2023-7-8: Surprise!
I recently received a package in the mail from my friend Randy who collects coprolite in Utah. The box didn't smell, but I had a pretty good idea of what was inside. Upon inspection, he had surprised me by sending a box of all different kinds of coprolite slabs! Thanks Randy! To thank him, I made a cabochon of one of the pieces I thought was representative of other specimens he's posted online. Here it is:
Here's the slab. I thought this was pretty cool because it not only has the reds in it, but it also shows some ring like structures from eaten twigs and branches.
Here's the rough shape. As you can see... I didn't stay between the lines. The most important part was to maximize that red area but also keep the rings there.
This is the first cut coming off of 80 grit
Here it is after the shaping on the 80 grit. It doesn't look like much!
This is after the 220 grit. You may have noticed I'm wearing gloves... I'm not touching that stuff!!
All of the little remaining flat spots should be gone after 280, be sure to look with your eyes. Not really sure what else you'd look with but it's what Dave always tells me. Thanks Dave.
Fresh off of the 600. Starting to take a shine.
Ok, party foul. I can't remember if this was off of the 1200 grit or 3000 grit. Either way, I can see the double light bulb in the reflection so it's getting real.
3000 grit under different lighting. The tough part with these is that there are some sections which tend to undercut. That means they cut unevenly and then you don't get a perfectly smooth surface. Dave - your other definition didn't make sense in this context but I liked it
Final polish complete, gloves off, and here we are with a fine looking stool sample my doctor would be proud of.
A little different light
And finally, the glamour shot. That's a nice looking piece of crap if I've ever seen one.
Oh yeah - I mentioned a double surprise. As a thank you, I sent this one and a couple others back to Randy. Enjoy!
In other news, I recently signed up for Instagram after Dave told me "bruv that's what all the cool kids are doing these days". Not to be left out, I now have an account that I check every 4 minutes for view and followers. I do post a number of rock pictures and videos there so feel free to follow along if you also want to be cool!