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Post by stephan on Mar 13, 2021 22:49:36 GMT -5
We all have some materials we love (or love-hate). Tell us what they are for you. A few of mine:
- Nephrite jade: it just has an incredible depth. Even when it has no patterns it’s simply gorgeous. I love it’s toughness, too.
- Stone Canyon jasper: brecciated and healed really speaks to me. It’s a metaphor for recovery from trauma, and wabi-sabi incarnate. Plus you can get lost in patterns.
- Poppy jasper: It’s kind of like Miles in “Sideways.” It’s frustrating and challenging, but with patience and care, you can coax it into something sublime
- Dinosaur bone: what’s not to love?
- Whale bone: poor man’s dinosaur bone, and way more stable
- Crazy lace agate: an utterly psychedelic stone that invites you to get lost in the patterns. Like PJ, it often requires patience to cope with a variety of hardnesses
- Owyhee jasper (used broadly): gorgeous patterns, and it takes a mirror polish
- Thundereggs: how can you not love that name?
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Post by parfive on Mar 14, 2021 2:48:13 GMT -5
If it ain’t Laguna . . . it’s crap.
Don’t get me wrong, I like a lotta crap too. : )
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Post by fernwood on Mar 14, 2021 4:59:49 GMT -5
Lake Superior Agates, Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper, Pet Wood, Amethyst and fossil corals are at the top of my list.
Also like many others.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 14, 2021 7:12:00 GMT -5
Wow, what a difficult question. Favorites change so much as one encounters new materials.
1. Gotta go with Parfive, any northern Mexico fortification agate esp Laguna
2. West Texas Plume Agate
3. Hornitos Jasper both poppy and brecciated, cause I mined them for so many years. I like Morgan Hill too but the fractures....
4. Botswana agate
5. Petrified wood, especially south Texas shrinkwood..fossil plus agate, what's not to like
6. Dino bone...see above
7. Dryhead Agate. Digging it in the middle of a Montana thunderstorm was an awesome and unforgettable experience.
8. Baker Ranch T-eggs. Beautiful ,matrix takes a good polish and again I got to dig them back when it was just a tiny hand dug pit.
9. Stone canyon Jasper and it's many varieties. Got to dig Stone Canyon, Creston, Big Sandy Creek, and Varrian Ranch. So much fun and such beautiful material.
10. Ammmy Sage agate and Bruneau Jasper the old good stuff. Never got to dig these two bucket list western materials and always wanted to.
11. Devils Toenails. Fast to grind and takes a good polish. Makes cool fossil cabs.
Hate favorites: Again so many, not because they are not beautiful but because they can be a pain in the ass.
1. Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper
2. Porterville nephrite jade. Always have to get a damn magnetite spot in the finest green areas.
3. Moss/ PLume agate. Always the dang pit or soft spot just where you don't want it.
4. Condor agate and Queenies. Nodules under so much internal stress. Too many fractures when first sawed.
5. Dino bone. Pits and fractures
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 14, 2021 9:20:33 GMT -5
Ocean jasper - colors and orbs.
MHPJ - orbs, but not because of the fractures tiffany stone - beautiful brecciated patterns and colors peanut obsidian - chatoyant feldspar orbs bruno - colors and patterns agua neuva agate - beautiful, just beautiful red jasper - just about any kind, I love the color and easy workability sonora sunrise - eye popping color opalized wood - love the glossiness opal - do I need to say more? charoite - the color and esp the chatoyant ones
that's off the top of my head
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 14, 2021 9:33:55 GMT -5
Baculites
Ammonites
Montana moss agate
Obsidian
Eastern Oregon Jasper
Thundereggs
Petwood
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 14, 2021 9:52:11 GMT -5
There are just too many and they do change often.
The few that never change: All porcelain jaspers All types of opal
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 14, 2021 11:50:05 GMT -5
Pet wood- always has been and always will be my #1 material. I love the challenge, and love the results (good and bad). Number 2 is anything agate (agatized pet wood and yes I'm in heaven.
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 14, 2021 11:59:15 GMT -5
A very long list. A shorter list is material that I like but won't buy and that is usually because I can't sell the cabs. Pietersite and Montana. I could add Koroit because of the cost. I've never bought coprolite but have nothing against it.
