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[Jhon P]

3 1/2" lepidolite. Much darker purple than you normally see
A friend picked this up for me on a trip to Montana and Wyoming

[hummingbirdstones]

Oooh, that's a beauty.  Gotta love purple rocks!   

[lithicbeads]

 Unusually uniform rough .Keep it out of direct light as lepidolite will turn brown with exposure to sunlight. Nice !

[irockhound]

Nice one Jhon.  That is the same color and hue of the gemmy Burro Creek when you first dig it out.  Deep dark Purple with a lot of depth.  Great sphere!

[ileney]

Wow, nice one. That is much darker and more consistent in color than I have seen in Maine. It also seems to have taken a bit of a better polish than I usually get with lepidolite. Did you do anything special to get that polish or just the usual steps?

[Orrum]

Both Jhon and Sandsave get incredible polish on sphrrr !!!    I heard a rumour they use the blood of virgin blue dragons.....?????

[Jhon P]

We dance naked by the light of a full moon,
We don't ever want to sacrifice virgins, they are
Someone's little girls. But I could use the blood of
a dragon but have not been able to catch one
If I could get my brittanies to point them it would help
But the dogs only want to hunt birds.
 Seriously, there is something about the process
That enables us to get a polish on rocks that you
Sometimes have a hard time polishing.

[palmwood13]

I liked the way you explained that!!!

[Orrum]

Duh.....

[Jhon P]

I changed my mind, I do sacrifice virgins!
I take an attractive rock, that has not been molested by man.  stuff it into a vice
Crank it down so tight that there is no way it can move or get out.
Than I proceed to cut it, and cut it again and again, I keep slicing away at
The poor thing intill I cut its heart out. And when I am done  I set the heart on a pedestal
For others to view!😳

[edgarscale]

oy

[Sandsave]

Nice sphere! Your not suppose to give our sphere making secrets up lol

[ileney]

Sounds like a violent process!

[Jhon P]

A lot of cutting. It must take 20 cuts to get a preform. First you cut a cube than
Than you cut all the corners to get an 18 sided preform than you have to hand
grind all the corners and high spots in till you have it kinda round before it can
Go into the machine. If I sell one I think I am making at least $3.00 an hour
Not including the cost of supplies

[irockhound]

For your work and that hourly rate, I have a position open for you Jhon as my personal sphere maker!  Interested, take a minute to think about it?  Lol.

Crazy how much time and effort goes into things.  That's why it has to be a passion and not a job. 

Even cabbing with the cost some slabs have risen to you, wonder how people can buy the slab, spend the time to cut the cabs and turn around and sell them on etsy for 10.00.  I guess it comes down to production.  Let's say a business is looking for 15% profit but either the project is so huge that the profit is enough to sustain or that it is producing so many that the same is true.  Craftspeople do limited or single items but then the scale doesn't work.  I have never been able to put a price on my cabs.  This might make a great thread by itself I think.