For a long time now I’ve wanted to work with this rough. This is paint over spray from the old car factories. They used to move the cars through on rails, paint ’em and bake ’em. This is the build up from the rails. Which means it can be an odd shape. As you work them layers are revealed. Some of the paints are metallic. Although the name was coined using a certain manufacturer- this rough is available from many different manufacturers.
This material is also known as Detroit Motor Agate.
I’m looking forward to working this material. I have this piece and one other.
Adding a backing material to turquoise material is nothing unusual. It’s an industry standard and there are some good reasons to do it. Turquoise is a softer stone prone to breakage in a piece of jewelry. Some people can be very hard on their jewelry (myself included) and their pieces might get inadvertently whacked on things. The backing on the turquoise makes the stone better able to handle this with less breakage. And as a metalsmith when I’m setting a stone wrapped in metal there is some force that must be applied. Again in this instance the backing helps protect the stone. So Azoho is perfectly happy to add this step when making turquoise cabochons- whether they stone is to be used in one of my pieces or another jewelry maker’s.
The backing is curing on a tray on this Nevada and Mojave Turquoise.
Let me explain the process. It’s goopy. It’s a mixture of a steel epoxy and stuff that gets measured out and mixed much like one would mix a two part epoxy or resin. Once it’s mixed it’s time to apply it to prepared pieces. The prepared pieces have already been through the saw. Goopy stuff applied and then it’s put into a tray with wax paper. This ensures a nice flat bottom. It’s allowed to set up and cure then it’s ready for the next step.
Next I want to trim away the excess. No need to use diamond from a saw blade or a wheel. I use a pair of gardening shears from the dollar store. Heavy duty and it works. Each piece is trimmed around the cab. Then it’s ready to dop.
Dopping is when you attach the stone to a handle. I use nails and CA Glue. I let that sit overnight to cure- then it’s ready for the lapidary machine. These will be cabochons soon ready for use in jewelry.
In my world this is a big shop update. LOL. Because I over prepare and brought a lot of inventory to my last show I was able to have a good show and have pieces left to add to the website. Admittedly I haven’t had much bench time lately except for a custom order. For the makers that I know- I did get some cabbing time- it was quality rock time. This is what is finished so far. I seem to have a bottleneck at the measuring/ photographing part and I’m working on that. All of this will be available here on my site later this afternoon. I appreciate all of you who support handmade and help me live my dream of contributing to my family while doing what I love to do.
