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Post by stephan on Jun 7, 2021 14:33:48 GMT -5
Made on 06JUN2021: Whale bone:  DSC_4895_Agatized whale bone free-form cabochon by Stephan T., on Flickr This stuff is nice and solid. The water-clear quartz filling the voids really allows the delicate, lacy structure of the bone matrix to show. through. From Morgan Hill, CA. Fossil whale bone in CA is from the Miocene period, and most appears to be somewhere in the range of 4-15 MYO. A whale fossil found in Scotts Valley (about 20 miles away, as the crow flies) was dated to be 4MYO. Numerous other finds hover in the 11-12MYO, but many of those are further South. jasoninsd this is from the first piece you cut for me Prairie agate from Jason:  DSC_4898_Prairie agate free-form by Stephan T., on Flickr Wildhorse jasper:  DSC_4902_Owyhee (Wildhorse) jasper cab by Stephan T., on Flickr OK. I admit it. Ovals work quite well for this material. Kambaba from a salvaged piece of scrap:  DSC_4908_Kambaba "jasper" freeform by Stephan T., on Flickr More of a rhyolite than a true jasper. It is definitely not, as some people claim, fossilized algae. The orbs in this material have always looked particularly eyeball-like to me. *** Note: no heel-cuts were harmed in this week's batch-o-cabs *** |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 7, 2021 20:21:41 GMT -5
WOWZER stephan! I love the looks of that whale bone cab!  I love the shape you chose on that Prairie Agate! You better watch out, you might just start "liking" making ovals! LOL I don't know if it's the green color, or the orbs, or both...but I really have a thing for Kambaba Jasper.  |
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Post by stephan on Jun 7, 2021 22:18:42 GMT -5
WOWZER stephan! I love the looks of that whale bone cab! I love the shape you chose on that Prairie Agate! You better watch out, you might just start "liking" making ovals! LOL I don't know if it's the green color, or the orbs, or both...but I really have a thing for Kambaba Jasper. Thanks, Jason Yeah, that whale bone blew me away, too. And I TOTALLY chose the shape of that Prairie agate. Didn’t knock the tip off, or anything like that.... I may like ovals for certain material (landscape jasper). I thinking about a square or rectangle next. For the Kambaba, I’m certain it’s both. It is for me, anyway. |
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Post by stephan on Jun 13, 2021 15:05:44 GMT -5
I'm slightly obsessed by whale bone, lately. Here are two free-forms and a tongue I made today. Cabs 1 & 3 are test-cabs which come from two heel cuts of the same piece of rough. The middle one comes from another piece, and a regular slab.  DSC_5005_A whale bone three-fer by Stephan T., on Flickr A couple of Prairie agate cabs still to come. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2021 16:53:49 GMT -5
I'm slightly obsessed by whale bone, lately. Here are two free-forms and a tongue I made today. Cabs 1 & 3 are test-cabs which come from two heel cuts of the same piece of rough. The middle one comes from another piece, and a regular slab. DSC_5005_A whale bone three-fer by Stephan T., on Flickr A couple of Prairie agate cabs still to come. Great looking cabs Stephan! My gaze keeps gravitating towards that center one. I can't wait to see the prairie agates. |
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Post by stephan on Jun 13, 2021 17:05:01 GMT -5
I'm slightly obsessed by whale bone, lately. Here are two free-forms and a tongue I made today. Cabs 1 & 3 are test-cabs which come from two heel cuts of the same piece of rough. The middle one comes from another piece, and a regular slab. DSC_5005_A whale bone three-fer by Stephan T., on Flickr A couple of Prairie agate cabs still to come. Great looking cabs Stephan! My gaze keeps gravitating towards that center one. I can't wait to see the prairie agates. Thanks, Jason. The center one (like last week's) is from the first piece you cut. That super-clear agate/quartz does show the matrix off very nicely. And then there's something interesting about the area that looks like it was crushed. Brecciated whale bone. LOL. First time for everything. Prairies coming up soon. Just charging the camera battery. Your picture looks different in your avatar. Must be the hat.  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2021 17:23:05 GMT -5
Great looking cabs Stephan! My gaze keeps gravitating towards that center one. I can't wait to see the prairie agates. Thanks, Jason. The center one (like last week's) is from the first piece you cut. That super-clear agate/quartz does show the matrix off very nicely. And then there's something interesting about the area that looks like it was crushed. Brecciated whale bone. LOL. First time for everything. Prairies coming up soon. Just charging the camera battery. Your picture looks different in your avatar. Must be the hat. My wife says Trig and I are starting to look the same...I haven't shaved for awhile...once again to her chagrin. LOL |
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Post by stephan on Jun 13, 2021 20:18:49 GMT -5
