wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 31, 2017 12:12:29 GMT -5
Posting this here because I am going to attempt carving some of these stones. jamesp sent some new to me stones so I am quite happy but also stumped as far as ID goes. The green and yellow stones look like quartz crystals with quartz flash but I can cut them with a cheap file. Love the color, especially the green, so I will be starting the carving there. I am a little stumped with these also. James said they are jade but I can cut them with the same file so they are softer than the other jade I have cut. I will do an SG test to narrow it down one of these days and post the results here. The polish on them looks jadish so I am very curious. I am not familiar with rhyolite other than in photos so i am not positive if that is the ID for this stone and it is to pretty to hit with a file so my grand daughter has it on her rock shelf. Thank you James, you da man. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 28, 2017 10:42:20 GMT -5
Always a pleasure Kurt. Best wishes for the new year to you and your family. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 27, 2017 23:41:01 GMT -5
Hey Jim. I, too, liked your about me- all of it. I don't know what a spirit stone is, so you'll have to enlighten me. If it means that is bad ass then I get it. Really? I didn't think there was anything special in my "about me". Guess I didn't really think about it. I would guess that a spirit stone has a different meaning for different people. For me it was a surprise to see the face in the stone and the first thing that went through my mind was "maybe that is my spirit locked in there". I can not explain why I thought that because I do not know why. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 27, 2017 7:16:53 GMT -5
If you watch closely you will see my spirit pass through this carnelian slab. I bought the light source at a rock show when I first started hounding and I have had the slab for at least four years or more. I just never put the two together before now. It has a permanent cedar base now. Just the video right now but I will get a photo of the whole unit put up as soon as possible. www.facebook.com/100001079383094/videos/1670555566323740/Jim Omg’sh I love your About Me section!! Thank you Mel. I really need to keep it up better because about all I have been doing is stuff more in. Just curious, what was your favorite? Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 27, 2017 7:11:43 GMT -5
Amazing. Yes, I saw your spirit pass through the stone. FYI, many here will not understand this, so do not be discouraged. I also have my special stone, which I baby and treasure. Thank you for posting this. I also love your user name, so fitting. Thank you. The user name was born from frustration. When the internet was just getting started I tried to come up with a user name that was part of my real name, Jim Brown and it was impossible even in the early years. One day I just started picking letters out of my head making sure they were pronounceable. I have not had one problem since. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 24, 2017 20:30:05 GMT -5
Been there, done that and I hope yours turns out as good as mine did. Heart is working great, and the pain was something else so these times do not always turn out real bad.
Take care Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 23, 2017 12:14:32 GMT -5
If you watch closely you will see my spirit pass through this carnelian slab. I bought the light source at a rock show when I first started hounding and I have had the slab for at least four years or more. I just never put the two together before now. It has a permanent cedar base now. Just the video right now but I will get a photo of the whole unit put up as soon as possible. www.facebook.com/100001079383094/videos/1670555566323740/Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 23, 2017 10:24:00 GMT -5
Bundle of sparklers with handles cut off and a sparkler from the center sticking out for a fuse. Wrap and wrap and wrap with electrical tape as tight as possible.
Put your index finger and thumb tips together to form a circle. A bundle that size will break windows a block away.
Don't forget, you didn't hear it from me. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 22, 2017 19:01:29 GMT -5
My phone shoots MP4 video and I have not found a way to change it. Can not get MP4 to upload to RockShow.
I guess my question would be !!HELP!!! please. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 21, 2017 9:19:39 GMT -5
By the second photo I was totally impressed. She has earned the title "artist" over and over again.
Thanks for showing and thank her for sharing. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 20, 2017 19:46:20 GMT -5
Thank you, Jim. I kind of thought it might be. Now that I have an inkling about what it looks like, I'll have to dig into the mess that is my patio - next year. (Not because I am a slacker, well, yeah, I am that too. But mostly because, in two days, we'll be leaving for the desert to do some more prospecting, and won't be back until next year.) I am sure there is more buried on the patio! Hope your trip is a profitable one, already know it will be fun. lol Take care of your back Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 20, 2017 19:24:52 GMT -5
Cold here this morning (again!), so gonna sit here at the computer for a bit. I'm going to do some photo searching for several different threads, will see if I have a pic of that other piece of jade I'm thinking of.
This is not the jade from BC, but I picked these up at the San Diego Gem and Mineral BBQ and silent auction last April. Jade? Don't know!
I understand that serpentine has (asbestos?) fibers in it? So something you wouldn't want to work dry, for sure.
The lepidolite should be fun, I've made a few cabs from it. Grinds pretty fast!
