Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Prospecting => Topic started by: Redrummd on May 28, 2017, 09:31:10 PM
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We have a new find - Disaster Peak Seam Agate. We are both cutting this agate seam material and it looks really promising - a very pale lilac and white with all kinds of "stuff" going on. This agate "rings" when we hit it and looks to be totally fracture free with just a few sugar spots, druzy spots and tiny vugs - probably less than 5% of the slab area though and at points the seam is nearly 3 feet across so we are getting some very big pieces. I am using my 20 inch saw to cut slabs about 10 inches or more across and down to .2 inch thick without any breaking!
I am planning on doing ten knives to see how it polishes and I am putting some up for sale. I will try to get some photos up tomorrow.
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Sounds tasty, can't wait for the pics
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Can't wait.
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Cutting this stone all day and it is a very good agate that is really solid. Here are the photos of the first couple of slabs that I plan to put up on Ebay along with the smaller "cab size" pieces left over from cutting 10 sets of knife scales today. I hope to have the knives finished in about a week to see just how this stone looks when finished. It looks mostly like a pale lavender mixed with whites to me but both my partner and wife say it also has blue agate mixed in with the lavender. I can't see pale blues in stone. I brought back probably somewhat over 250 pounds of large pieces and my partner about 300 to 350 pounds as he has a 12 inch saw and took all of the smaller pieces.
In cutting the 10 sets of scales I did not find a single crack. The only thing I found were small crystal filled vugs to work around.
I will post a link to one of the slabs and more photos later tonight.
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Here is a link to one of the slabs I listed.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/272692928072?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
I have attached photos of the sets of scales I have cut today. I will be preforming tomorrow and then on to fitting, adhesion, grinding, sanding, polishing......
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It looks absolutely yummy! What are the LxW of the slab you posted on Ebay?
Great find! :WEEEE:
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It looks absolutely yummy! What are the LxW of the slab you posted on Ebay?
Great find! :WEEEE:
About 5 by 3.5 inches. I don't like to state measurements as slabs can have unusual shapes and exactly where one measures can make the possible square inches way off. If you look, you will find one photo with a quarter on it to give you a good size reference.
It is over 650 miles one way to go to the dig site so determining if there is any real interest is important as I probably have enough to last me two decades for personal use on knives. If there is interest my partner and I will make a trip down to recover an entire load and my tiny S-10 has a highly upgraded suspension which allows us to carry at least 1,300 pounds which is pretty much a full bed on the S-10.
Obviously the cost per slab or for rough will not be super cheap but there should be nearly no waste in the slabs as there are simply NO cracks in it. It breaks like glass with much lighter than expected "hits" so it does not appear to get even edge stress type cracks in getting it small enough to pack out.....
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Interesting material. I like the color, and patern, and would think it would do well once people find the material.
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Nice find Michael. Great to see you out fossicking.
David
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Pretty Stuff ! I have what appears to be a similar stone that my father discovered near the Granite Creek area.
Looks like your slab sold quickly !.
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Really lovely stuff! Congrats on a new find of such quality, it's got very nice color and pattern.
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That is very nice looking material. I would be interested in rough chunks for slabbing if available
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Let me known when/if you have this material available. I'd be most interested in chunks that'll fit my 10-inch Lortone -- approx. 4-4.5 inches diameter. Slabs also when available.
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Well the sad news is the lavender changes to beige and pinks when the stone dries out. Even desert stone has some moisture content! I ended the Ebay listings when I saw the color change. I will relist them with a photo of how the stone looks when dry and polished.
So here is how the stone looks when finished.
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A lot of the burro creek from Az looks purple until it sits in the sun for a day and then it is gray. Still attractive patterns tho.
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that stuff is awesome!
Like Mt St Helens volcanic eruption inside it!
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I have relisted the two slabs with a photo of the finished jewelry piece to show the dry color correctly.
Here is a link to one of the slabs:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/322543198231?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
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I have done quite a few knives with this new agate and every one sold quickly. So, in a couple of weeks my partner and I are heading back to see how extensive the find is.....
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Wonderful knives Michael!!! Watch out for snow too.
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Snow is good as long as the ground is not frozen. It keeps others from seeing where we are working. We are well enough known that we get watched....
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that material works well on the knives
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Beautiful knives.
I too would like to know when you have material available. Either slabs or rough.
Jerry
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Beautiful knives.
I too would like to know when you have material available. Either slabs or rough.
Jerry
PM me - I can send some slabs in a small flat rate box for $27. ($20. in slabs + $7. is for postage/insurance.) I need your address and I will ship the slabs. You pay after seeing them or return the slabs if you decide they are not what you expected.
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Dam. I bet that ticks you off a little. There has been many times that I have hauled rock home than in a few week went to do something with it and was very disappointed, it looked much better when I was digging it. Lol
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Dam. I bet that ticks you off a little. There has been many times that I have hauled rock home than in a few week went to do something with it and was very disappointed, it looked much better when I was digging it. Lol
Not really as it is actually really nice even if the lavender not holding. Every knife I have used it on sold quickly so it has it's appeal or we wouldn't be going back to try to dig more. The best we found has a smoky quartz look to it so we are hoping to find more on that end of the find....
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This agate is very solid, the large chunks literally ring when hit and the agate takes a glass like gloss.
It is not a seam agate. We traced it into a 30 by 20 yard spot and it formed very weird. Look at the photo of the bottom of a piece and you can clearly see roots. We can’t figure it out. There is probably only about 2 to 3 tons of this agate if we are right about where it is. It seems to be a flow formation away from a formation of some type. I hope Frank sees this post and perhaps he knows how this would occur in such a small area.
I think we had at least 1,300 pounds in my little S-10 and maybe as much as 1,500 pounds! I have a highly modified suspension and top end tires – air bags were at 75 pounds of air and the rear still was LOW!
The piece in the 24 inch saw was well over 100 pounds and the one in the 18 inch saw was over 30 pounds.
Note the one gallon paint can in the photo of the row of agate pieces for scale as to size.
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Way to go, Michael! That is one humongous rock! :WEEEE:
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However it was formed, it's awful pretty stuff!
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I am leaning toward it being a wood and organic material replacement. This find is at about the same elevation as the Gary Green deposit and the Stromatolites we have found. We also find a lot of small pieces of petrified wood "float" in the area around this spot. This photo is the bottom of one of the pieces.