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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 21, 2021 18:58:54 GMT -5
Shiny and pretty = perfect!
Thanks Robin!  I turned my laptop toward my wife and showed her the pics. She thought they were gorgeous too! She didn't realize they were the same rocks that were sitting on the kitchen counter that she said she had looked at already! (I didn't think she really had! LOL)  |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Apr 21, 2021 20:52:56 GMT -5
Beautiful batch, Jason! I like those red ones, but your favorite is certainly worthy of that title.
My daughter is a bit crazy for crazy lace, so we have a barrel full of it tumbling now. It got off to a terrible start because we put some small pieces in with some larger pieces from two separate vendors and the small pieces got pulverized to slurry. There was absolutely nothing left of the little ones. Luckily the bigger ones are turning out well, but they will also need another month or more.
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 21, 2021 21:15:37 GMT -5
Beautiful batch, Jason! I like those red ones, but your favorite is certainly worthy of that title. My daughter is a bit crazy for crazy lace, so we have a barrel full of it tumbling now. It got off to a terrible start because we put some small pieces in with some larger pieces from two separate vendors and the small pieces got pulverized to slurry. There was absolutely nothing left of the little ones. Luckily the bigger ones are turning out well, but they will also need another month or more. Thanks Brian! So, your daughter is a member of FOF - Friends of Fortifications! LOL - She has great taste! This stuff is so rewarding when it comes out nice...and so frustratingly depressing when it doesn't! I knew it would take awhile to tumble this stuff, but when you only have one rotary tumbler, it becomes more of a headache than anything. I could see having a single barrel tumbler totally dedicated to something like Crazy Lace, so as to not impede the progress of all the other stuff waiting in line. That really stinks about the loss of material from the one vender. I really think this material is hit or miss...and a lot of "miss" here lately with all the fractures throughout the material. I believe I read somewhere it has to do with how it's mined nowadays. I'm totally guessing, but it makes me think explosives are now a part of the excavation process... |
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Post by stephan on Apr 22, 2021 21:53:51 GMT -5
Amazing! Worth the wait, I’d say. I can see why you like #7, but 5, 6 and the second to last are no slouches either.
Oh, and you’re not wrong about the explosives, but I’m not sure it’s only recently.
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Post by stephan on Apr 26, 2021 12:07:58 GMT -5
Made from the same slab (from jasoninsd ) as last week's:  DSC_3910_Flor de Durazno (Flower of Peach) claim Crazy Lace by Stephan T., on Flickr This time, I included at bit of the matrix, which, unfortunately, undercut and got a little punky. I'm a bit on the fence about whether to leave it (real stone feature / wabi-sabi element and all that good stuff), since I like the shape and the proportion. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Apr 26, 2021 13:34:34 GMT -5
I like that one as-is, stephan! It looks so nicely balanced now that taking more away would really change the look and feel of that one. |
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Post by stephan on Apr 26, 2021 13:43:40 GMT -5
I like that one as-is, stephan ! It looks so nicely balanced now that taking more away would really change the look and feel of that one. Thanks for that. That is really the direction in which I'm leaning. Wabi-sabi will probably win out to favor balance and composition |
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 26, 2021 14:14:29 GMT -5
stephan - I like it "as is" as well. I think it looks gorgeous just like that. That red matrix hasn't worked in my favor even once...not with tumbling, nor cabbing. It's constantly undercutting, so I've tried to steer clear of it with cabs...although there's several times I would have liked to have included it.
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Post by stephan on Apr 26, 2021 14:52:00 GMT -5
stephan - I like it "as is" as well. I think it looks gorgeous just like that. That red matrix hasn't worked in my favor even once...not with tumbling, nor cabbing. It's constantly undercutting, so I've tried to steer clear of it with cabs...although there's several times I would have liked to have included it. Then why must it have such a tempting color. Curses!  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 26, 2021 15:38:25 GMT -5
stephan - I like it "as is" as well. I think it looks gorgeous just like that. That red matrix hasn't worked in my favor even once...not with tumbling, nor cabbing. It's constantly undercutting, so I've tried to steer clear of it with cabs...although there's several times I would have liked to have included it. Then why must it have such a tempting color. Curses!   |
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Post by jasoninsd on May 5, 2021 20:09:10 GMT -5
Here's a Laguna Lace Agate I finished last night. Boy, talk about micro-fractures all over this piece. Sheesh!  |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 5, 2021 20:57:54 GMT -5
Here's a Laguna Lace Agate I finished last night. Boy, talk about micro-fractures all over this piece. Sheesh! Too bad about the micro-fractures. The pattern in it is superb. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on May 6, 2021 9:02:10 GMT -5
All of those cracks and lines remind me of an old painting. Like those, they don’t take away from the underlying beauty. That cab has some amazing patterns in it.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 6, 2021 14:45:32 GMT -5
hummingbirdstones and BrianThank you both. Brian, I like what you said about the "old painting"! It is a very solid cab...none of them are affecting the structural integrity whatsoever...so that's a plus.
