Why Covington Rock Saws are Superior

We are now carrying the Covington brand of saws and lapidary machines. They are a little more but they are well worth every penny.

And here is why...

1. Covington Saws are100% made in the USA. Everything is heavier duty, stronger, thicker, etc.

2. Covington saws use more oil in the reservoir at a time. This may sound like a bad thing but think of it this way: The more oil you have in the reservoir the longer you can cut without heating up the oil and the blade. This means longer cutting times with less wear on the blade. The blade is the big consumable in cutting rocks and cutting down the replacement cost is a great advantage.

3. Covington saws have a more accurate cross feed mechanism. When you are slabbing you want a very precise thickness of your slabs. Covington vises crank at a rate of 1/16" per turn (4 cranks per 1/4"). Covington's saws eliminate the guess work out of slabbing. It also saves on the grinding process. You have less to remove when making cabs.

4. Covington's 12", 14", and 16" slab saws all convert to a trim saw in less than a minute. NO other brand of saw has this incredibly versatile function. This eliminates the need for a separate trim saw which will save you about $500 dollars. This feature alone makes the Covington saw a great choice.

5. My favorite!! Covington saws use as horizontal clamp. This means the rock is clamped from front to back. This may not seem like a big deal but when the rock is being pushed through the blade the horizontal clamp gives the rock a push from the back making the pressure on the rock equal and leaves the rock with no place to go.

A Vertical clamp is very prone to allowing the rock to twist out of the clamp as the rock goes through the blade. It is when the rock comes loose from the clamp that you loose your blades. Once a blade is bent it never cuts the same smooth cut again. If for no other reason than the clamp, the Covington saws are excellent!

Come in and see the quality difference, or visit Covington Rock Saws.

Some Park City Mining History

Here are some historical facts related to Park City, Utah and mining.

Prospecting was in full swing in 1868 when some high-grade ores were found in Little Cottonwood Canyon, which led to a thorough search to the area around Park City.

Walker & Webster filed claims in 1869, the first on record.

In June of 1872 Rector Stern discovered the ore deposit that became the Ontario Mine. These are his words:

"I camped in a brush shanty for six months at the branch just below the Ontario, waiting for the snow to melt off. I went then to what is called the Badger mine, about the 15th of June, 1872, we discovered the Ontario mine. There stood right near this mine a pine tree, and near by was a fine spring. We camped under this tree and got water from the spring. When we discovered this mine we found a little knoll sticking out of the ground about 2 inches…We had the rock assayed and it went from 100 to 400 ounces per ton. We sold the mine to Hearst and Stanley on the 21st of August, 1872 for $27,000."

From 1877 to 1904 the Ontario produced more than 37,619,047 ounces of silver valued at $34,055,950.78. The Ontario mine was the biggest and richest in the Park City Mining District. There were others that produced a good amount as well. In the mining community and the mineral world, Park City is still considered one of the greats. It ranks up there with Butte, Montana and Silverton, Colorado. Every mineral collector in Utah should have a least one good mineral specimen from there.

Park City specimens are becoming more and more difficult to come by and the value is going up just as fast. We have Pyrite, Tetrahedrite, and some others from there. If you'd like information about our current selection, please call 1-888-ROCKSHOP (888-762-5746).

How to Re-use Your PSA Sanding Discs

Lapidary hint:

Many of us use the reusable sanding discs when polishing. The problem is the adhesive on the back tends to stick to everything, making them hard to reuse.

A while ago a lady came in with her sanding discs to ask some questions, and I noticed that she put them on wax paper so they pealed off easily. Then she put them in a zip lock bag. I said to myself "Self, why didn't you think of that?"

Sometimes it is just simple ideas that make our work so much easier. She was glad to share her idea with everyone.

Dugway Geode Beds Maps and Directions

Thank you, Paul!

Looking for More Information?

If you are searching for an article on a specific topic, use the "search this blog" feature. Scroll to the top of the screen. In the upper left corner of the blue bar is a white search box. Type in your topic, and then click the "search this blog" button. I hope you find this blog useful. Feel free to leave comments!

If you still don't find what you're looking for, post a question or e-mail me at rockshop@rocks4u.com.

