azuredawn
off to a rocking start
EARTH GODDESS
Member since May 2013
Posts: 2
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Post by azuredawn on May 11, 2013 14:47:18 GMT -5
HI everyone!I heard about this site from Dave at DBREALITYROCKS.Boy,is he wonderful to help out a newbie like me.I am interested in making cabs from small natural rocks that have not been cut into slabs.Does anyone have experience with that? I have discovered that obsidian will shatter when I work it on the grinder.I do alot of grinding and polishing my own cabs,but getting slabs isn't always possible or desirable.
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Post by deb193redux on May 11, 2013 14:56:13 GMT -5
people use tumbled nuggets in various ways, and I see finished pieces with rough stone in settings. But I think you mean to cab a small stone, so using rough rock may not be your question.
you can grind any small piece to have a better shape and single or double dome. You will need to grind and sand in several grits, and there has to be a wheel or buff or other plan for polishing.
obsidian should grind OK. what grit are you using and is it wet/cool?
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on May 11, 2013 15:06:16 GMT -5
Welcome azuredawn, it really depends on the rock. Lots can be cut, polished, cabbed but the material should be unfractured and not porous.
Some granite can be nicely cabbed. Obsidian can be cabbed, chipping may be due to being too thin or fractured, or the wheel being too coarse or having a heavy wobble.
Show some pics, I'm sure folks can help you sort things out.
Sent from my phone.
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Post by Peruano on May 11, 2013 15:34:11 GMT -5
I have made a lot of beach pebble pendants, and indeed as I got more advanced started to shape them, remove blems, and polish them (eventually resorting to the vibrating tumbler to achieve a better polish and to remove some of marks of my shaping. However, I doubt that most folks would call my finished products "cabs" because they did not have a flat surface on one side. And that is something that usually results from starting with a slab or a great deal of effort on a somewhat flatish stone. Findings are available to turn those pebbles, preforms or whatever into pendants, or other adornments. I like breaking the rules and not starting with a cut slab is one of them. Enjoy what you accomplish. Tom
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deedolce
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2006
Posts: 1,828
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Post by deedolce on May 11, 2013 15:46:53 GMT -5
Hi azure, welcome to the RTH family! I do it all the time, it's more of a surprise than a slab, and lots of fun. It uses up my grinding wheel on my Genie faster, but I find it rewarding. I sometimes take tumbling rough, sometimes I see a polished stone at the rockshop, and hand pick some to cab. Here's my Facebook site, if you do facebook, where I show a few rocks and the cabs I made out of them (then wrapped) and a polished chariote rock too, that I cabbed. www.facebook.com/pages/OrganicMetallurgy/137760019642770Don't forget to share what you do, we love pictures!
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azuredawn
off to a rocking start
EARTH GODDESS
Member since May 2013
Posts: 2
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Post by azuredawn on May 11, 2013 17:01:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome.I use a friends grinding wheels,and did not know it used them up faster.Thanks for the info.I use pebbles to palm size pieces of stone,and sometimes spend hours just to get an even face.I'll try and post pictures as life allows.I find it hard to be on the computer with all those rocks waiting to be found.I hear them l calling my name.
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Post by Bikerrandy on May 11, 2013 20:19:15 GMT -5
What machine are you using to grind and polish? Anything can be turned into a cab with the right equipment.
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