Moss mission

[kyoti]

Some amazing moss agate in this post. Those thundereggs are just Wow! 😍😍

[stephan]

Nov 15, 2020 15:06:45 GMT -5 @rocks2dust said:

Nov 14, 2020 21:25:23 GMT -5 @jadedvision said:

The similarities in agate between different areas has always drawn my interest, especially when they’re comparable to some great old time favorites.

Yes, some can be quite similar. I would have a tough time detecting the difference between Oregon's Sheep Creek Plume:

and stephan 's old Valley Springs slab:

DSC_1737_Valley Springs Moss & Cloud Agate by Stephan T., on Flickr

Same blackish moss/dendrite filaments jacketed in ochre/gold, same cloudy white areas (not as obvious in my Sheep Creek example, but they are there), etc. No doubt, they were more readily identifiable in their rough states. Seems the more you cut down many varieties, the more they can lose their identities.

Nice macro.  They do, indeed look pretty similar.  If I’m not mistaken, some Graveyard Point can look pretty similar too, right?

[Deleted]

Nov 15, 2020 20:29:52 GMT -5 stephan said:

If I’m not mistaken, some Graveyard Point can look pretty similar too, right?

The colors, definitely. The plumes can differ, but some slabs of GYP with small plumes and mostly dendrites could certainly be mistaken. Sometimes, we can tell more about origin from the outer rind of agates and jaspers than we could from just looking at a cab or slab.

Same with moss, and some plume or banded, thundereggs: they can be a lot easier to narrow down the source if the cab or slab retains a bit of the rhyolite shell. And then there is the curve thrown when patterned stones like agates and jaspers get cut in non-traditional orientations, which can produce confusingly non-typical patterns. I've often wished that cabbers would scratch an ID on the backs or girdles of obscure and non-typically patterned gems they make - even abbreviated, that would be a blessing to future generations of owners.

[toiv0]

Nov 7, 2020 21:26:19 GMT -5 @jadedvision said:

Made a couple more moss cuts today.
This first one cut a nice slab, the following cuts the moss disappeared and it turned into more of a banded agate.
I’m trying to cut as much variety as I can, but it’s hard to get away from priday. I really dig the color change in this one.

I have had buckets of Pridays and seem to only cut plain ones. When I buy do I look for a certain bed? Maybe I have to cut thousands before I get a nice one.