Month: October 2022

Crystal Oddity Encapsulated in a Blue Fortification Agate

Crystal Oddity Encapsulated in a Blue Fortification Agate

This is a cross section of a blue agate nodule from The Carver Agate Field. Rock #4914 The small nodule, approximately 2 inches across, was initially cut and lightly shaped to capture the fortification agate in the center of the stone, as well as the ‘white eye’ on the left-hand side of the stone. And for even more interest, there was a contrasting brown spot on the upper right-hand part of the stone. That explains why I was cutting this stone in the way it was cut. Rock #4914 magnified Well, once cut and polished and subjected to modest magnification, the brown spot suddenly and unexpectedly became the highlight of the stone and the subject of this blog. Magnification, as shown above, produced a highly angular brown crystalline structure and not shards of broken or fragmented stone encased later in the agate. When this agate nodule formed inside of a […]

Read More

A Ghost and Four Other Carver Agates Cut This Week

A Ghost and Four Other Carver Agates Cut This Week

The most interesting of the five stones is the “ghost,” shown below in two different angles. Click each image to see an enlarged version. Rock #4910 Rock #4909 Next we have a yellow fortification agate in an “octopus garden beneath the sea.” Rock #4894       Photo 4906 below is the slab from another nodule creating a cut and polished agate which looked blue before being cut and more red to orange after being fully polished.      Rock #4906 Rock #4906 close-up Photo 4896 is a jasper/agate free form designer cab. I just liked the colors.     Rock #4896 For the lapidists out there, photo 4899 below, which I call the flower garden agate. is the most interesting cut that I have done in a while. Usually I take a nodule, cut a thin slab from a crosscut of the nodule, and then grind and polish, as is the case in all […]

Read More