brotherbill
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2018
Posts: 329
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Post by brotherbill on May 22, 2022 20:11:47 GMT -5
jasoninsd You are correct on both counts, height and stability. I am not a very prolific cab cutter (unlike others who shall remain nameless) so just about everything I cut is set.
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Post by vegasjames on May 23, 2022 2:16:39 GMT -5
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2022
Posts: 1,185
Member is Online
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Post by rockbrain on May 23, 2022 21:19:06 GMT -5
I finally came up with some material. Tough stuff to work with, very little shine. It was soft enough that I was still removing material on the 1200 soft belt! This is a piece of slab that I got from Dan, (member Fish). I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the rough again. There wasn't much. You can see it circled here in the for sale picture before I received it. Dan identified the material as zebra stone from Australia. Here's my glamor shots.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 23, 2022 22:20:35 GMT -5
vegasjames and rockbrain - another two great entries for the challenge!  I still haven't even had a chance to look for some material. I may need to do that in the next day or two if I can! LOL
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Post by opalpyrexia on May 26, 2022 21:18:06 GMT -5
While doing a little housekeeping today a "lost" slabbette of variscite suddenly appeared. First time working it. |
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Post by rockjunquie on May 26, 2022 21:24:04 GMT -5
I finally came up with some material. Tough stuff to work with, very little shine. It was soft enough that I was still removing material on the 1200 soft belt! This is a piece of slab that I got from Dan, (member Fish). I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the rough again. There wasn't much. You can see it circled here in the for sale picture before I received it.Dan identified the material as zebra stone from Australia. Here's my glamor shots.
I have always seen this called Printstone. And yeah- It is really soft!
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 11,812
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Post by Tommy on May 27, 2022 8:31:52 GMT -5
Nice group of soft stones so far, keep 'em coming! I knew a theme like this would produce some very interesting materials and it has not disappointed.
I finally have a day off coming up on Monday so I'm still holding out hope of getting one done myself.
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Post by liveoak on May 28, 2022 16:04:23 GMT -5
"S" is for soft and Shattuckite. Since this month's contest began with an S for soft and I happened to have some Shattuckite ( which averages a mohs 3.5)
that I purchased some years ago from a guy mining in Mexico. Truthfully, I never tried cut it before, as I was afraid it would fall apart because it was so soft, and sure enough, some of it did fall apart. In fact it took me 3 tries to get this cab. The first one broke on the wheel , the 2nd broke as I took off the dop stick  Third time I guess I held my mouth right and it stayed in one piece. Anyway, I tried to make a "lazy S" (Soft & Shattuckite) but it was very difficult on the 6" wheel, and the shape got a little " blurred". But it took a better polish than I thought, using tin oxide on a leather disc. And I think it might make a nice pendant, as the color goes well with copper, my preferred metal. So here's my entry for this month's soft competition . Thanks for the Challenge. Patty
My MK Rock Saw, that my husband restored for me a number of years ago.
Added a vise and a MK "Hotdog" blade, and it works pretty good .
My Slab - this stuff is so soft, a number of slabs fell apart on the saw.
Scale: Although in hindsight I wish I could have made it bigger, but my slabs were pretty small.
My entry- Top and side :
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Post by jasoninsd on May 28, 2022 16:28:11 GMT -5
opalpyrexia - Great looking cab Gary! I've only worked one piece of Variscite...and it was so soft, it was like placing warm butter against the flat disk! liveoak - Patty the colors in that material came out spectacular! Love the shape you chose too!
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Post by liveoak on May 28, 2022 16:44:36 GMT -5
Thanks Jason. It was really difficult to get a decent photo, as I wanted to get those colors to really show. I was just cleaning up my cab unit & saw the nice looking blue mud. I don't wear Egyptian style eye makeup  Patty |
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,092
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Post by quartzilla on May 29, 2022 18:56:50 GMT -5
liveoak your cab is a beaut!
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Post by Rockoonz on May 30, 2022 0:36:42 GMT -5
Here's mine. Some chrysocolla that was scratchable. A 220 wheel is pretty aggressive with this. Slab  Preform. The Variscite was also soft enough, but I found a vug in it so it will be reshaped later. These were stabilized with Opticon twice.  The cab.    Face pic I want to use  |
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Post by liveoak on May 30, 2022 5:53:21 GMT -5
WOW Lee, Rockoonz, that is really cool - There's a whole little world in that cab! My husband said he sees a lake with an island with trees growing on it, and in the distance, mountains and sky. But the best part, is that the brown inclusion looks like a sea monster emerging from the lake. The funniest thing, is that I can even see the sea monster's face, on the right :-) Very Cool, Patty |
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Post by fernwood on May 30, 2022 6:53:55 GMT -5
liveoak I admire your perseverance for this cab. It is great.
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Post by liveoak on May 30, 2022 6:58:37 GMT -5
Thanks fernwood, I was just glad that I was able to get a couple of slabs out of that crumbling rock ! If I had only had one, it would have been a sad day :-( Patty |
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Post by fernwood on May 30, 2022 7:01:37 GMT -5
Rockoonz This cab is very similar to a photo I took on the lake by my place, many years ago. The island with sand bars. Storm clouds moving in. Reflection of storm clouds in the water. Another island in the background. Your cab brought back fond memories for me. We caught several large Walleye's on that fishing trip. Ended up getting back to dock, loading up the ATV and making it back to house just in time to have the skies open up. Lots of wind, too. Stayed in garage for almost an hour until the rain/hail stopped enough for us to get to house with our fish.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 30, 2022 8:40:03 GMT -5
Rockoonz - Lee, great choice on the material! The cab came out great...and I definitely see a landscape scene going on.
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Post by Rockoonz on May 30, 2022 9:49:50 GMT -5
liveoak thanks I didn't see Nessie but she's there all right. I think Elizabeth may take it from me if I show her. fernwood when we're traveling and we see striking scenery I'll sometimes say it looks like a piece of picture jasper we have. jasoninsd luck of the draw. The slab and preform looked okay, never know what may happen when you dome it. The variscite is a good example, had a punky vug in the edge and will become a teardrop.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 11,812
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Post by Tommy on May 30, 2022 17:30:03 GMT -5
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Post by drocknut on May 30, 2022 18:07:39 GMT -5
If it isn't too late I'd like to submit an entry too. I just now realized I had a cab I made that I could enter. I don't have a picture of the original slab but had a slab of the same material so will post a picture of that. My entry is Fluorite from Argentina. It was a piece that fell off a slab of rainbow fluorite. The material was so soft I started on the 140 grit wheel because the 60 grit hard wheel would have made it into a sliver rather than a cab. The "sister" slab  The cab  Side view  Backlit sorta (because it doesn't look the best in the first photo)  It was a serious challenge for a novice cabber like me but I am quite proud of myself for making it. Thanks for looking. |
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that takes the cake
