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Post by snowmom on Sept 28, 2014 5:24:12 GMT -5
or not
seems to be translucent and hard as anything, I have been picking this up most of the summer, but the ones I found in a new location this past week are much bigger. The rock on the left has one small feldspar crystal in it, the rest is deep green with red swirls/inclusions. no idea what to do with it! pretty to look at though.
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
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Posts: 452
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Post by Henry on Oct 2, 2014 13:09:39 GMT -5
Just curious. Have you gotten any information on this find? The bottom picture reminds me of "vulcan jade" I find at "Big Sur"
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Post by snowmom on Oct 2, 2014 14:17:49 GMT -5
nope, haven't figured out a thing about it... guess I ought to do more scratch tests or something... It is harder than my pocket knife, which leaves steel on the rock, I would be thrilled to death to think it might be jade though! I know this one would need a whopper of a saw to cut it. Might have to drag it down to the guy who does tombstones here in town and see if he'll cut a piece off for me. Bit of a catch 22 though isn't it, because I think it is beautiful as found... all the natural folds and creases from when it was formed. I'd kinda hate to lose that! I have never seen bloodstone in its natural state, only slabs and what I have seen seems to be more of a blue green than olive like this. I think the yellow staining is from the minerals in the water here, I found it partially submerged in a mucky area near the water's edge. That little rectangle in it might be quartz crystal which is also stained, instead of the feldspar it thought it was at first. Thanks for looking!
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
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Post by Henry on Oct 2, 2014 15:47:23 GMT -5
Where did you find these pieces? I assume along a river or lake?
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spiritstone
Cave Dweller
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Post by spiritstone on Oct 2, 2014 16:07:45 GMT -5
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Post by snowmom on Oct 3, 2014 6:09:42 GMT -5
I do know how to do SG but haven't got the setup for it, money is pretty tight for any "extras" So I have held off the investment. Shoestring budget at my house. I am pretty sure the stuff is chalcedony, semi translucent and dense, but not nearly as heavy proportionately as the nephrite-like stuff I pick up. (I confess to having jade fever) I live near Lake Huron and find most of my stuff on the shore or nearby in ditches on gravel roads or ditches on trails. These particular pieces were in a boggy area near the shore of Huron that I had never searched before. Found all of them and some nephrite(?) in an area only 12x 20 or so. The entire area we live in is mostly Devonian limestone formations, limestone karst overlaid and a few granite outcrops farther out on the lake bottom and to the south. Karst and moraines here have glacial transports from the Canadian Shield, UP, and other areas to the north, both northeast and northwest. Mostly from central Canada and east of there. Everything is worn and mostly rounded by lake and glacier action. There is a surprising mix of materials, but hunting is restricted to whatever the glaciers and lake wanted to give up, no veins or "honey holes" unless you are looking for Devonian era fossils. I am finding the suggestion to stop when you find something you like and search the area nearby sometimes pays off. Twenty paces in any direction and you may find an entirely different set of rocks. Makes it interesting. Probably millions of limestone chunks and pieces for every 1 glacial transport and probably 1 out of a thousand or so glaccial transports is interesting. Love the search though, getting out to hear and see/appreciate nature and the Lake is the whole reason I live here. I do have some smaller finds of the same material I'd be happy to send you guys if you'd like to see for yourselves and give me a verdict, or just to mess with some of it. PM me your addresses! I love to share.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2014 13:29:53 GMT -5
have the tombstone dude slice the end off and then make a suiseki stand for it. You get your sample and get to keep the boulder mostly in tact for display.
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
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Post by Henry on Oct 3, 2014 14:43:16 GMT -5
So I asked some local jade experts about the pictures you posted. And to the best of their ability (not having the pieces in their hands): they are leaning towards those not being nephrite. Possibly jasper? But I (with limited knowledge though) have never seen translucent jasper unless it was part of an agate matrix, inclusion or whatever. I'm really interested what you find out.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 3, 2014 15:01:35 GMT -5
Snowmom, I know someone locally who can cut larger rocks. He has a 24" saw. He lives just past the Hideaway bar on Grand Lake Road. His house is the one with all the boulders in the driveway. I'm not sure how much he charges.