This is another soft material from the field trip to the Lithium Queen (AKA Thursday) Mine. Not sure what it is.
Here it is in the same rock with lepidolite.
Also pretty soft, probably related to the lepidolite?
Will go ahead and post this now, still looking on Flickr for photos. I'm sure some of the ones I'm looking for were on PB - grrrr. Still have the photos, just have to find in the dark recesses of my computer, and then upload to Flickr. First photo, stone on left is jade fo sho. I would guess Washington. I have some of the same. Center looks right but not sure. On the right I am sure it is a rock but nothing more. Just noticed that the second photo is the center in first photo and I would probably bet money on it being jade. Just shy of a positive fool, Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 20, 2017 19:16:23 GMT -5
If they will let you access the back with a 400/600 grit diamond disc or knife sharpener and a drop of water you should be able to work up some white foam. Practice at home to figure how wet it needs to be. Too much water and the foam washes away and too dry you get powder like other stones. I don't know of any other stones that foam this way but all the jade I have worked with does. Jim Amber foams as well Hey Bro, I did not know that but there is a big weight difference. How ya doin? Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 20, 2017 0:52:39 GMT -5
That is nice carving. I wish I had the eye for it. If you have not practiced a little you won't know. I was building a deck for my ex down in Texas (long story haha) and they were putting some soft limestone as decoration on some new houses. I picked up a bunch of scraps to use for decoration and figured out I could carve it with what screw drivers, rasps and chisels I already had. Random shapes at first that resembled a smooth rock. Easy peasy so I started making common shapes like a hip roof barn, tomb stone for a young friend with wife and kids names on it, you know, fun stuff. I left there and went to Missouri. Found some soft stone along the rail road tracks and butchered it for a while. From that I went to soap stone that I bought on the net and ended up buying some alabaster. That was heaven compared to what I had been carving because I could get a lot more intricate without it breaking. Figured out I was good at carving mushrooms so I made a bunch of those and made the solar flare about that same time. That was random too because all I did was cut out the shape, round filed all the inclusions out of it then polished it. I have zero drawing experience so I had to transfer a picture onto the stone with carbon paper. The piece I am working on now is the first piece to have a picture drawn on the stone by me. I would puff out my chest but I would start coughing. I will admit that I have six pencils sharpened and a big fancy erasure stuck on top of all of them. Need some scraps to play with, message your addy and I will send some for seven dollars postage. I just bought a new batch. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 19, 2017 16:50:22 GMT -5
Always enjoy viewing your work kurt. Beautiful pieces. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 19, 2017 16:34:20 GMT -5
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 19, 2017 16:23:13 GMT -5
Not sure. The hardness is more like alabaster. My understanding is the only place it has been found is in China and all that is left is what people rat holed a long time ago. It sounded like a lot of the older family members that did the hoarding are dying off and the young ones are selling it to buy cars and such which has helped the supply. Also sounds like the Chinese have turned over just about every stone on the planet trying to find more because they really hate change. Most of the art they are producing now is the same as what they were making a thousand years ago.
Things are way different and hard to figure out over there. I brought back what they call soap stone and it is almost too hard to carve by hand. Another stone I carved over there that is similar to our alabaster is considered dirt and only good for carving practice by students. Carves and polishes great. I will dig out a photo of some of it that I carved. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 18, 2017 19:31:42 GMT -5
Not jade,but on the Chinese carving. During the 70's Uncle Sam had me in the Middle East, there were ivory carvings that started as an elephant tusk. People were 3/8 of an inch high. Totally amazed me, I would stand are look for along time. Gardens, pagodas, trees, formations and things I cannot name. I never bothered to ask a price. I have no trouble believing a carved chicken in a basket. If you happen to run across any of the type stone I posted I would be very interested in purchasing it. Much softer than jade so it can be scratched with any metal. Naturally waxy. I should have brought some back with me other than one little piece to carve and a carved baby dragon for my daughter. Still have not finished carving the little piece but take it out once in a while when I have the mind set to handle something really intense and precise. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 18, 2017 19:05:39 GMT -5
Oh how I love these opportunities. Sniffing out a new machine, trying to figure out what will work best and upgrade a little just to make you feel better. Celebration time, I hope you enjoy it. One little sniff for the baby is good though. Jim
|
|
wampidytoo
has rocks in the head
Add 5016 to my post count.
Member since June 2013
Posts: 709
|
Post by wampidytoo on Dec 18, 2017 18:55:41 GMT -5
Home made is always the best no matter how bad it looks. I did basically the same thing with a drill press, cut off bucket with water and a flat brick. Worked until I got bored but I can set back up in less than five minutes if I want to do more.
Good job Jim
|
|