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Post by stephan on Mar 4, 2021 22:50:11 GMT -5
When you said tiny, tiny orbs, you weren't kidding! If I had that in my hands, I doubt I would have even known it had orbs. I actually didn’t know until I polished it. I thought it was “just” brecciated. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 5, 2021 2:14:41 GMT -5
stephan - that cab was amazing!  I've been waiting all week to post these pictures. This was some George West Petrified Wood courtesy of Mel ( Sabre52 ) that I slabbed earlier this week. I was really surprised to find this on the inside of the rough:   Wow, Jason! I bet that was a surprise to see! That is an incredible piece of petrified wood! I have several hundred preforms cut waiting in line for me to cab them...but I couldn't resist getting on the trim saw today and cutting these into a couple preforms. I'm dying to see what these will look like cabbed! |
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Post by stephan on Mar 5, 2021 8:43:34 GMT -5
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,509
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 5, 2021 17:32:46 GMT -5
Jason, Looks like that one is some type of fern or palm root and those are vascular bundles you've cut across. That George West region was a tropical forest. Lots of odd ferns, palms, palm root, snakewood and other weird woods found now days only in Central or South America. When I first saw those pictures I was thinking the orbs were fungus or rot spots in the wood but those bundles seem to have very symmetrical and similar organized bundle arrangements. You just never know what will show up when you cut wood from that region. You got you a great find there....Mel
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 5, 2021 22:09:15 GMT -5
Jason, Looks like that one is some type of fern or palm root and those are vascular bundles you've cut across. That George West region was a tropical forest. Lots of odd ferns, palms, palm root, snakewood and other weird woods found now days only in Central or South America. When I first saw those pictures I was thinking the orbs were fungus or rot spots in the wood but those bundles seem to have very symmetrical and similar organized bundle arrangements. You just never know what will show up when you cut wood from that region. You got you a great find there....Mel Mel, that is SO cool! Thanks for chiming in on this one. So, basically I hit the lottery with cutting this one...it showed no indications on the outside...and it's just the best way it happened to fit in the saw. |
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Post by stephan on Mar 6, 2021 0:12:58 GMT -5
Jason, Looks like that one is some type of fern or palm root and those are vascular bundles you've cut across. That George West region was a tropical forest. Lots of odd ferns, palms, palm root, snakewood and other weird woods found now days only in Central or South America. When I first saw those pictures I was thinking the orbs were fungus or rot spots in the wood but those bundles seem to have very symmetrical and similar organized bundle arrangements. You just never know what will show up when you cut wood from that region. You got you a great find there....Mel Now that you say it, I can’t unsee the vascular bundles. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,509
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 6, 2021 17:55:53 GMT -5
Jason. I've cut a lot of George West region wood and have only stumbled upon one tiny example similar to yours and mine does not have such good definition of the vascular bundles. Similar color though. Unfortunately I missed a good crosscut of the structures on mine too. I liked it so much I salvaged every little piece and cut these three cabs. I'm not exactly a great cabber but the material does take a nice polish. Here's a pic....Mel  fern by lonerider652000, on Flickr |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 7, 2021 2:16:25 GMT -5
Jason. I've cut a lot of George West region wood and have only stumbled upon one tiny example similar to yours and mine does not have such good definition of the vascular bundles. Similar color though. Unfortunately I missed a good crosscut of the structures on mine too. I liked it so much I salvaged every little piece and cut these three cabs. I'm not exactly a great cabber but the material does take a nice polish. Here's a pic....Mel fern by lonerider652000, on Flickr Mel, I hope you don't regret putting the piece I have in the box you sent!  I think those cabs look spectacular! I hope the ones I'm going to do come out at least half as nice as those! I have two large teardrops from two small slabs traced out...and I have a third small slab that I'm going to wait on for now. I might get them done this coming week. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,509
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 7, 2021 9:14:56 GMT -5
