Rock Hounds? Any?

[chicken stalker]

Seriously people stop making these threads in which I get addicted to.....first chickens, then canning now my other weakness rocks!! I'll never get off the computer. I'm an Earth Science Teacher! So I majored in geology and secondary ed. Petrology and mineralogy were my favorite courses especially the field trips.
Anyone want to do a rock (or mineral) swap?

 

[Funky Feathers]

Faceting? Oh, YES, it is hard. It takes tools & machinery, and you have to be very good at it. It is an art. It takes precision, skill and lots of time (each piece can take hours). I have seen people doing it and also read up on it. I have 2 tumblers but never tried to facet, that takes a real artisan. Faceting is gem cutting- each side is a facet. If you only want to do a few facets you need a really clean (clear, no inclusions) stone. Many many facets can hide cracks (inclusions). A round ball shaped stone is not faceted. Your diamond engagement ring is faceted. Round stones cut precisely in half & polished well are called Cabochons. I love Cabochons.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
Hey! I'm a geologist! Layed off from the oil industry - But minerology, igneous petrology andd volcanology were my favs! I so shouldn't have gone soft sediment.

 

[Moabite]

Debiraymond,
Fish shaped geode I believe is a volcanic bomb from Black Rock Desert, Nevada
The geode you had cut, I believe is from N. Mexico
The gold/red/white stone is opalite and may be petrified wood and it is from Australia.

I hate rocks, I'm sure you can tell. Anyone else have a rock they want ID'ed?

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
I have a bunch of faceted stones I inherited from my Dad and I don't know what all of them are. He used to facet and had all the equipment and stuff, too. When he got older he sold it all and started shipping stones off to Idar Oberstein to get faceted. He had some really nice stones. My step mother made off with all the nice ones.

 

[debilorrah]

I must be stupid, thinking about it now. It is a $20 fee to join the Victor Valley Gem and Mineral Club. And that give you FULL use of all their facilities, including polishers, cutters, etc. I am an IDIOT!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

My bf is a big rock buff... we have buckets and buckets and buckets full of rocks and cool stuff, everything from agate, to tourmaline, to geodes we collected and cut ourselves.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Tell me more!

 

[Moabite]

I must be stupid, thinking about it now. It is a $20 fee to join the Victor Valley Gem and Mineral Club. And that give you FULL use of all their facilities, including polishers, cutters, etc. I am an IDIOT!

Do it! The ol' tymers have all the knowledge on lapidary and rockhound sites. It sure beets trying to figure it out on your own.​

 

[Moabite]

People can't own rocks. It is a trick that the rocks play on us. After all, we only live about 100 years... rocks on the other hand are like the bones of the earth. They are like store houses of information that tell the stories of life, death, climate, astronomy, the past, the future and much more. The rocks just use us to get to someone who can unlock their secrets.