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Post by hermatite on Nov 18, 2003 15:33:42 GMT -5
YES! Donwrob put it exactly right...this thing with rocks is a sickness...a glorious wonderful disease I hope there's no cure for! I got infected way back in second grade when I found a small brown rock that I could see through. Obsidian. I've always treasured it for it's mystery and because I was so lucky to find it on the playground. I'm wondering how the rest of you rockhounders came by your sickness.
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Nov 18, 2003 22:47:10 GMT -5
Obisidian was the same facinating rock that got me into rock tumbling too. I too, was in about 2nd garde when I first found it. My friends father was a flint knapper and he uesd to throw his waste in the field next to his house. I used to collect his leftover mohogany/black obsidian shards. My same friend also had a tumbler his father had got him. It was a Thumlers model T. I begged my dad to buy me one too, but he always said " nah, you don't need one of those." So it wasn't till about 3 years ago, when I was 22, that I finally picked one up. A thumler model T. It looked so much bigger when I was just a boy. So I went out and got myself a Model B a few weeks ago. I'm still waiting for that first batch to finish up... The next batch is going to be a mix of Blue Sheen, Green Sheen, Pink Sheen, Silver Sheen, Gold Sheen, Rainbow Sheen, Moon Sheen and Silver Lace Obsidian. All Gem grade!!! I picked it up last weekend. It was an 800 mile drive!!! If this polishes up as good as I think it will, I might offer some for sale to pay for the $120 worth of gas.
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Post by docone31 on Nov 19, 2003 20:42:16 GMT -5
Way back in the sixties, when I was younger and quite punched out, I was introduced to peyote. I blew lunch like everyone did, and found a stone with a single crystal in the center. Untouched, intact, and dramatic. I still see that picture. Today, quite sober, I still can see that stone. I did not find much in the library, but with the internet, I can read about a stone, and look it up. Today, I have a rock and jewelery business, full time, designing all my jewelery from scratch. How small things grow.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Nov 19, 2003 22:45:48 GMT -5
Its amazing how addicting this is...as a hobby or even when its going to make my business run smoother. I just can't believe how anxious I am to just load up my new tumbler when it comes. I honestly got into this type of stuff because of a set of four stones that where given to me by my father they were blue star sapphires. They were beautiful and I always wished I would be able to make something this beautiful some day. Once I get better at this I might be able to make some beautiful jewlry.
-Noah-
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Post by docone31 on Nov 19, 2003 23:07:04 GMT -5
If you can see it, you can make it. To practice soldering, technically brazing, all you need is a propane torch, borax laundry soap, pool acid, and something to reflect heat back. Preferably carbon based. I use slabs of 2X12 framing lumber. You will also need hard silver solder. Any jeweler can sell some. It is very inexpensive. Take two pieces of romex wire. Strip the insulator off. Dip in the pool acid. Wipe clean. Put the pieces together. Mix the borax with 70% or 90% alcohol untill it is a paste. Turn the propan torch upside down with a flame 1/2" in length. Heat against the 2X12. The flux will light and show green. When the borax rises and settles down, put a piece of hard solder on the joint. Keep heating. It will flow. Drop back into the pool acid. Practice makes perfect. You will melt some pieces, the gap will be too large, the solder will not flow due to firescale. With enough practice you will wonder why it was so hard. Once you can solder, you can make anything you can see. The 2X12 also absorbs the O2 and helps prevent firescale. The acid dissolves the flux and firescale. The fit is critical.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Nov 20, 2003 0:36:12 GMT -5
I do mostly silver casting, and metalsmithing jewelry...its more of a stone age approach but it yields pieces that appear more medievalish. Which is mostly the type of jewlry I sell. Mainly its the tumbling and the stone cutting that I wanna learn so that I don't have to pay outrageous prices for stones to be cut, or cabbed for me. But, the tumbling stones for fun is a cool hobby. Those four sapphires I was talking about I made a Plantanium Bangle for, that I wear...If I had a digital camera I'd post a picture of it. So you can see what I'm referring to with my work, Soldering is always fun. I do what your referring to to make Circlets out of 6 gauge copper. Can get to be a bit messy at times, but boy oh boy they are fun.
-Noah-
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Post by docone31 on Nov 20, 2003 7:48:25 GMT -5
Cutting the stones is much easier than it is made up to be. I did a complete tutorial somewhere in this forum. Basicaly all you need is an inexpensive grinder, a cup of water, dop stick, and a vision. I like the old smithing ways myself. When I do my casting, I use a potatoe for steam. Most of my soldering is using an alcohol flame and a blow tube. People love to watch. Another cut for stones is called a cabochet. This is semi faceting following stone fractures. They look pretty cool. There is also a picture of some of my wire work somewhere on this forum. It is a saphire I faceted and a wire design. I would love to see your work.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Nov 20, 2003 13:24:44 GMT -5
I wonder then if I could get the right grit bits for my 40k rpm dremel which is like my lil dream toy for dealing with Copper, and Aluminum. I'll have to check into that. *Note to self* Just what my GF will love more tools in our house...heheh =)
Also wondering if anyone has ever had any experience with Silver flashing. Something I heard a bit about and wanted to get some info on. I was told by a local rockseller that it can be used to make some excellent jewlry pieces.
