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7/23/2022: lake superior agate
7/23/2022: lake superior agate
Mirror mirror on the wall, who's most superior of them all? Well it's the Lake Superior Agate of course. And as it just so happens, my fantastic neighbors are re-doing their deck and uncovered some untouched river rock. Needless to say, I was over there in a few minutes looking for rocks. The pressure was on. If I didn't find something cool, I knew I'd likely be shamed for years to come. But then I saw it... a Lake Superior Agate! Day. Made.
Here's the back side. Not sure how good it will be inside.
I got to work and cut it
Ah yes. This should do.
One of the hardest parts for me is getting a decent shape. Next step is to rough grind a shape. Let's go for a triangle...
Here's the shape. I think that quartz side is going to be trouble as it seems softer than the rest of the rock.
Since this will be semi-transparent, it's probably a good idea to flatten the back side of the cabochon. This is one of the most boring parts of the process, but I do get to use another piece of equipment.
Major snooze fest
Ok let's get a girdle line on that puppy
That should do
Time to use my OSHA approved dop wax heater to prep it for attaching it to a dop stick with wax
Ready to start grinding
Here's what it looks like after the rough shaping. Kinda looks like a disaster.
Here we are after the 600 grit. Looking a little better. Unfortunately uncovering a crack that's in the rock.
Starting to shine.
A little time to cool down in the freezer. Mmmm freezies.
Clean off the wax
And finally, a finished cabochon. Unfortunately there was some pitting that showed up in the quartzy area but I think it turned out great!
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