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Post by stephan on Jul 9, 2021 13:55:04 GMT -5
These are all "strays" from a collection I acquired when purchasing a collection at an estate sale, probably 10 or so years ago. Wonderstone: DSC_5249_Face-polished wonderstone by Stephan T., on Flickr It took a surprisingly good polish, given that it felt pretty coarse-grained, which you can see in the patterns. I'll just leave it as a shelf-piece. Agatized coral: IMG_4821_Agatized coral by Stephan T., on Flickr It came with the polished face, at a nice satin finish. Variscite nodule: IMG_5784_Variscite nodule by Stephan T., on Flickr In spite of the fracture and chip, this was one of the nicest variscite pieces in the collection. A beautiful pistachio-green color. Variscite is (di)hydrated aluminum phosphate. The banded matrix is crandallite -- CaAl 3(PO 4) 2(OH) 5•2(H 2O) -- and limonite -- FeO(OH)•nH 20. Limonite is what gives the "fire" to fire agates. Sadly, this piece was dropped and subsequently shattered a few years back Mystery slab: DSC_1517_Mystery slab by Stephan T., on Flickr No idea what this is. Palm root with little structure, maybe? Limb cast? Chalcedony with a chance resemblance to something wood-derived? Ideas appreciated |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 9, 2021 14:01:59 GMT -5
stephan , I am a big fan of variscite. I like it more than turquoise. Too bad it was broken- lovely color.
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Post by stephan on Jul 9, 2021 14:25:57 GMT -5
stephan , I am a big fan of variscite. I like it more than turquoise. Too bad it was broken- lovely color. Thanks, Tela. I like it better than turquoise as well. The color is one reason. It also tends to be less frustratingly crumbly. And, there doesn't appear to be a big fakes market. |
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Post by Peruano on Jul 9, 2021 15:33:40 GMT -5
For the mystery slab, I'd bet on a chalcedony with rind. I'm working on fairly similar material that I collected from the flanks of a small volcano in central New Mexico. It can work up nicely in an understated way. I just finished cutting a big block of variscite and have only worked on a couple of pieces so far. Alas mine was 1/3 variscite and 2/3 matrix. Here is the one cab that on my bench so far.  There is more material.  |
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller 
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,633 
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Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2021 16:56:53 GMT -5
Except for the mystery slab your collection appears to have a high probability it came from Utah.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 9, 2021 19:58:01 GMT -5
Stephan, those are some really cool pieces of material. I've seen some cabs made from coral like that before and love the look of it! That Variscite is (was) gorgeous!
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Post by stephan on Jul 9, 2021 22:52:42 GMT -5
RWA3006 The variscite and wonderstone I knew were from either Nevada or Utah, but I didn’t know the coral was. Very cool Peruano that is some nice variscite jasoninsd there may be a small piece of coral in the next box. I just have to window it to make sure the innards are interesting Thanks x3.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 9, 2021 22:55:56 GMT -5
RWA3006 The variscite and wonderstone I knew were from either Nevada or Utah, but I didn’t know the coral was. Very cool Peruano that is some nice variscite jasoninsd there may be a small piece of coral in the next box. I just have to window it to make sure the innards are interesting Thanks x3.  |
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Post by stephan on Jul 9, 2021 23:13:37 GMT -5
RWA3006 The variscite and wonderstone I knew were from either Nevada or Utah, but I didn’t know the coral was. Very cool Peruano that is some nice variscite jasoninsd there may be a small piece of coral in the next box. I just have to window it to make sure the innards are interesting Thanks x3. Kindly restrain your enthusiasm until I get it windowed. I hate dashing hopes.  and, I want emphasize small. Maybe two slabs each. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 9, 2021 23:29:14 GMT -5
Kindly restrain your enthusiasm until I get it windowed. I hate dashing hopes. and, I want emphasize small. Maybe two slabs each. I've come to accept the fact that on certain days I'm the windshield...and on other days I'm the bug! LOL  |
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Post by stephan on Jul 9, 2021 23:56:35 GMT -5
Kindly restrain your enthusiasm until I get it windowed. I hate dashing hopes. and, I want emphasize small. Maybe two slabs each. I've come to accept the fact that on certain days I'm the windshield...and on other days I'm the bug! LOL #Truth |
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Post by stephan on Jul 12, 2021 15:07:15 GMT -5
Polished yesterday. I stopped early, because of the predicted heat, but then it "only" ended up getting up 102 )(112 had been predicted): Whale bone slab: DSC_5423_polished Morgan Hill whalebone specimen slab by Stephan T., on Flickr Since the rough was cut in two orientations to give different patterns, this piece came with a natural stand. I didn't have any polished specimen pieces, so I face-polished one side. I'll probably do the other face, too, but leave the rind, as I like the texture. I'm having a hard time capturing the full beauty photographically, but I'll keep trying. Unknown blue agate in rhyolite matrix: DSC_5435_ Blue agate specimen by Stephan T., on Flickr This one had been rolling around in one of the estate crates for a while. One-off, no ID. Could be Berkeley Hills (Fish Ranch Road) material, which would be seriously old stock. Unfortunately, it wasn't really a suitable shape for cabbing. OK, maybe it was, since I actually like excavating the hidden cab from weirdly-shaped rough. I just didn't want to for this one. I love the name Fish ranch Road, btw,. It evokes some very Far Side-like images. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 12, 2021 17:07:55 GMT -5
stephan I have always wanted to ask someone... how do you tell the difference between whale and dino bone? I've seen blue gem bone like that.
