Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 25, 2015 10:41:29 GMT -5
Ok questions.......I bought a cabbing machine from Roy,finally got a portable stand made for it and am trying my hand at cabbing and the such.... What better way to test my skills than with "Fire Agate"...LOL I have it down as a free form piece and now have "fire" showing.....(Yes I know I could burn out the fire in one swipe!) I will post these photos and you will see the scratches on the face and a seam crack.... The seam crack will have to stay,it's all the way around the agate,any more work on it and it will fracture off the rock.. The scratches,I want to work with,but it's such a small area to try and work it with the wheels (Isn't it) (I have 8" wheels).. Any advice is welcome-This is my 1st try on any cabbing.....
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 25, 2015 13:18:21 GMT -5
Not sure I am being helpful here, but can you use the appropriate grit of wet dry paper and do it by hand? micellular should be able to help with that.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Nov 25, 2015 13:26:37 GMT -5
Yeah, it takes a little patience, but wetordry paper should work. I like the black stuff from 3M. The assortment packs on Amazon are less than $10.
Since it looks like you've got a good polish going on the rest of it, sanding by hand might not take too long. Depending on the size of the scratches, I would start with 320 or 400 grit, then 600/800/1000 by hand. After that you can probably use the wheels to get it to final polish without worrying about taking off too much material.
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Post by Pat on Nov 25, 2015 13:33:58 GMT -5
Looks like a good job on a real tuffy, especially for your first effort!
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gemfeller
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Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,782
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Post by gemfeller on Nov 25, 2015 14:06:34 GMT -5
If the stone's large enough I'd suggest sawing through the crack and making two stones. When I was heavily into cutting fire agate I used an expando with a 100-grit belt. It was mounted on the left-hand side of my arbor and I pulled about a quarter of an inch of belt past the edge of the wheel which made a nice angle for sanding into "valleys" like your stone has.
For preforming I used the same belt, doing heavy sanding for stock removal on the fast-cutting right-hand side and allowed the left side to load up with cutting debris which left a nice pre-polish finish. Your stone's at a critical stage. Hand-sanding would work if you have the patience for it. My arbor was mounted on a portable stand and when the weather was good I'd roll it out to the driveway and orient it so the sunlight fell across the wheels. That allowed me to clearly see the tiniest bit of color change. For my eyes at least, sunlight is much more accurate than incandescent or halogen light.
The battle for bright colors is fought at the sanding stage. If you're happy with the bronze colors you've found simply put a bottom on the stone, finish the edges and polish. If you want to gamble, VERY CAREFUL sanding in proper light will reveal whether the stone will yield brighter spectral colors. Sadly, most don't, but when one does it's worth all the extra work.
If this is your first cab you're doing great. You get a gold star for bravery -- fire agate is by far the most challenging stone I've ever cabbed and I've cabbed a very large variety of materials. Let's see your final result!
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Post by mohs on Nov 25, 2015 17:55:30 GMT -5
that a serious first project Mike what's the grits of your belts? any luck with them staying centered ?
take this for what it worth I found that scratches in my early day was caused by not applying enough pressure into the rubber of the expando I would say firm even pressure with perhaps a lightening up finess polishing pressure when your finishing on that particular grit
of course that fire agate, never worked it, so I may be full of it!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 25, 2015 19:17:28 GMT -5
Ed,mostly the 120-80 diamond wheels,than the 600 belt with some polishing...(Firm pressure-ok) Ok,I do have the time to hand sand,might go that route..... Thanks for all the advice...
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Post by mohs on Nov 25, 2015 19:56:32 GMT -5
well Mike if your jumping from 120gr to 600gt that may be a tough gig getting those scratches out from the 120 no other steps in between?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 26, 2015 10:02:00 GMT -5
well Mike if your jumping from 120gr to 600gt that may be a tough gig getting those scratches out from the 120 no other steps in between? I have grit in between too,just got to step back and get things lined out....As said,new at this part of the hobby..
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Post by mohs on Nov 26, 2015 10:13:10 GMT -5
ah yes Mike your well on your way scratches really used to make me scratch my head then with experience they got much better techniques improve & stones cooperate better
Happy Thanksgiving Day to you & your family hope all as well as can be
Ed
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Post by roy on Nov 26, 2015 11:07:59 GMT -5
finish it out on the 220 and up if you plan on keeping it you can glue up the crack if you are going to sell you would want to cut it apart
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 26, 2015 12:53:55 GMT -5
finish it out on the 220 and up if you plan on keeping it you can glue up the crack if you are going to sell you would want to cut it apart Keeper.............Thumbs up
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Tom
fully equipped rock polisher
My dad Tom suddenly passed away yesterday, Just wanted his "rock" family to know.
Member since January 2013
Posts: 1,557
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Post by Tom on Nov 26, 2015 22:31:59 GMT -5
When starting to cab select fire agate as your first cab. Go hard or go home:). Excellent work Mike it's looking great
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NDK
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Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Nov 27, 2015 20:49:39 GMT -5
Mr Fossilman you've got one huge set of... ahem... stones, to cut fire agate as your first cab! Well done, Sir!
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