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Post by Starguy on Mar 3, 2014 21:04:06 GMT -5
Curious to see those off the dop sticks. Most look dark on the stick, but I'm sure we will see some translucent reds soon. Darryl. Mostly they don't change much between dopped and un dopped. Almandine tends to look nearly black at this size. There aren't many facet grade garnets at the site. I've found a few nice clear dark purple pieces, but they need to be tiny to see any color other than black. The silk that makes the stars kind of ruins them for faceting. Nice, silky pieces with good stars tend to have a purplish sheen to them which can even be seen when the pieces are rough. That's how I can tell which ones will have the best stars. It's kind of amazing that you can tell which ones will have an excellent star even before you start to cut the stone.
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Post by Tonyterner on Mar 4, 2014 16:44:16 GMT -5
I've cabbed some garnets but never been fortunate enough to have any star material. Very beautiful.
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rocpup
spending too much on rocks
Pink Limb Iris
Member since March 2011
Posts: 465
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Post by rocpup on Mar 6, 2014 8:33:46 GMT -5
I dug my share of garnets from Emerald Creek back in the 70's. I still have a few pounds in coffee cans somewhere. That small light colored six ray is something special. Nice work. Don
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Post by Starguy on Mar 6, 2014 16:43:26 GMT -5
i would like to learn more on the finding the star and how you position it to finish i have some of those star garnets that came from the 281 mine back in the early 70S i have them stashed them away till i was ready to work with them! Roy and Orrum. In the material I have, the stars typically orient perpendicular to a crystals face. If the crystal face is used as the bottom of the cab, the top can be rounded. After rough shaping I take them to 600 grit on a soft sanding drum. At that point I can usually see the stars to put the finishing touches on orienting them. I haven't tried cutting star rose quartz but I know they only have two stars on a stone. If you sphere a nice silky piece of star garnet, you can see as many as 12 six rays and a number of four rays. The six ray cabs actually have 5 six rays on them as well as 2 four rays. I have those cabs done. Once I get them off the dop sticks, I'll try to get some decent pictures to post here.
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rocpup
spending too much on rocks
Pink Limb Iris
Member since March 2011
Posts: 465
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Post by rocpup on Mar 6, 2014 18:36:05 GMT -5
Years ago when we were digging we used a screen with 1/2 inch mesh. So we only kept the larger pieces or whole garnets and there were only a few of them. Where we were the material was all six ray. The larger pieces normally have a flat side to them and that would be one of the faces of the crystal. I would put a few drops of three in one oil on them and you can see the silk in the stone. Place the dop stick on the flat area and grind carefully away. When you get it domed, dry it good and again place a few drops of oil to see the star and if it has to be adjusted to get it centered. Sounds easy and very rewarding. Don
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Post by Starguy on Mar 6, 2014 20:01:01 GMT -5
These things are hard to photograph but here are a few of my best attempts. They look much better in person than they do in these photos. Haven't started weighing them yet. rocpup Here are some of the crystals I found. It sounds like we were digging in the same area. You are spot on on how to find the stars. I used to dry screen with a 1/2" mesh screen, then I went to a 1/4" for washing them. Most of the area I was digging had been dug over in the past. You were lucky if you found one pound a day. The last couple of seasons I went they hit an area that hadn't been dug over. If you worked your tail off you could find 10-15 lbs per day. My biggest piece was 8 1/2 ounces. The crystals are all twelve sided with no visible cracks in them.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Mar 6, 2014 20:45:48 GMT -5
Awesome pieces of Mother nature and gem cutting.
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Post by Starguy on Mar 6, 2014 21:33:06 GMT -5
Here is a photo of my best. The oval and left round cab are approximately 20 ct. The right round is closer to 30 ct. It shows a nice six ray in real life, but it doesn't photograph well. I have one gorgeous six ray that is almost 100 ct but it has a visible crack in it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2014 21:37:16 GMT -5
Yup, "awesome" sums it up nicely!
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Post by pghram on Mar 7, 2014 0:28:56 GMT -5
Incredible cabs, I'm seeing stars (sorry, I couldn't help myself.).
Rich
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catskillrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,270
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Post by catskillrocks on Mar 7, 2014 9:25:30 GMT -5
Great post. Those are beautiful!
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rocpup
spending too much on rocks
Pink Limb Iris
Member since March 2011
Posts: 465
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Post by rocpup on Mar 7, 2014 10:27:29 GMT -5
This is beautiful material to work with. The only down side is that it takes a lot of light to show it off. The lighter reddish stones seem to be better show offs in low light. Nice work. Where we dug in the early 70's was closed to digging years ago. The area could not be claimed but if you started a dig in a spot and stayed in that hole you were allowed to work it indefinitely. There were huge mining holes all along the creek and were dangerous to be around. There was some big hauls taken. All of that material was six ray. In a couple of months when we return to Washington I will post a picture or two. What is nice is that people are allowed to dig and now get some garnets even though there are fees and very strict rule on where to dig. Don
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ivan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 165
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Post by ivan on Mar 7, 2014 21:34:44 GMT -5
They're ready for polishing. I'll post pictures as some of the better ones start to stand out. Been following your progress doing up the star garnets. They are very very nicely done! The photo of your machine brings back a memory of the time I purchased a Blake Compact Gem Polisher which looks just lot like in the photo. That was during the late 70's I believe. Haven't used it a whole lot. Yours still looks in very useable condition. Thank you for the posting an explanation of how to orient the star. Gathered up some of the old garnet rough and may give it a try. IV
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Post by Tony W on Mar 8, 2014 0:58:46 GMT -5
Nicely done! I got a bunch of those from Ebay a few years ago, and like them because they all had stars. My problem was they were hard to see, unless you got the light just right, so they didn't fit my jewelry idea I stepped away from them...but this makes me want to work a few. I'd love to work some of those big ones. Mine were all pretty small like these. They were so dark purple they were black most of the time...but they starred My dream is to get to be a bazillionaire one day so I can work some really fine star sapphire. The mine run I can afford just moons at me, lol, but occasionally I get a nice clear moon. T
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Post by gingerkid on Mar 8, 2014 11:40:41 GMT -5
They turned out beautifully, starguy!! Love 'em!! Nice bucketful of crystals ya got there, too!!
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Post by Starguy on Mar 9, 2014 13:41:51 GMT -5
ivanThat machine is a Blake's compact gem polisher. I traded some garnets for it back in the mid 80s. It has seen a lot of use since then, mostly on garnets and smaller cabs. I have tried cabs up to 30 x 40 on it, but found that the Crystallite Crystalpads with diamond paste work better for the larger sizes. I replaced the the belt and the grommets on the ends of the spool. Other than that it has always worked flawlessly. I like that it is clean and quiet enough that I can set it up in front of the TV. It's quieter than my wife's yarn spinning wheel.
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