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Post by snowmom on Oct 3, 2014 16:20:27 GMT -5
Thanks Rob, I knew the man sold bulk rock, didn't know he cut it too! I have been afraid to stop by for fear I'd end up spending a fortune on rocks!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2014 17:50:14 GMT -5
I dont know what it is. But I am going to say it does not look like river warn jaspers. Indeed it looks most like river warn jades. snowmom are the stones you collect glacial erratics?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2014 17:50:45 GMT -5
have you hit this one with a hammer? [safety glasses please]
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Post by snowmom on Oct 3, 2014 19:22:21 GMT -5
Yep, everything I find here except the limestone (and even a good deal of that!) came from "up north" with the glaciers. I will drag the rock out of the garage tomorrow and start experimenting on it. I have plenty of glass, I have to have some quartz somewhere that I can scratch it with. And a hammer. safety glasses and hard toed boots. check. I'll see what I can do with it tomorrow. Then maybe go see the man with the saw. appreciate all the feedback!
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Post by snowmom on Oct 3, 2014 20:31:23 GMT -5
found this photo of rough bloodstone, it looks very similar except that this sample is not weather worn or stained. Most photos I have seen show much brighter green material and much less translucent looking. It would be interesting to know if this example is Canadian. The stuff from India seems to be the green to green blue hues. OK gonna hit the hay now. www.texasrockshop.com/lapidary/ro_images/ro2411_/ro2462_bloodstone_.jpg
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spiritstone
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Post by spiritstone on Oct 3, 2014 20:53:50 GMT -5
I found some pics of Bloodstone that is found in Nova Scotia, new to me also. The similarity from the outside looks pretty close to what you have. Take a look at the very last rough stone on this link. www.robsrockshop.com/rock-jewelry-catalog/?cid=91
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deserthound
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Post by deserthound on Oct 3, 2014 22:09:47 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2014 22:32:09 GMT -5
found this photo of rough bloodstone, it looks very similar except that this sample is not weather worn or stained. Most photos I have seen show much brighter green material and much less translucent looking. It would be interesting to know if this example is Canadian. The stuff from India seems to be the green to green blue hues. OK gonna hit the hay now. www.texasrockshop.com/lapidary/ro_images/ro2411_/ro2462_bloodstone_.jpgMeh............... those are horrible images. Nothing to judge yours by. Jugglerguy - She simply must be a neighbor; bring mom a hammer. haha mom-a-hammer - here has to be a QVC product there!! Slam-a-hammer into the stone. [ping] = NOT JASPER. JADE wont break. Jasper will break with a glassy conchoidal fracture. Jade won't break! [PING] is important. Jade does indeed SING to rock-hobbits. Glacial erratics may = ANYTHING FREAKING THING! No pre-judging, no limitations. ============Jasper can have a high SG due to iron content.=============== High enough to preclude jade? Rob, what is SG of your banded iron-stone?
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Post by snowmom on Oct 4, 2014 15:49:14 GMT -5
deserthound, those are helpful. This stuff doesn't really look like either, does it? I think we are getting to the facts now though. I did the homework Shotgunner assigned. My spouse's grandpa was a mason, and lo and behold, guess who has grandpas old mason hammer and chisel? I smacked the rock with the hammer over and over and sparks flew, one of them even lingering a bit.. oy! Impressive! That smacking session left just a couple of little marks on the rock, hardly a ding. I turned the hammer over and used the pick end, and smacked it super hard near an area of rock that seemed to have a fold/fault. A tiny chip flew off and there were a few splintery flakes left, which I picked off. here is a picture which shows the result of repeated hitting before I finally got a chip off. Not a conchoid fracture. Though my hitting power may simply not be enough to make that happen. I have scratched at it with a stainless jackknife, no go. Glass chip, no go. Found a good sharp piece of quartz and finally left a respectable scratch. I can't say the rock "rings" when hit, but I was impressed with all the sparks. I am thinking it is chalcedony(flint). Rob, I know you have cut some of the black rock with red in it from around here, have you cut any of the green with red? I am thinking it is probably the same stuff, just different colors. Did you ever break any of yours or do other tests on it? Did I forget anything? What do you guys think now ? (thanks for the input!)
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Post by snowmom on Oct 4, 2014 15:52:15 GMT -5
oooh, looking at that photo, does that look like an old conchoid fracture in the lower left corner of the thing? Are all those other folded looking areas worn conchoid fractures too? If so, chalcedony for sure. hmmm gonna go give it the once over again in person.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 4, 2014 15:57:48 GMT -5
I haven't done a specific gravity test on banded iron formation or any other rock. The BIF was not local, it was from a quarry in Marquette, five hours north of here. I also picked some naturally occurring stuff up in that area.
Snowmom, I haven't done much testing of rocks at all. I usually don't care what they are, I'm just happy if they're pretty and hard enough to polish. I haven't cut any green rocks with red in them either. If you have samples small enough for my saw, bring 'em over!
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