Tag: geode

Unusual black chalcedony geode and other anomalies

Unusual black chalcedony geode and other anomalies

This is only the second black geode I have encountered on The Carver. This is dense black chalcedony, not basalt. Other photographs shown here are of the cabs which I cut from this black geode. Rock #5343I have never before encountered pitch black chalcedony in a Carver geode. Chalcedony is a micro-crystalline quartz (silica) common in many agates. It can be many colors but is most often translucent or transparent. Pitch black coloration is, from my experience, very rare. Click on the images below to view enlarged versions of this examples. Rock #5336 Rock #5248 Rock #5241 One stone yielded a slab that I turned into this fancy-cut designer free form cab (Rock #5325), as well as stone #5258 below. Rock #5325 Rock #5258 Last but not least. . . This small flat-topped cab features a crystal filled vug and the ‘fill tube’ (term likely not geologically correct) all from […]

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Newest cuttings reveal four agate nodules, one geode, and one fortification agate in a single cabochon! …And many more cool stones

Newest cuttings reveal four agate nodules, one geode, and one fortification agate in a single cabochon! …And many more cool stones

Click on the images below so you can zoom in on the details! Here we go: Rock #5300See enlarged photo below Detail of Rock #5300See four agate nodules, one geode, and one fortification agate in a single cabochon Rock #5291Reminds me of Lloyd Bridges and Sea Hunt — an underwater scene (for those too young to remember Sea Hunt) Rock #5293A fancy free-form agate Rock #5299Looks cracked but it is not. It’s brecciated jasper with silica between the fragments Detail of Rock #5299 Rock #5298My favorite type of stone for cutting — jasp-agate with crystal lined vug Rock #5305The white top and bottom of this stone evidencing another ‘Bullfrog’ agate, named by me Rock #5337Geode in vein agate Rock #5338Designer free form agate cab cut from the above vein agate (Rock #5337) Rock #5308Spectacular flat topped jasp-agate cab with two blue fortification agate inclusions The three stones below — #5317, […]

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More Brand New Geodes from The Carver Agate Field and My Bullwheel

More Brand New Geodes from The Carver Agate Field and My Bullwheel

Through the winter, I have cut many geodes and other cool stuff. You have seen many of the cabs that I have cut and polished but the geodes, while cut open, have not been yet been published here yet. This is because the cabs are small enough to process on my Cabking, but the geodes are in many cases too large for processing and polishing except on my Bullwheel. The Bullwheel Because of the larger size of the geodes, they do not easily polish well on the Cabking, which only has a 2-inch wide polishing surface. The Bullwheel (see photo above) has a 4-inch wide abrasive belt which is much better for the larger specimens. The Bullwheel takes interchangeable 4-inch wide belts in 80, 100, 220, 320, 400, and 600 grits. The polishing of the larger specimens occurs utilizing increasingly finer grits, beginning with 80 and ending with 600 grit. […]

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7 Totally Different Agate Specimens

7 Totally Different Agate Specimens

My last blog posting highlighted cabs I cut in January, 2023. The purpose of these postings is to highlight the incredible variability of material from The Carver. This posting shows actual specimens rather than cabs. Enjoy! Rock #4963: Agate Geode Rock #4958 : Carnelian Fortification Agate Rock #4975 : Agate Geode Rock #4948 : Geode with Fortification Agate Rock #4960 : Geode with Crystalline Center Rock #4949 : Fortification Agate Rock #4961 : Fortification Agate, with yellow-orange dots creating the color

Carver Agate Field Variety, January 2023

Carver Agate Field Variety, January 2023

January in Maine is about keeping the wood stove full, dealing with ice and snow, and best of all, some time to cut and polish remarkably varied colors and types of agates, geodes, and jaspers that continue to come from The Carver Agate Field in Alpine, TX. As a group, these 11 cabochons (cabs), as well as the 7 rock specimens which will appear in the next blog posting, again tell the tale. Individually there are several quite unique and interesting stones for the rock enthusiast. I would recommend you view these specimens as large as possible. You can open each image and enlarge it by clicking on it. Rock # 4972 : Slab from a geode! Notice a portion of the crystal lined geode pocket at lower left side of stone. Rock #4951 : Carnelian (red quartz) fortification agate cab Rock #4937 : I suggest you enlarge this photo […]

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Season’s Greetings with a Red Ribboned Geode!

