Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Feb 11, 2014 10:53:11 GMT -5
That is very nice! Can't wait to see a finished piece.
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Feb 10, 2014 22:54:05 GMT -5
Thank you all! It is Olympic Peninsula Washington. Mel- I wish the green eyes were a little more common up here. It's hard to find nice green pieces. Especially out of the spot where I mine it. Mine looks more like the other two, and I usually find the green eyes out at the ocean.
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Feb 10, 2014 18:27:49 GMT -5
By way of welcoming myself back to this board I thought I'd post a couple of specimen photos of the best Olympic Poppy I've collected over the years.... This one is the best of the best slabs I've ever seen. Photo is taken dry, cause I'm too dumb to remember to lick 'em before snapping the shot. Very Rarely, I see green orbs: Lastly, This specimen shows where the stone fractured some time ago, and healed with epidote and quarts. The fault line fractured perfectly to reveal the crystalline structure of the epidote:
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Feb 10, 2014 18:18:26 GMT -5
Hello all! It's been forever since I've posted here. I've been tied up with building my house, and hadn't been working any rocks for a couple of years. That's all changing, albeit slowly, and I'm back in the rock shop.
I met some folks on here in Quartzsite a couple of years ago when I was vending at Desert Gardens, and I know some of you from the other board.
At any rate, thought I'd stop here first and re-introduce myself.
My name is Joshua, and I own Good Earth Rocks. Good Earth mines Olympic Poppy jasper in the beautiful pacific northwest. I'm not a cabber (yet) but I love to mine, rockhound, and be outside in general, so gems & minerals are one of my many hobbies.
Thanks in advance for the warm welcome back that I know I'll receive!
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Feb 25, 2011 21:28:53 GMT -5
Howdy all! Long time no check in. Just got in from the Quartzsite trip last week, and I have been meaning to say hi here.
Had a relatively good time down south. Sales were good and brisk on the Olympic Poppy, but the show was terrible. I guess I have been spoiled working with juried shows, but Desert Gardens is a ghetto IMHO. My neighbor that had a flea market and never changed his shorts was a special treat. I'll probably go back to do the Pow wow or Tyson Wells, but never again at Desert Gardens.
Those of you that I got to meet were a special treat however. What a cool community we have here. It will take me a few times to match faces to names, but I really dug hanging out at the potluck BBQ.
It's neat to belong here, and I hope that I'll continue to contribute to the community. My Plans for the next year include: Modifying the Diamond Pacific Lathe into something truly useable, Building a 24" saw, building a polishing/grinding arbor, modifying my drop saw to include a vise, finish my soil/agate separator, and gathering enough beach jaspers & jade's to cut and face my fireplace surround in the house I am building. I'll be setting up an outdoor shop, in order to process enough stone to hopefully attend the Madras and Prineville shows this summer.
I'll start threads on my builds as well as chime in here and there. Again, Thanks are due to everyone on this board, as you all ROCK! (boo...hiss...)
Joshua
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Feb 25, 2011 21:16:17 GMT -5
I like it! It was cool to meet you too... First piece that I have seen worked up since Quartzsite.
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Dec 23, 2010 12:05:20 GMT -5
Good Earth Rocks will be at Desert Gardens Space #L4 selling OLYMPIC POPPY JASPER.
Look forward to meeting everyone! Please mention that you are from the board!
Joshua
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 18, 2010 22:05:37 GMT -5
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 18, 2010 22:03:00 GMT -5
For sale is a Tumbling mix of Olympic Poppy Jasper, with slabs, ends, and rough stone included. It ranges from 1" to 2.5" inches with the bulk ending up right in the middle. It has been graded to show bright colors, and poppies, but should not be considered fracture free or cabbing material. There will be possibilities for cabs, but it has to be tumbled first for a week or two using 60/40 to get the sharps and fractures worked away.
Material is available by the pound for $15 plus shipping with discounts for anything over 5lbs.
Thanks!
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 16, 2010 0:52:09 GMT -5
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 13, 2010 22:42:00 GMT -5
Gary- The fractures that you see on the slabs pictured are healed either with epidote or quartz. the rough stones haven't been processed yet. I won't lie- this material fractures, but I have been able to refine my grading process to at least minimize that...
Mel- WOW! amazing to see something that so closely resembles my material from so far away! I'd be really interested to see any more photos that you happen to have. The run of the mill material around here seems to be a perfect match to the photos that you posted. Ever run into any green eyes?
Joshua
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 13, 2010 22:37:45 GMT -5
Coming up next weekend November 20 & 21. I gotta say, those of you that live close, go check it out. John Cornish is putting a cabinet of fossils on display that is out of this world. I mean serious paleontological pornography! Seriously. Really. I won't spoil it for him, but will post photos after the show.
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 13, 2010 1:43:17 GMT -5
Olympic Poppy Jasper is not a new stone. I found it first described in a book from the 1930's (unfortunately I cannot remember the title or author) as Egypt jasper. I has since been called several different names, including Crescent Poppy Jasper, but I have settled on calling it Olympic, as it occurs as an erosion in the Rainy Olympic Mountains in Washington State. It has been found mostly as beach pebbles along the Pacific coast on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I have met several old timers around these parts that have been collecting from road grades and abandoned gravel pits along an old landslide zone at Crescent Lake. I personally collected this stone for years before finding my location, and securing my source. I believe that most of the specimens that have made it into the market in the past have been what I have determined to be "B" grade. "B" Grade has small dots or poppies, usually bright red to dark tan/brown, without a second color inside the poppy, or very small dual color poppies. I used to collect on the beaches and gravels, and would go several collecting trips without finding a single piece of high grade. But when we did! Wow! High Grade has multiple colors included in the poppies, and usually has a bright background color that contrasts to the color of the poppies. The eyes are much larger than the "b" grade, sometimes up to 1/4" across. It appears in conjunction with manganese deposits, and is sometimes heavily enriched with manganese leading to a metallic shine on the finished stones. Also, it sometimes appears with epidote veins running through the jasper, lending a green quartz-like enrichment to the stone. As well, the highest of the high grade (only in personal collections, and never for sale) has green eyes with a red or tan background. These are extremely rare, and I have only ever personally found one nodule. I am finding that it occurs in veins in the basalt, and usually fractures out along the vein. The material has a moderate amount of fracturing, which is to be expected from this earthquake prone area, but solid slabs can be had. I usually trim the rough stone with my hammer prior to chucking into the saw, and then sometimes break the slabs along any fracture lines that show up in sawing. Enough for now, on to the PHOTOS! Thanks for looking!
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 13, 2010 1:22:15 GMT -5
Sure guys! I'll head over to the On the Saw Section and put up pics and a write up! There will be some sales coming up before quartzsite. I'll post links to these when I know more. Thanks!
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Good Earth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 155
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Post by Good Earth on Nov 12, 2010 20:38:43 GMT -5
Greetings all! New to this board, and I thought I should start out by saying hello! Some of you I recognize from other spots on the interweb, but it's nice to have more than one home.
A little about me- I am fairly new to the lapidary world, having been a seriously amateur rock hound for years, but have jumped in feet first with a new stone that I have exclusive access to. I'll be vending in Quartzite in January at Desert Gardens, and am very excited (and nervous) to be attempting this. I am working in the shop every day to get my inventory built, and should have new photo's up every week or so from now through December.
At any rate, thanks in advance for the warm welcome, and I look foreward to getting to know a few more rock nuts!
Joshua
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