Gemstone Forum archive

Different continent for most of you, similar scenario. Spring is taking its time. We had the longest, coldest (for us) and dimmest (least sunny days) winter on record.
Now slowly things come back to what we are used to.

Cotton tree flower


National flower: Bauhinia


Cought those two fellows enjoying themselves in the sunlight (last Sunday)

Kingfisher is just a bit out of range for clear picture (about 120 yards away)


As said, things finally come alive here and blooms are everywhere

Does not mean air-quality is better too.


Last but not least; does anyone recognize this plant?

Krista (my daughter) took seeds from what we presumed where dandelions in Austria last year. We germinated some in November and planted. Grew one flowering stalk and started an avalanche of plants sprouting downhill here in the village. Leaves seem to be similar, but the flower is absolutely not. So no clue what we started here.

Happy St Patrick Day to all of you out there celebrating it. May the Irish Luck be with you on all your undertakings.

Got some time to try out the amber I got last week.

First off, a splinter that came off the first piece to play with.


Cut a slab from the heavily included piece with my foredome. a 2x1 inch section. Everything crumbled, and this was the only piece substantial, to be saved. Any further piece from this stone will from now on be numbered 1...something.



Will not do that again. After having everything crumbling on me. I took the long way round, and took the hacksaw to it. Resulting in fracture free starting-points.


Yesterday, I tried an extra that came with the shipment. I now got a new perspective and even more respect for people like Przemysław Kuś. In many ways, this stuff behaves like quartz crystal. Just as brittle, and no internal colour can be trusted. But, when it works, it works out great.Trying out splinters and breakaways from the amber I got. It looks like, one needs to stay away from inclusions as they are very weak points. Light touch, and very similar than working Quartz crystal overall. No wonder that the guys need such a huge piece to start with, if you need to clean it up and only use pure sections. The second piece I tried yesterday has nice colour, but does not seem to turn blue the way I see it at any angle. Nevertheless, it turned out interesting. Just trying to test how the light functions in this material. So no balance, but interesting despite of it.


And finally, a small piece that came off, while cutting a slabette from a cleaner piece (Number two something from now on).


So, needs a careful touch and preferably carbon burs plus slower speed. But I'm quite happy with what turned out today. Just needs to be finished with toothpicks to get into tight spaces.


Thanks for looking, Kurt

Its been a while since I updated anything here, but now seems to have the rush going on this month.

First up a Valentine contest project, and the only one finished thus far : What seems to be Turkic Dendrite material


The FA is ongoing for a while now, and slowly coming together


While I found a bridge between the coloured areas on top and bottom, there is still a huge gap and I'm not sure if the quality of colour that might be underneath is worth the effort. So I decided to use the hole as a sort of plug to attach something else to cover it and the noncoloured areas.
Tried for contrast the cutoffs from the Turkic Dendrite, but broke 3 attempts, so I finally got an old Biggs breakaway from a few years ago in my hands and that worked. I like the colour as it blends the subject nearly too well into the background.


The use of Biggs was not too out of the blue, as at the same day a visiting Nephew choose a Biggs for a project of his own design based on an arrow.


Last but not least, my project for a FB Valentine Challenge. PolkaDot Agate (used that as a cab some months ago in another contest)
Lets call it Cosmic birth of Love to get the relevance to Valentine Day.


That one gives me a huge headache. Normally, I only got problems to get shapes into pictures, but this time the colour and material blends so well that it is hard to make out the shapes even at hand. One has to really get close up to see whats going on, even though some cuts are nearly 5mm deep. Will have to figure that one out before the month is out.

Thanks for looking, Kurt

For us here the year is done, so wishing you all the best for 2016


[div align="center"]What a year its been.
Finally traveling home, a good and secure working situation, a healthy family and last but not least a very creative one.
I certainly know my blessings. Just hoping and wishing the same for all of you.
Chin up, the year is fading, and a new one is born.
With it come new opportunities, make sure you see and take them,
better fail on the road than ruefully thinking about missed ones. [/div]

My year certainly brought more rocks than expected.
Lots of variety


Finally finish some longstanding projects

Some spanning the year

And finally a feared project, just finished today, with results that I'm quite happy with (hopefully will get someday pictures that show what I see).


So again, Happy New Year, make it the best yet! Kurt and Family

After a hectic couple of weeks, and the last Shopping-mall Santa-jobs done (pic actually from the last job)


Its time to ring out the year quietly with family and a couple more final projects before 2015 is done.


Filigree Agate, or there might be some other name that has recently turned up/been mentioned.

Chips, fractures, undercuts, etc., a pain to work if not stabilized, but such a wonderful stone to look at when winter is the theme.

The chosen shape is one of my favorites as it reminds me of home. Its shape is that of a Marterl (as we call it in our region) Marterls are a common sight around German and Italian speaking regions. I'm not sure if they exist outside those two regions. They are usually found in commemoration of someone who has left this life to early and/or as warning about dangers ahead. Most hiking trail-heads in my region of Austria have them. So basically, its warning as well as an invitation for prayer before starting on your adventure.


The following pics are of one and the same piece of cab, yet every turn gives you a different view and design.
FRONT

BACK

And showing the polish as well as chips and undercut


Now, I need to find someone who can complete my vision. Got two elements already ready, just needs to be combined and elaborated.

I hope to be able to talk a local gold/silversmith from my hometown into doing it, to have at least part done by someone who is surrounded by those Marterls every day. If not, will have to find someone else.

Now to close out the year, there is one more thing in progress. My worst nightmare. A head.
Fraser Agate Pebble, about half way through the cutting.

Wanted a wild man, yet it turns into a rather kind face! Never get what I want, it seems.

Happy save holidays, and thanks for looking, Kurt

OK, sencond try of a fish scene is on the way

Dont know really what to call this material. Was told gem sillica, but while there surely are sections of the material justyfying that title, I rather call is Gem Silica in Chrysocola.

After today


This is so much harder to do than the last one. The waterflow needs to work optically, otherwise that will never look right. Then comes the fish: I got no idea yet as to how deep I need to cut to allow the creature to be seen. So there is lots of experimenting ahead.

Two surprises already observed: contrary to the usual; sanding increases the colour-strenght, and the dark blue/black on top might turn into purple/red.