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Post by stardiamond on Jun 26, 2024 12:43:49 GMT -5
When material is too expensive for me to buy, I look for opportunities. A FB seller who I have bought from before offered a 10 pound parcel from a collection he bought. It wasn't cheap but affordable. The seller was honest that a lot of the material was land fill and that extracting cabable material would require trim saw work. I bought it and when it arrived, I sorted it and ended up with 3 1/2 pounds to explore and 6 1/2 pounds of landfill. One of the pieces weighs 4.75 ounces and is a face polished piece of Deschutes or Blue Biggs rough. Next step is abusing a trim saw blade. Part of the fun with the hobby is trying to make something out of not much. ![](https://images2.imgbox.com/0f/30/nuAB5DO8_o.jpg)
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 29, 2024 13:53:34 GMT -5
I reamed out the hole of a trim saw blade from 5/8 to 1 inch to get it to fit my trim saw. I made exploratory cuts on the pieces and they were either duds or regular Biggs. I bought over 10 pounds of Biggs from Tony so I already had a lifetime supply. One of the pieces was Blue Biggs or Deschutes but had no pattern except for the tip. The only positive is that I got off my butt and did some work. ![](https://images2.imgbox.com/96/93/gCG1qZ9s_o.jpg)
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by khara on Jun 29, 2024 15:22:42 GMT -5
I don’t think I’d ever seen rough Biggs or Deschutes until now. Looks like some nice pieces. I hope you still feel you got a good deal after sorting the 6.5 lbs of yard rock out.
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tribeunited
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by tribeunited on Jun 29, 2024 15:22:53 GMT -5
This is cool! I like seeing them before and after, It makes the slabs make more sense. Thanks for sharing these!
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 29, 2024 16:54:44 GMT -5
I slabbed the polished piece and can lay out three preforms, none of which is super exciting. In February, I bought a bag of Idaho seam agate from Tony (catmandewe). When I received the order it conatined, large, trim saw size and tumbling rough. Since the trim saw was set up, I cut a few slabs. ![](https://images2.imgbox.com/9a/58/kz0aaXyu_o.jpg)
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tribeunited
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by tribeunited on Jun 30, 2024 13:51:54 GMT -5
OMG that first one.....STAAAAAAARRRRREEEEE. So that is Idaho Seam! WOW! catmandewe has some pretty fabulous stuff!!!
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 30, 2024 14:24:39 GMT -5
I ground and dopped 4 preforms from this material, two Biggs and two ISA. ![](https://images2.imgbox.com/c9/fa/RhbEp1jm_o.jpg)
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 1, 2024 16:54:23 GMT -5
It's close to 100. I work in the shade, but I'm done for the day. All through 1200 grit. I need to go back to 80 on the Deschutes to remove a pit. I'll finish the other seam agate, take a picture and toss it. ![](https://images2.imgbox.com/98/8e/i5DYb7C9_o.jpg)
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 2, 2024 12:48:06 GMT -5
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ThomasT
has rocks in the head
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Post by ThomasT on Jul 2, 2024 13:12:25 GMT -5
Mighty nice-looking pieces from a box of scrap.
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