Tag: video

Maine Coast Plasma Jasper: New Video

Maine Coast Plasma Jasper: New Video

Maine coast plasma jasper is not a native stone. It was carried here by the continental glaciers that covered Maine with 10,000 feet of ice a mere 14,000 years ago. When the ice melted, it left behind on parts of the Maine coast this greenish plasma jasper. The stone is many shades of green to grey, with white flecks and an ‘other worldly’ plasma pattern, similar to a space nebula as seen through a powerful telescope. The jasper is hard and fracture resistant. It polishes, but not easily. It has a waxy texture which is key to identification. It shows a conchoidal fracture. I don’t know the bedrock source of this material except that it is north of here in Maine or Canada. Rock #4337 : Click to enlarge Rock #4338 : Click to enlarge Rock #4367 : Click to enlarge

Carver Agate Field Cabachons: New Video

Carver Agate Field Cabachons: New Video

I have been cutting more agates from The Carver. A few are cool enough to make me “make them shiny”! I have made a short video of some of the new cabs and hope you like it. Examples Be sure to click on each one to see the larger version! Rock #4629 Rock #4618 Rock #4616 Rock #4626

Fragmented Filament Agate from The Carver Agate Field + Video

Fragmented Filament Agate from The Carver Agate Field + Video

Between gardening, yard work, and carpentry projects, I have been cutting a few stones this summer. The video below gives you a quick look at what I have been up to. Most of the stones are pretty, but one in particular (the fragmented filament agate) looks like a bottle full of eyebrows or eyelashes. You may ask “What the hell is a fragmented filament agate?” Well, I am going to tell you. Nodules, geodes and agates often form in the inside of gas bubbles that form in lava. The bubbles form while the lava is still hot and pliable. Later, after the lava has cooled, water containing silica and minerals permeate the lava and cracks in the lava entering the ‘bubble’ (technically called a vesicle or vug). Some of these minerals and silica will form a thin layer on the inside of the bubble. This thin layer sometimes scales off […]

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TexasAmethystAgate Museum, Art Gallery, and Shop: A Video Tour and More!

TexasAmethystAgate Museum, Art Gallery, and Shop: A Video Tour and More!

Watch the tour and then read below for more details on the completion of the new headquarters: The Museum The wall shelves display the best and most diverse specimens I have found on The Carver Agate Field. The shelves are made from local cedar trees I cut on my property and had milled by a neighbor on his ‘bandmill’ sawmill. They are rough but work well! The work and equipment tables are all made from wooden pallets I salvaged from the shop construction project. I added wooden legs with roller wheels on each to allow the easy movement of all the tables. They can be locked in place by brakes on each wheel. The table tops are left over sheathing from the building construction project. The black plastic cabinets and drawers also have wheels and brakes. These contain polished museum specimens that could not fit on the wall shelves. The […]

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YouTube Video: Rock Cutting and Polishing!

YouTube Video: Rock Cutting and Polishing!

I recently posted 7 new picture galleries of over 100 rocks from the ‘deep pit’ found on The Carver. The ‘Deep Pit Agate, Amethyst, Smoky Quartz Geode Gallery’ is divided into 7 separate galleries: 1:  Geodes and Nodules before Cutting 2:  Amethyst Geodes 3:  Citrine Geodes 4:  Banded Blue and Gray Agates and Geodes 5:  Smoky Quartz Geodes 6:  Calcite Geodes 7:  Miscellaneous  These galleries display cut and polished specimens from the ‘deep pit’ and reflect over a year’s worth of work. My YouTube video shows this week’s find of over 15  pounds of new ‘deep pit’ agates and geodes and demonstrates how I cut and polish them in my shop. Be sure to enlarge the video screen for better viewing. Enjoy!     The rock I am holding here is a deep pit agate.