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Post by stephan on Jun 21, 2021 11:01:36 GMT -5
Alright, after neglecting this thread for... well... too long, here's a couple of new ones:  DSC_5169_A duo of Crazy Lace agates by Stephan T., on Flickr Same basic type -- an "agate" that is more properly classified as a jasperoid, but has many agate features. Though from different claims, both are from Chihuahua State in Mexico The one on the left from the Flor de Durazno claim, and features fortifications, eyes, orb botryoidal areas and hematite inclusions. When I was cutting the pre-form, the tip fell off, revealing some arsenic-yellow druzy bots. It looks cool, so instead of trimming of more material to repair it, I left a raw edge. The colors and patterns remind me of some Fordite I've seen. The mostly monochromatic shield shape one on the right is the dog-tooth lace variety (the tooth-shaped formations don't show in this cab), featuring fine lace, fortifications, sagenite and a few small orbs. A crack appeared on the girdle on the top part of the shield. This caused a little anxiety, but nothing fell off, and most of the crack ground out. You can see a bit of it along the top. The fractures below the surface on tha face are not as prominent in person. Both of these are "Harder than the gates of Hell". TMTM by Joe Shook, President and shop foreman of the Sacramento Gem and Mineral Society 2008-2012. ETA: LOL! I just realized that when I was taking pictures of these two cabs, one of the file numbers turned out to be 5150! EATA: The Flor de Durazno came from jasoninsd. 🙏 |
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Post by stephan on Jun 21, 2021 14:46:33 GMT -5
Here's a Laguna Lace Agate I finished last night. Boy, talk about micro-fractures all over this piece. Sheesh! Too bad about the micro-fractures. The pattern in it is superb. Whoo. Been busy, and haven't looked at this thread in a while. Just realized that this was a Cinco de Mayo post! Very nice cab. Bummer about the micro-fractures, but it's pretty darn hard to find material without them, and you usually can't see them until it's polished. I wonder how extensive they were before being mined. Now that you've done some hard-rock mining at Teepee, at least you can appreciate that some whacking can be involved, and that shortcuts (ahem, dynamite) would be helpful on the commercial scale (I bet you wouldn't mind a little bit o' blasting to get rid of your overhang). |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 21, 2021 21:13:46 GMT -5
I got a little bit of a preview of those two cabs from stephan last night...and I think they are just stunning! Stephan - I think you nailed it when you said it reminds you of Fordite...now that you mention that, I can absolutely see that! I think the one of yours to the left really speaks to me though. I just love those color tones in that one! You know, what's interesting about those micro-fractures, I've been experiencing the same thing in the Teepee Canyon Agates I've done recently. I can't really tell they're there until after the initial grind...which takes CONSIDERABLY less time than grinding the Flor de Durazno! LOL I was at a couple places today out at Teepee Canyon, and at one of those places, I saw where an overhang had collapsed recently. Not the usual place I go though. And, I didn't see any Ruby Slippers sticking out from under the rubble, so I figured all was well! LOL |
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Post by Pat on Jun 21, 2021 21:32:41 GMT -5
This thread is almost a year old!
How did I miss it?
All I can say is WOW!! Beautiful!! Thanks!!
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 1, 2021 18:22:14 GMT -5
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Post by Rockindad on Aug 1, 2021 19:26:37 GMT -5
Took a couple pictures of some Laguna Lace preforms I cut today. A lot of the material I have is unstable or highly fractured...so finding really good cab patterns is hit and miss. Curious if you got your material from a dealer in Texas. I bought a fair amount 2-3 months ago and it is heartbreaking material. Looks soooo good until I try to cut it, completely falls apart. I had to move onto something else due to the frustration. |
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