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Post by Mel on Jul 20, 2023 11:47:38 GMT -5
What a long, strange trip... I loved reading this. The world is such a small place and I feel that things like this are almost a sign that you are doing what you were meant to do. The closest I've come to that is the owner of the rock shop being the cousin of a friend of mine. What a small world indeed. I'm also surprised I can remember my timeline that well. Most days I can barely remember what I was doing twenty minutes ago.
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by Time on Jul 20, 2023 11:58:40 GMT -5
It’s funny how fast a small bag of sapphires has snowballed into all of this! Great story …. gathering our rocks together can feel a little like getting the gold bug and counting our coins.
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Making something positive out of COVID restrictions by learning to create jewelry out of stones.
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Post by Time on Jul 20, 2023 12:06:49 GMT -5
I doubt I can timeline it as well as Mel but I'll give it a try. 1965'ish my parents joined the Grange, I think to meet people in our new hometown and get a deal on home insurance. The Southern WA gem and mineral club had their meetings in the grange hall (they still do) and dad made friends with Lester Black, local rancher who convinced dad to grow our own beef and who mesmerized me with his belt buckles and bolos, and his wifes jewelry. Bookmark this... The rural road I grew up on was a great place to find "red agates" in the areas that were graveled, sure would like to know where the gravel quarry was, as I recall some super red Cowlitz County carnelians. 1974/75 In my HS Junior year I took the beginning and advanced jewelry shop classes at Kelso High School. The teacher was mostly focused on metalsmithing, but they also had a row of 3 belt sanders for lapidary. My first total failure at cutting an obsidian cabochon happened that year, definitely not my last. I made a love knot ring and a bunch of class project exercises that I hardly remember, it was the 70's after all. And then life went on, LARGE gap. 2007? My hobby was cars, mostly vintage Volvo's with an occasional truck or Mopar. It had grown exponentially and I bought a gutted travel trailer to turn into a car hauler. As Elizabeth and kids helped remove body and AC wiring Elizabeth grabbed all the copper wire and started fabricating handmade recycled copper jewelry from it. She has been an artist in multiple mediums her entire life, and she was ready to start back into it. She was making beaded necklaces a few months later from beads I found for her on ebay, and focal beads to match her projects weren't easy to find, so I had the bright idea that we should get tools to make our own. At that point I "discovered", about 15 years married, that she had grown up in a home purchased from a lapidary, with much of it left behind, and that she had also taken classes in college. And it grew... A lot... We joined a club, immediately I was drafted to restart their lapidary shop, and I became teacher assistant and fix stuff guy. Volvo parts diminished and replaced with lapidary tools and rocks. 2009 First organized field trip, now we're hooked. 2010 Bought house in Vancouver, brought in 21' dry van to try to contain all the tools, built shop when it wouldn't. 2011'ish Started selling at Holiday Bazaars and winery art shows, and bought, restored and sold equipment while upgrading ours. This continued as our side hustle for awhile. 2015'ish At a bazaar someone approached us to buy the remains of an estate of her grandfather, a month or so later we went out, agreed on a price, and bought it. On the way out we spoke for a bit and discovered grandpa had been in the Southern WA club. His name? Lester Black. Full circle #1. 2018'ish we began to plan retirement and started getting rid of stuff. The dry van box, which no longer had an axle, was on the list. The buyer noticed the rocks and got a shop tour, turns out he was the person in charge of the shops at Kelso HS, and the jewelry shop was discontinued and in storage, AND the school wanted to clear the storage. Yeah, I got it, full circle #2 2020 We got rid of TONS to move to AZ and still had to buy our own large moving van plus a toy hauler trailer to move down, then another very memorable trip with Ed Mohs to get a few more tons from storage. That's another story I'm putting together for blood family and rock family. Today... We just returned from our vending/family visit trip to the NW. What a long, strange trip... Such a cool trip and all the neet people you have met along the way. Finding cool rocks is like an endless treasure hunt.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
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Post by iamchris on Jul 20, 2023 15:00:04 GMT -5
Good shopping on the 33B, I check Craigslist daily to see what may show up but I am really trying on this hobby to focus on the rocks and not equipment. I like photography and found it too easy to focus on camera gear and not getting out to take pictures. I find it to be the same way with backpacking. I spend more time looking at and researching gear than I spend going backpacking.
