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[Kenpachi]

My twin is into finding rocks with her husband in the Cascades.. they do SG tests in the field and bring back dense things for me to play with.  Although much of it is a mystery as to what it is, if it's interesting, I finish it.  They might be big or small, but they all spent untold millennia to ultimately arrive in the form they are, so I just give them like a haircut.. I don't know anyone who does this stuff, and only started doing it because she kept bringing me cool rocks!  Years ago, I used to chase bronze sculpture at an art foundry in LA, also some towering Buddhist monuments.. but that's another story..

Here's some examples.. It's kind of like cabbing.. but bigger?  Besides a pair of littles, sizes range from a few pounds to 97 pounds.. Jadezilla, I call it.  But is it JADE???  its so interesting I decided not to cut into it.. instead used abrasive brushes to preserve the texture while polishing..

There are a bunch on deck to finish this week as I'm sort of ramping up.. stay tuned..

Kenpachi

[lithicbeads]

Your first three are gabbro and the last is one that would reveal itself if cut. It looks a lot like Shuksan greenschist , the weathering form and color match but in the picture I can see a bit of blue in one spot, your monitor may look different, so I think it is probably  part of the rodingite mix so common here. The yellow would be epidote in greenschist and  the color would not be skin deep but in a rodingite mix ;like this  the yellows of that sort are just  skin alteration. You should look at global jade on facebook as the expert is an expert and is loca. The blue feldspar in the gabbros is called sassauritization a metamorphic modification of the usual white feldspar. You should get a copy of lanny Reams new book about Washington jade and it's metasomatic cohort here in Washington.Ther are lots of my beads from western Washington rough on our finished bead page and  the ids are correct or very close. You live in the land of the old Evergreen rock club which was before it's demise was the oldest club in the state. We beadmakers call the blue feldspar gabbros Sea Foam gabbro.

[Kenpachi]

So awesome to figure out what those are!  Super hard stone.. the first didn't look like anything, but once it got cut back some, the color was nice, so.. kept going.. the backside has a lot of metallic inclusions, in between the green.. it was very hard to polish and took ages, but the metals show with a nice flash..  I've already passed it on and don't think there is a detailed photo.. but there's a 10-pound chunk on the table of the blue gabbro.. might see it there..

Appreciated your thoughts on "Jadezilla".. it does have sections of bright blue green and deep blue.. but it's not translucent that I can tell, except in places where quartz has filled the fractures.. of which there are almost none.  Not a single chip.. it's incredibly hard!  No foliation of any kind.. Turns out someone else found this very stone 2 years ago, posted pictures of it on Reddit.  They attacked it with a hammer, but couldn't chip it and gave up..  Obviously they never returned for it, but funny I would find a picture of the rock online. 

The one that looks like a big gecko head or a pair of lips depending on which side you're looking, that's the same kind of stone, about 35lbs.  It's got sections of what appear to be metallic gold or copper, you can kind of see the speckles above the "lips".  This cobble suffered quite a bit, so I had to cut it back pretty far to get past that on one side.  There's another one just like this that was more flat, so it's being made into a bowl, but it has the same color, banding.. inside is the same.. kind of grayish in places, blue, green with that bright yellow running all through, so if you step back it looks green, but it's not exactly.. it came from the same place.  They called it jade, and I hesitate.. people get pretty loose with that word; but whatever it is, it's lovely..   I love the metals that reveal themselves.. Seems the outer layer took a very nice polish, but the inside was more challenging..

The book my twin has also, I should get a copy of my own!  There's actually a gem and mineral club just up the street here, but the stuff I'm working on is always so big.. and I'm quite shy lol

[55fossil]

    Beauty is where you find it. Free form cutting big pieces is a great way to show off many stones. I really like the first three pieces, awesome patterns.
carry on...  they all look great

[WingnutAndAPrayer]

Welcome!!

Rocks is rocks- join the dang club! From what I've gathered most rockhounds and lapidaries are insanely chill and will fill your cup instead of draining it  Take a chance and maybe you'll be rewarded with lasting knowledge, experience and friendship. If it doesn't feel good, don't go back. I, too, have a lot of tension  around groups and would hesitate at such a good shot in a world class area, but know that everybody else is there to learn and find fellowship as well.

Your work is lovely. Autocorrect changed it to lively and I feel it is also that. You've not detracted from the essence of the rough by giving your haircuts, in my opinion. Do you do tree pruning as well? Consider bonsai. Doing what needs to be done but nothing more.

Lithicbeads is your man. Dude's got it on so many levels and his work is also gently fierce.

Welcome again! Tell your twin to come hang out, too! There's a lot of us (I'm sure) who still check in every day and post here and there. It would be super to have some fresh action on here as shit like reddit or social media is way too ephemeral for a craft like ours.

The archives are incredible here, BTW.

Enjoy!

[Phishisgroovin]

Welcome!!
I am in downtown Kent near showare!!