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[louisvillelapper]

If you have a big, 7"-8" rectangularish piece of agate, how do you guys decide on whether to polish it as is or to make a whole lot of polished,thin slabs?

[Jhon P]

If I want to make some cabs I will slab it up and leave a thick end and polish it for a display and if you want you can polish a slab or two. It all depends on what you like

[peruano]

If you cab, you slab.  If its so beautiful on at least one of the sides, you can't stand to slab it, then consider polishing (doming ) that side and leaving the others surfaces natural to show where it came from.  Me I can't stand not knowing whats inside a complex rock (especially if it has contrasting colors, bands that are less than straight lines, and finally, I can afford the loss if I ruin it in the saw. 
I have a friend who says "Never fall in love with your rock".  He basically is saying do everything you can to make it beautiful, and ignoring it is the last resort.  But . . . its your rock and we won't know you ruined it unless you tell us.  Go for what ever you think is best for your expectations. 

[Gemscholar]

So is there a rule of thumb that dictates which direction to Cut?  I have some roundish egg shaped stones, that clearly show horizontal bands of several colors of jasper and who know what else? Are there any guidelines that i should be following before I cut for eventual cabs?

Thanks

K

 

[peruano]

No rule to my knowledge. Yes some folks will try to cut with the longest plane horizontal, but other orientations on stripes can produce striking results.  Asymmetry can add interest.  If you slab parallel to narrow striping, when you cab that stone you may produce a halo around a contrasting color.  That's how your grandmothers cameo was produced (carving a layer of one color from on top of another layer).  Had she tilted the stone off of horizontal when she slabbed it, the cameo might have had hair of one color and the lower part of the face and neck another.  Not to assume that you grandmother made her own cameo of course.  My best advice might be to play at cuts with a striped rock and then you will be able to envision what it is you are trying to achieve.  Reading rocks is fun. 

[irockhound]

One other thing to consider is that if the pattern is non directional meaning that it would look similar either way you cut it, that you would get more material and less loss if you make the longest cuts possible.  Because each cut removes the thickness of the blade a whole bunch of small cuts means more waste.  The other advantage is that you can always make small stones from big slabs but not the other way around.