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 20, 2023 15:39:57 GMT -5
Skipping rocks on water. My wife was interested in new age stuff; Rikei with the metaphysical qualities of crystals and minerals. She liked to collect and moved on to rough, slabs and cabochons. I knew how to work with wood and was interested in photography so I thought I could turn slabs into cabs.
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Making something positive out of COVID restrictions by learning to create jewelry out of stones.
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Post by Time on Jul 20, 2023 22:58:48 GMT -5
Skipping rocks on water. My wife was interested in new age stuff; Rikei with the metaphysical qualities of crystals and minerals. She liked to collect and moved on to rough, slabs and cabochons. I knew how to work with wood and was interested in photography so I thought I could turn slabs into cabs. You were correct about “slabs into cabs” I have seen pictures of yours and you definitely know how to do it. One piece of equipment I have picked up is a 4 wheel speed demon caber from a man that moved from making cabs to working with wood. Interesting!
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Post by perkins17 on Jul 21, 2023 18:01:23 GMT -5
Okay, my turn. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) I was born into a family of rockers. My dad's grandparents collected petrified wood from near the saddle mountains and my mom's great grandparents were cutters, cabbers, and all around amazing jewelry makers in the 40's through 60's in western Montana. My grandma's house had a cabinet of montana finds, some cut and polished, situated near the front door, something I always looked through as a little guy. I was gifted a rock tumbler mid covid, and started the adventure. Cheap silicon carbide grit did nothing, and I eventually moved on to the 33b. A mini sonic got picked up, followed by a poly arbor club members helped me get going. Soon after, I found the much sought after workforce at a garage sale for $3(!). Things quieted down and I picked up a qt12 I'm still working on. Recently, a monster highland park fell into my possession, as well as a cabmate style single wheel I'm working to get a drain on. Life has definitely changed a lot since I got started cutting, and I have too. I'm still rocking, along with reading Stephen King, some small engine repair, and distance running. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) -Nicholas
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 21, 2023 19:08:15 GMT -5
Skipping rocks on water. My wife was interested in new age stuff; Rikei with the metaphysical qualities of crystals and minerals. She liked to collect and moved on to rough, slabs and cabochons. I knew how to work with wood and was interested in photography so I thought I could turn slabs into cabs. You were correct about “slabs into cabs” I have seen pictures of yours and you definitely know how to do it. One piece of equipment I have picked up is a 4 wheel speed demon caber from a man that moved from making cabs to working with wood. Interesting! A lot of people think that making cabs is a predecessor task to making jewelry. I have no jewelry. Photography is about capturing and framing images which is what I do with rock. Cabs are completed and collected or sold. Wood working is making something a person can use; a table, a cabinet or using a lathe bowls or candlesticks or just art.
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Making something positive out of COVID restrictions by learning to create jewelry out of stones.
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Post by Time on Jul 21, 2023 22:56:02 GMT -5
Okay, my turn. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) I was born into a family of rockers. My dad's grandparents collected petrified wood from near the saddle mountains and my mom's great grandparents were cutters, cabbers, and all around amazing jewelry makers in the 40's through 60's in western Montana. My grandma's house had a cabinet of montana finds, some cut and polished, situated near the front door, something I always looked through as a little guy. I was gifted a rock tumbler mid covid, and started the adventure. Cheap silicon carbide grit did nothing, and I eventually moved on to the 33b. A mini sonic got picked up, followed by a poly arbor club members helped me get going. Soon after, I found the much sought after workforce at a garage sale for $3(!). Things quieted down and I picked up a qt12 I'm still working on. Recently, a monster highland park fell into my possession, as well as a cabmate style single wheel I'm working to get a drain on. Life has definitely changed a lot since I got started cutting, and I have too. I'm still rocking, along with reading Stephen King, some small engine repair, and distance running. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) -Nicholas Covid caused a lot of pain for a lot of people but developing/reviving an interest in rocks is really a good thing. I think the way equipment is coming your way it is an activity that is meant to be.
