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Author Topic: Hello from North Texas  (Read 1254 times)

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sparx

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Hello from North Texas
« on: December 10, 2020, 06:44:17 AM »

Greetings!

I'm a new member from North Texas (originally from New Mexico). I have been a hobbyist rockhound since my childhood days and was taught how to cab gems in 9th grade by my math teacher. I continued to cab stones using equipment belonging to an artist friend of my parents for a silver jewelry hobby I had at the time, too, when they went to visit him, though that ended when I moved away from home in the late 70's.

Long story short is that in 2014 I "rediscovered" my silversmithing hobby that I had also abandoned back then (silversmithing in tiny studio apartments wasn't easy), but missed being able to cab my own stones. I have cabbed some small stuff slabbed with my tile saw and using my flex shaft with diamond burs/bits/paste, but longed to get back in front of larger wheels.

Well, that longing has finally become reality, and I can't wait until Christmas day when I get to unbox my new cabbing machine/trim saw and get back at it again! I have been hauling a small box of rough and slabs that I've had since the 70's with us through every move, so have a little bit of stone to get started with and can hardly wait!

Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of this forum. I know I'll be able to learn a lot, and hopefully will be able to give a little bit back, too!
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vitzitziltecpatl

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2020, 04:39:52 PM »

Welcome!

You'll be able to start back into it with some "old stock" rough. That should be great fun!

Ryaly2dogs

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2020, 05:10:18 PM »

Welcome back to the hobby!  I too rediscovered a latent rockhounding/lapidary interest I buried for nearly 40 years, it is never too late.  It took me less than 3 years to completely fill my garage with lapidary equipment and projects so I park my cars in the driveway nowadays.
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Felicia

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2020, 07:57:03 PM »

Welcome and good to hear you're able to get back into it, and have old stock to work with. Have a great time.
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sparx

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2020, 10:00:15 PM »

Thank you for the kind welcomes vitzitziltecpatl, Ryaly2dogs and Felicia!

Yes, I definitely feel fortunate to have a little old stock handy to get started with, but to get back into the swing of things, I've also slabbed up a couple chunks from an old black marble desktop that had broken during a move into a new building by the company I work for that was being thrown away (not my desk... I only rate a cubicle). It looked like it would take a good polish and had some nice thin white quartz veins running through it, so I grabbed a few of the smaller pieces from the pile to bring home.

That way I can be sure to get some of MY rustiness ground away first, and it also gives me a chance to get to know my way around the new machine a liitle, too. ;-)
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2020, 06:15:04 AM »

Welcome from Northern Arizona!

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your work in the new year!
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Robin

sparx

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2020, 09:39:22 AM »

Thank you hummingbirdstones!

I'm not that great at photographing my work, for sure, but I certainly look forward to it, and will do my best!
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VegasJames

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2020, 02:31:39 AM »

Welcome from Las Vegas.
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sparx

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2020, 04:39:53 PM »

Thank you VegasJames!
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vitzitziltecpatl

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2020, 06:15:21 AM »

Good plan on the practice rough. New machine will be different, and remembering the "little things" might take a while - if you're anything like me. The rustiness will fade quickly, I'll bet. You might even find some things seem easier after being away from it for a while.

sparx

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Re: Hello from North Texas
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2021, 08:20:36 AM »

vitzitziltecpatl,

After receiving the cabbing machine for Christmas and getting it set up I have had a total blast with it! Although I still haven't dug into any of the good "old stock" yet (still working up to that), I did start out on the marble practice material and was surprised in some ways of how quickly some of that rustiness faded away. After decades of being away from a cabbing machine, I hadn't forgot as much as I thought I would have, and the results weren't TOO awfully bad!

As none of the pieces have any "wow-factor" I figured I wouldn't post them here (still working up to that, too), but I did post pics of them on my blog site which is mainly visited by family and friends, so please feel free to take a look if you like. The blog post URL is http://www.silverdimensions.com/?p=1279.

Thank you again Vince, and I hope you had a wonderful holiday, too!!
David

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