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Post by stephan on Jul 12, 2021 17:15:28 GMT -5
stephan I have always wanted to ask someone... how do you tell the difference between whale and dino bone? I've seen blue gem bone like that. I think it comes down to where it was found, and what has been found there. Semi-complete fossilized whales and complete bones have been found along the California coast, but not dinos. Carbon dating confirmed the age of the bones as being relatively young, compared to dinos. plus the portion of CA that is now coast was still underwater at the time the dinos roamed. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 12, 2021 17:44:44 GMT -5
stephan I have always wanted to ask someone... how do you tell the difference between whale and dino bone? I've seen blue gem bone like that. I think it comes down to where it was found, and what has been found there. Semi-complete fossilized whales and complete bones have been found along the California coast, but not dinos. Carbon dating confirmed the age of the bones as being relatively young, compared to dinos. plus the portion of CA that is now coast was still underwater at the time the dinos roamed. OK, so it would be easy to buy "gem bone" at a steep price and get whale bone which is cheaper. |
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Post by stephan on Jul 12, 2021 17:49:59 GMT -5
I think it comes down to where it was found, and what has been found there. Semi-complete fossilized whales and complete bones have been found along the California coast, but not dinos. Carbon dating confirmed the age of the bones as being relatively young, compared to dinos. plus the portion of CA that is now coast was still underwater at the time the dinos roamed. OK, so it would be easy to buy "gem bone" at a steep price and get whale bone which is cheaper. Very possible. I don't particularly care for the term gem bone, for that reason. I think "gemmy dino bone" or "gemmy whale bone" would be more honest. I do think some whale bone could be just as gemmy as dino (and often far more solid), but I really would not want to mislead anyone. ETA: The funny thing is, people think that whale bone is less sellable than dino bone, but there is a whole separate group of whale enthusiasts, especially with the new age crowd. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 12, 2021 22:19:43 GMT -5
Stephan, I love what you chose to do with that Whale Bone slab! I really like the fact you left the rind! I still need to get this material back in the "line-up"! Maybe I'll get on a Dino/Whale kick here one of these days. |
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,060
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 12, 2021 22:41:11 GMT -5
RWA3006 The variscite and wonderstone I knew were from either Nevada or Utah, but I didn’t know the coral was. Very cool Peruano that is some nice variscite jasoninsd there may be a small piece of coral in the next box. I just have to window it to make sure the innards are interesting Thanks x3. The (now broken) variscite has rind characteristics that indicate to me it came from the Clay Canyon Utah deposit. Very rare stuff. Sad story. I've collected red horn coral identical to yours from a well-known deposit in Utah. Beautiful stuff. |
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Post by stephan on Jul 13, 2021 0:35:26 GMT -5
Stephan, I love what you chose to do with that Whale Bone slab! I really like the fact you left the rind! I still need to get this material back in the "line-up"! Maybe I'll get on a Dino/Whale kick here one of these days. Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the results of that! You did good job with the Dino bone in your recent set. And thanks. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 13, 2021 8:47:02 GMT -5
Stephan, I love what you chose to do with that Whale Bone slab! I really like the fact you left the rind! I still need to get this material back in the "line-up"! Maybe I'll get on a Dino/Whale kick here one of these days. Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the results of that! You did good job with the Dino bone in your recent set. And thanks. Thank you my friend.  It'll wait until I'm feeling quite retrospective...like Jurassic-type retrospective. |
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