Post by callmerob on Sept 17, 2019 1:36:22 GMT -5
Hi all. Newbie here. First post after trying to figure out how to post photos on the Help thread. Thanks again, Tommy!
So, here’s how it starts…
A kid picks up a pebble, sees the color, likes the shape, feels good in hand, goes in the pocket. Could be in a desert dry wash, stream bank, ocean beach, or a lake in Montana.
Pretty soon you’re getting those little velvet bags of tumble-polished stones you pick from a bin. Souvenir of summer vacation. Too late - you’re hooked.
And after a lifetime of working for a living, you’re still hooked. Vegas vacation? Sure, Honey, but let me also show you the solitude and beauty of my home state. Let’s go north and out into the Big Empty. We’ll go camping, and stay at a haunted hotel, and take a tour of turquoise mining.
That’s all it takes, because she is also one of those kids who picks up pebbles. Next thing I know, she’s holding out her hand to show her loot from turquoise mining (see avatar).
We learn to pronounce “cabochon” and see some fine examples. Weeks later at home, out comes an old little velvet bag of polished pebbles with their memories. Maybe we could make one of those cabochon things?
Remembering a slow-speed metallurgical saw with a diamond wafering blade somewhere years ago, I kludge together our first baby saw…Coke crate, cutting board, mini bread pan, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 12 volt 60 rpm toy motor, cheap 6” lapidary blade, gravity feed. Wow, it works! Slow, but it gets the job done. And quiet enough for the patio or kitchen table.
That’s how it starts.
So, here’s how it starts…
A kid picks up a pebble, sees the color, likes the shape, feels good in hand, goes in the pocket. Could be in a desert dry wash, stream bank, ocean beach, or a lake in Montana.
Pretty soon you’re getting those little velvet bags of tumble-polished stones you pick from a bin. Souvenir of summer vacation. Too late - you’re hooked.
And after a lifetime of working for a living, you’re still hooked. Vegas vacation? Sure, Honey, but let me also show you the solitude and beauty of my home state. Let’s go north and out into the Big Empty. We’ll go camping, and stay at a haunted hotel, and take a tour of turquoise mining.
That’s all it takes, because she is also one of those kids who picks up pebbles. Next thing I know, she’s holding out her hand to show her loot from turquoise mining (see avatar).
We learn to pronounce “cabochon” and see some fine examples. Weeks later at home, out comes an old little velvet bag of polished pebbles with their memories. Maybe we could make one of those cabochon things?
Remembering a slow-speed metallurgical saw with a diamond wafering blade somewhere years ago, I kludge together our first baby saw…Coke crate, cutting board, mini bread pan, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 12 volt 60 rpm toy motor, cheap 6” lapidary blade, gravity feed. Wow, it works! Slow, but it gets the job done. And quiet enough for the patio or kitchen table.
That’s how it starts.
