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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 2, 2021 21:51:51 GMT -5
So the first pic is a Shell Canyon Agate. Apparently this was mined out of Shell Canyon in Wyoming some time ago. Apparently it is no longer mined...or so I was told. I got a few small pieces from a friend of my father-in-law. My father-in-law showed him some pics of some cabs and wraps I'd been doing and this guy just wanted me to have some of this material. There was a small pot that developed, but I wasn't going to wasted any of this material, so it stayed. The second pic is a self-collected Prairie Agate from Railroad Buttes here in South Dakota. Third is a fabulous piece of Wonder Stone I got in the slab auction a couple weeks ago. Fourth pic is a Autumn Leaf Jasper I got from stephan ! This is some of my "most favoritist" material out there!      |
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agatewhisperer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2020
Posts: 836
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Post by agatewhisperer on Apr 2, 2021 23:29:13 GMT -5
Loving that prairie agate. Any issues with the slabs holding together? I had a few with some issues and they broke apart but others were ok.
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Post by stephan on Apr 2, 2021 23:47:02 GMT -5
All very nice. I like the shell canyon (mmmm, dendrites...) and prairie agate a lot. The wonder stone is unusual in patterning and also the fact that it took such a nice polish. I would actually have guessed Owyhee flower jasper or something similar. Wonderstone usually has more of a concentric circles look. Very interesting.
And the Stone Canyon looks fabulous. The autumn leaves is one of my favorite sub-types as well.
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 3, 2021 0:31:46 GMT -5
Loving that prairie agate. Any issues with the slabs holding together? I had a few with some issues and they broke apart but others were ok. Thanks so much! I have slabbed a bunch of Prairie Agates and haven't had any of them come apart. They've all been very solid. In fact, I made two cabs from this slab (the other cab is wire wrapped and I haven't posted a picture of that one yet) and I'd say both of them were as hard as some of the Laguna Lace Agate I've worked. Where are your Prairie Agates coming from? All very nice. I like the shell canyon (mmmm, dendrites...) and prairie agate a lot. The wonder stone is unusual in patterning and also the fact that it took such a nice polish. I would actually have guessed Owyhee flower jasper or something similar. Wonderstone usually has more of a concentric circles look. Very interesting. And the Stone Canyon looks fabulous. The autumn leaves is one of my favorite sub-types as well. I know...dendrites..Whoot Whoot! I tried to find any reference to that Shell Canyon Agate and couldn't find anything on the internet. The guy told me it used to be mined pretty heavily years ago... I have never seen any Wonder Stone with patterning like this slab... I had to laugh at myself when I was slabbing that Autumn Leaves. I had no clue it was a Stone Canyon variant until I really looked at it when cutting it...then it dawned on me! (Gotta learn one way or another! LOL) |
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 3, 2021 7:08:52 GMT -5
Wowzer! Love all this! I have NEVER been able to get a polish on wonderstone (as a matter of fact I'm gonna sell/ trade all the remaining stuff I have very soon). I even tried 50K paste and still no go. I finally figured out why they call it wonderstone. You gotta wonder how anyone can make it shine! Outstanding job!
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 3, 2021 7:12:52 GMT -5
That second one is a beauty!!!!
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Post by miket on Apr 3, 2021 7:15:03 GMT -5
All are fantastic, good job!
I'm kind of fond of prairie agates- probably because I see so many- and that one turned out great!
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Apr 3, 2021 7:20:46 GMT -5
Those are fantastic! The Autumn Leaf is certainly one very appropriately named stone. And beautiful at that! agatewhisperer , Jason’s prairie agates seem to be very solid. We’ve been tumbling a bunch that he sent us for weeks and they have held up better than anything else we’ve tumbled so far. I would think they would slab and cab incredibly well. And they are gorgeous, too! I was going to save pictures until we have more done, but the kids rushed this one through because they love that it looks like Jupiter, complete with the Great Res Spot.  |
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agatewhisperer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2020
Posts: 836
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Post by agatewhisperer on Apr 3, 2021 9:57:39 GMT -5
Yeah I had a few that were really solid, and then one or two that looked very similar to the patterning above and broke apart on me. Not sure what it's called but it had kind of a seam going through it with some small crystals, kind of like the rock was folded over on itself.
