Killer Cab Contest July 2014

[Enchantra]

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

[itsandbits1]

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


back

This was basically my preform also so no seperate shot of that...
Here's some glam pics :)

[mehoose]

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

[mehoose]

What is the Alien Sky material?

[itsandbits1]

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

thanks Hoose; I think..... LOL

[Rockrangers]

Cool Lloyd, nice to see some homegrown material up.

[itsandbits1]

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.

[Isotelus]

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.

[mehoose]

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

Thanks Bryan! A couple more pretties to cut.

[Isotelus]

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

[Rockrangers]

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. 
That's all i know on it, Enjoy:)
ooops, try this again. Have to do it on two posts.

[Rockrangers]

Removed.

[itsandbits1]

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

[Rockrangers]

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.
ok... i added one in.

[domdeslagons]

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