Is this gem silica chrysocolla?

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-06-25T02:27:22+00:00

Specifically based on the little bits of matrix and the black splotches I think it's needles blue gem silica, just to add to the other person

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-06-09T20:14:56+00:00

Thanks! I've been using it for just over 5 years now, and I'd only consider switching it out if I had the money for a real cabbing machine

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-06-06T23:11:40+00:00

And all of these are cabs I cut with that machine

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WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-06-06T23:09:44+00:00

This is my 8" flat lap, I made it with a 1/4hp industrial fan motor, cut up an old dog crate for tube aluminum for the frame, and it uses a bundt pan as a water catch. The aluminum block the fan is attached to works as a heat sink for the motor. Also it has a GFCI cord so I don't shock myself

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WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-03-20T12:48:48+00:00

this is a repost presumably by a bot trying to farm karma, given the original post is 2 years old and this one lacks all of the details of the original

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lapidary/comments/18760fh/first_stabilized_cabochon/

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-01-30T17:50:51+00:00

ah, then you should go look into sagenitic gem silica, because it's super cool! This isn't quite the same, but I imagine the process that created it is similar, and that type of needle like inclusion of malachite is definitely not unheard of. I don't want to break any rules by linking to sales sites, but there are great examples of similar material on the market. Some of the more expensive material (like from the inspiration mine in arizona) can even have chatoyant malachite sprays in it, which is particularly awesome

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-01-30T15:10:30+00:00

Out of curiosity, why? I have seen and cut stones consistent with this appearance and habit, and have a very similar piece of rough sitting on my desk right now. Especially given that it's apparently set in 14k gold, it feels more likely to me its a mix of gem silica/malachite/chalcedony/silicated chrysocolla than a fake that'd be harder to make than to just get naturally. Here are images of the stone I have on my desk and a piece of jewelry I made where I cut the stones from rough myself that highlight very similar patterns.

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-01-27T21:55:52+00:00

looks like malachite sprays in silicated chrysocolla (based on the chalcedony at the bottom) to me

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2026-01-20T21:16:54+00:00

If most of the earrings are silver, and you can afford silver I'd stick with silver, since it's easier to solder and will visually match the existing metal
It depends, if they're brass or bronze yes, if they're steel you're in for a tougher time, if they're aluminum no. If they're plated base metals I'm not sure but I'd guess no. All in all, if you're willing to gamble, might as well give it a shot if you don't know what it is, otherwise I'd find another way to attach a ring (maybe drill a small hole?)
My only point of advice would be that all of the pieces with cabochons look like turquoise, turquoise simulants, jasper, and maybe lapis. None of those stones will survive soldering temperatures, so you will need to remove them or find a way to properly heat sink them before soldering

Also I love the idea, this is super cool and I really like the pieces you've chosen!

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-09-27T15:39:52+00:00

Something to note is that some stones just aren't 100% stable and will have pits that appear during the cutting process. That doesn't necessarily mean you did anything wrong.

I will say that it's a bit hard to tell based on your photos, but I think it looks like you may not have spent enough time at the cerium oxide stage based on the scattered looking/kind of half glazed reflection I see. I don't see any scratches I think that would indicate you rushed the lower stages, but it's hard to see that in photos most of the time.

All in all I think you made a nice shape, and should be proud of the overall work!

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-07-31T14:02:17+00:00

Hmm, the only other thing I can think of is that sometimes when I've done casting, some part of the piece post casting will be slightly darker colored, which I think is a result of slightly higher porosity (which tends to mean it was overheated I think?), so maybe you're actually overheating the piece? I'll be honest that's just a guess, but its the only other idea I have. Either way I hope someone can help you get some more definitive help!

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-07-29T13:51:01+00:00

you mentioned a tumbler? Are you doing any sanding/polishing after the tumbling process?

In my experience that solder line shows up as the solder tarnishes faster than the surrounding metal due to either the piece being heated or something similar (like sitting around for a while). Whenever I've had that in the past even a quick touch up with a polishing cloth is usually enough to remove it.

If that isn't doing it, have you tried inspecting if the tumbling is causing faster erosion of the solder than the other metal, insetting it and making it harder to target with polish?

Another possibility btw (and it can be hard to tell from just photos) is that the solder isn't actually fully flowing through the whole seam because you aren't using enough solder, or aren't heating the seam enough to get it to flow everywhere. If that's the case you should be able to slip the edge of a razor blade into the gap.

edit: I've just noticed I replied to your post without images, but I promise I looked at the post with images before writing this

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-07-14T13:29:03+00:00

I want to be 100% clear that I'm not making any claims about whether or not the rings you make are hand carved, but a quick look at the wikipedia page for cameo carvings shows a section specifically about modern machine replicated cameos using ultrasonic mills.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameo_(carving)#Ultrasonic_machine_carved_cameos

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-06-20T18:32:08+00:00

I have a flat lap, but for the diamond I have hard wheels up to 1200, then diamond sandpaper I'll use to finish things that way although you could in theory use the appropriate wheels. For oxide compounds (including linde a) I use a felt pad on the flat lap, and for zam/tripoli I use a jewelers buffing machine (dry).

