nansaidh
spending too much on rocks
Jewelry artist, graphic designer, dog lover, car nut (etc.)
Member since August 2008
Posts: 311
|
Post by nansaidh on Aug 18, 2008 17:59:29 GMT -5
Many folks on a jeweler's list I belong to think of green stones as being cursed as far as working with them... fractures and nothing but trouble, they say. At this point, I just want to be able to tell them apart. Can someone please give me some solid guidelines for distinguishing the various green meanies (primarily those found in my area of coastal California). I know there are (at a minimum) nephrite, jadeite, serpentine and green-colored quartzites (?) - how the heck do I tell which is which!?! Also - where can I purchase a quartz point for scratch testing my finds? Couldn't find one in most of the online lapidary resources I have. Right now I'm just using a steel nail to approximate Moh's 7 (right?). TIA (as usual).  Nancy |
|
rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
|
Post by rallyrocks on Aug 18, 2008 18:35:05 GMT -5
A vast majority of the green rocks you will find in your area are serpentinite- that is variations within the serpentine family. Although the Nephrite and Jadeite as well as the green quarzites and agates do show up these are nowhere as prevalent at the serpentines, and all of them are considerably harder than any of the serpentine family. You can get a quartz point at nearly any rock shop or swap meet- the thing about the Mohs scale is that it doesn't need to rely on calibrated tools, but rather being a relative scale can use fairly common materials for comparative hardness rating. An Iron nail should be 4 or 5, while hardened steels vary around 7-8, so these aren't necessarily the best materials to use, unless you know more about their specific composition and heat treatment, but spend a little time collecting stuff and comparing and you can put together your own little hardness test kit... Or you can pony up $65 and get a packaged set of "calibrated" test picks; www.amateurgeologist.com/deluxe-mohs-hardness-pick-set.htmlIf you really want to know true "absolute" hardness rather than relative hardness- the tool for that is called a sclerometer. |
|
nansaidh
spending too much on rocks
Jewelry artist, graphic designer, dog lover, car nut (etc.)
Member since August 2008
Posts: 311
|
Post by nansaidh on Aug 18, 2008 19:52:44 GMT -5
Thanks Rally (love your avatar - do you follow a particular team? WRC? The SCCA version? I recently heard a bizarre rumor that F1 world champ Kimi Raikkonen might be offered a rally seat - he'd probably do well and he does seem quite bored in F1 lately.... We're big F1 fans but have followed WRC from time to time.... anyway....) Thanks for the pointers on the "green meanies". I have a ton of what I thought was jade from Moonstone Beach (near Cambria). The pieces I have seem to fall into three visually different categories; some are dark green rounded pebbles and have an obvious fibrous network of lines, some are more olive green, very smooth with angular fracture lines and feel quite slick to touch, and the others are a much brighter green with mottled white inclusions. Actually a fourth is olive green with dark red blotches, not spots like would be in bloodstone, but just areas of rust-red coloring. None of the stones I've described can be scratched by a pocket knife. I do have a few odd pieces of similarly-colored dark greens that can be scratched with nail and knife, though... throwing me off even more! Are all of these specimens, which look quite different to me, serpentine or variants thereof? I'll look harder for a rock shop in my vicinity - "ponying up" isn't in my vocabulary since I was laid off from my job.  Good point about the iron/hardened steel composition issue... must find quartz point.  Thanks so much... Nancy |
|
|
|
Post by kap on Aug 18, 2008 20:29:50 GMT -5
Nancy I sent you a PM . Keith |
|
churross
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 15
|
Post by churross on Aug 18, 2008 21:46:35 GMT -5
Nancy,
Pacific Jade Art is kind of a sister board that has a bunch on various California green stones, also a lot of recommended reading. google them, head to the message board and you should find answers, at least from the jade/idocrase/vesuvianite/californite side of things. I don't think we have quite the same following for serpentine. And it's all tough to polish, bless its green hearts.
|
|
rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
|
Post by rallyrocks on Aug 18, 2008 22:14:16 GMT -5
Actually if they won't scratch with the knife, they probably aren't serpentines, what you describe does seem to fit some of the California Jade I've seen but I'm really not very expert in that stuff- you should talk to a fellow on here who goes by Nephrite- he dives at Jade cove for the stuff and seems to know it pretty well.
The stuff that does scratch with a knife is most likely some variation on serpentine.
Relative hardness is a really good differentiator though, a lot of green rocks do look the same but are very different in composition.
As for the rally- I do all kinds of Rally stuff, from the evening gimmick rallies to working WRC events (Rally Mexico anyway).
SCCA has given up on all but their "Road Rally" TSD's which I still work on and run occasionally, but performance rallies in the US now fall under either NASA (National Auto Sports Assn., not the space guys) or Rally America sanction, and I work both of those, can't afford a race car myself but working events is fun too, cheaper and somewhat safer, and still gets you close to the action.
|
|
karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
|
Post by karenfh on Aug 19, 2008 1:23:40 GMT -5
|
|
nansaidh
spending too much on rocks
Jewelry artist, graphic designer, dog lover, car nut (etc.)
Member since August 2008
Posts: 311
|
Post by nansaidh on Aug 19, 2008 18:32:21 GMT -5
LOL Karen - very creative!
|
|
DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
|
Post by DeanW on Aug 22, 2008 23:34:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by johnjsgems on Aug 23, 2008 7:48:25 GMT -5
We collected in that area (San Simeon, Piedras Blanca, Willow Creek, Jade Cove) many times in the past. Most of the rock that looks lke jade is serpentine. It will scratch with any knife. Another test is to hit it with a rock hammer. Serpentine will break easily while the hammer will bounce off jade. Be careful doing this. My wife smacked a rock on he beach and got sand in one eye ruining her day when it scratched it. The serpentine also looks dull when dry while the jade will stay more glossy. There are also lots of beautiful green agtes/jaspers that will or will not take a good polish. Those are glassier than the jades. If you find jade it is usually the "Monterrey Jade" which is fibrous looking and will have a slight waxey feeling.
|
|
rockcandy
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2006
Posts: 12
|
Post by rockcandy on Aug 23, 2008 8:30:23 GMT -5
Many folks on a jeweler's list I belong to think of green stones as being cursed as far as working with them... fractures and nothing but trouble, they say. At this point, I just want to be able to tell them apart. Can someone please give me some solid guidelines for distinguishing the various green meanies (primarily those found in my area of coastal California). I know there are (at a minimum) nephrite, jadeite, serpentine and green-colored quartzites (?) - how the heck do I tell which is which!?! Nancy Lol - Good Luck! Boy I understand what you are going through. I have collected a plethora of green rocks over about the past 10 years. I want to tumble them but am too confused. I know some is nephrite jade , in different tones and saturations of green, and there is snowflake jade, and some I think are jade mixed with some other lighter material... I also have about 10 lbs. of green apatite, and a fair amount of green aventurine, but some has so much mica in it that it chips. The scariest are my rocks that look like gemmy apple green jade, but also may be yellow-green serpentine or peridot (those found in Wyoming). I am not confident about the hardnesses either (except of the apatite), and don't have enough of the others to fill a barrel. Here they sit. |
|
Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
|
Post by Roan on Aug 23, 2008 16:58:03 GMT -5
I'll take 'em |
|
Good point about the iron/hardened steel composition issue... must find quartz point. 
