2022-10-8: Volcano agate
Fun fact. When I first joined an online rock forum my nickname was Moss Agate Mac. It was a mouth full and didn't really resonate with fans, and tbh not all that clever. After taking a break I came back and transformed as a caterpillar does to a butterfly as the beloved Agate Whisperer. You're welcome.
In any case, I still am fond of moss agate, especially Montana Moss Agate. I looked through a few bags for something cab and then it hit me like an explosion... THE VOLCANO!
See it?
I got to work right away on the rough shaping
I left a little space on the outside of the template to try and keep some of the color of the volcano explosion on the right hand side.
Domed and ready to go... uhhhh wait. What's that? Major party foul bruv. That little flat spot in the middle will cause lots of work later so it's good it was caught now and fixed.
Much better
Looking good! This is after 600 grit.
1200 complete... or is it. wait... what's that? Do you see it? I didn't until 1200...
[I made a donation to the swear jar shortly after this]
Let's get some magnification on that. Yep, a pretty annoying scratch left over most likely from the 220 hard wheel. This is a classic 2 for 1 situation. I get to basically do the work of polishing two cabochons for the one finished piece.
There we go, redone and no scratches.
Time for a little polish
Aww yiss! The sign of a good day is when it's hard to take a picture due to the reflections.
A quick freeze to take it off of the dop stick...
The finished piece. Hope you enjoyed the process of the volcano agate!
Bonus material. I was asked to star in my own QR code which I happily did. Feel free to stop by any time!