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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 15:35:29 GMT -5
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Post by orrum on Apr 23, 2018 15:58:48 GMT -5
Heard of it but never saw it in person.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 23, 2018 16:18:21 GMT -5
Do you mean what do we think of the area 54 versus dallasite? Definitely not dallasite. It tends to form "flowers" or writing, I think. Ask Tommy he had a bunch. Love the queens! What arr you using to cab? Your cabs look great! |
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 16:31:10 GMT -5
Do you mean what do we think of the area 54 versus dallasite? Definitely not dallasite. It tends to form "flowers" or writing, I think. Ask Tommy he had a bunch. Love the queens! What arr you using to cab? Your cabs look great! If it is maybe similar in composition? It is more a dark blue than it is green
Thank you Tela! These came out pretty good. I see a few areas now I didn't get all the little scratches out. I used a bench grinder they had modified with an aquarium pump. Spent forever again doing it. How y'all pump out cabs is beyond me. I take forever! Although I've been told its because I keep doing agates and they do take longer I'll be up there in a few weeks to try again
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 23, 2018 16:35:37 GMT -5
Do you mean what do we think of the area 54 versus dallasite? Definitely not dallasite. It tends to form "flowers" or writing, I think. Ask Tommy he had a bunch. Love the queens! What arr you using to cab? Your cabs look great! If it is maybe similar in composition? It is more a dark blue than it is green
Thank you Tela! These came out pretty good. I see a few areas now I didn't get all the little scratches out. I used a bench grinder they had modified with an aquarium pump. Spent forever again doing it. How y'all pump out cabs is beyond me. I take forever! Although I've been told its because I keep doing agates and they do take longer I'll be up there in a few weeks to try again
Agates do take longer and the condition of the wheels matter, too. So, how do you use a bench grinder to go through the grits? Did you post about this? I must have missed it. The dallasite is dark green. |
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Post by drocknut on Apr 23, 2018 16:42:24 GMT -5
Great that you got to cut and cab. Always exciting to see what's in a rock. Sorry that one rock wasn't poppy but it is kinda cool if you're into fossils. Looks like you scored big time from him because of him hogging the saw...lol.
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 16:43:57 GMT -5
If it is maybe similar in composition? It is more a dark blue than it is green
Thank you Tela! These came out pretty good. I see a few areas now I didn't get all the little scratches out. I used a bench grinder they had modified with an aquarium pump. Spent forever again doing it. How y'all pump out cabs is beyond me. I take forever! Although I've been told its because I keep doing agates and they do take longer I'll be up there in a few weeks to try again
Agates do take longer and the condition of the wheels matter, too. So, how do you use a bench grinder to go through the grits? Did you post about this? I must have missed it. The dallasite is dark green. Maybe I am not calling it the right thing I just changed the belts out at each stage.
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Post by pauls on Apr 23, 2018 16:45:31 GMT -5
Great job on those cabs Ali.
Not picking on your effort which is great, but I would have hit that cracked area in the maroon one with the grinder, a flawless cab always looks better.
That maroon/ dark red stuff is very cracky, just the nature of that particular colour agate.
I am wondering about your sore hands, do you dop? I find that having the extra grip of a dop stick helps aleviate aching hands a bit.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 23, 2018 16:45:47 GMT -5
OH! OK, you were using a belt grinder. I think it has another name, too, but it escapes me. Makes sense. I thought you literally meant a bench grinder. LOL!
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 16:47:01 GMT -5
Great that you got to cut and cab. Always exciting to see what's in a rock. Sorry that one rock wasn't poppy but it is kinda cool if you're into fossils. Looks like you scored big time from him because of him hogging the saw...lol. I wish I had a better picture. It looks good on my phone then I post it and its not so good Does it look like fossil to you?
I kept stopping to ohhh and ahh over almost every piece he cut I think he felt sorry for me The chunk he gave me isn't the greatest but the druzy on the whole top of it is so pretty
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 16:48:15 GMT -5
OH! OK, you were using a belt grinder. I think it has another name, too, but it escapes me. Makes sense. I thought you literally meant a bench grinder. LOL! For the life of me I cannot think of what's it was called I did use the bench grinder to shape them. That's the one that bites me.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 23, 2018 16:49:34 GMT -5
OH! OK, you were using a belt grinder. I think it has another name, too, but it escapes me. Makes sense. I thought you literally meant a bench grinder. LOL! For the life of me I cannot think of what's it was called I did use the bench grinder to shape them. That's the one that bites me.
