ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 14, 2017 20:38:36 GMT -5
The thought has crossed my mind I watched a thread in which a guy made a knife. All from minerals in Michigan. The steel from jaspelite. Native copper bolsters, I can remember which stone for handles. He claimed "sole authorship". I doubt be blended his own epoxy... Yow. That takes some dedication. Maybe he concocted his own backwoods Michigan glue too
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 14, 2017 18:26:13 GMT -5
Very nice! Don't you love it when you can kill 2 birds with one stone? The copper holds the stone together and the pendant together. Interesting point of view.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 14, 2017 18:25:18 GMT -5
Nice work . Now what you need to do is hunt the mine piles for native copper to make the backing and bail from . The thought has crossed my mind
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 14, 2017 16:38:30 GMT -5
They would be correct and it's made from Michigan Lightning Stone (Septarian Nodule) The large piece of copper for the bail is glued on with epoxy. The stones are fairly soft (mohs 3) and are prone to breaking along the calcite/mud boundaries so the copper epoxied on is almost a necessity to strengthen the piece. The stone was roughed up in the place where the copper was to be attached before gluing. The heart shape was already 95 percent finished by nature after the slab was cut. It just took a little rounding on one lobe and shaped and polished.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 14, 2017 15:54:47 GMT -5
The way to stand out is to be the only one who took the suggestion to go to zeemap. As John Prine said, " I gave a party, and nobody came." Maybe I'll have to figure out how to sign into Google. There is a few of us there now. Two from Michigan alone. (I also am on the other one.)
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 16:26:30 GMT -5
Yes, I plan on keeping at it. Can't wait to make a nicer piece. I also just realized that I should have posted this in the metal smithing thread....oooops. There are several very good metal sheers available. I recommend the Joyce Chen shears for metal. I think for metal cutting, the term is shears, not scissors. Haven't found a decent defining definition. As Tela said, use a plastic, rubber or rawhide mallet. That is because these don't leave a mark on your piece. Keep your broken blades. They are very good for putting on just a dab of glue. Re saw blades: Rio has a nice little chart that suggests what blade to use with what blade thickness. This page is full of good information. Chart at the bottom. www.riogrande.com/Product/Laser-Gold-Saw-Blade/110313Yep, shears sounds right with metal. Trouble is I was using Probably more made for cloth and paper I really have trouble making a clean inside corner with my "shears" and they tend to leave what I would call "overcut pinches" in the immediate area of the corner. I plan on buying a jeweler's saw. Perhaps Rio has a better deal on one of those as well. I'm going to look into it. Thanks Pat
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 14:14:35 GMT -5
Coral and wood. Two spotlight cabs amongst a fantastic set! Ditto. Fantastic stuff!
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 14:08:35 GMT -5
I meant nice scenic photos of Bryce Canyon in the flicker link . The photos are nice, but being there is the real deal. Went there once almost 20 years ago. Got almost those same photos (before erosion altered them slightly in his.) Although I didn't do it then, and couldn't now, I am told the best way to see Bryce is from the bottom on the trails. Don't miss it when in southern Utah.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 14:02:10 GMT -5
Does anyone know what the black and white striped stone is in the bottom row? Looks like Zebra Stone to me.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 13:42:56 GMT -5
rockjunquie I have been using a pair of scissors to cut my copper. It works sort of ok but distorts the copper in bad ways sometimes. I see you use a jewelers saw. Are the ones at the hobby store any good? Do they sell blades at hobby stores for these? I saw a V block device that makes sawing easier. Do you use one of those? Would I be better off skipping the hobby store and getting one here? If you don't plan to do this much and if you are only doing simple shapes then french shears aka metal shears (scissors) will do. For the distortion you can use a plastic, rubber or rawhide mallet to pound it back into shape. If you plan to keep doing metal work then the saw at the link will work. You should be looking at 2/0 or 3/0 size blades for the thickness of sheet you will probably be using. You will need to be able to set up a bench pin, (v block, I think). Sawing is crazy hard without it. You will break a lot of blades, so don't be discouraged about that. That's why they sell them in big packs. Yes, I plan on keeping at it. Can't wait to make a nicer piece. I also just realized that I should have posted this in the metal smithing thread....oooops.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 13:41:25 GMT -5
I think they look just fine . I used to do a lot of woodwork and learned not to point out any flaws or imperfections and no one else would notice them . If someone did notice , most had the decency to not say anything about it . We all try to do the best we can at something and if you are not pleased with the end product , try and make it better . Being a first attempt I couldn't help but see what I thought were issues. To let others know that I know I messed up will hopefully make them more eager to help out, knowing they can't hurt my feelings with advice. To get better at it is my ultimate goal (along with eventually selling a little jewelry someday hopefully.)
