Cracks, fractures, and the truth about purchasing rough

[Taogem]

In the short time that I have been cabbing, I have purchased a fair share of rough.

The images sure look great when I first view them on the internet site. Most always, it still looks good to me when I receive it.

Then the truth unfolds as I start to slab it up.

I have a great deal of "what would be" great cabbing material. Beautiful to the eye. Really beautiful material, but absolutely useless until I am able to stabilize it. At least that is how it appears. Slabs that are full of fractures and totally useless until  I am able to figure out how to salvage it. Paid a pretty penny for it. Looks pretty. Sure worth saving.

I can't imagine using fracture sealing remedies to salvage badly fractured slabs. So I suppose will need to learn how to stabilize.

I have to wonder....., Is there a bigger part to the cabbing picture that I am just realizing? Is it more common than I had ever imagined?

Do all Cabbers experience the same, but just don't talk about it?

Are others Cabbers out there doing a whole lot more stabilizing, fracture sealing and other salvage techniques than are mentioned because it might be somehow taboo....somehow frowned upon ??

Or.., is my luck with purchasing rough just so bad, that it is just me?

Sometimes it really makes me quite upset to purchase some rather pricey rough to find it needs to be "salvaged" in some way before it can ever be cabbed.

How many others out there find themselves more often than not in a "salvage" situation?

Based on how frequently I end up with expensive crap rough, suggests that there must be a great deal of salvage work going on out there.

[seth]

Well this is kind of an interesting subject. Cracks and stress fractures happen in all types of rough. Depending on the material one will find problems. There are materials on the market that are prone to cracks. Morgan hill jasper, Montana agate, Bad chrysocolla, Flower tube onyx and so on. Some materials will also have pits or voids. I don't sell cabs that have been treated in any way with out saying so. If any resin or glue is put on one of my stones I say so and that is VERY rare. I don't know how many cutters cover up cracks and voids with glue and not say anything. If you are paying low prices for your rough and the deal seams to good to be true then it is. Quality material is getting quite rare now days. I would rather pay more for quality then less for a name of material that is second hand. I don't think that good cab cutters are putting glue into the work they do. Slabs are a good way to go. You pay more but you can pretty much see what you get.

[freeform]

Well, the fact is "grade", no matter what type/trade name it is, or who is selling it at what price. Grade will always be the most bearing factor for a cabochon cutter.

This is how i look at it, as a small onemanband opertation, i can not afford to cut real cheap material or real expensive material either. But that doesnt mean nice cabs dont come from cheap material, and it does mean poor cabs can be cut from highend material.

 Its all in the eye of the beholder. for example, stonesthatrock just recently put up some plume agate slabs. I got this material coming out of the cornhole, and most (least60%) would be standard $4 per pound rough. but that mainly has to do with one prevailing factor, "fractures"   As the material was blast mined, as are allot of lapidary material, esp from overseas. But i have cut very nice cabs, in the $100 price range from the same $4 per pound material. I most likly ended up with even more waste (at least80%).

The material is justfied becasue i know it can sell if the color is right, and has some good contrast and then if its doublet grade, it can double in price.   Working around the fractures is what i mainly do, i like to think i coin the term "natural freeform" when cutting this way. Becasue you have to let the pieces fall were they lie, and look for unqiue shapes, in combination of color/pattern that works. I do have a trusty tiny lead hammer for doing this, or i simple force the slab to break under my own hand pressure. As often when i cut for my inventories, i dont draw shapes on the slabs. But for clients i do all the time, or they do before they send me the slab. The frist thing i do in that case, is continue the process by drawing all the fractures/pits/voids/bad spots in general so i know what else i got to work with, or what i have to work with peroid.

I recently pulled out a bunch of dendritic material to batch cut, one slab was a nice Sage brush jasper from Wyoming. However, it was loaded with fracture and will only produce two cabs total. They will be nice for sure, and the right size. However, the slab was large enough for this, if i had smaller pieces from the same grade of rough, they would all went into tumbling overstocks.  Because the natural of habit of that material is fine picture type scene, with dendrite inclusions. Once the shape gets too small, you loose the scene.

I personally stay away from stablizing as much as possible too. I think actaully the norm is either most people cut poor grade rough, that does not need to be stablized, but could use it. And people who buy proven slabs as Seth points out. Which is the way to go in my opinion for all new or upcoming cabochon cutters. Not many people have tonage of fine and good grade materials to pick from like me and Seth. As you point out Toa, online is a big componate as too were one can buy such material. But then you almost always fight a lossing battle with sellers who first dont really know lapidary, (they may know mining, or minerals), then simple market materials based on names for value and not grading the rough as it should be.   Its very easy for sellers to do this and part of the hobby when one becomes invloved in selling rocks of any kind.

In the end, all one can do is learn what he or she likes. Then pass that onto ones customers. But cutting good grade or highgrade material is always worth the effort and value. I tell ya, one of my personal favs is purple chalcedony. And ive worked many low and high grade roughs of it. Right now, the best seems to come from Turkey. Though i can find local types for sale here and there. I know the Turkish material(though still rare and expensive) can have a consitancey to it, both in color and size.  Which are the prevailing concerns when buying the material. Either its all tiny or fractured material like Holley Blue, or is not purple, but gray in color with purple hints. The any number of purple jaspers and agates from western USA.  Becasue both blue and purple are weak colors, in stones that have inclusions, these colors often dont live up to the hype a seller may give it. Sence purple is a rare color in nature, hence is always gonna be more valuable.  So both colors tend to actaully turn gray to the eye when they are impure, mixed into a matrix of cool patterns. Amethyst Sage agate is allot like this, as is Burro Creek agate. I want gel purple that can have a glow to it. And even that has become a bit difficult in the last 6months to get from Turkey.

every Cabber will run into this problem, some (the folks that perfer cutting one material, ei turquoise, opal) Do what they must with stablizing and sealing in order to work it. But the others, the ones who cut based on what they feel like that given day. Will always gravtate towards the understanding that they dont have to stablize or seal, so long as they understand some materials then can not be worked.

I say, if you can, develope a place you can goto locally, or within reason. (club is always a great starting point). And find people in your area that have roughs for sale. Buying online can be a bear when it comes to grading, or believe the seller understand grading. At least in person you can inspect siad piece/s for yourself. Without having to rely on a hounest person, not knowing what they are selling. But that is the gamble we play.

[gemsevermore]

This is especially problematic with tiffany stone. The stuff can be gorgeous, but the thing is, several pounds of the prettiest I have is full of holes or cracks, or is just so soft, brittle, or what have you that I won't even try to sell it.

Freeform's comments are right on target. Nothing can compare with buying in person, but there is always that fabulous material that you have only seen online, and, well.... A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. (Sorry ladies, but the expression loses something if I try to make it gender-general.)

For those occasions, (being one of those online sellers myself) I can suggest that you look for an unconditional return policy. The better sellers will offer to take any stone back, since disappointed customers are bad for business. That allows you to hold the stone in your hand and look at it at some leisure, without some salesman spinning tales of glory while you are trying to imagine if it will cut properly or explode in your hand. If the verdict comes back as "no sale," you send an email and pop the rock back in the mail and wait a few days for your refund. I don't know how I could make it any more painless and worry-free than that.

As for stabilization, it can actually make the stone more durable and attractive than in its natural state. I don't see anything wrong with any enhancement technique, as long as the treatment is disclosed and the effect is permanent. Just be careful with the resin treatments, since a lot of resins will discolor with age.