chasfire
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 180
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Post by chasfire on Jan 19, 2009 19:26:45 GMT -5
Well, I went hounding Saturday and was fortunate to locate a seam of agate that I had never seen before.(at least not in Washington) It initially looked like it was white jasper surrounding blue banded agate. Here is what one piece looks like. I decided to check and make sure it was white jasper so I got out my trusty knife and low and behold I was able to make a very nice scratch in the white material. So the white is not jasper or agate.(bummer) I next decided to see if it would polish, since the blue is agate. Here is the result. It turned out that the blue is actually clear agate. I still don't know what the white material is but it really looks neat polished with the agate, and if I can cut and polish it in the right orientation, the agate looks like blue agate. Thanks for looking and if anyone has an idea on what the white material is, please let me know. chasfire
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jan 19, 2009 20:03:23 GMT -5
That is COOL!! Wow, it looks so clean!
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Post by frane on Jan 19, 2009 21:19:01 GMT -5
I have no idea what it is but it sure looks nice! I am glad that it polishes up for you! Fran
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Post by sitnwrap on Jan 19, 2009 23:11:53 GMT -5
I don't know what it is either, but I know I like it.
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mossyrockhound
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2011
Posts: 1,278
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Post by mossyrockhound on Jan 20, 2009 19:38:53 GMT -5
I think it is a mix of white opal with agate. Opal is fairly soft, but polishes well. You can check it out by getting a junk piece fairly warm on the sanding or polishing wheel and see if it cracks. Opal has a high concentration of water and if the surface exceeds 212F, it will cause it to crack. It will look like a bunch of "micro-blisters", unless you get it really hot in which case it will crack all the way through. This isn't a positive test but will be a good indication because opal just can't take heat.
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MikeS
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2009
Posts: 1,081
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Post by MikeS on Jan 21, 2009 0:55:54 GMT -5
I agree, the white part is opal....
Mike
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Jan 21, 2009 12:47:57 GMT -5
Interesting find. Nice shine too.
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Jan 21, 2009 20:18:13 GMT -5
Great find Charlie! It sure polishes up nicely. I'm a pushover for anything 'banded agate'. Steve
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Jan 21, 2009 22:13:25 GMT -5
Wow, that's a cool combo!
It is interesting how frequently clear agate/quartz looks blue until you get matrix or surrounding material off.
Chuck
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Post by Bejewelme on Jan 22, 2009 23:15:15 GMT -5
WOW, that is really cool!!! Nice find and it looks so pristine!
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,773
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Post by adrian65 on Jan 22, 2009 23:46:04 GMT -5
Beautiful, it looks like porcelain. The shine is blinding.
Adrian
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franzibear
starting to spend too much on rocks
Let's rock
Member since October 2008
Posts: 139
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Post by franzibear on Feb 3, 2009 22:32:13 GMT -5
It looks so good, I feel like eating it--so it must be opal.... maybe precious opal?
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hope
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2008
Posts: 477
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Post by hope on Feb 4, 2009 14:25:41 GMT -5
I thought it looked like some new kind of ice cream sandwich. lol
Very neat.
Hope
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