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I believe it is a type of argillite. It has been found at several locations along the Uwharrie River and some of the contributory creeks to the Uwharrie River. Most of it has a MOH's hardness of 5 to 6. It can be cabbed but doesn't take a high polish. Although I did dig out some that was next to a quartz vein so was a little harder from absorbing more silica and did take a better than average polish for this material.

When out hunting artifacts back in the 70s and early 80s we used to find it as float from east of Denton all the way up to NW Randolph County. Around 1980 we found a vein and got permission from the land overseer and were able to collect a good bit of it. We sold some from that location at shows back in the 80s as "Louetta Picture Rock". But the owner of the land that vein was on passed away and the land was sold off. Part was divided up into residential lots, a road was put through, and the rest was fenced off by a new owner. So we no longer had access.

I've also heard that there used to be a large vein of it by a steel bridge on hwy 64 near Tabernacle that the owners would let mineral clubs do field trips at back in the 1960s. But they got tired of people leaving trash and not filling in their holes so stopped letting anyone dig. Then in the 70s, hwy 64 was widened and rerouted in some stretches and I think that site was lost to collecting altogether as a result.

Here are a few examples that I collected, slabbed and cabbed, back in late 70s and early 80s.
















Larry C.

I've had the softer areas of the brown matrix absorb oil.

Larry C.

I don't cut Malachite, Variscite, Turquoise or Chrysocolla in oil. All can absorb oil.

Also I don't saw Howlite, Tigeriron, and some varieties of picture rock in oil.

Larry C.

*UPDATE: 6/16/2017 This item is now SOLD. Thank you!

This is an Ultra Tec dual arbor lap. It was made for polishing fiber optic products but can be modified to be used as a lapidary flat lap or faceting machine base. It has the same electronics (speed control and CW/OFF/CCW switch) and the same style motor/drive cone system as the Ultra Tech V2 faceting machines.

In addition to having two arbor platens, it does also differ from the V2 in that the mast slot in the table is smaller than the one for a V2 mast and the top portions of the arbor are made to only accept screwback laps with a 5/16"-18tpi LHT screw stud. Two such 8" laps come with this machine. One is nickel plated steel and the other one is aluminum. The nickel plated steel lap can be used with magnetic backed topper laps. The aluminum lap is out of balance and wobbles but could probably be trued up by a machine shop. (Ultra Tec no longer produces these types of screwback laps with a LHT and I have been unable to locate anyone else who carries them.)

This machine could be made to accommodate standard 1/2" arbor hole laps by having a couple of custom made male thread conversion adapters machined (5/16"-18 LHT on the bottom end and 1/2"-20 on the top end) to screw into the existing threaded holes in the tops of the arbors. If you're unsure what these types of adapters are then just search Google images for " male thread conversion adapters".

As far as condition goes the motor, the speed control dial and the CW/OFF/CCW switch all work properly. The underneath side of the nickel plated steel lap has some nickel plate flaking and rust, and a couple of small dings on the outer edge (see photos). And as mentioned earlier the aluminum lap is out of balance. The rubber drive cones are old but still function. This type of drive cone tends to get flat spots where they make contact with the arbor drive platen when they sit for long periods of time which makes them noisy when they run.

This base could be a good start on a DYI project or may also be of interest to anyone who has a V2 machine and would just like the extra motor and electronics for back up parts. It is being offered for $200 plus shipping via Fed Ex Home Delivery. Item ships from North Carolina. Depending on which part of the country you are in, shipping will probably run between $28 - $45. Will ship within the U.S. continental forty-eight states only.

If interested in purchasing PM me your shipping address and the email address that you would like to have your Pay Pal invoice sent to. I may be listing this base on other venues as well so the first person who notifies me of intent to purchase gets priority. Thank you!

The Jump Ringer MKII has four different sized channels in the coil holder because it is designed to cut rings from tiny jewelry sized jump rings up to larger chainmaille artistry rings. Here is a link to a site that has some examples of some cool modern uses of chainmaille.
www.bluebuddhaboutique.com/blog/2015/06/20-epic-designs-that-will-change-how-you-think-of-chainmaille-its-not-just-for-knights/


Larry C.

I know this is a long shot but does anyone have a spare Coil Cutting Holder for a Jump Ringer MKII that they would like to sell? Or know of a jewelry supplier who used to carry them and may have some old stock? These are the ones made by the late Ray Grossman and which will accommodate 15" long coils. I checked with Otto Frei and they have the entire MKII kit, but as far as separate coil cutting holders they only have an earlier single slot version and I am looking for the later multi-slot version that has different width/depth channels on each of the four sides so a wider range of jump ring diameters can be cut without misshaping them. The one I am looking for is shown below.

Inhalation of rock dust should be taken very seriously. Rock dust containing silica can cause silicosis. I've know of two people who have died from it. It's a nasty way to go!

It's best to have a water drip system on any rock grinding being done. Keeping it plenty wet will help but it should be noted that inhaling water mist that contains rock dust can still be harmful. Wear a professional grade dust mask like the ones auto body shop guys use when doing body filler sanding. (These are the ones I use www.zoro.com/3m-disposable-respirator-n95-universal-pk20-8210plus/i/G3205781/?q=3M+8210plus ).
And use mechanical ventilation (vented through a filter to the outdoors if possible).

If using a shop vac, the larger the horse power and CFM rating, and the larger the diameter of the hose the better. And inside the shop vac also use the optional filtration bags made for drywall dust collection.

And if you're still noticing rock dust accumulating in your shop you may want to look into getting a small air filtration system like the ones used in small woodworking shops. woodworker.com/search.asp?search=air+filtration

Larry C.

IMO it resembles Lander Blue more so than Cloud Mountain. I know so many people have tried to pass off turquoise from other sources as being Lander Blue that it makes an honest person as yourself gun-shy about attributing an unprovenanced piece as being Lander Blue. Plus has made others in the market skeptical. And it is true that there have been a few other small "hat mine" deposits of similar looking material that never produced enough material to be commonly known. But I do not recall seeing Chinese Cloud Mountain rough here in the U.S. until the 1990s. So if this was from an old collection from the 1980's or earlier I believe the likelihood that it is U.S. material would be more likely than it being Chinese material. But regardless it's a beautiful piece that should be worn proudly!

Larry C.

Thank you Don and Tela for the responses!

Larry C.