No regrets Jason. I seldom slab or cab anymore as all my ancient machinery is about shot. And my rock working equipment is in bad shape too *L* . I'm actually cleaning out my rock shop to make room for other stuff. I just came to the conclusion that even with diamond equipment, rock work just a takes up too much time. One quickly discovers that one has enough rock that it would take three hundred years to cut it all. One of my favorite things is seeing what's inside a rock after it's cut.If some winds up with other folks and they cut it and post pics, I get to see what's inside and enjoy it without all the personal saw time so you're actually dong me a favor....Mel
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Post by stephan on Mar 10, 2021 13:52:38 GMT -5
This piece of Morgan Hill PJ has some amazing patterns -- like bubbles rising from the surface of frothing liquid. Unfortunately, it is criss-crossed with fractures that would never hold up to sawing and cabbing, so I simply polished three faces (not a great picture -- I will try to get a better one):  DSC_3095_Poppy jasper display piece by Stephan T., on Flickr A piece of B-grade OJ (probably "B-" TBH) rediscovered trim. The orbs and fortifications are so pale, I probably wouldn't have bothered if it weren't for the dendrites lending a little contrast. That, and the price of higher-quality rough. Disclaimer: Ocean jasper is not true jasper, but high siliceous (agatized) rhyolite:  DSC_3132_Some B-grade Ocean jasper by Stephan T., on Flickr A one-off slablet that was in a small box of (mostly) Small MHPJ rough. The color, though, looks more like bird's-eye rhyolite to me. Nice markings, and I kind of like the color. Reminds me of old-time sepia photos. Originally, the corners were sharper, but, due to some soft spots, I severely dipped the girdle, and this was the easiest way to fix it:  DSC_3128_Probable bird's eye rhyolite by Stephan T., on Flickr |
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Post by stephan on Mar 17, 2021 12:19:32 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2021 12:47:36 GMT -5
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Mar 17, 2021 14:00:42 GMT -5
stephan, your scrap heap makes my meager pile of rocks jealous! That one is lovely, healed fractures and all.
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Post by stephan on Mar 17, 2021 15:50:13 GMT -5
stephan , your scrap heap makes my meager pile of rocks jealous! That one is lovely, healed fractures and all. LOL. Maybe "trim heap" would have been a better term. I did not mean to imply a lack of quality, just a state of daintiness.  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 17, 2021 17:24:40 GMT -5
Here's a piece of Mariposa Poppy Jasper. I'll probably be working the cab later this week. This one came from stephan.  |
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Post by stephan on Mar 17, 2021 21:44:33 GMT -5
Here's a piece of Mariposa Poppy Jasper. I'll probably be working the cab later this week. This one came from stephan. Looking good. I’ll keep eyes peeled for the results. |
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Post by stephan on Mar 17, 2021 21:45:35 GMT -5
Those green orbs are amazing. |
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joningram
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2021
Posts: 4
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Post by joningram on Mar 18, 2021 14:34:01 GMT -5
MHPJ. Close ups of what I call the better ones. I love working with this material. Surprises are often found.     These are amazing! Thanks for sharing! |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,509
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 19, 2021 13:05:01 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Was working in my shop yesterday and went to move my ten pound tumbler barrel and found it was full of rocks ready for prepoish. A few of the pieces we poppy jasper so I thought I'd post a few pics. First big one ( both sides) is a palm sized Rio grande Poppy I was working on for a paper weight. This stuff is actually orbicular Tiger tail Jasper. Orbs strictly under exterior crust.  DSCN1263 by lonerider652000, on Flickr  DSCN1262 by lonerider652000, on Flickr Next bunch are Morgan Hill Poppy  DSCN1265 by lonerider652000, on Flickr Final batch a few from our place at Hunters Valley  DSCN1264 by lonerider652000, on Flickr |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 24, 2021 21:40:18 GMT -5
Had to wait a few days to post this on Odin's Day. Finished this one up the other night. Mariposa Poppy Jasper courtesy of stephan. The red is on the surface layers and the white is on a lower layer. I wish I could get pics that would capture this effect...   |
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IMG_7158_Micro-orbicular, brecciated Cache Creek jasper cabochon by Stephan T., on Flickr
IMG_7169_Micro-orbicular, brecciated Cache Creek jasper cabochon (back) by Stephan T., on Flickr
If I have enough time today I’ll post pics of the third one.
... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew