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Off Topic Area => Random Musings => Topic started by: ToTheSummit on February 15, 2017, 04:36:29 PM
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People find out you are a rockhound and suddenly everyone has a rock they want to share with you. And then they find out you cut and polish your rocks and suddenly everyone has a rock they want you to "pretty up" for them. Most of the time I have to tell them that there is not much I can do with the chunk of leaverite they hold so dear, but occasionally someone has a rock thats fun to cut.
A woman that works with my wife picked up this piece at her parents cabin somewhere in Southern Utah. She asked if it I could polish it. This is what it looks like on the rough side (I took no pictures before cutting it up but this side stays natural).
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/ToTheSummit/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysRockRough_zpsznriiszg.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ToTheSummit/media/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysRockRough_zpsznriiszg.jpg.html)
I cut off the face and polished it. It took a surprisingly nice shine. Not perfect, but good enough.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/ToTheSummit/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysRockFaced_zps05azou9c.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ToTheSummit/media/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysRockFaced_zps05azou9c.jpg.html)
She wanted me to cut off the bottom so it would stand there on display. I had to cut a wedge-shaped piece off the bottom to get a nice base and I thought "What the heck, lets make a pendant out of the cutoff". Heres the bottom and the some pics of the pendant.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/ToTheSummit/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysRockBottom_zpsdooui7ww.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ToTheSummit/media/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysRockBottom_zpsdooui7ww.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/ToTheSummit/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysPendant_zpsa3snr974.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ToTheSummit/media/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysPendant_zpsa3snr974.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/ToTheSummit/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysPendantSide_zpswlh46db7.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ToTheSummit/media/The%20Rocks%20Album/2017/Marys%20Rock/MarysPendantSide_zpswlh46db7.jpg.html)
I'm still waiting for someone to unknowingly share something really spectacular with me, but this one passed the 'worthwhile test'.
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Funny you mention that. Today I had someone bring me a chunk of dirty bull quartz. Milky quartz with lots of iron in it. He was all excited that he found gold. I had to burst his bubble and tell him that the "gold" was just mica.
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Funny you mention that. Today I had someone bring me a chunk of dirty bull quartz. Milky quartz with lots of iron in it. He was all excited that he found gold. I had to burst his bubble and tell him that the "gold" was just mica.
Got a few people out this way who get excited over that too. Told one man today that if he really wanted to make a show of going after gold, he had a good five mile hike ahead of him out to the last known place but he was welcome to try. I have the write-up from the mineral survey conducted on the "high grade ore" there back in 1948. Tests came back.... negligible, negligible, .01 ounce per ton, and negligible.
The rest of my coworkers still think rocks are too nerdy to acknowledge, which is probably a blessing.
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You did a better job with the stone,than I thought would become of it....NICE!
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Should have taken a slab off that one and taken the middle-part. That section looks like a picture of some kind of moon-scape.
Super job though as is.
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Portions of the jade streams around here that have very easy road access are often littered with giant holes dug around very low quality green chert boulders. At times I have been tempted to tell the diggers , " Nice piece of jade there! " but wouldn't as that is just mean. Often you can find a real piece of jade within a few steps but they always choose to believe that the small rind covered rock could not be jade because jade is green.I have actually seen 1,000 pounds boulders moved a few feet by these folks. The next big rainstorm will rebury the boulder and eventually a piece of the boulder will appear at the surface to exhaust and entertain "jade" hunters for another season.The cycle of life.