Slabbing and Cabbing Labradorite

[@rickkobylinski5516]

Scott, I've been experimenting with Labradorite for a couple of years now. Tumbling smaller Labradorite rocks usually resulted in smooth rocks with tiny fractures all over the stones after they dried. Once in a while I would get a rock that shows some great flash. Once I bought my trim saw, I started playing around with slabbing larger rocks, always looking for the "grain" of flash by changing the angle of cut until I see a wide color band . I then would slab the rock on that plane. Didn't succeed every time but when I got it right, it was a thrill. Recently, I have been having success with the following method. Slab the rock to get the best color possible. Sometimes, there would only be a small patch of color like in your cab here. Then, I put those slabs in a rotary tumbler for a week or so with some of the large ceramic media and four tablespoons of 60-90 grit and one tablespoon of Borax. After cleanout, I started to notice more and more of the color becoming visible and bright where it didn't appear originally. I would repeat the process in coarse grit again once or twice if it helped reveal mor color each time. Once I had enough color to flash across an entire cabichon, I would clean these rocks thoroughly and move on to the Lot-O vibratory tumbler in medium grit (120 / 220) plus a tbsp of Borax for 3 or 4 days, then clean with a Borax cleanse for a couple of hours. Then on to fine grit (500 grit AO) plus a tbsp of Borax for 3 or 4 more days, then another Borax cleanse. Then polish with a tbsp of Borax for 3 or 4 days, followed by another Borax cleanse / burnishing. Recent results have been outstanding as I better learn to read the proper color band angle to get the best flash before slabbing. No more spiderweb cracks. I've been very happy as I build up my stockpile of flashy slabs in anticipation of the delivery of my Cab King 8 in a couple of weeks. Common sense says grinding the slabbed rocks on successive cab wheels is much quicker in trying to expose the flash but I can't question my recent success using a rotary then vibratory tumbler to expose those unbelievable colors hidden inside Labradorite. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Good luck in future slabbing. May you always find the flash!

[@spwinaustin]

Thanks so much for the feedback, I appreciate it!

[@timorrin7079]

I really enjoy your videos. I recently subscribed and I’ll be here as long as you make videos :) keep up the good work!

[@spwinaustin]

Thank you Tim, I really appreciate it! I have many more videos in the works and finished which will be uploaded soon so stay tuned…..

[@greatnorthernviews3052]

I like that stuff it’s hard to tumble for me. But that turned out great.

[@spwinaustin]

Thank you! I was hoping for more flash but it just wasn’t to be 😥.

[@shakenblake2]

I’ve been hoping you’d play with some labradorite. Not much flash in that one, but still one of my favorite minerals.

[@spwinaustin]

It was a bit of a bust but I’ll try it again with a different piece and hopefully get some good “flash”!

[@Moza59cr7]

Do you know how much that worth?

[@spwinaustin]

Hi, thanks for watching! I don’t remember exactly what I paid at the rock shop but it wasn’t very expensive. It was probably around 10 dollars a pound?🤷‍♂️

[@jkoons]

I love labradorite, but I find it is so hard to work with.

[@spwinaustin]

I’ve never had much luck tumbling it but making a cab is pretty easy.

[@johnwilkinson2604]

Why did you even bother with all that "cotton" in the face. Discard that rough and try another cut!

[@spwinaustin]

Thanks for the feedback John, I appreciate it!😁

[@johnwilkinson2604]

@@spwinaustin 😉