They came from the guy I bought my saw from and I think he picked them in SD somewhere but not sure. Was impressed with some of the colors coming out of it.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 3, 2021 9:58:17 GMT -5
Wow, awesome batch. My favorite is the Prairie too. Gotta love that stuff, solid and hard as tacks too. That Wyoming dendritic piece is interesting. I've mot heard of Shell Canyon but Wyoming does have numerous locations for fine dendritic agate and jasper, Pine Ridge, Battle Mtn, Spanish Point and South pass to name a few.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Apr 3, 2021 10:25:23 GMT -5
That's a great group, Jason. The first cab is clearly the hero, but I also really like the third cab.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 3, 2021 10:30:01 GMT -5
Beautiful cabs! That prairie agate is pretty awesome.  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 3, 2021 22:02:36 GMT -5
Wowzer! Love all this! I have NEVER been able to get a polish on wonderstone (as a matter of fact I'm gonna sell/ trade all the remaining stuff I have very soon). I even tried 50K paste and still no go. I finally figured out why they call it wonderstone. You gotta wonder how anyone can make it shine! Outstanding job! Thanks Stefan! I have about 10 pounds of Wonderstone - none of it with patterning like this piece. I haven't worked any of it...and this was the very first piece of Wonderstone I've ever tried to cab. So, now I'm nervous about the rest of it! LOL That second one is a beauty!!!! Thanks Tela! I've got two more small slabs out of this rock.  All are fantastic, good job! I'm kind of fond of prairie agates- probably because I see so many- and that one turned out great! Thanks Mike! I've got milk crates full of Prairie Agates. Some are pretty amazing at what is...and what isn't...on the inside sometimes. This one was definitely a good one. Those are fantastic! The Autumn Leaf is certainly one very appropriately named stone. And beautiful at that! agatewhisperer , Jason’s prairie agates seem to be very solid. We’ve been tumbling a bunch that he sent us for weeks and they have held up better than anything else we’ve tumbled so far. I would think they would slab and cab incredibly well. And they are gorgeous, too! I was going to save pictures until we have more done, but the kids rushed this one through because they love that it looks like Jupiter, complete with the Great Res Spot. Wow Brian!!! That "Jupiter" Prairie Agate turned out AMAZING! - Please tell the kids they did a fantastic job on that one!!!  I have a "top ten" list of favorite material and Autumn Leaves is So on that list! (Problem is, my top ten list is a LOT longer than ten! LOL) Yeah I had a few that were really solid, and then one or two that looked very similar to the patterning above and broke apart on me. Not sure what it's called but it had kind of a seam going through it with some small crystals, kind of like the rock was folded over on itself. They came from the guy I bought my saw from and I think he picked them in SD somewhere but not sure. Was impressed with some of the colors coming out of it. You changed my cabbing queue talking about these issues. LOL I wasn't going to work any more for awhile, as I've got a ton of material I want to try...but now I need to know if I'm going to have similar issues to what you're describing. I'll try to work them later this week... Wow, awesome batch. My favorite is the Prairie too. Gotta love that stuff, solid and hard as tacks too. That Wyoming dendritic piece is interesting. I've mot heard of Shell Canyon but Wyoming does have numerous locations for fine dendritic agate and jasper, Pine Ridge, Battle Mtn, Spanish Point and South pass to name a few. Thanks Mel! I am really surprised at how many people like that Prairie Agate as well as they do...I wasn't sure how it would go over. I looked pretty hard for some information on that Shell Canyon Agate, but came up empty handed. And those dendrites are So gorgeous! That's a great group, Jason. The first cab is clearly the hero, but I also really like the third cab. Thanks Gary! I have a thing for all of them...but that Wonderstone has some amazing pattern to it! Beautiful cabs! That prairie agate is pretty awesome. Thanks Robin! Not quite a Fairburn...but definitely beautiful in it's own right! |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2021 5:46:21 GMT -5
Your ovals ls look very uniform,
I am impressed!
The shell canyon is killerest
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 5, 2021 17:39:44 GMT -5
Your ovals ls look very uniform, I am impressed! The shell canyon is killerest Thank you so much! I definitely don't eyeball the ovals. I keep to the stencil outline. It takes me quite awhile to prep the preform. I get to within a 1/16" using my Gryphette to follow the stencil outline. Then I smooth the edge on the 180 disk on the slant cabber which takes off the grind lines from the Gryphette. I could use a higher grit bit on the Gryphette, but that would take longer to form the stencil shape... I've got enough of that Shell Canyon left for maybe two more cabs...and I'm holding onto it for now. I don't see being able to get any more of it...but, miracles can happen! |
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Post by socalagatehound on Apr 5, 2021 18:48:47 GMT -5
Excellent Cabs!!!
The Shell Canyon is new to me as well.
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 5, 2021 18:53:27 GMT -5
Excellent Cabs!!! The Shell Canyon is new to me as well. Thanks Craig! I searched around for any info on that Shell Canyon, but to no avail. Supposedly, it was mined years ago and taken out of the mine site in 50-gallon drums....again, supposedly. I thought if it was to that extent, it would be a little better known... |
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Apr 5, 2021 20:58:01 GMT -5
Great cabs, I like them all but that first one sure grabs your attention!
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 5, 2021 21:18:25 GMT -5
Great cabs, I like them all but that first one sure grabs your attention! Thank you so much! I was pretty depressed when that single pit showed up, but I decided the overall cab just "needed" to be made, regardless. I thought the overall look of this cab superceded that single flaw...I mean character trait! |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 5, 2021 21:23:04 GMT -5
That little hole would be a perfect spot to insert a small faceted stone. How awesome would that look?
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