Lapidary / Gemstone Community Forum

For new members not familiar with how these contests work.

Entries are cabs only. Completed during this contest period. Not cabs pulled from the drawer.

Please include a pic of the original slab, then a pic of the preform, and finally, the finished cab.

Please try to remember at least a pic or two of the original slab and or preform..

Feel free to share with us what ever you like about the mineral, and or what ever else you would like to share.

You can enter any shape cab and your choice of mineral.

Things like intarsia, finished jewelry, carvings and composite type cabs can not be entered in an effort to keep the contest somewhat fair by just entering free form style cabs.   

Remember, this is all in fun.    yes16  Just a little something we do together as a group. More about just joining in, and having some fun.

Cabs posted here are only for the contest.  One entry per member.

This is an owyhee picture jasper cab that I have been waiting to cut.  The rough showed no indication of the inside so I cut it in half on a tile saw and then saw the scene in the middle. First I begged forgiveness from the rock deities for such neaderthal treatment of a nice piece of rough, and then I put it in a slab grabber. I got a few slabs off it and decided to work the roughest one first. I thought the scene on the back was better, but the front side needed some help so I domed that side, and polished the other.  What I like about it is that it has two scenes depending on which way it is oriented.

Thanks for looking.

Now that is WICKED!!!  yippie24
Love the front inverted. Glacier in the background and a Mountain lake!

 Very nice outcome yes16. A double take.

SWEET!   yes16

Fantastic scenery!  I like the two scenes as well!

Hmmmm . . .  last month we all gravitated to druzy. Maybe you'll inspire me to go make a cool picture too!

 shemademe12

very nice scene

Here we go! Made a trip last weekend to collect Texas Springs limb cast. Picked up a couple of pieces jasper near by, I was eating lunch on day two of limb cast collecting and started looking closer at this jasper and couldn't believe how many colors were in the few pieces we picked up the day before, needless to say we went back and picked a few more.
This cab has ob-scene colors in it. Lol
It's a 4th of July special

Sandsave

Seems like the trend this time is for pictures.
There's a nice river running between the rockfaces on that one!

Let's see what we can do to continue this trend . . .

Rough . . .

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi3.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy93%2Fwaterlaw99%2F010_zps4cf500df.jpg&hash=1253d53f686565ec8592811788e906bc)

and . . . (sorry, gang, I got on a roll cutting and forgot to stop to take a pre-form photo, so directly to . . .) Finished!

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi3.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy93%2Fwaterlaw99%2F014_zps6772556e.jpg%3Ft%3D1404709334&hash=efd2791ebf651a0fffe73f360a9e437a)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi3.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy93%2Fwaterlaw99%2F012_zps01377ff4.jpg%3Ft%3D1404623429&hash=40869a7dfa7800c1e8332984604c16d8)

And the backside. I'm entertained by how much the picture changes from front to back sometimes. The mountain on the frontside seems to have turned to a volcano and erupted on the back:

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi3.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy93%2Fwaterlaw99%2F017_zps3de592d7.jpg%3Ft%3D1404623531&hash=3611a8218aec8b71168417731ba88323)

Awesome entry Cowboy!  yes16

And just so folks realize - this contest is not themed, you can enter any stone variety you want.  Some folks just like to grab a theme and run with it.   yes16

Some really lovely stuff coming in.
Way to go guys!!! yes16

Love the volcanoe I'd have used that side myself. Great looking cabs ya'll staring off with the bar high again!!!!

We probably have too many science fiction fans in my house and this cab got named alien skies because of the three moons or is it three suns ?

