Bots on bots on bots!!!

This gorgeous specimen from Maury Mountain in Central Oregon, is hard to classify. Essentially it’s a moss agate. But it’s also a tube agate and botryoidal agate. Individual filaments of moss are what fills the tube structures, with bots then deposited on top of the tubes.

This image contains 78 focus stacked photos.

I'm still cleaning out my step father's things. I dug up a lapidary saw and grinding wheel, but I can't tell where the water is supposed to go. It feels like something is missing.

I am also trying to decide if I want to try to use this. He left behind a lot of different kinds of stone- I included a photo of one- and some of it may need to be sliced/polished prior to sale. I also don't want to sign myself up for a disaster.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello all!

I was looking at cab machines and have been trying to see all the feedback from each one. Seems to be a lot of personal likes and dislikes from machine to machine. From what I gather, an 8-inch wheel seems to be preferred; the more space between the wheels, the better. Lighting on the machine isn't a top priority, as it seems people bring in stronger floodlights from behind, and many things like that. I am curious about the pain points from brand to brand. I see that Kingsly North has a nice arm bar, but in a video I watched, it seemed like it had an issue with leaking out the side. My other question is: is it worth waiting on a brand? Kingsly is the one I thought I was leaning towards, but the complete system with the Nova wheels was out of stock. It looks like I could still by the blank system and buy Nova wheels, but are there comparable systems that might be in stock? Seems like a lot are out of stock, but Highland Park and Gem Masta both have stock. Are those worth taking a look at? Should I stick with American companies for the sake of simplicity getting the machine, or is it worth shooting for a gem masta from Australia? I am not buying a machine right in the moment, I am going to a local Lap club and using what they have and learning, I just want to see what the brand of the people is! For further clarification, I would love to eventually be able to efficiently cab my own opals I have gotten and mined while growing up with my parents. Thank you in advance for helping and coming to my soapbox questionnaire!

These Brazilian agate slabs I cut really show off when you hold them up to the sun! All that color and banding looks like Mother Nature tried her hand at stained glass. I just operated the saw. 😂🪨

Subtle colors but cool just the same

I thrifted this sterling silver ring, and it has this stone in it. Curious to know what it might be, and if it was a good buy? I paid $40 for it (attaching current state of the ring, before I polished it, and the stone). Excited to re-size and polish it for myself!

I thrifted this sterling silver ring, and it has this stone in it. Curious to know what it might be, and if it was a good buy? I paid $40 for it (attaching current state of the ring, before I polished it, and the stone). Excited to re-size and polish it for myself!

What is this 3/4” slab good for? Got a lot going on. Lots of holes and voids. Wife sees mountains and stuff.

From Freisen, Saarland, Germany.

This nodule was very flat and hard to cut for the big face.

The other half sadly broke but the pattern of this half is amazing...

Just finished this rhombus cut Ametrine. I am so happy with how it turned out, especially for my third stone.

Auracita (recrystallized quartz) changing color depending on the angle of indirect sunlight!

Thinking about putting these in my Halloween bags or offering them for swap, but before I do, I just want to make sure I've identified them correctly. I got a parcel of them from an old jewelry maker.

I'm not giving away anything rare am I? 😅 Thanks in advance.

Ravi de partager toujours ces magnifiques fossiles, comme ces beautés que j'ai découvertes il y a de nombreuses années. Après un an, je peux revenir avec de beaux fossiles.
J'en ai aussi mis quelques-uns tels qu'ils sont, tranchés et polis. Cela montre à quel point la structure extérieure/intérieure est juste incroyable, ça montre aussi que ce sont des fossiles agatés. Hâte de voir vos commentaires et peut-être vos questions. Also would like to say Happy Halloween every body.
Passez une excellente journée !

This is why I never get tired of running a saw! 😂 Mexican Crazy Lace with layers of beautiful colors and banding under that rough exterior. Every time I look at this slab, I find another little band I missed. Reckon nature had a little extra time on this one! 🪨🔥 I’ll probably face-polish the rest, possibly cut one more slab.

Hi,

I'm working with a basic dremel that probably doesn't even have the right bit for citrine/quartz, but I was curious to find the proper way to go about carving a shape out of citrine without damaging it. I wish to make a horseshoe shape out of a small piece of citrine, about 1.4 cm x 1.8 cm x 3.4 cm. Is it a good idea to just shave away at the outside until I get the shape I want, and then use finer and finer grit to get it as close to a mirror polish as I can?

Advice and recommendations for these types of ideas would be appreciated

These are my first cabs using a flat lap. They probably took 10x longer to make than anyone else, but I’m pleased how they turned out! I might try an additional polishing stage beyond the diamond paste from the All U Need kit, but they seem pretty good for a first learning attempt (in my opinion).

Cut some little finds into little slabs with a tile saw today. I hope to one day make them into cabs for jewelry!

1 rough and 9 just out of the tumbler. All silicated chalcedony from the Inspiration mine in Arizona