A couple that I made from some slablets my friend Jason sent from South Dakota (collected by him at Railroad Buttes). If you looks closely, the bands and fortifications are composed of speckles (which I love). If you look even more closely at the structure of some of the larger speckles, they are actually orbs! Orbifications! Yee-haw.  DSC_5012_A couple of Prairie agates by Stephan T., on Flickr |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2021 20:43:04 GMT -5
Arghhh...I forgot to hit "post reply" - so I have to try and remember all the wonderful things I just typed a minute ago! LOL Stephan, you nailed both of these! That one on the right though...the colors are amazing...you nailed the pattern selection...and the shape suits it perfectly! |
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Post by stephan on Jun 13, 2021 21:17:46 GMT -5
Arghhh...I forgot to hit "post reply" - so I have to try and remember all the wonderful things I just typed a minute ago! LOL Stephan, you nailed both of these! That one on the right though...the colors are amazing...you nailed the pattern selection...and the shape suits it perfectly! Thanks, Jason. And thanks for sending these for me to play with. I love the one on the right, too. I thought the red one would be my favorite, but the gray one blows me away. Confession: I chipped the back. With that, it really solidifies what I was starting to think, which is that the physical properties remind me a lot of Owyhee jasper: harder than the Gates of Hell (as our club foreman used to say), porcelainy (yes, that is a word now), prone to chipping on the 80 grit, and takes one hell of a polish. That means patience is the word when it comes to shaping. Don't cut too close to the outline on the 80. Use the 220, even though it takes longer. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2021 21:22:44 GMT -5
You absolutely nailed the properties of this material!
I haven't worked any of the Prairie Agates for awhile now. I keep getting sidetracked with other "non-native" material...and other native material (Teepee Canyon)! I think I need to get some of this back into the lineup.
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Post by stephan on Jun 13, 2021 21:29:09 GMT -5
You absolutely nailed the properties of this material! I haven't worked any of the Prairie Agates for awhile now. I keep getting sidetracked with other "non-native" material...and other native material (Teepee Canyon)! I think I need to get some of this back into the lineup. I guess that between Dryheads, Prairies, Owyhee, etc., I’ve done a bit of non-native material, too. I guess the whale bone and PJ save me. I’d say that getting sidetracked by Teepees is totally understandable. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2021 21:47:17 GMT -5
You absolutely nailed the properties of this material! I haven't worked any of the Prairie Agates for awhile now. I keep getting sidetracked with other "non-native" material...and other native material (Teepee Canyon)! I think I need to get some of this back into the lineup. I guess that between Dryheads, Prairies, Owyhee, etc., I’ve done a bit of non-native material, too. I guess the whale bone and PJ save me. I’d say that getting sidetracked by Teepees is totally understandable. I was thinking the whale bone and the PJ were pretty decent "natives" for you! I say that about the Prairie Agates...but then I've got some Dino Bone, some Green Moss Agate, some Madagascar Dendritic Agate (you should see that thread!), and some Labradorite that are jumping in line with the Teepee Canyon Agates. It's a never-ending juggling act! LOL |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jun 14, 2021 8:18:12 GMT -5
Those are great, stephan! I love the one on the right. Orbifications is my new favorite type of fortification. |
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Post by fernwood on Jun 14, 2021 9:31:24 GMT -5
I love the term Orbifications. It fits so many rocks in so many ways.
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Post by stephan on Jun 14, 2021 9:50:40 GMT -5
Those are great, stephan ! I love the one on the right. Orbifications is my new favorite type of fortification. Yeah, mine too. Thanks! |
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Post by stephan on Jun 14, 2021 9:52:31 GMT -5
I love the term Orbifications. It fits so many rocks in so many ways. Thanks, Beth. Portmanteaus seem to be quite popular these days, so I decided to create one. I'm glad it'll be useful. |
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Post by stephan on Jun 14, 2021 17:00:45 GMT -5
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 14, 2021 17:06:41 GMT -5
Beautiful! I still haven't worked any Montana Moss Agate. I've heard/read that it's pretty dang hard...so I suppose it can't be much different than the Prairie Agates! LOL |
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Post by stephan on Jun 14, 2021 22:53:42 GMT -5
Beautiful! I still haven't worked any Montana Moss Agate. I've heard/read that it's pretty dang hard...so I suppose it can't be much different than the Prairie Agates! LOL Yup. Pretty similar. Also in that category: Owyhee jasper and Brazilian agate. |
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