Recent Posts

1

General Discussion / Re: Joke of the Day

« Last post by tinker on December 05, 2023, 11:25:28 AM »

Three nuns die and go to heaven, they meet St Peter at the Pearly Gates and St Peter says to the first nun. "You make only enter if you get my question right, can you tell me what was the name of the first woman?"  The nun says, "Eve"  St Peter opens the gates and say, "Correct you may enter".  He turns to the second nun and say I will ask you a question and if you get it right you may enter, he says to the nun where did Eve life?"  the nun replied, "The garden of Eden" St Peter said you may enter.   He then turned to the third nun and says to her, "You are the Mother Superior and I will have to ask you a more technical question, very well he says, what did Eve say the first time she say Adam naked", the Mother Superior says, "Oh my God thats a hard one!" St Peter says,"Correct you may enter"

2

General Discussion / Re: Joke of the Day

« Last post by Faceting Frank on November 29, 2023, 01:25:15 PM »

Rat going into the outdoor dunny.
Sniff sniff….pew it stinks in here.
Sounds like someone coming, need to hide down this hole.
Oh… it’s gone all dark.
Hello what’s this.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

3

General Discussion / Re: Joke of the Day

« Last post by pc bowe on November 29, 2023, 06:01:25 AM »

Driving down the hiway.
Long awkward silence.
The Wife " Do you know any Irish words"?
Me "Whale...Oil...Beef...Hooked"!
The Wife " Whale oil beef hooked"!
Me " To be sure, to be sure".
Long awkward silence.
Driving down the hiway.

4

Gemstone Faceting / The illusion of cubes

« Last post by RoughCreations on November 28, 2023, 09:39:58 AM »

Was flicking through my Youtube feed (as I do) when I came across this simple hexagonal design, with only 12 facets in total (see below). I noticed that the two tiers at 30 degrees gave massive windowing in Gem Cut Studio (GCS), at least for quartz - but perhaps this is a part of the design element? I re-cut the two tiers at 38 degrees in GCS and got much better performance, but maybe this sacrifices the cube optical effect/illusion? Has anyone cut this design or similar? I thought it would be good for rough too thin/too dark for a standard cut. Maybe also it relies on a very unsaturated coloured stone to get the best cube effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx53a3N-syc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgp449zTuHA&t=185s

I am not sure of the copyright of this design, but the first video has a screen showing the basic cutting instructions about 42 seconds in.
Edit: Design is from Kevin Green: https://www.instagram.com/spectra_gems/
Diagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cflygkko26v/

RC

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Ask a "Silly" Question / Re: Absolute Beginner - Southern Highlands NSW

« Last post by Pete49 on November 25, 2023, 02:32:21 PM »

I bought one a few years ago for my offcuts etc. and yes very good value. As for rocks tumble any you find as you will soon learn which to pick up and what to leave alone but a rough rule of thumb I was told 50+ years ago was if its hard try if soft leave it. Good luck and welcome to a lifelong hobby.
Pete

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Ask a "Silly" Question / Re: Absolute Beginner - Southern Highlands NSW

« Last post by Bucket on November 25, 2023, 08:46:05 AM »

Welcome to the forum Smeezy.  The tumbler kit looks pretty good, our club uses one similar and it goes nearly 24/7 all year. I too am not familiar with your area, the closest I'm aware of would be Oberon. If you search on the forum, you'll find plenty of info on that area. I believe its well worked now though. Good luck with the tumbling, try and select stones that are not porous and are of similar hardness, you'll get a better percentage of good stones.

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Ask a "Silly" Question / Re: Absolute Beginner - Southern Highlands NSW

« Last post by RoughCreations on November 24, 2023, 04:29:42 PM »

Hello!
I've always loved rocks, just pick up the ones that catch my eye and bring them home, I have loads!
Have now decided to get into tumbling, am looking at purchasing this for my first tumbling experience:
Aussie Double Barrel Rotary Tumbler with Rock Polishing Kit https://www.aussiesapphire.com.au/Aussie-Double-Barrel-Tumbler-with-rock-polishing-kit.
Would appreciate your thoughts.
What I'd really like to know is where are some locations around the Southern Highlands I can go to just have a look around and see what I can find?
Google has told me Kangaroo Valley and Canyonleigh.
Would love some advice.
 

Looks like a very good value kit to me, and just what you need to get started. I added the link to Aussie Sapphire to your post  - I assume that is the intended article.
RC

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Ask a "Silly" Question / Re: Absolute Beginner - Southern Highlands NSW

« Last post by Faceting Frank on November 24, 2023, 08:28:23 AM »

Hi Smeezy and welcome to the forum. Know nothing about the Southern Highlands, so can't help you with that.

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Ask a "Silly" Question / Re: Absolute Beginner - Southern Highlands NSW

« Last post by Jimnyjerry on November 23, 2023, 08:25:32 PM »

Hi Smeezy and welcome to ALF  There is also petrified wood pebbles on North Wollongong beach.
Beaches like Stanwell and Coalcliff get small agate nodules tumbled down from the cliffs next to the beach. Jerry

10

Ask a "Silly" Question / Absolute Beginner - Southern Highlands NSW

« Last post by Smeezy on November 23, 2023, 07:46:03 PM »

Hello!
I've always loved rocks, just pick up the ones that catch my eye and bring them home, I have loads!
Have now decided to get into tumbling, am looking at purchasing this for my first tumbling experience:
Aussie Double Barrel Rotary Tumbler with Rock Polishing Kit https://www.aussiesapphire.com.au/Aussie-Double-Barrel-Tumbler-with-rock-polishing-kit.
Would appreciate your thoughts.
What I'd really like to know is where are some locations around the Southern Highlands I can go to just have a look around and see what I can find?
Google has told me Kangaroo Valley and Canyonleigh.
Would love some advice.