Post by sparkles on Dec 14, 2008 4:02:38 GMT -5
Hi All,
I had such fun cutting my first groove wrap last week that I had to have another go, these little round romanian cut gems are a real pleasure, I’ve had some cracking fun all this week too. As you can see I’ve played a little, and despite some minor hiccups, I’ve been able to refine my approach somewhat, and I’m quite pleased with the results, all these stones are my original design of an 18mm round double dome cab, with Sterling Silver wire.
First stone was an Ocean Jasper, if you know me, you’ll know that OJ is one of my favourite stones, and this little chunk was quite plain by most standards. But I enjoyed grinding and polishing it, even though I found a druzy pocket just as I finished shaping the domes, nevermind - at least it was on the back!
I was lucky enough to find this chunk of Red Jasper on the Beach in Rhyl - North Wales. It has amazing pyrite flares running through it, and the finished stone sparkles black and gold in a lovely dark red agatey jasper. I love this stuff, I have a nice slabbette remaining for a large cab sometime soon, it’s really hard and shiny.
Next up was a nice bit of Leopard Skin Jasper from Mexico, great colours in the rough, but another stone with variable hardness, I find these quite tricky to cut evenly, they tend to have a watery appearance when polished. Still, I like the gaudy colours in this one.
To finish, I cut this beautiful Wonderstone cab, I was so chuffed with the finished shape and shine, it has been a dream to work with this particular batch, such a lovely material to play with. And as you can see, my finishing wraps around the bail are looking a little neater. I have swapped to a narrower gauge wire to bind the bail wires together.
I was very pleased with the results of this batch, and will return to the idea again sometime soon. But I have some other ideas to trial, and I shall cut some larger ovals next, variety is the spice and some such... Hope you enjoyed my rambles, I’ve had a blast! ;D
Cheers,
Sparkles.
Fronts and Backs
I had such fun cutting my first groove wrap last week that I had to have another go, these little round romanian cut gems are a real pleasure, I’ve had some cracking fun all this week too. As you can see I’ve played a little, and despite some minor hiccups, I’ve been able to refine my approach somewhat, and I’m quite pleased with the results, all these stones are my original design of an 18mm round double dome cab, with Sterling Silver wire.
First stone was an Ocean Jasper, if you know me, you’ll know that OJ is one of my favourite stones, and this little chunk was quite plain by most standards. But I enjoyed grinding and polishing it, even though I found a druzy pocket just as I finished shaping the domes, nevermind - at least it was on the back!
I was lucky enough to find this chunk of Red Jasper on the Beach in Rhyl - North Wales. It has amazing pyrite flares running through it, and the finished stone sparkles black and gold in a lovely dark red agatey jasper. I love this stuff, I have a nice slabbette remaining for a large cab sometime soon, it’s really hard and shiny.
Next up was a nice bit of Leopard Skin Jasper from Mexico, great colours in the rough, but another stone with variable hardness, I find these quite tricky to cut evenly, they tend to have a watery appearance when polished. Still, I like the gaudy colours in this one.
To finish, I cut this beautiful Wonderstone cab, I was so chuffed with the finished shape and shine, it has been a dream to work with this particular batch, such a lovely material to play with. And as you can see, my finishing wraps around the bail are looking a little neater. I have swapped to a narrower gauge wire to bind the bail wires together.
I was very pleased with the results of this batch, and will return to the idea again sometime soon. But I have some other ideas to trial, and I shall cut some larger ovals next, variety is the spice and some such... Hope you enjoyed my rambles, I’ve had a blast! ;D
Cheers,
Sparkles.
Fronts and Backs