Sh*t, I bet it does bite! |
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Post by drocknut on Apr 23, 2018 16:55:31 GMT -5
Great that you got to cut and cab. Always exciting to see what's in a rock. Sorry that one rock wasn't poppy but it is kinda cool if you're into fossils. Looks like you scored big time from him because of him hogging the saw...lol. I wish I had a better picture. It looks good on my phone then I post it and its not so good Does it look like fossil to you?
I kept stopping to ohhh and ahh over almost every piece he cut I think he felt sorry for me The chunk he gave me isn't the greatest but the druzy on the whole top of it is so pretty
It does look like fossils but I'm not an expert at id on fossils. Maybe one of the fossil hounds will take a look ( fossilman) or you might post a picture of it in the fossil section on the forum. That chunk with the druzy is nice. I have some similar druzy pieces from that same area and they can be pretty sparkly. You never know with plasma if you got a good chunk or a bad one unless you cut it although that would probably ruin the druzy if you did cut it. I know people who collect druzy pieces as display pieces and prefer them over the more solid pieces of agate. |
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 16:55:51 GMT -5
Great job on those cabs Ali. Not picking on your effort which is great, but I would have hit that cracked area in the maroon one with the grinder, a flawless cab always looks better. That maroon/ dark red stuff is very cracky, just the nature of that particular colour agate. I am wondering about your sore hands, do you dop? I find that having the extra grip of a dop stick helps aleviate aching hands a bit. The dang thing kept cracking as I went along. I didn't want to loose that piece next to the crack. For a second I thought it had fire in it. You should see it. Crazy color! I think I can hide it when I get my next experiment going (more on that later) I didn't dop, but I am thinking I am going to have to in the future. I think I have arthritis in hands as they flared up so bad. My fingers are twice the size this morning. manofglass sent me some dowels, so I will see if that works better. I want to thank you again for these agates. They are so incredibly beautiful I will be having fun with these for awhile
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 16:56:35 GMT -5
For the life of me I cannot think of what's it was called I did use the bench grinder to shape them. That's the one that bites me.
Sh*t, I bet it does bite! Took 3 times before I got smart and put gloves on  |
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Post by aDave on Apr 23, 2018 17:06:42 GMT -5
I didn't dop, but I am thinking I am going to have to in the future. I think I have arthritis in hands as they flared up so bad. My fingers are twice the size this morning. Allison, you may want to reach out to minerken to see if he can work something up for you. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but he once saw a comment of mine about my finger issues, and he offered to try and design a dop stick that would be easier for me to hang onto. I took a raincheck on his offer...don't know if he's still doing them or not. Tela rockjunquie, do you know? |
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 17:18:18 GMT -5
I have another dumb question
The saw leaves a film on the slabs that is really hard to get off. Looks fine wet, but then drys ugly. Is there an easy way to remove this?
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 17:20:45 GMT -5
I didn't dop, but I am thinking I am going to have to in the future. I think I have arthritis in hands as they flared up so bad. My fingers are twice the size this morning. Allison, you may want to reach out to minerken to see if he can work something up for you. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but he once saw a comment of mine about my finger issues, and he offered to try and design a dop stick that would be easier for me to hang onto. I took a raincheck on his offer...don't know if he's still doing them or not. Tela rockjunquie , do you know? Thank you! I really think using one would help me a lot
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Post by aDave on Apr 23, 2018 17:32:50 GMT -5
I have another dumb question The saw leaves a film on the slabs that is really hard to get off. Looks fine wet, but then drys ugly. Is there an easy way to remove this? Allison, I'm not so sure you're actually looking at a film. Instead, what you're seeing are actually scratches across the surface from the diamond blade actually grinding its way through the rock. What you're dealing with is similar to when you do a (let's say) coarse stage in your tumbler. The rocks look great wet, but when the water dries, you see a scratched, unpolished surface. The only way to deal with that is by polishing through different stages. If you have a rock that's been cut, or if you wanted to polish a slab that's not getting cut to be a cab, a flat lap would probably be your best bet, if you can get to one. |
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Post by MsAli on Apr 23, 2018 17:35:23 GMT -5
I have another dumb question The saw leaves a film on the slabs that is really hard to get off. Looks fine wet, but then drys ugly. Is there an easy way to remove this? Allison, I'm not so sure you're actually looking at a film. Instead, what you're seeing are actually scratches across the surface from the diamond blade actually grinding its way through the rock. What you're dealing with is similar to when you do a (let's say) coarse stage in your tumbler. The rocks look great wet, but when the water dries, you see a scratched, unpolished surface. The only way to deal with that is by polishing through different stages. If you have a rock that's been cut, or if you wanted to polish a slab that's not getting cut to be a cab, a flat lap would probably be your best bet, if you can get to one. Thank you That makes sense
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