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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 12, 2022 10:33:18 GMT -5
I have a bunch of imported cabs I bought off ebay years ago. Other than a few "malachite" cabs that are man made fake material, all were a bargain at the time. All of them also needed to be either reshaped a little or sanded and polished better. Even back then the little bit of labor to fix them was nothing compared to what they were worth with the upgrade. I also bought dozens of cabs from a company in Texas that was liquidating about 10 years ago, they were cut for them in Mexico and the cab artist who made them was very good. Looking back I wish I would have got them all.
Your blue pietersite is nice looking as recieved, hope the smaller set is as nice. Easy enough to polish them a little more if needed.
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 12, 2022 10:41:01 GMT -5
I've bought overseas cabs and have never once been happy. I no longer do it. China and India are the worse. Indonesia wasn't too bad. I have bought pietersite, in particular, and was flat out ripped off. The ads were very deceptive. I still have Indonesians requesting to follow me on IG weekly, at first it was several a day. Many of them have multiple IG accounts. From what I hear the first 1 or 2 parcels will be as pictured, and once they think they have you hooked in they start sending crap. I get all my Indo stuff from a couple US dealers, usually in person.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 12, 2022 11:02:34 GMT -5
I've bought overseas cabs and have never once been happy. I no longer do it. China and India are the worse. Indonesia wasn't too bad. I have bought pietersite, in particular, and was flat out ripped off. The ads were very deceptive. I still have Indonesians requesting to follow me on IG weekly, at first it was several a day. Many of them have multiple IG accounts. From what I hear the first 1 or 2 parcels will be as pictured, and once they think they have you hooked in they start sending crap. I get all my Indo stuff from a couple US dealers, usually in person. I had the same problem. I bought 2 parcels from one guy and knew that was it. They weren't bad, per say, but not what I would like to see. I had heard about the way they do business, so I quit while I was ahead.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Sept 13, 2022 7:40:49 GMT -5
liveoak I know what you are saying about oversea quality. I will say that it depends on the vendor. This is a little game I play - we use high speed 4.5" abrasive wheels and 3" wire cup wheels by the hundreds. I can go buy Dewalt or Norton brand and pay near $4 for the abrasive or $10 for the wire. Great QC every time but $. Or I continue to order samples of imports off EBAY till I find oversea wheels that cuts the mustard for 1/4 of the US prices. But, if that supplier discontinues his product I have to go thru the sampling procedure again which is no big deal. These are good(safety) analogies because I have had oversea brand abrasive wheels fly apart at the 10,000+ rpm speeds which is nothing but dangerous. Or the wire wheels fling wires off constantly and stick in your arms or where ever. If a US wheel did that it would spell an easy and proveable lawsuit for the US manufacturers where the oversea product would be difficult to file complaints against. Much imported stuff has awesome quality. I totally agree on that point. I personally have been stiffed on lapidary material at about a 50% rate. In that case find a good oversea supplier and develop a relationship and score well. I think other countries have more freedom to mine their natural resources and they have unique materials.
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Post by liveoak on Sept 24, 2022 10:16:20 GMT -5
Well I got my Indian cabs yesterday - 10 days & free shipping to get here - not bad.
Overall I'm pretty happy.
Not a perfect color match to my pendant, but definitely a nice blue Pietersite, with a nice polish & a complimentary shape .
So on my to do list is to bezel mount them, like my pendant.
Patty
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 24, 2022 15:48:12 GMT -5
Not bad, at all.
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Post by liveoak on Sept 24, 2022 18:36:37 GMT -5
Thanks Tela, rockjunquie , that's what I thought for $15 and free ship, I'm happy. I would have liked to grind my own, but heck I didn't do the pendant, so they're equal Patty
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Sept 24, 2022 23:11:14 GMT -5
This is my go to pendant that I made a couple of years ago now, that I thought I'd share.
A simple bezel set pietersite cab, made in copper.
It was before I cut my own stones & I purchased the cab from an overseas buyer.
Sadly, I wasn't thinking straight, as I should have gotten matching earrings.
Some point, I hope to track down a compliment stone. Thanks for looking , Patty Any Idea where I could get Raw pietersite to tumble? That stone is killer, I would love to tumble some of it!
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Post by liveoak on Sept 25, 2022 5:55:42 GMT -5
Well vance71975 , from what I saw, grab your wallet and look on e-bay, etc. Pricey stuff. Love to see it if you find some to work
Patty
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 25, 2022 10:50:17 GMT -5
This is my go to pendant that I made a couple of years ago now, that I thought I'd share.
A simple bezel set pietersite cab, made in copper.
It was before I cut my own stones & I purchased the cab from an overseas buyer.
Sadly, I wasn't thinking straight, as I should have gotten matching earrings.
Some point, I hope to track down a compliment stone. Thanks for looking , Patty Any Idea where I could get Raw pietersite to tumble? That stone is killer, I would love to tumble some of it! You might need a coconspirator to come up with the funds for that project! LOL
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 25, 2022 11:02:10 GMT -5
vance71975 pietersite is not only expensive, it is fibrous and is likely to undercut in a tumbler.
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Post by liveoak on Sept 25, 2022 11:08:23 GMT -5
OTOH those 5 year old kids in India seem to get a pretty good polish on it
Patty
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Sept 25, 2022 13:44:08 GMT -5
Any Idea where I could get Raw pietersite to tumble? That stone is killer, I would love to tumble some of it! You might need a coconspirator to come up with the funds for that project! LOL Well, I looked on Ebay, Now im sad. Maybe if I hit the Lotto lol
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Sept 25, 2022 13:45:03 GMT -5
Well vance71975 , from what I saw, grab your wallet and look on e-bay, etc. Pricey stuff. Love to see it if you find some to work
Patty
Yep i looked, and hell I can get raw Diamonds cheaper than that!
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