Hi,
As a newbie to the forum, just want to introduce myself. I have been into cutting and polishing agate and such for only three years, but have accumulated about 4,000 slabs of a large number of materials over this short time. My wife and I enjoy the lapidary hobby together, and have attended the Quartzite show for three days each of these last three years. I am an old geezer, but continue to be employed at the China Lake, Naval Air Warfare Center. My wife is amazing at wire wrapping and polishing. I, myself, love to obtain any material I don't already have, and cut slabs and enjoy the patterns. I do most of the rough-outs for fitting the material into belt buckles and such. We have several 10" trim saws, as well as 14", 18" and 24" Highland Park lapidary saws, a Cab King polishing setup, and lots of other stuff. We feel very lucky to have all this in only three years of getting started in the hobby. We live in Ridgecrest, CA., and belong to the Indian Wells Valley Rock and Mineral Club. The Club has an agate claim known as Rainbow Ledge (some call it Rainbow Ridge). We haven't sold anything, but have given away or traded a lot of materials, jewelry and belt buckets to family and friends. It is a great hobby. We hope to hear from you. I will post some photos of our slabs and such in the near future. Abrazos, Jay
