Big Boys Hobbies

Glenns lapidary creations

If anyone wants a pendant feel free to pm me



2 more cabs

1st is moss agate (not Alaskan)

2nd is tube jasper / agate I found.

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after the cab is cut to shape it takes around 45 min - 1 hour on the lapidary wheels.. About 5-8 min trimming out per piece with a saw, and about 5-20 per cut when cutting slabs. drilling a hole takes 5-30 min. It is always possible to break the piece when doing work also.

So in reality when I sell a piece I only make about $5 per hour, all the rest is material costs.
 
Very interested in buying one or a few. Do you have any topaz? Or specific "healing stones?" Peridot, rhodocrosite? i.e
 
Also since you're in Alaska have that girl phred and paige from that tv show call me sometime (wild west Alaska) lol
 
9Veater said:
Also since you're in Alaska have that girl phred and paige from that tv show call me sometime (wild west Alaska) lol
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Its not as wild as one might think... i'm supprised you can't hear the highway from a few of the films. There is only 3 people that I have talked to or have met that are on tv shows.. (not all alaskan shows) and a few infamous rockhounds.

I won't put names up but if you like to watch the only rock hounding tv show that I know of you seen one person I frequently talk to.
 
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Hi Glen, nice work!! Here's some ocean jasper, one of my favorite materials I cut and polished recently. I have a machine with 2&3/8" wheels to do the inside curves and 8" machines for the rest. What make is the polisher you show, looks like a nice one.
 
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Here are some more various materials and shapes. Slabbing up a nice chunk of lapis today. I love the little wheels, not too many other lapidaries are doing the smaller inside curves. I sell some, but mostly make jewelry from them, they are all cut for bezel settings.
 
Those are really nice, I don't have a whole lot of cab worthy material yet (colorful / more than 1 color). I really like that ocean jasper.. I may have to put that on a list of things to get some day.


I'm using the Graves 6 wheeler using 6" wheels, has grits 80 and 220 galaxy and 280, 600, 1200 and 3000 Nova. It also has a polishing pad and 280 grit flat lap disk for both sides of the machine.

I wish I had smaller wheels to do stuff like your doing.


It seems like every time I make a piece someone always wants it... At least this will help me pay the machine and other equipment off. hopefully by the end of 2015. I already have 2 more things to make for people when I get the chance to go to my equipment.
 
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Here's a couple of shots of my little 2&3/8" wheel machine and my big 8" Raytech. An old lapidary (he was 90 at the time) made up the little machine for me. The only problem with it is that with the little wheels you don't get as many feet per second of surface speed so it takes longer to grind and polish. That, and the fact that the wheels do not last as long as larger wheels. I could change pulleys and speed up the wheels but that would make them run faster than Diamond Pacific recommends for their wheels. Your graves 6" looks like a really nice machine.
Ocean jasper has gotten really expensive for the good stuff, and hard to find at any price. I was lucky and bought a bunch of nice slabs 6-7 years ago, and a little rough. I have big (14 & 18") saws and have done a bunch of slabbing. I do sell slabs once in a while, I have some nice blue lace, malachite, rhodochrosite, and other materials. You can PM me if you'd like to see some. I sell for average ebay prices. Where are you in AK? My sister lives in Fairbanks and is a prof at the university there. Glad to hear you're selling you creations at a good pace, it's always nice to know people like one's work.
 
Those are nice machines, the 8 inch would be good for making large stuff. The slower wheels do tend to take more time but is well worth the time spent usually. I usually buy all my material (if I buy) at Tuscon pricing or less since my co-worker goes down every year and gets wholesale. I live down in the Mat-Su valley.

gunsil said:
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Here's a couple of shots of my little 2&3/8" wheel machine and my big 8" Raytech. An old lapidary (he was 90 at the time) made up the little machine for me. The only problem with it is that with the little wheels you don't get as many feet per second of surface speed so it takes longer to grind and polish. That, and the fact that the wheels do not last as long as larger wheels. I could change pulleys and speed up the wheels but that would make them run faster than Diamond Pacific recommends for their wheels. Your graves 6" looks like a really nice machine.
Ocean jasper has gotten really expensive for the good stuff, and hard to find at any price. I was lucky and bought a bunch of nice slabs 6-7 years ago, and a little rough. I have big (14 & 18") saws and have done a bunch of slabbing. I do sell slabs once in a while, I have some nice blue lace, malachite, rhodochrosite, and other materials. You can PM me if you'd like to see some. I sell for average ebay prices. Where are you in AK? My sister lives in Fairbanks and is a prof at the university there. Glad to hear you're selling you creations at a good pace, it's always nice to know people like one's work.
Click to expand...
 
Man

Glenn that is some beautiful stuff there. I would just like to build a tumbler for coins but you got me interested in using for stones also. I guess I better get busy and finish a tumbler. I may purchase some of your nice stones when I get a little money.:grin:
 
scorpionman said:
Glenn that is some beautiful stuff there. I would just like to build a tumbler for coins but you got me interested in using for stones also. I guess I better get busy and finish a tumbler. I may purchase some of your nice stones when I get a little money.:grin:
Click to expand...


Tumbling stones takes about a month or longer just fyi.


I'll have some photos of new pendants and tumbled stuff I made soon. My lapidary facebook page has a lot more stuff for those really interested. I bought a lot of new material to work with also.
 
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