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Post by perkins17 on Jul 21, 2023 23:22:29 GMT -5
Okay, my turn. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) I was born into a family of rockers. My dad's grandparents collected petrified wood from near the saddle mountains and my mom's great grandparents were cutters, cabbers, and all around amazing jewelry makers in the 40's through 60's in western Montana. My grandma's house had a cabinet of montana finds, some cut and polished, situated near the front door, something I always looked through as a little guy. I was gifted a rock tumbler mid covid, and started the adventure. Cheap silicon carbide grit did nothing, and I eventually moved on to the 33b. A mini sonic got picked up, followed by a poly arbor club members helped me get going. Soon after, I found the much sought after workforce at a garage sale for $3(!). Things quieted down and I picked up a qt12 I'm still working on. Recently, a monster highland park fell into my possession, as well as a cabmate style single wheel I'm working to get a drain on. Life has definitely changed a lot since I got started cutting, and I have too. I'm still rocking, along with reading Stephen King, some small engine repair, and distance running. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) -Nicholas Covid caused a lot of pain for a lot of people but developing/reviving an interest in rocks is really a good thing. I think the way equipment is coming your way it is an activity that is meant to be. I'm one of those people that it got caused pain for. ![(lol)](//storage.proboards.com/1258779/images/hyOivrcWsQyVjSKtYIub.gif) I had to sit in Teams meetings for hours and then go do work. Couldn't agree more, lapidary is a hobby that needs to be passed down to the next generation. Me too, someone's got to keep the family tradition alive. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by QuailRiver on Jul 22, 2023 2:11:14 GMT -5
About the time I was five I started picking up unusual rocks and bringing them home and leaving them all over the yard and the porch, much to my mother's discountenance and my father's befuddlement. They were sure that there must be something seriously wrong with me. And I suppose a legitimate argument could have been made that there was. When I was seven, a second grade classmate brought a rock collection that his uncle had given him to school for show & tell (hook sunk). Then for the next couple of years I spent a lot of time combing through rock and mineral books at the public library. The library would only let me check out the rock books published for children because I wasn't old enough to meet their criteria for checking the better rock books out of the adult section. So I had to view the better rock and mineral books on site at the library. Then when I was nine the local Rock & Gem Club started having their monthly meetings at said public library. So the second Tuesday evening of each month one of my parents would give me a shoulder roll in front of the library and two hours later come pick me up. Being a nine year old kid attending the Rock Club meetings on my own got the attention of some of the adults who gave me a lot of encouragement. Luckily for me one of the true rock/gem/fossil/artifact gurus of that generation took me under his wing and introduced me to lapidary. And a few years later used to invite me to travel to the gem shows with him. My parents still didn't get the rock fascination but relented and gave me a rock tumbler for Christmas of 1970 when I was nine years old. Then they gave me one of these Sears 4" cabbing machines (which I quickly wore out) the next year when I was ten. ![](https://i.postimg.cc/hj5PpwZX/Sears-Wishbook-1971-P125.jpg) And then the Christmas of the following year (1972) was given a Sears 6" B&I Gem Maker flat lap with SC grinding and sanding discs which I used for cabbing for the next five or six years. ![](https://i.postimg.cc/NjcJK0G0/P5275679.jpg) Then my Dad helped me buy a 6" Lortone cabbing unit. I used that cabbing machine for around three decades on-again off-again. Around 1990 I bought my first faceting machine, a vintage used one with issues. Used that for a few months and then got so busy with work and life that it all got put aside for several years during which I sold the faceting machine and sold or gave away much of the slabs and rough. But later when the effects of NAFTA, GAFTA and China being Granted Favored Nation Trading Status freed up a good bit of my time, my interest in lapidary revived. I replaced my faceting machine, acquired a growing collection of slab saws and started buying old collections for the cutting rough, refurbishing the equipment when required, and reselling any of it that I didn't need for my use. These days my lapidary activities are mostly just slabbing, cabbing, and faceting. I'm sixty-two years old now and have brought unusual rocks home which have been left all over the yard and the porch, much to my wife's discountenance and my neighbor's befuddlement. And I'm pretty sure that they all think that there must be something seriously wrong with me ...and I suppose a legitimate argument could be made that there is!
