Project sow's ear - complete

[stardiamond]

I bought the slab for $13.74 delivered. I liked the streamers and it was suppose to be around 10mm thick. Suppose to make some nice cabs.
On arrival somewhat disappointed but not an expensive purchase.

First step after looking at both sides, I drew the largest possible shape and trimmed it.



Next step was to grind the bottom down and see what showed. At 8mm thick, I had all the information I needed. No pattern on the bottom, matrix and a possible shallow pattern on the original face. Redrew as a 35mm pear to eliminate the matrix. Edges are still not clean but I have about 3mm on each side that can be removed to get to the new shape.



Next steps are to trim and grind to close to the new shape and flatten the bad side with my 80 grit lap. I have a possibility of ending up with a nice cab. The edges don't give a clue to how deep the face pattern is so I will need to grind and watch.

[stardiamond]

Ready to dop.



More information from the edges. Right side has a similar pattern. So does the left. I should be able to make a regular dome.
Left has a vug that becomes more progressively healed as it ends about 3mm into the back surface. I don't expect a fracture.

[stardiamond]

Through 280 soft. Tomorrow, I will fix the bottom, sand, and polish. The vug will become less noticeable. The pattern remained the same, but wasn't as nice as I saw. Not enough contrast in the pattern. To sell a Morrionite cab, it needs a stronger appearance.

[stardiamond]

Vug now hard to see. Good polish. Still a disappointment. Maybe better than what I see since I am red/green color deficient.

[knave]

I like it. Not something you would commonly see.

[stardiamond]

My hierarchy for Morrisonite is orbs, streamers, color with a pattern, color with no pattern, no pattern, too dark.
I bought the piece because I saw streamers. Since my color vision is not good, I see values and contrast which I didn't see a lot of in this cab. My wife who has exceptional color vision with a degree in studio art, liked it.

Since I do this as a hobby, my time isn't relevant and I like taking on a project. A successful purchase for me is revenue from a cab of twice what I paid for the rough and I don't expect to quite reach that.