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 12:27:22 GMT -5
rockjunquie I have been using a pair of scissors to cut my copper. It works sort of ok but distorts the copper in bad ways sometimes. I see you use a jewelers saw. Are the ones at the hobby store any good? Do they sell blades at hobby stores for these? I saw a V block device that makes sawing easier. Do you use one of those? Would I be better off skipping the hobby store and getting one here? I like the simple glued pendants. What kind of glue did you use? I used some 5 minute two part gorilla epoxy. Roughed up the back of the stone first.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 11:18:30 GMT -5
rockjunquie I have been using a pair of scissors to cut my copper. It works sort of ok but distorts the copper in bad ways sometimes. I see you use a jewelers saw. Are the ones at the hobby store any good? Do they sell blades at hobby stores for these? I saw a V block device that makes sawing easier. Do you use one of those? Would I be better off skipping the hobby store and getting one here?
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 13, 2017 10:14:18 GMT -5
Well, thank you for the complements then if you guys insist. Those Lightning Stones are soft and if they are cabbed thin they tend to break. Especially when they are like the two long ones in the photo below. The calcite running across the stone horizontally makes it weak at those places. I've been backing some of them with copper epoxied on the back to make them stronger and a drilled tab on the top for a chain ring. The bent tab ones I made have no glue. I will keep my fingers crossed if they ever sell that they stay in one piece. I chose those two to try it out on because they don't have the cross-stone calcite weak spots.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 12, 2017 21:53:19 GMT -5
Love that Petoskey stone turtle. Pure genius. I can confirm that yes, turtles can tuck in their tails.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 12, 2017 21:22:58 GMT -5
I know you said no compliments, but I really think these good, esp for your first. I have done it with copper. Did you use soft copper? If not, you can anneal with a torch to make things easier. You can polish a lot of those marks out and you can burnish. Yes, it will eventually turn green, if it is pure copper, but if you use liver of sulfur to give it an antique patina the finish lasts a long time and resists oxidation. I have yet to have a piece turn green. If you look in the metal working section there are quite a few threads by Chuck, Pat and me about these settings. It was some copper sheet I bought at the local hobby lobby. Nothing on the package about it being soft. Sweet. Thanks very much and I will do that.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 12, 2017 21:07:58 GMT -5
My first try at this kind of mount on these two pendants. Please, no complements will work at making me feel better, only a solution. First; I was wondering what I could do to make/bend the stone mount straps without messing up the surface on them like I did? I just used a piece of metal to bend them in place. Second; I was wondering if some kind of engraving would perhaps help cover up my mess ups. That big gap between the back and stone on the upper one doesn't look quite as bad from any other angle. Is copper sheet ever used for this by anyone? Will it turn green eventually? Does it need coated with something? Sheeeesh.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 11, 2017 18:22:04 GMT -5
Looks like a nice stop on the way back home from the Keokuck geode beds sometime this summer to me.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 11, 2017 18:13:32 GMT -5
I don't think this is what you had in mind but this is the plastic stuff they have. Perhaps this is the plastic boxes that were referred to.
Plastic stuff at the Riker link
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 10, 2017 13:24:27 GMT -5
The P.O finds my house with all the junk Mail but if I order something they can't Find my house I use UPS I have had no Trouble with them Walt UPS is the one at fault in my case. There is no logical reason to ship something to another state, then back to the same state it came from only to be delivered to the local post office that the package (if the seller had any sense and used the USPS) should have shipped from directly to where it ended up today in Whitehall Mi. The Ebay vendor basically paid UPS to do a simple run around on getting things delivered quickly. All UPS did for that vendor was take his money and inconvenience the customer (me.) Even though I got $5.00 off the retail price of the same pliers from Hobby Lobby, I waited around while the UPS sent my package out of state, then back, then dropped off at the post office in the same city they took it from to be delivered by the USPS at it's final destination. What did that accomplish other than taking money for nothing. ? What are the chances that I will ever buy again from that vendor who lives so close? ZIP!!! Notta! Noway!!! That plus it took the vendor an excessive amount of time to ship it in the first place. That's three strikes in one transaction and the vendor is OUT!
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