Wow, this contest is heating up to be seriously difficult in the decision department.  I love them all -- what an awesome group of cabs so far.  Can't wait to see what's next!   yes16

This competition is heating up!  That's one sweet Alien sky!  yes16

My "HONEY MOON"
my entry is an end cut from a nodule of "Indian Mountain" agate that I collected and just couldn't throw away even though I could only get a very low dome out of it after grinding down to the solid material. It is a bit saganitic in the back and is a very pale baby blue with one end looking like it had been dipped in honey.
(edited to add details of the process)
The peice was cut using my modified; to make it auto feed and oil bath, 10" tile saw. Shaping and the first grinding from 100 grit to 800 grit was on the modified grinder 8" flat lap I made. Then I put the resin disks on; they're not as aggresive, the flat lap starting with 400 and staging up to 3000 grit for the final finish. All done freehand and no dopstick; I still have some fingernails LOL

the rough front
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Sgmj31XBkks/U7yu2KaYCNI/AAAAAAAAFAI/wVQ-yy_T91I/w471-h482-no/IMG_20140708_195355.jpg)

back
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-l7GYdd1rCP0/U7yu81UGm8I/AAAAAAAAFAA/puJIe7XUQwQ/w540-h482-no/IMG_20140708_195407.jpg)
This was basically my preform also so no seperate shot of that...
Here's some glam pics :)

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/LcAmVAsZwBESYWXKPLjqxL3zkdXe9rb6HYRaWte-bF0=w572-h482-no)

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/1pPgOvk1qlc6nVrylYDz4s1hWLRxkd-vaY92i9s2tys=w487-h482-no)

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/9g0Rgd7NSg37fmKgBrIdBxNimQsP43kg8RgLUdq5AQA=w518-h482-no)

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yOtQ_G11_jRLLqEC5Ao-wO2KqXFihZhXI9Gcj0q1LCM=w643-h482-no)

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e0qp-tS9U1Q/U71PlC8PpPI/AAAAAAAAE-8/VkT_q6w_Rt4/w529-h482-no/IMG_20140709_071951.jpg)

Looks like it's falling asleep  hide35 very attractive in its own right.

What is the Alien Sky material?

thanks Hoose; I think..... LOL

Cool Lloyd, nice to see some homegrown material up.

Thanks RR
I really like the way the colours transition and blend from one to the other without any banding. Sometimes there is a sharp border between the colours but no fortification. The graininess in the picture with the dollar is caused by the white deposite encapsulating spheres of the other colours and under magnification looks like honeycomb.

Mehoose had ask what material Alien Sky was cut from. It is Priday Polka Dot from Jefferson County Oregon.

That said it came from one of my dumpster dives a few years ago. It was in a labelled milk crate that said Priday Polka Dot Old Dig, whatever that refers too.

Here are the sister slabs.

Yeah itsa...  itsa cute with it's eyelid drooping  saved12

Thanks Bryan! A couple more pretties to cut.

Top or 1st slab has pretty bad fracture, hard to see. Would spoil cutting a large cab.

Allright I dug deep into the can lol, and come up with this. Believe me or not, it's Owhyee from Succor creek.  Rare from what I was told.
I lost a little off the top of the "I'm not sure what it is" that's crossed with the jasper, but i think it's psilomelane? during the 600 stage.  There was no black water just white waste water? That's why I'm baffled.... but it does show the look of psilomelane with the polish and under house lighting and shade.  dunno28
That's all i know on it, Enjoy:)
ooops, try this again. Have to do it on two posts.

Removed.

Weird stuff but pretty RR, nice symetry on the cab too. Are you going to post a glossy??? :)

Thanks, it looked glossey to me after the six pack i finished ,lol. I can send you one in poster size. saved12
ok... i added one in.

When I saw it, i thought I might try to participate to the contest.
This is a limestone, but full of quartz and then really up to compete with all those nice stone usually shown on the contest. I am sorry the drawing of the preform is not totally exact, I moved it a little so it would be nicer.
So here it is a limestone cab

It was too early for me before but now I see what you mean; kind of misty looking too; or is that my eyes going out of focus, now I see three of them LOL
Nice limestone Domdeslagon yes16

Your prizes you are competing for courtesy of Tony (Catmandew) of Idaho Rock Shop!

A slab of pink Willow Creek, Succor Creek, and Wyoming Dendritic!

So y'all have something to compete for!

Many thanks to Tony!

The last two entries are awesome. Limestone took a great polish.

Too much fun in the sand pit, had to join in.

I thought I would attempt to follow the origional cabs with a scene.