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Making something positive out of COVID restrictions by learning to create jewelry out of stones.
Member since September 2021
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Post by Time on Jul 22, 2023 8:55:18 GMT -5
About the time I was five I started picking up unusual rocks and bringing them home and leaving them all over the yard and the porch, much to my mother's discountenance and my father's befuddlement. They were sure that there must be something seriously wrong with me. And I suppose a legitimate argument could have been made that there was. When I was seven, a second grade classmate brought a rock collection that his uncle had given him to school for show & tell (hook sunk). Then for the next couple of years I spent a lot of time combing through rock and mineral books at the public library. The library would only let me check out the rock books published for children because I wasn't old enough to meet their criteria for checking the better rock books out of the adult section. So I had to view the better rock and mineral books on site at the library. Then when I was nine the local Rock & Gem Club started having their monthly meetings at said public library. So the second Tuesday evening of each month one of my parents would give me a shoulder roll in front of the library and two hours later come pick me up. Being a nine year old kid attending the Rock Club meetings on my own got the attention of some of the adults who gave me a lot of encouragement. Luckily for me one of the true rock/gem/fossil/artifact gurus of that generation took me under his wing and introduced me to lapidary. And a few years later used to invite me to travel to the gem shows with him. My parents still didn't get the rock fascination but relented and gave me a rock tumbler for Christmas of 1970 when I was nine years old. Then they gave me one of these Sears 4" cabbing machines (which I quickly wore out) the next year when I was ten. ![](https://i.postimg.cc/hj5PpwZX/Sears-Wishbook-1971-P125.jpg) And then the Christmas of the following year (1972) was given a Sears 6" B&I Gem Maker flat lap with SC grinding and sanding discs which I used for cabbing for the next five or six years. ![](https://i.postimg.cc/NjcJK0G0/P5275679.jpg) Then my Dad helped me buy a 6" Lortone cabbing unit. I used that cabbing machine for around three decades on-again off-again. Around 1990 I bought my first faceting machine, a vintage used one with issues. Used that for a few months and then got so busy with work and life that it all got put aside for several years during which I sold the faceting machine and sold or gave away much of the slabs and rough. But later when the effects of NAFTA, GAFTA and China being Granted Favored Nation Trading Status freed up a good bit of my time, my interest in lapidary revived. I replaced my faceting machine, acquired a growing collection of slab saws and started buying old collections for the cutting rough, refurbishing the equipment when required, and reselling any of it that I didn't need for my use. These days my lapidary activities are mostly just slabbing, cabbing, and faceting. I'm sixty-two years old now and have brought unusual rocks home which have been left all over the yard and the porch, much to my wife's discountenance and my neighbor's befuddlement. And I'm pretty sure that they all think that there must be something seriously wrong with me ...and I suppose a legitimate argument could be made that there is! Great Story ….. I don’t think people that arn’t interested in rocks understand that they are time capsules for the area they were formed in like the rings of a tree tell about its life. That plus the amazing beauty of, the combination of colors in, some examples, I think, means something must be wrong with those other people.
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Post by 1dave on Aug 2, 2023 7:48:28 GMT -5
I was born during the Great Depression, became an air force Brat, moved from base to base, . . . Ended up in 3rd grade in Austin Texas at the end of WWII. My teacher had a huge iron pyrite cube on her desk. I was caught! 1955 I started studying geology at BYU. 1957-1960 in Uruguay, land of the HUGE amethyst geodes! mymodernmet.com/large-amethyst-geodes/![22](https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/extra-large-geode-11.jpg) 1960 - returned to Orem Utah, wired new home for Bob Rollins. He offered to teach me lapidary and silver smithing in exchange for wiring his rock shop. ACCEPTED! 1961 Happily Married, worked as a master electrician, mostly coal fired powerhouses all over Utah, some time in Nevada, Boston. Retired 1999, moved to Cedar City Utah, played with rocks.
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Post by liveoak on Aug 3, 2023 7:00:11 GMT -5
WOW, great stories.
My earliest memory of rock hounding was as a child in the 70's on Lake Champlain. We were camping and Dad gave us hammers to get some kind of rocks out of a cliff face.
