Post by rockpickerforever on Apr 28, 2013 9:24:33 GMT -5
I guess you could call this a creation, although I didn't make it myself. It doesn't quite seem to fit elsewhere, so here I shall put it.
Earlier this month, I went to the estate sale of an avid rockhounder. I ran across this wedge of obsidian -
and realized it was a cast-off from making a preform for a sphere. I don't have the equipment to make spheres, but the silver swirls intrigued me. So I went and looked at the preforms that were also for sale, and found the one the wedge had come from. I'd figure out some way to have it made...
The preform was about 4 1/2" across.
When we joined our rock club several years back, at one of the first meetings we went to, the presentation was given by Ray Pearce. He is currently the president of the Vista Gem and Mineral Society. His very informative talk was on making spheres. I filed this bit of information away for future reference.
So a couple weekends ago, I took the preform to Ray up at the show in Vista, and hired him to make it for me. He finished it in record time. We picked it up yesterday, and here is the result -
The sphere measures in at 4 3/8" in diameter.
Has a bit of sheen inside it
Wow, it's so shiny!
Ray said it went very well, I think even he was impressed with the finished product! He said it spent more hours in polish phase than it took to actually grind the sphere.
Besides bringing this home, we also got to see Ray's shop, equipment, and LARGE assortment of rocks from all over, many of them things you can't get anymore. I was definitely worth the 116 mile round trip up to Oceanside! Thank you, Ray, it is more than I could have hoped for!
Sorry for so many pics - I actually removed about a third of them! - but I so love this shiny orb. It's a beauty! Thanks for looking. Jean
Earlier this month, I went to the estate sale of an avid rockhounder. I ran across this wedge of obsidian -
and realized it was a cast-off from making a preform for a sphere. I don't have the equipment to make spheres, but the silver swirls intrigued me. So I went and looked at the preforms that were also for sale, and found the one the wedge had come from. I'd figure out some way to have it made...
The preform was about 4 1/2" across.
When we joined our rock club several years back, at one of the first meetings we went to, the presentation was given by Ray Pearce. He is currently the president of the Vista Gem and Mineral Society. His very informative talk was on making spheres. I filed this bit of information away for future reference.
So a couple weekends ago, I took the preform to Ray up at the show in Vista, and hired him to make it for me. He finished it in record time. We picked it up yesterday, and here is the result -
The sphere measures in at 4 3/8" in diameter.
Has a bit of sheen inside it
Wow, it's so shiny!
Ray said it went very well, I think even he was impressed with the finished product! He said it spent more hours in polish phase than it took to actually grind the sphere.
Besides bringing this home, we also got to see Ray's shop, equipment, and LARGE assortment of rocks from all over, many of them things you can't get anymore. I was definitely worth the 116 mile round trip up to Oceanside! Thank you, Ray, it is more than I could have hoped for!
Sorry for so many pics - I actually removed about a third of them! - but I so love this shiny orb. It's a beauty! Thanks for looking. Jean