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Post by stoner on Jul 30, 2006 18:16:02 GMT -5
Hi all. I bought this 5lb chunk of Antelope Jasper from Banjo over a year ago and just now got around to slabbing some of it. WOW! I didn't realize what a nice piece it was til I cut it open. The slabs. A cab I cut from a small piece that broke off. The notches you see on the left side of the cab are a reflection off the brass ruler I use to hold the cab, not in the cab itself. 30x22mm The slabs were photographed dry, and when they are wet, the pattern just jumps out at you.
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Post by Cher on Jul 30, 2006 18:34:46 GMT -5
Wow Ed that stuff is really amazing, I love the colors, especially in the bottom two. That cab is stunning and what a shine.
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Post by deb193 on Jul 30, 2006 18:40:43 GMT -5
Nice. I like the picture-jasper looking ones. But then big surprise, huh.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,484
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 30, 2006 18:42:31 GMT -5
Wow! That's some wild lookinh material. Makes an interesting cab.....mel
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Post by sandsman1 on Jul 30, 2006 19:11:17 GMT -5
dam ed lookin good what ya want in trade for a slab of that purple piece in the second pic
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Post by gemkoi on Jul 30, 2006 20:36:40 GMT -5
A, dont ya love it. The only thing i dont like about Antelope is it can have pitting. But the stuff can take a shine and produce real nice patterns. That type there can cut similar cabs to boith Wonderstone and Snakeskin jasper. Also, notice there are a couple "flowers" showing in both pieces. Ive actaully cut some of my best cabs from small pieces of this material. As the large rough is extremely limited. We also have ahd some good rain the past couple days, Banjo and Mrs Banjo stopped out and dug for a couple hours. I myself found a small slabet of a nice Antelope, as well as a number of other goodies for cabochon cutting. Thanks for sharing Ed. Dont worry John, i havent forgot about you, ive been putting together some good pieces to get you photos of. Im just still very hesitant about selling large rough.
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Post by krazydiamond on Jul 30, 2006 20:52:41 GMT -5
i've cut some nice pieces from banjo rocks, but all my cabs have crumbled so far.....nice looking stuff , Ed. and beautiful cab. i will keep trying!
KD
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Post by cpdad on Jul 30, 2006 21:00:56 GMT -5
the slabs are super nice just the way they are....stunning...way cool.
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Post by sandsman1 on Jul 30, 2006 21:25:03 GMT -5
kd maybe you got a soft chunk i have some ive slabbed that holds together great i did a few cabs dont remember if i took pics but if ya want ill send a slab to try -- give me acouple days i been just throwin all my slabs in five gallon buckets i think i got like 3 or 4 full so ill dig around and find ya one -- it dont have the same colors as eds but its very nice also i got it from banjo/shain haha
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Post by stoner on Jul 30, 2006 21:53:45 GMT -5
I started slabbing this rock a couple of weeks ago from the other end, and thought it looked pretty nice. Here's the slabs from the opposite end of the rock. Still nice, but nothing like what I cut today.
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Post by Cher on Jul 30, 2006 22:11:59 GMT -5
Amazing what you find from one end of the rock to the other isn't it. Wouldn't even think it was from the same piece.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jul 30, 2006 23:03:01 GMT -5
stoner it's a beauty!
kim
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Post by gemkoi on Jul 30, 2006 23:53:07 GMT -5
Ya, Antelope will come in sevral grades. The red bluff antelope produce some of the best flower jasper ive ever seen. But the second photos would be a higher grade compared to the frist group. BUt either grade can have fail points, as KD notes happened to his piece. I got many a large piece that i wont sell as cab rough becasue all these healed fractures(which produce the pattern we like) is not always healed. So no matter how strong the jasper is, it breaks along those lines. SO it also can be a toos up depending the persons eye. But the best grade will be closer to the second group than the frist. Also, the second group,(thought from the same piece) is actaully jasper. When the frist group is actaully ryolitic and will cut softer and have more pits.
Also, a trick when cutting the rough, you know wont produce tall flowers or plumes. Is to cut one slab off the bottom formation zone. YOu usally only get one or two good slabs this way, but This can produce a poppy like look, though more speckled than eyes. But those cabs would be the most popular ive sold in the past.
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Post by stoner on Jul 31, 2006 0:37:35 GMT -5
Not sure what you're saying here Shain. Both sets of these slabs came from the same rock, just opposite ends. Both sets of slabs are of equal hardness and neither set of slabs are fractured, healed or not. I'll be cutting some cabs from this material in the next few days, so I'll post my results in the cab section.
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Post by rocklicker on Jul 31, 2006 3:18:57 GMT -5
Ed. you always amaze me with a new rock about every week that I have never heard of. It looks somewhat like banced rhyolite. Neat slabs and cab! Steve
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HarryB41
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2004
Posts: 605
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Post by HarryB41 on Jul 31, 2006 5:47:10 GMT -5
I have never heard of Antelope Jasper til now, but it is beautful and you cut it just right. Now we need some Deer Jasper and they could play..... hehe Harry
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Post by gemkoi on Jul 31, 2006 13:59:17 GMT -5
Hey Ed, Ive been cutting this material for over 6 years. What ive saying is grades can vary in it from one end to the other end in the same piece of rough. I just didnt make my respond clear enough, but i understand they come from the same piece, just either end.
Im am sorry, but from my experince in the last 6 years with the material, if its as light in color as your frist set, it is softer in those light areas generally speaking. As well, ive seen more tiny pitting in the lighter grade which you can even see in the cabochon. Yes, there are fractures, There only one small fracture in the frsit set(tallest flower going the driection arcoss the grain), none in the second set, one in the cabochon, and the last set is full of them, were the flowers begin to grow from the main line, that main line is a fracture, healed or not. And ost look like partials anyhow.
I dont mean to be snob about it, but stunning stones and I are the only vendors in the market that offers poundage of the stuff still that i can find competition. Vers slabs or a piece here or there. My conservitive est of what i have left of Antelope rough is around 2000-3000 pounds. which ive been told many times it may be the largest collection left in the market of the stuff. You wont believe how many old timers try to buy it all when they see my stock, even though most of the pieces are 2-3inches and not large. And not all is great, as from my epxiernce the last set of photos is what cutters like, just becasue it produces more flowers not doesnt look like another wonderstone on the block. So long as the fractures are well healed and dont snap. AS they may hold for some time, and then one day, snap.
I would of thought most members would of heard of this material by now. One of the frist threads to this group was in the ID section for this material.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 2, 2006 11:27:43 GMT -5
LMAO SHain- Antalope Jasper was an early thread (yea I read it when I first joined up). Wonderful stuff and getting to rare. How similiar is it to Hickorytite? is it a location thing or a composition difference?
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Post by gemkoi on Aug 2, 2006 16:23:03 GMT -5
WEll its actully a type thing. Antelope is sought for its Flower Patterns. The wonderstone look is general and not often sought. Cuttblity is really the same. But it can vary from piece to piece., or even layer by layer. I personally only cut Antelope for the Flower pattern, and any left overs may get cab up without siad pattern. heres a set of did year and just donated it to a wire group for thier contests. It s super example of the flower pattern most sought after.
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Post by rockds on Aug 2, 2006 22:48:39 GMT -5
Oh yea, Antelope jasper is one of my favs. I picked up some from banjo a while ago, all cabbed up now, tried to buy some more from someone but they never got back to me with a price. Wounder if banjo still has some. great looking piece by the way!
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