My scene is a big picture, that of the night sky as maybe seen by a astronomer.
Galaxies, black holes and dark matter.

Galaxy Agate from Agate Creek
This material can be obtained from near the creek at the entrance to the Safari Camp.
It is the host basalt and tiny agates.
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1133.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm591%2FAllen-Ringland%2FDSCN1636_zpsce645238.jpg&hash=586e8aa82579a4d33c86d93d559260af) (http://s1133.photobucket.com/user/Allen-Ringland/media/DSCN1636_zpsce645238.jpg.html)

Pre form.
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1133.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm591%2FAllen-Ringland%2FDSCN1645_zpsb9842318.jpg&hash=f165837a1279848cbd9e073f148f54b2) (http://s1133.photobucket.com/user/Allen-Ringland/media/DSCN1645_zpsb9842318.jpg.html)

In winter sun light
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1133.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm591%2FAllen-Ringland%2FDSCN1648_zpsf6b3c2cb.jpg&hash=f61e171d9c624fbaabeeb4672ef6ed7b) (http://s1133.photobucket.com/user/Allen-Ringland/media/DSCN1648_zpsf6b3c2cb.jpg.html)

Under a lamp
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1133.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm591%2FAllen-Ringland%2FDSCN1658_zpsd1412af9.jpg&hash=9338551aba37a95e8e30f266f95338c9) (http://s1133.photobucket.com/user/Allen-Ringland/media/DSCN1658_zpsd1412af9.jpg.html)

Thanks for looking folks.

Good job on a hard material to work with yes16 even your basalt is colourfull LOL all I can find is clear vesicules.

Those are both pretty cool boys! yes16

Oo these are some rippers.
Hey Rock, looks like your cab is having a good laugh.

Oo that's another new one to me Allen, cute material.

See my edited post above, we have prizes now! yes16

I see it now Hoose.
Thanks Tony, thats kind of ya to do that for this contest.

With the box I have here from Tony I have enough for prizes for the rest of the year for the KCC and the KJC.   ura12 yippie24 yes16 dancer27
So I should be able to post photos for every contest now of what y'all are battling for.  ura12

My entry this month, completed yesterday.  Noreena Jasper.  Had trouble getting a good polish.  Tried cerium oxide, tin oxide, Zam, then Linde A.  Finally decided Linde A did a decent job. 

Some pics of the slab and the preforms:

Some of the final photos, not sure which is the best. 

Great cab, Greg!  I like the shape and the patterns you selected.

I love the way we can see the 'picture' in the whole slab. yes16

That's something I'm having problems with. hide35

I love to see the cool 'picture' or shapes in the finished cabs......but I'm not real comfortable figuring out how to find them. dunno28

Especially when some of the things you see on the surface, disappear as you cut and grind and sand and polish.....and other things show up out of 'nowhere' bricks21

Any tips??  help26

That's a tough call. Sometimes once you start cabbing it just changes on you. It's a crapshoot. Go with the flow and don't have expectations. I think if you like what you see you minimize the dome so it does not change too much.  I was cabbing a piece of Morrisonite, and was seeing a Phoenix fighting a dragon. When I was done the Phoenix was gone, and the dragon had morphed into a mutated seashorse with bug eyes!

What Justin mentions is good! I was going to add that a lot of the time for me it's gotta be the slab or rock that has something that wishes to express itself, the rock  is what I'm looking for to be the center piece or focus point. I can toss a lot of leaverite off to the side before one really jumps out at me. Next, I like to take a pencil and draw shapes on the slab itself to see what I can do with it pending cracks, pits, etc.... Try to picture in your mind a shape of a border around the stone your looking at cutting. :) if that helps.

That is too funny, Justin saved12
I'm glad that I'm not alone in that!

If anyone can ID this for me I would appreciate it.. It was sent to me with no name or place of origin. Thank you in advance and for looking.. yippie24

Looks like Crazy Lace to me.

Thanks Justin, Thats what I thought it was, but wasn't sure.

