Lapidary/Polished Stones

[Mrs.Oroblanco]

roc2rol,

I just realized that "lops" is probably my combination of "dops" and "laps", as I also have some laps from my faceting machine.

Here is the first picture I put together today. You can see my attempt at a faceted heart, the start of a slab polishing, one of the dops with a sapphire and a few other things.

Tomorrow I will get out my crate with all the different rocks I have that I'd like to do different things with, and some of my apache tears and obsidian (I'm charging up my camera batteries!).

Hope this picture comes out ok.

Beth (Mrs. O)

dops and some stones.JPG

[roc2rol]

Wow Beth there’s a lot going on in that pic!
and I’m confused
Is the heart & the diamond shape gem the sapphire?
Do you know what the gold/amber colored gem is?
I would say topaz.
I see some cool quarts crystals
Name & correct me on the others if you like

You did lots of facing work!
When you speak of lap your referring to the disc the polishing compound goes on?
What size was the disc of the machine?

Its amazing but with just the few posts in this thread the questions come fast & furious!
that why I say 1 rock at time!
but that impossible for rock’n hounds!

so I’m contemplating new questions & looking forward to more pics.
o you did a nice lay out on back of that black !
Ed

[roc2rol]

Yo Plays!

That pic of the dopped rock on Bobs webpage is cool!
I’ll admit I’ve never seen a large rock dopped for cutting.
What a great idea!

More importantly I read a reference to Bob’s Rock Shop on this forum.
Is that a shop you know of personally?
Ed

[roc2rol]

Here’s’ another idea for dopping that I’ve used
A wood screw in a dow.



The rock is attached to the head of the wood screw with super glue.
Insert the screw into then in the end of the wooden dow
Its makes for a handy holding device when grinding or buffing.
The advantage over the wax is the simplicity and speed of it.
No melting pot.
But the wax as its advantages also.

Removing the stone from the screw is another issue
A little heat from a butane torch does the trick

But don't be fooled!
dopping is an art that comes after considerable frustration

[Mrs.Oroblanco]

roc2rol,

Did you move my post, or did I lose it?

Beth (Mrs. O)

[Plays In The Dirt]

Yo Plays!

More importantly I read a reference to Bob’s Rock Shop on this forum.
Is that a shop you know of personally?
Ed

Actually no, roc I have a friend that owns a rock shop in Northern Nevada in a town called Austin but it's not Bob's. The turquoise from this area (Austin) is some of the best quality found in the US, (I'm told), and he has a turquoise mine. People come from all over the US to buy turquoise from this area, including AZ.

Myself, I'm not really in to rock hounding but I do collect unusual and pretty rocks that I find, and I find a lot of them here in Nevada. I'm in to Outdoor Landscape Photography and Photography in general, History, and Research. I'm an Internet sleuth and enjoy gathering information for people which is why I've helped out finding information here in this forum when I see questions come-up.

[roc2rol]

That’s good information Plays! I never worked much turquoise, and to the best of my knowledge, it can be hard to find. So its good to know of a source. Keep collecting those interesting rocks ! Maybe someday you’ll be interested in polishing. In the meantime
sleuth on !
Ed

[roc2rol]

Hi Mrs. O,
In reference to the above I haven’t moved any posts
since the creation of the thread.
Hopefully if a post was lost it wasn’t to lengthy and is recoverable.
But I know all about losing it!
Some people say I have rocks in my head.
A nomenclature I take as a compliment.
E

[Mrs.Oroblanco]

roc2rol,

I guess I lost it - I already dumped the wordpad document. Oh well.

Here is goes again.

Ok - the stone on the dop is a sapphire. The faceted heart is made from smokey quartz. Now you know why I had an interest in your hearts! The red stone (faceted) is from a nice (imo) beryl stone we found. You know the quartz crystals. The yellow stone is a citrine.
I do have topaz and amethyst and many other kinds of stones, including some emeralds, rubies, and others. All of my stones have been collected from across the United States,
except for our jade - which we picked up in the Yukon. (a guy we used to know, passed
away now, used to have a jade mine, and he let us pick some).

As soon as my camera batteries are back up to full charge, I will post a picture or two
of our "rock collection". Honestly, I didn't used to call myself a rockhound, but, apparently,
I am, as the "pretty rocks" have turned into milk crates full of different rocks!

Yes, laps are the wheels you put on your machine - some have grits already on them (like the diamond lap), some are made to put different powders etc., on, and some are made to put other things on them - different grits, etc. My faceting machine was an 8" one.

Did I answer all your questions? I have a good memory, but it is short

Beth (Mrs. O)

[roc2rol]

I’ve a quick question on the heart.
Did you rough cut out the form of a heart on a saw
or
just start faceting a heart shape?

Hopefully that’s well stated…