I don't remember the rocks or even if we found any. I remember we had fun.
My other childhood rock fascination was for my Dad's rock collection. My father went to college for Geology and had this cool rock specimen box. Little compartments, all labeled perfectly. It was fun to ogle them as a kid. Fortunately, it has survived all the years & my sister has it and I believe has shown it off to her 1st grade class.
Fast forward a lot of years & I started trying to make jewelry. Buying ready made cabs has it's limitations - so adding a cabber to the studio was a huge improvement.
Planning and learning to make my own cabs has become very satisfying.
My one happy accident, is that I didn't collect rocks or slabs, etc when I lived in other states, that had tons of local rocks, only after I moved to the rock starved state of Florida.
The reason that is good, is that I would have had to move them all (or ditch them all).
Patty
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Post by liveoak on Aug 3, 2023 8:01:12 GMT -5
I was born during the Great Depression, became an air force Brat, moved from base to base, . . . Ended up in 3rd grade in Austin Texas at the end of WWII. My teacher had a huge iron pyrite cube on her desk. I was caught! 1955 I started studying geology at BYU. 1957-1960 in Uruguay, land of the HUGE amethyst geodes! mymodernmet.com/large-amethyst-geodes/![22](https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/extra-large-geode-11.jpg) 1960 - returned to Orem Utah, wired new home for Bob Rollins. He offered to teach me lapidary and silver smithing in exchange for wiring his rock shop. ACCEPTED! 1961 Happily Married, worked as a master electrician, mostly coal fired powerhouses all over Utah, some time in Nevada, Boston. Retired 1999, moved to Cedar City Utah, played with rocks. Oh My Dave , now THAT'S a geode !
Patty
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Post by 1dave on Aug 3, 2023 10:15:38 GMT -5
Oh My Dave , now THAT'S a geode ! Patty
Yes, BUT same time, nearly same place, Uruguay: ![U](https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/extra-large-geode-3.jpg) Basalt was flowing much slower, bubbles collected much larger. crystals grew on agate layer. Later large calcite crystals grew. Brazil: ![B1](https://res.cloudinary.com/crosbj/image/upload/v1633957292/Geology/1-Igneous/Basalt/01.2-2015-02-05-Feb-CG01-M_rkzrhb.jpg) ![B2](https://res.cloudinary.com/crosbj/image/upload/v1633956927/Geology/1-Igneous/Basalt/01-2015-01-BC-Layers-M_wmhaqk.jpg) Basalt was flowing much faster, bubbles are smaller. Groundwater was much different. For long periods the groundwater slowly converted the basalt bubble walls to green celadonite that fell to the floor. Then the agate rapidly coated the walls in multiple thin layers. I suspect shockwaves! Then the large crystals grew. Radioactive elements converted iron from citrine to amethyst. Last, calcite crystals grew.
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Post by liveoak on Aug 3, 2023 10:25:50 GMT -5
You're always pushing me Dave, 1dave to sit up and learn about rocks ! So I need to look it up but.... Does amethyst always need a radioactive element to form ? Patty
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Post by 1dave on Aug 3, 2023 10:39:39 GMT -5
Yes, and iron. Hither and yon Iron atoms take the place of silicon, turning the crystal yellow ( and making Brazil Twins). Radiation (usually from uranium) notches the iron to change from yellow to purple. If you put the amethyst crystals in an oven at ~450 degrees F they will revert back to citrine. ![U](https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/extra-large-geode-7.jpg)
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Post by liveoak on Aug 3, 2023 11:21:48 GMT -5
WAY cool, 1dave I think that Geode needs a hinge so you could keep it closed until you wanted to impress someone. And that would keep the dust out anwyay! So now that we're picking your brain- Does amethyst retain residual radioactivity ? Patty
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Post by 1dave on Aug 3, 2023 11:47:55 GMT -5
WAY cool, 1dave I think that Geode needs a hinge so you could keep it closed until you wanted to impress someone. And that would keep the dust out anwyay! So now that we're picking your brain- Does amethyst retain residual radioactivity ? Patty remm.hhs.gov/nuclearfallout.htm![rateDscay](https://remm.hhs.gov/RemmMockup_files/dose-rate-decay.png)
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