly help the rock stand out. Looks like you're hand holding both the camera and rock. Set the rock down, Tripods can help hold the camera as well, you can use a smaller aperature= larger DOF=slower exposure. You might try to just have a little stand and bright light in the corner of the shop and angle the slabs/camera till you get results you like. Once solved that'll be much more reliable than worrying about the variable conditions outside. 2cents... practice you'll get better, it's way easier than getting such nice polishes! Great suggestions, oregon. I have a cheap tripod laying around here somewhere. I'll give that a try along with the backgrounds. Thanks Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 19:30:01 GMT -5
And by the way, those are some badass polishes!! Wow!! ^ That ^ Cut a circular hole into dark grey / black card. Feather the edges @ 1/4" to accept the lens. Shoot in good light, but looking down through the card should eliminate the shine. Use lights as per Shotgunner's link to provide oblique highlight shine. Thanks, I saw a lot of "oblique" angle comments in other threads. I'll give that a try.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 6, 2016 19:28:59 GMT -5
Depends on the camera, but I suggest you try thisI saw similar one's on other threads in the forum. Maybe I'll cobble something together like that. Thanks for the suggestion. I was reading through another "photographing our tumbles" thread and picked up some ideas as well. Thanks, Scott! Paul
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