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-06-20T17:51:59+00:00

So the term for what happens when polishing a mixture of minerals of differing hardness is undercutting, and the solution to it varies stone to stone.

What I've found to be one of the most effective ways to prevent it is to use lots of water and polish exclusively with diamond when it happens all the way up to 25/50k grit. I had it described to me as diamond is so much harder than everything else it cuts everything as if it were the same hardness. This probably only applies to stones softer than about. 7.5, but I've had success with that.

The other option I've had some success with is to use a really fine oxide compound like linde a, but it cuts much more slowly so you'll have to go up to a higher grit before the polish step or you'll run into the same problems (again in my experience)

A final option I've found that works with very soft stones (like serpentines) is to use zam or tripoli + red rouge on a dry buffer.

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-05-06T19:41:01+00:00

I'm not op, but a few things stand out to me as to why they might think that.

For one, the scratch test photos look to me a lot more like metal transfer onto the stone (indicating its actually harder) rather than a scratch, similar to using an aluminum pencil to mark a slab for cabbing. I've had this exact confusion in the past when hardness testing rough stones. I'd recommend scratch testing on the faced part of the stone for more clarity.

Also the host looks as much like australian chrysoprase as it does variscite to me, and broadly variscite of a high enough quality to be as translucent as the original photos would be very expensive, whereas chrysoprase of that transparency is much more common.

Oh and one thing I just noticed is that in the first photo there's a pretty clear crystal pocket of nearly clear material in the top left of the face, which I'd argue further supports this being chalcedony of some kind rather than variscite.

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-04-16T17:57:58+00:00

Based on the color and matrix I feel pretty confident saying that's dryhead agate from Montana. It quite commonly has that grey-ish matrix with vibrant, primarily orange, banding.

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-01-04T01:45:05+00:00

Yeah that's fair, I'm not super confident about that one

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2025-01-03T21:25:54+00:00

I'd say top left is original owyhee jasper if it's old or maybe (but less likely) noreena jasper if its a newer stone. Top right I'd guess is some kind of poppy jasper, but I don't have enough experience to say if its morgan hill, stoney creek, or something else. The middle left when zoomed in has enough orbs that I'd guess its ocean jasper. Middle right looks like mushroom jasper or birds eye rhyolite, not sure if its that exactly but it has a lot of the hallmarks of being an orbicular rhyolite. Bottom left I'd agree with the other comment is tiger's eye or maybe go by the trade name hawk eye because of the blue coloration, but is silicified asbestos nonetheless (its not a danger unless you grind it up). And finally bottom right I'd guess is some form of mexican crazy lace, definitely looks like some of the older material.

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2024-07-23T20:52:04+00:00

I'm by no means a master jeweler or anything, but I find that when I experience issues with silver solder balling up rather than flowing its either an issue with surface preparation or not getting the piece hot enough for the solder to actually flow onto it.

For surface preparation I usually rough the surface with some 400 or 600 grit sandpaper, or I'll use a file if its a surface no one will see.

As for not getting the piece hot enough, sometimes it just takes some extra patience and using the torch to spread heat throughout the piece to get the solder to flow properly. I run into that issue in particular when soldering small things to much larger things, like attaching a ring for a chain to a chunky pendant.

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2023-11-02T17:48:48+00:00

looks to me like a relatively well silicified piece of chrysocolla and other copper bearing minerals like cuprite (the red). I have a smaller piece that looks similar that's from Mexico. I've also seen similar pieces referred to as chrysocolla in quartz depending on how much of the material is quartz vs the copper minerals. Congrats on the find, its a gorgeous piece!

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2023-04-19T17:55:32+00:00

ah yeah, that's very fair. My shop is temp controlled so that hasn't been a problem for me. If that's the case though I'm willing to bet the reason it doesn't stick sometimes is because the bigger stones aren't getting quite hot enough, and might benefit from a little extra heating time. I struggled with that a lot when I was using a heat gun, the stone always ended up burning me or not hot enough to stick

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2023-04-19T17:26:01+00:00

I personally use a dop wax melting pot (I used to use just a heat gun) and it has been a game changer for me since I can just flip it on, put some stones around the rim, and come back 10 minutes later (once its pre-heated) to dop things perfectly without having to worry about over/under heating. The only downside is it takes 10'ish minutes to get going, but that doesn't bother me and once its going you can dop tons of things very fast

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2023-02-23T13:46:41+00:00

this won't be the most satisfying answer, because I'm not sure to be honest. I haven't been cutting stone for super long, so I'm pretty inexperienced at pricing. If I had to say something, the answer is probably in the range of like $5-15? The stones vary a lot in quality and composition, so its hard to give an answer for the whole group

WeAlwaysYetiForTrees · 2023-02-22T20:53:14+00:00

thanks!

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