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Post by stardiamond on Aug 30, 2008 18:15:39 GMT -5
Gene at Koroit.com has been recommended here and I have been trading emails with him. I am at a loss about what to buy, since he has all types of material.
I don't want to spend a lot for enough to make a few cabs and I don't want to use material that I can get decent, reasonably sized cabs from. What price range or quality of rough should I be asking for? What do you get?
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49er
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 753
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Post by 49er on Aug 30, 2008 22:20:07 GMT -5
You have right site, only sells opals, did not find other stones or am I missing something?
49er
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 30, 2008 22:50:55 GMT -5
He has different grades of rough and slabs from expensive to inexpensive and I am trying to find the grade or cost of the material that people here buy.
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Post by Tony W on Aug 31, 2008 1:16:46 GMT -5
Hi! YOu have seen the opals I post and I get my rough from Gene. I got a 5000 gram box for 200 bucks plus shipping last Christmas. It is about 20 bucks a lbs. that way. I wanted stuff to practice on and teach myself how to cut the stuff so I got chunks and half chunks of his low grade stuff. I wanted quantity over quality so I could feel free to screw things up and not feel I had destroyed great beauty. As it is I find lots of great beauty, but maybe only 10 or so real quality stones so far. I have to deal with pits and cracks, or sandy spots that don't polish... but I've been learning an awful lot, and don't feel presured to get it right each time so I think I'm progressing. I have cut a lot of nice stones, but only the 10 or so that I'd wrap and put a good price on. But I have a few more dirt balls to look inside I think you might want to look on his ebay store at his cabbing slabs of better quality stuff before you jump... you might rather see what you are getting than hunt for it like I enjoy doing. He sells under the name Oobla. I have some pics of my rough I'll post so you can see what I got for comparison. Tony
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Post by Tony W on Aug 31, 2008 2:03:53 GMT -5
Here are some separate pieces. 1.... a big rock/mud ball that hasn't shown sparkles or fire yet. I have my doubts it will. I have slabbed the other half and cabbed some and got very nice patterns, but rather drab.... although it took a great polish. 2.... it will probably give me one cab and maybe a second small one... it looks promising around the outside. It is a chunk a bit smaller than a golf ball.... mostly iron stone, which is good for a stable stone. 3... It has color showing but is full of pits and cracks with a mud back so I might only get stuff to practice inlay with... just don't know. 4 ... it has the best potential as the back of it has lots of nice blue showing....and it is iron stoney with no pits showing. I'll grind the back a bit to see what it reveals... then probably cut it in half for two cabs. 5. It has a super nice dime sized area of pit free sparkle and flash on the left side, but it is very thin and will take some work to get a usable stone out of it. I'll have to be in the right frame of mind to grind it as I could screw it up quick. I have in mind to make a slightly convex ring stone out of it. The middle under the nail is pretty much light brown matrix on one side and lots of sanding hasn't revealed any color. I'll have to reverse the nail and work the side you see under it to have a chance at a stone. The left portion has a quarter sized area of what I call butterfly wing patterns and colors with some nice depth, but it has small pits showing. Which I'll have to glue fill and that degrades any real value. I'll have to cut around them some so the stone will be smaller... maybe penny sized. I'll give it as a gift or keep it if it works out, but wouldn't sell it. and ...6.. It was a mud chunk without anything showing. It broke in two almost as soon as I stated grinding... and I was only using 600. I will give me a nice dime sized stone, I think. I worked it some today and dopped both sides of the break ... so we'll see. Hope that helps. Hate to be so long winded but others have wanted to hear this so I've used your thread to post it. Tony
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Post by Tony W on Aug 31, 2008 2:08:32 GMT -5
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Post by Tony W on Aug 31, 2008 2:11:33 GMT -5
Well, somebody is up too late Let's hope 3rd time is the charm. T
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2008 16:39:31 GMT -5
I bought my rough from Gene too. He used to give really good deals but I think he raised his price a little to high. Back in the day I bought a couple 20 pound boxes off him for 30 to forty dollars, the lowest of the low grade. I managed to squeak some nice opal out of them though. As for how much to spend it depends on what you are going to do with them. It might be hard to sell a high end cab because the market seems to be flooded with them. Just check out e-bay for reference. If you just plan on keeping them yourself it might be to get a real good slab, why bother with a the low grade. Just my 2.5 cents, good luck.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 31, 2008 19:57:48 GMT -5
Tony W, thanks for posting all the info. I think I need to spend more for a better grade, but that might not make sense either. I can't fnd Gene on ebay. I tried some variations of the name.
Nephrite, I don't plan on selling for profit and not any time soon. Where do you recommend I get slabs. If from Gene, what should I ask for?
I really love the Koroit cabs both of you cut.
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Post by Tony W on Sept 2, 2008 11:16:16 GMT -5
Gene says he isn't on ebay at present. I've been looking at opal cabs for sale on the innerweb and with all the pits and cracks I'm seeing, my stuff is going up in quality all the time I've been trying for perfect cabs... but apparently a lot of them don't. Of course, I don't know if they actually sell a cab of nice material full of pits for 700 bucks. Maybe... Figure out what you want to spend then ask for the best you can get for that money. Even if it is only a few cuts of great stuff you'll be happy, I bet. T
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