What a super nice bunch of KCC's entered in this month's contest.  I love the variety!!!!!!!!!!!! yippie24 yippie24 yippie24

I have got to get busy and see what I can come up with. help26 help26 help26

39don

There are so many great entries that it inspired me to get back into the garage. I decided to try out some Hornito's brecciated jasper from California. It comes from the same area that the poppy jasper comes from. You can see a poppy want a be in the cab. I was surprised how soft this jasper is considering it has quartz in some areas. The hematite polished up pretty good, some areas undercut a bit. It was fun to cut and a bit of a challenge. The cab measures 60mm x 19.50mm  Eric(Ajo)
Slab:
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi647.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu195%2FEric_album_2009%2FHornitoBreciatedJasper002_zpse81716fa.jpg&hash=a9aca0da3e995fb1978918f356e8018d)
Preforms:
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi647.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu195%2FEric_album_2009%2FHornitoBreciatedJasper004_zps5427ae86.jpg&hash=ccf1539c12608e6efe5e28fcd3a7c6f7)
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi647.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu195%2FEric_album_2009%2FHornitoBreciatedJasper005_zpsd8cbf302.jpg&hash=a142c4ebe1d9dfed1f41de14b371e597)
Finished Cab:
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi647.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu195%2FEric_album_2009%2F58de0eb2-665f-42da-97f7-20ce2c00a38f_zps788ce146.jpg&hash=243504ede13a57ef2b17de199b649db0)

Alright this contest is really heating up this month!  Awesome!   ura12

I enjoy looking at all the cabs. I had become frustrated with the contest because every time I checked everyone had voted. I still enjoyed looking at all the voted material. Should not tell you this but I just realized that the highlighted section was the ongoing contest. help26 help26

I'm joining the crowd cause I finished mine tonight. I'm using material from down under..........Australia. I got a good deal on a hunk of Chrysoprase last year, slabbed it and never got around to cabbing any. I happened to uncover it today so I cabbed a small piece from a not so good slab. It started to be sort of squarish but because of some small white inclusions I changed the shape to a fat, not balanced, marque.

Rough slab..........
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jbQrH2l97Bs/U9CAKgC2nAI/AAAAAAAARDg/T3-oDkdFsyQ/w821-h673-no/2014-07-23+001.JPG)

Preform............
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1H6paUjQXoI/U9CANS2vgVI/AAAAAAAARDs/iEWkdJAGxRk/w897-h673-no/2014-07-23+017.JPG)

Finished Cab..........
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nnouArVywEM/U9CAPthOZpI/AAAAAAAARD4/0stdejVQAQM/w778-h673-no/2014-07-23+027.JPG)

Thanks,

39don

WOW!!!  The contest is 'heating up' indeed!!! yes16

Not so good slab? You would never know by that awesome cab!
Nice!

sure turned out nice.

You got that right!

I leave for heading back east on Thursday, will return Sunday.  I will get voting for this contest up then.  I'm going to post the August contest up a few days early so it's done.  I trust y'all will hold off posting to it till August actually starts.  :)

Are we going to have any more entries before the deadline tomorrow night?   yes16

OK I'll play. I had another moss agate that I was going to enter. But just didn't show up or look as good in pix as in hand. So I was doing this one at the same time for a piece. The sparkle of the Druzy doesn't really show as well as I'd hoped. Crazy lace agate (I think)
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1183.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx470%2Fskystone3%2F009-2.jpg&hash=a640fe54fe7caa7cdf3fd739e3f53fad) (http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/skystone3/media/009-2.jpg.html)
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1183.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx470%2Fskystone3%2F012-1.jpg&hash=b3fe13c92e8b4705f5fc81728c39417c) (http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/skystone3/media/012-1.jpg.html)
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1183.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx470%2Fskystone3%2F023.jpg&hash=c0939e6b82bf08ecf2c4051d2bb8eade) (http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/skystone3/media/023.jpg.html)
(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1183.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx470%2Fskystone3%2F024.jpg&hash=3c33fd3eb64dbfaaf6b89eab7bf42b9d) (http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/skystone3/media/024.jpg.html)

ok folks.  I'm going to get the voting for this up in the next few hours here, just bear with me...