gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 4, 2024 20:04:33 GMT -5
That's killer! Doesn't look like any Stone Canyon I have. Some areas look almost sagenitic. Fun cabbing ahead!
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,797
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Post by gemfeller on May 3, 2024 16:11:52 GMT -5
khara I've tried to respond twice but a glitch has caused problems. Third time's a charm, I hope. Yes, it was a black bear. It was a sneak attack, probably motivated by hunger. The victim had no warning at all. It started to eat the victim while neighbors tried to scare it away. It was killed by the authorities, who said it wasn't rabid. Very unusual behavior for a Black bear. Bears often wander through our area and seldom cause problems. A notable recent incident was a bear checking out the Safeway store parking lot where I shop. No shoppers were injured during that incident although a number suffered from increased heart rates. One brave person took a head-on image of the bear from about 15 feet away. We live next to a wild land area and have lots of animal visitors: coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, deer, various snakes and especially javelina. Lots of birds too, it's raven paradise and we have hordes of hummingbirds and lots of migratory species as well as your roadrunners. We call them Little Dinosaurs (named by hummingbirdstones ) and keep them away from our yard because they devour our little skinks, my wife's pets. We also have to shoo tarantulas out of our garage and sometimes they pay us visits in the evening as we sit outside enjoying Arizona's spectacular sunsets. The javelina are trruly ugly creatures, something similar to wart hogs, but the babies are adorable. The only time they seem to be dangerous is when they perceive a threat to their young or when they're interrupted while scavenging through tipped-over garbage cans. Until its recent demise from unknown causes, a giant King snake made its home in our little courtyard. It grew so large by eating rattlesnakes, rodents and other pests. We were vary sad it died. It had many benefits, among which were its appearances when door-to-door salesmen were calling on us. When we lived in southern California there were numerous incidents of mountain lion attacks on hikers and bikers in the L.A./San Diego areas. They were mostly hungry young cats. I seem to recall a couple of people being killed. Many cats were tagged and tracked, especially in the Santa Monica Mountains. A couple I recall were killed trying to cross the busy 101 Freeway when we lived there.
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
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Post by gemfeller on May 3, 2024 15:06:03 GMT -5
This one's unusually nice, so don't be disappointed with yours. I could see the potential in the rough but I had almost nothing to work with in the way of material. I still haven't given it a final polish because I'm pondering having another go at it to change the angle of the bottom to create a near cat's-eye effect. But it's a gamble and I'd lose a fair amount of weight as well as narrowing the shape quite a bit. Decisions, decisions.... It's gorgeous the way it is. Thanks. I'm coming to that conclusion myself. I don't think my poor heart could stand the tension of a rec-cut anyhow.
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,797
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Post by gemfeller on May 3, 2024 14:21:00 GMT -5
OMG! That is the way this material is supposed to look when worked! Outstanding!! Oddly...I just finished working a cab of rutilated quartz as well...but I still need to polish the back. It looks NOTHING like yours! This one's unusually nice, so don't be disappointed with yours. I could see the potential in the rough but I had almost nothing to work with in the way of material. I still haven't given it a final polish because I'm pondering having another go at it to change the angle of the bottom to create a near cat's-eye effect. But it's a gamble and I'd lose a fair amount of weight as well as narrowing the shape quite a bit. Decisions, decisions....
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 18:25:34 GMT -5
I guess I like your comment but I have no idea what it means It means you just dropped something so fabulous no one can top it. Now I REALLY like it!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 14:11:40 GMT -5
I guess I like your comment but I have no idea what it means
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,797
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 13:31:43 GMT -5
That's a beauty and I can see that it would be really difficult to work with that material. Great job! Thanks. It's normally pretty easy to cut, but this particular stone was a hot mess in the rough. I feel lucky to have salvaged a cab out of it much less a really nice one.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 13:29:36 GMT -5
The end result is super satisfying and totally worth your effort! Thanks -- wish you could see it in hand.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 12:22:44 GMT -5
I love rutilated quartz and I invested in a fairly large parcel of rough many years ago. But it's challenging rough: odd shapes, pits, and other issues that make selecting and orienting cabs unusually difficult. And none I've cut so far was more difficult than this one.