Season’s Greetings with a Red Ribboned Geode!

A striking new geode and cab is cut as The Carver Gallery and Shop reopens after a two and a half month hiatus during home renovations! Well, that explains why you have not heard from me in a while. Now back in business, the geode and the cab cut from the geode display brilliant red ribbons around the crystal lined geode pocket. If that is not cool enough, how about the sky blue between the dual red ribbons! Red ribbons wrap the “Christmas geode’s” sky blue center surrounding the crystal lined pocket Seems “Merry Christmasy” and a harbinger for a Happy New Year for me and, hopefully, you all as well.

Yellow Fortification Agate Geode Cabochon

Yellow Fortification Agate Geode Cabochon

Rock #4876Click to enlarge This is a beautiful cab cut from a cross cut slab from a Carver geode. The crystal-lined geode center sparkles in the center of the yellow fortification agate. The sagenitic material (green and brown stuff) along the top edge of the stone indicates that this was the bottom of the geode when formed in a lava gas pocket. The sagenitic material likely fell off the inside top of the gas bubble pocket to the bottom of the gas bubble pocket where it was encapsulated by bluish agate (silica) as it filled the gas bubble pocket. See photo 4877 below which is the same stone photographed with the sagenitic material on the bottom of the stone as it would have been formed. Rock #4877Click to enlarge

Mystery Crystals Appear AGAIN:  New information from new specimen

Mystery Crystals Appear AGAIN: New information from new specimen

My June 2021 blog posting identified long petite black mineral crystals which had not been seen by me before in over 14 years of cutting thousands of ‘Carver agate field’ geodes. The June 2021 find was the only exemplar I had seen–until now! The new specimen photos below offer better views of the crystals. Interestingly, the crystals in both specimens appear to have grown out of and through an otherwise perfectly formed clear crystal lined geode center. The crystals, while appearing very fragile, are actually quite robust, being resistant to damage from washing the stone (after being cut open) to remove cutting oil, and from polishing on a bull wheel grinder. There is tremendous vibration generated from using the bull wheel, which turns very high RPMs and utilizes a 100 grit belt as part of the process. So, the crystals are not fragile or water soluble, but are very rare […]

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This Blue Geode Is Different

This Blue Geode Is Different

Blue banded agate nodules or geodes are not uncommon from The Carver Agate Field, but they most always seem to be blue from the outer rind inward to a white euhedral quartz center. Euhedral quartz are white or transparent visible crystals. The very center of this specimen and the area between the rind and the blue area are examples of euhedral quartz crystals. Usually, these crystals are seen in the center hollow of the cavity in a geode. In blue nodules, which do not have a hollow center or cavity, the center of the nodule, for some reason, is often white. Rock #4739 In this specimen, however, when the geode initially formed, it had no center–just a crystal lined cavity. Later, the blue colored part of this specimen was formed when a liquid or semi-liquid silica entered the original crystal lined cavity and filled it (almost) with blue banded agate […]

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Zipper Geode (I found it, I named it!)

Zipper Geode (I found it, I named it!)

This is one half of a fractured geode which shows a much earlier fracture that was healed by quartz crystals filling the earlier fracture. While it is very common to find geodes with fractures that are filled (or healed) by secondary deposition of silica in the crack (fracture), it is quite unusual to find that the secondary deposition results in macro crystalline (visible to the eye) quartz crystals extruded from the crack. To me it looks like a crystal quartz zipper! Rock #3998