-Noah-
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Post by docone31 on Nov 20, 2003 22:01:11 GMT -5
I would avoid using either a foredom, or dremel for polishing rocks, stones, glass, etc. A 6"grinding wheel around 60 grit on a stationary grinder will do the trick. I use an overhead fan, or light dimmer switch to slow down the wheel. I only use my dremel for polishing, and sanding the inside of rings. Another trick, for the dremel, get a sewing machine foot control. You will like it.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Nov 21, 2003 2:18:29 GMT -5
My only problem with walking out and buying the 6" stationary grinder is a decent one I saw was like $250 and up...and I've got bills to pay...and a girlfriend to afford...Yeah i've been tempted to get the footpedal they sell for the dremel...would make shit easier...I have a few things to replace in my shop first...like I need a new 10lb hammer...and my anvil is starting to look like I abused it when it was 12...and anvils don't run cheaply anymore....I have a 25lber right now.... a new one will run me between 150 and 175.
But I'm gonna look into a grinding wheel shortly...perhaps I'll ask santa for one for yule.
And I'm gonna have my new website up shortly..and a friends lending me a digital camera for a week so some of my work that I am selling will be up there. I'll post up the site once I get it done and set.
Thanks, Noah
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Post by docone31 on Nov 21, 2003 18:18:28 GMT -5
Noah, I got mine from Ace Hardware for 39.95$ I later bought a rubber wheel, and a diamond wheel, but some of my best cabachons were made with the original wheel that came with the grinder. I got my foot pedal from a flea market, for 10$. I had to cut off the cords, and rewire to work with a plug in unit. I still use it today. My foredom pedal broke down. That cost me 50$. With purifying copper alloy, ISHOR has a tutorial for seperating copper from silver and gold, both have copper in the natural state. Basically, melt the copper, flux with borax. The contaminants will boil off. Soak in nitric acid. The green colour is copper. ISHOR is a fantastic resource. For a 12 lb hammer, cut off the back end of a sledge hammer. When I make my swords, I make all my own tools. For jewelery, cut off the peen on ball peen hammers. Another trick, anneal and treat in molten lead. Just float the head of the hammer in molten lead. Let air cool. Bingo. There are some fantastic sites on forging, 'smithing. We all make our own tools.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Nov 21, 2003 21:48:42 GMT -5
hmm I think I will have to ransack my local hardware store and see what he has ;D. Thanks for the info but yeah the store bought hammers don't seem to last half as long as good ol fashion home made. In the last 3 years I've gone thru 5 different hammers.
Thanks big time!!
-Noah-
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Nov 22, 2003 20:25:24 GMT -5
And today is the day that the sickness takes hold of me as I have just received my new Lortone QT66 tumbler *evil devilish grin* and have 1 barrel running the second stage..while i slapped 6lbs of new into the other barrel...and now I get to try and scrub my 3lber completely clean let it soak with soap for a few days...so I will eventually be able to use it for polishing...
WOOWOO!
Thanks to everyone on here Specially Docone and William you guys are a great help. Oh and yeah I found a grinder at my local store for 45 dollars...gonna have myself some fun tonight when i introduce it to some amethyst I wanna try and shape.
Anyway..I'm now off to the bar...
-Noah-
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Red
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2003
Posts: 12
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Post by Red on Nov 23, 2003 13:48:14 GMT -5
Great question Hermatite. Like others, my tale begins when I was still knee high. My dad and I spent nearly every other weekend hiking south/central Oregon in the spring/summer/fall. We always came across fascinating finds ranging from spectacular geologic formations, bizarre biota, beautiful soundscapes, and of course a great assortment of natural rough rock (side-note: a great place for those obsidian lovers: the Obsidian Cliffs on the NW side of North Sister—it’s at the base of the mountain, just off of a major lava flow—very cool!). Fast-forward ~15 years. I became a Geology major in college before switching to Ancient Studies. Skip another 10 years to bring us up to date. I am skipping stones in Montana near White Fish and realize that the rocks I am skipping are real nice river tumbled ellipses of wavy Gneiss and schist. Something clicks in my head, although I am not quite aware of it yet. A few weeks later I am poking around on a riverbank in Oregon (I wasn’t catching any steelhead…needed to take a break), and I stumble across an amazing dendritic agate! I wasn’t catching fish, but I sure caught the sickness that day. Now, I not only have a couple tumblers, grinder, and buckets of rock filling my garage, but I am confessing my illness to this forum as if is some 12-step program for rockers! I couldn’t be more content .
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Nov 23, 2003 17:01:50 GMT -5
Nice story Red. I makes me miss the great outdoors. I spent my early days living a happy life in Colorado, but was forced to move to California. If I was only smart enough to keep all those wonerful rocks I found on my hunting trips...
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