I could tell from the rough there was unusual beauty to be revealed if only I could navigate all the problems. The main ones were the shape of the rough, and deep pitting that was directly above the most attractive parts -- as usual! And orienting the brightest area to the top of the hoped-for stone was almost impossible because of the shape. I must have cut 4 or so "bottoms" at different angles to get the best orientation possible. After I got it as close as I could, it was breath-holding time as I carefully tried to eliminate the seemingly bottomless pits on the top.
After an hour or so of "cut a little, look a lot," success! The end result weighs 17.57 carats and measures 25 x 14.5 x 8 mm. The video only hints at the stone's brightness. In hand it is almost blinding as it turns in he light. Thanks for looking!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 11:54:07 GMT -5
titaniumkid America these days is definitely wild and dangerous. But it's the feral 2-legged creatures here that frighten me the most. They're to be found mostly in large cities. Funny you say that. I was just having a conversation about this with another member a few days ago. Aside from the pesky city critters that would kill you for street cred, I was talking about how I never go out hounding without a pistol. It’s not the wildlife I’m worried about, but the other two legged weirdos I’ve encountered in the least likely places to spot another human. I've had that experience too. That's one of the many reasons I live in AZ. Both open and concealed carry are totally legal. I ran into a scary situation in a very remote area of Utah several years ago, so I know the danger's not restricted to cities. You'll note I said "mostly."
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 10:58:47 GMT -5
titaniumkid America these days is definitely wild and dangerous. But it's the feral 2-legged creatures here that frighten me the most. They're to be found mostly in large cities.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 2, 2024 1:40:30 GMT -5
I'd love to cut some cabs from that material. I think it's terrific. Reminds me a bit of Chinese Pietersite with the whirly reds and yellows.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 1, 2024 21:22:47 GMT -5
titaniumkid If you want a laugh and can find a copy, read "A Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson. He's a very good writer and takes full advantage of the humor to be found in Americans' paranoia about the spiders, snakes, crocs and other beasties to be found on a trip to OZ. My personal concern is snakes, and in the Outback where the opals and many other gems are to be found, there seem to be a great many venomous types. At least our Western rattlers give you warning -- most of the time. But you're right about our large predators. A man was killed by a bear 2-3 miles from my house about a year ago. The poor guy was taking a break from building his cabin, drinking a cup of coffee and reading. I grew up near Yellowstone Park and my hometown had the closest hospital to the Park's Western side. During tourist season it was filled with Park visitors who were missing hands or other body parts from feeding the bears. Bears don't know where the snack ends and food begins -- it's all food to them. Currrently, the biggest threat to tourists seems to be bison/buffalo. Or I should say, dumb tourist s who think wild animals are all friendly, lovable Disney creatures. Bison are huge, powerful, nasty-tempered animals, to be respected and avoided. On a visit there a few years ago one blocked our car on the roadway. It was in a really foul mood with fire in its huge dark eyes. My wife was driving. and it finally decided to walk by the car. But it paused next to her window and for a moment it appeared it would attack with its big horns that were very close to her head. It finally decided to walk on, to our mutual relief. But many tourists deliberately try to approach and pet them, often with injurious or deadly results.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 1, 2024 20:38:18 GMT -5
No undercutting at all. Took a great polish, better than I can capture in an image. Nice to curt.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on May 1, 2024 18:11:19 GMT -5
Here's a couple of shots of the Crappy Cab of Today. Less colorful than the last two but color depends on the minerals available when the poop agatized. Speaking of Depends....did they come in Dino sizes?
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 29, 2024 20:07:43 GMT -5
Here's today's coprolite cab. It's the remainder of the slab I used to cut the cab posted above. They say you can't polish a turd but both of them polished up pretty nicely. I have a few more in process.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 28, 2024 14:30:56 GMT -5
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,797
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 28, 2024 14:26:39 GMT -5
realrockhound Were you cabbing Bumblebee "Jasper" by any chance? Maybe the hornet was simply coming to the defense of a presumed relative.
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,797
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 27, 2024 22:00:57 GMT -5
Today's crappy cab. I kinda' like it. Kinda? That's magnificent and look at that shine! Doesn't look like it undercut too badly. Yeah, my comment was a deliberate understatement. It's a bit undercut at 10X magnification and I'm thinking of giving it a HXTAL treatment to smooth it out. Haven't decided yet.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 27, 2024 20:30:27 GMT -5
Today's crappy cab. I kinda' like it.
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