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Post by rmf on Mar 14, 2021 12:04:02 GMT -5
Chrysoprase -- Hard, uniform and beautiful shade of green
Lake Superior -- who can't love a 1.2 billion year old agate
Tennessee Agate (includes Paint Rock Agate and KY Agate) -- Reds and yellows rich colors and great polish
Indian Blanket Rhyolite (Jasper) -- interesting color play and hard for a rhyolite
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Post by stephan on Mar 14, 2021 12:39:44 GMT -5
Pet wood- always has been and always will be my #1 material. I love the challenge, and love the results (good and bad). Number 2 is anything agate (agatized pet wood and yes I'm in heaven. I almost added pet wood, but my list was getting long. It’ll definitely make the addendum. There are some many types. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2021 21:35:07 GMT -5
1) Imperial Jasper (not royal)
2) Blue Mountain(the blue stuff)
3) Hornitos (the red is Bomb)
4) Poppy (MHPJ)crumbles that hold up
5)Amethyst sage
6)willow Creek
7)Pietersite
8) Old School Ocean Jasper(sorry all gone)
9) Polish Flint love the patterns
10) Noreena ( the super hero of jaspers)
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Post by Pat on Mar 16, 2021 21:52:38 GMT -5
Hmmm. This may take a while.
FAVORITES
Cacoxenite with amethyst
Rutile anywhere
Dino bone
Breccia
Serpentine
Jade
Coral
Rubies and sapphires
Opals with color
Quartz, especially iris
Obsidians
Pietersite
Tiger eye and tiger iron
DON’T like particularly
Morgan Hill ketchup and mustard poppy jasper
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Post by stephan on Mar 16, 2021 22:02:54 GMT -5
1) Imperial Jasper (not royal) What’s the difference between the two? |
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Post by stephan on Mar 16, 2021 22:13:26 GMT -5
Hmmm. This may take a while. DON’T like particularly Morgan Hill ketchup and mustard poppy jasper Never heard that term before. Do you object to the colors or the fractures? |
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Post by Pat on Mar 16, 2021 22:15:53 GMT -5
The ketchup and mustard —- ugly color combo. Like it on a hotdog. Red is actually my favorite color, but not THAT red!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 16, 2021 22:16:52 GMT -5
Imperial Jasper is found near the border of Jalisco and Zacatecas, Mexico, about 50 miles northwest of Guadalajara. The site covers a large area on a steep slope of a canyon, covered be heavy vegetation. Royal Imperial Jasper is found over the ridge to the east of Imperial Jasper. It was actually found first as a surface float in the 1980's. The larger deposit of Imperial Jasper was not discovered until the 1990's. Imperial Jasper forms in veins or large nodules in a host rock. It is known for coming in many colors, but each piece is usually limited to just one or maybe two colors. The Royal Imperial Jasper is very similar to Imperial Jasper, but is formed in much smaller nodules with a white chalky skin. The Royal Imperial Jasper is also known for is patterns of orbs or "eggs". Imperial Jasper rarely has these patterns, but Royal Imperial Jasper almost always does.
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nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
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Post by nik on Mar 17, 2021 3:17:36 GMT -5
Opals of most localities, even though I can't justify buying high grade rough.
Psilomelane
Noreena jasper
Lake superior agates, I grew up on the lake, and no matter how far away I am,they always remind me of mom and home.
Now for an admission that will most likely be unpopular. I don't like turquoise. Most of it just looks like chewed gum to me.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 17, 2021 8:56:04 GMT -5
Ok Ok Ok.... I will get to the bottom of this. Everyone send me one slab of your most favorite material and I will let everyone know the winner.  Winner will receive right to say "See I told you so" for one year from end of judging. Steven |
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Post by stardiamond on Mar 18, 2021 0:04:54 GMT -5
Morgan Hill, Willow Creek, Blue Mountain, Biggs, Blue Biggs, Deschutes, Owyhee, Royal Imperial, Blue Dream, Royal Imperial, Ocean, Mookaite, Haystack Butte, Mescalero, Butterfly Wing, Noreena, Bruneau, Misty Mountain, Exotica, Royal Sahara, Guadalupe, Hornitos, Rain Forest, Stefoinite, Dead Ringer, Dead Camel jaspers. Stinking Water, Horse Canyon, Laguna, Polka Dot, Blue Tide, Dryhead agates. Mt.Tahoma, Howardite, Youngite, Dino Bone, Pet Wood, Variscite, Rhodochrosite, Clam Chowder, Nipomo Marcasite, Mongolian Fluorite, Amethyst Sage. The why is colors and patterns.
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Winner will receive right to say "See I told you so" for one year from end of judging.
