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Post by vegasjames on Jul 2, 2013 22:13:38 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2013 11:04:35 GMT -5
That looks like it has some conchoidal breaks. A little glassy. That piece almost has a waxy appearance to it.
The thulite I have is noticeably different.
No matter what your stone is nice looking.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 3, 2013 12:40:15 GMT -5
There is a large thulite outcropping South of Afton near Ludlow. The material from there doesn't look anything like your rock. How hard is it?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2013 12:49:31 GMT -5
There is a large thulite outcropping South of Afton near Ludlow. The material from there doesn't look anything like your rock. How hard is it? I just google earth'd it. 37 miles as the eagle flies between the afton canyon campground and the thulite quarry. As John states, it looks quite different. Maybe I can get an image up later tonight. I'll second john's query, how hard is it?
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 3, 2013 14:29:34 GMT -5
There is a large thulite outcropping South of Afton near Ludlow. The material from there doesn't look anything like your rock. How hard is it? I have not tested the hardness yet. I have to run by the gem club today for a short time so maybe I can get it on the slab saw to get a better look at the inside. And I will see what does and does not scratch it.
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 3, 2013 15:12:07 GMT -5
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Post by helens on Jul 3, 2013 15:45:54 GMT -5
Looks more like rhodonite to me. Check out the wiki pix for rhodonite, yours looks like the 'classic' stone defining pix.
Rhodonite hardness is from 5.5-6.5. Thulite hardness is 6.5 (per wiki)
If you can test hardness you can know for sure.
I have slabs of both, and the AMERICAN thulite (note that Norwegian thulite is very different... it's all pink for one thing and there are lots of polished Norwegian thulite) is VERY VERY hard to polish. I say very hard and not impossible, because just because I can't do it doesn't mean others can't. But I can't. Rhodonite polishes really well.
I think visually, the difference between the 2 from the pieces I have (I have about 8 completely different samples of rhodonite and about 4 completely different samples of thulite) is that rhodonite has black streaks, and thulite sometimes has whiter areas but no black.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2013 21:19:44 GMT -5
Here is an image of the thulite from ludlow Edited to add: The grass in the background is St. Augustinegrass. Similar to Jamesp's Centipede Grass.
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Post by helens on Jul 3, 2013 21:44:24 GMT -5
Here's a rhodonite skull that looks like it was cut from your rock: The site it came from and lots of other examples: www.crystalsrocksandgems.com/Healing_Crystals/Rhodonite.htmlDoesn't mean it can't be thulite... but the pink tone looks more like rhodonite to me, which is pinker pink than thulite, which is more of a peachy pink. It would be easier to tell if the rock were wet, or slabbed...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2013 0:07:22 GMT -5
My rock is wet. I do admit the colors are similar. My identification of "thulite" came from Fish/Dan and is the name used by many others for this material, including Johnsgems. In my rough you can see the green? That is Zoisite. Thulite is considered a pink variety of zoisite.Thulite is manganese, not magnesium like Rhodonite. Aside from the green zoisite, there were other signs of manganese in the vicinity including a solid black manganese oxide crust on every stone for over 100 yards in every direction. Magnesium oxide is black too but not a thick crust. At least on the stones I have experience with! Bottom line? Thulite/Zoisite has a hackley break. Non-conchoidal for sure. The piece from the OP has visible conchoidal breaks with a waxy appearance. Thulite definitely has neither.
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Post by helens on Jul 4, 2013 3:41:10 GMT -5
Well, here's an atypical piece of rhodonite: Here's an old stock rhodonite in quartz, with the more characteristic black lines (minus the quartz): Small hunk of rhodonite with more typical coloration (bone dry-this is very pink): Thulite: And the middle 2 are thulite from Wyoming I think, they are from Wampidy, who cut me some preforms to try making rings from (he makes amazing circles and can fit any ring size). Of course... it may not be either, and just be an odd rock:).
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 4, 2013 4:34:50 GMT -5
I cut the stone open. The pink does not go all the way through, but the lines do. Definitely hard stuff. I will try to get pics up of the cut face soon.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2013 15:47:47 GMT -5
The thulite I sent to Helen did not come from Wyoming. The pink and black came from Mel in a trade and I believe it came from Washington but not sure. The other piece came from fish/Dan who is talked about above. He got it from the source talked about above and made me one hell of a good deal on it. Jim
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Post by bobby1 on Jul 6, 2013 22:49:57 GMT -5
From the first two photos I think it is a red Jasper or Chert with white bands going through it. Thulite of Rhodonite wouldn't have those parallel bands. Bob
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 7, 2013 17:58:21 GMT -5
Here are some pics of the slab:
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Post by helens on Jul 7, 2013 19:33:34 GMT -5
Huh... now I'm completely stumped... that doesn't look like anything I've seen before...
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 8, 2013 1:50:24 GMT -5
One thing I found out is that it is really hard. I had a fractured piece so I played with it a little on the cabbing machine and I was able to make some very sharp, thin points with it without breaking.
My friend took the stencils and held it over some sections. Looks like it will make some really beautiful cabs.
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Post by helens on Jul 8, 2013 2:35:31 GMT -5
Does it polish well? I agree... it will make some really neat looking cabs, even if you don't get a shiny polish!! Looks almost looks like a reverse (negative image) picasso stone:).
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 8, 2013 3:31:48 GMT -5
Does it polish well? I agree... it will make some really neat looking cabs, even if you don't get a shiny polish!! Looks almost looks like a reverse (negative image) picasso stone:). Yes, it was taking a really nice polish and I was only on the third wheel. I am going to try cabbing some of it soon and polishing it all the way.
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Post by helens on Jul 8, 2013 11:19:25 GMT -5
Nice:)!!
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