Rose Quartz is a Versatile Rock to Work

Rose quartz is a massive crystalline form of quartz that is colored by
manganese or titanium. The color can vary from deep rose red to pale pink. The price of rose quartz varies with the color. The pale pink is fairly inexpensive.

Famous deposits exist in North and South Dakota, Colorado, Brazil, and China.

You will often find rose quartz used in jewelry or as a carving stone.

To polish rose quartz in your rock tumbler, follow the instructions for agate (these will be the general instructions for most tumblers). Rose quartz is easy to work with, but watch out for natural fractures. It is common to have broken pieces come out of each stage. Definitely take these out of the tumbler before continuing on to the next stage.

Sand Spikes- Wagons West! (A Mineral Mystery)

Sand spikes are a type of concretion that formed in a very small area on the California/Mexican border.

I can't include pictures but I can give a graphic description. They range in size from about 1 inch to 3 feet. There is a "ball" or cluster of small balls on one end and a tail that tapers off.

Mineralogically, they are calcite based and are completely included with sand. The Barite Roses from Oklahoma do the same thing.

These spikes were first discovered lying loose on the ground from weathering. It wasn't long before people discovered they were in layers below the surface. One well-documented layer was at 3 feet deep and another was at 8 feet.

If that isn't enough to confound people, there is no evidence of fossils of any kind. No trace fossils, no seed fossils, they are just the sand and calcite.

But wait there's more! It wasn't long before everyone involved realized that they all had one other very unique characteristic. In uncovering the beds of them underground they all pointed directly west! The tail of 95% off the ones underground point west--as west as a compass.

Why were they pointing west? No one knows to this day. There have been many theories but so far none can be proven. Some are as funny as aliens. Others think they are some kind of growth that blew over in a windstorm.

When I was growing up every rock shop in the country had a basket of these curiosities. Several dealers went in and used heavy machinery to mine them. Unfortunately they were too soft and most were destroyed. Still many people have one in their collection.

We would love to see them if you have them. E-mail photos to rockshop@rocks4u.com, and we'll post them.

Rubies & Sapphires...

Most people are surprised to discover that rubies and sapphires are brother and sister. Both belong to the two child family corundum.

Corundum is a very simple mineral chemically, being only aluminum oxide. Corundum is second only to diamond in hardness. It has been the start of many a wars in history, and has created nature's most coveted and expensive gemstones.

Corundum is the family name and the two children are ruby and sapphire. Emery use to be a third child but it was the black sheep of the family and was cast out. It is non-gem grade opaque green. There was no sparkle to its history.

Rubies are always red. Not blueish red or purple, but RED. Any other color of corundum is called sapphire. Historically, sapphires were blue and other colors were discarded. Today other colors are called "fancy sapphires" and are almost as valuable as blue sapphires--with good cause since they are as beautiful!

There are many adjectives attached to rubies at the various jewelry stores in order to sell them. "Pigeon Blood", "Thai", "Rose", etc. are often used to describe rubies. The true standard of comparison are Burmese rubies. In the remote area of Mogok, Myanmar (formerly Burma) is the gemstone capital of the world--especially for rubies. Closed to outsiders, few westerners have ever been there. The BEST rubies in the world are mined there using century old techniques. Most people have never seen a magnificent ruby from there, as they are so rare and expensive--consistently bringing tens of thousands of dollars per carat. Some of the best bring in as much as $250,000 per carat. That makes gemstones a great source of portable wealth. It makes rubies the best deal also. Rubies are at least 50 times more rare than diamonds and yet only cost a few times as much. Besides that, gemstones almost always appreciate!

Gemstones in general and rubies in particular make the best gifts as they will never wilt, melt in your mouth, or depreciate. What more could a woman (or man) want?

Sapphires are more common than rubies and hence not as expensive. Most don't top over a few hundred dollars per carat and yet are very attractive stones in color and clarity.

There are many places around the world where sapphires are mined. These include: Mozambique, Madagascar, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. In the U.S. they are found in gem quality in Montana and North Carolina. Non-gem grade material is found even more abundantly.

Rubies are red due to chromium. It is also responsible for making rubies fluorescent. Sapphires are colored by a ratio of iron and titanium. Every possible ratio produces a different color. Matched sets of sapphires are remarkable as the ratio must be exact to reproduce the same color again.

Pick up a copy of Fred Ward's book "Rubies and Sapphires" to learn more. He covers legends and lore, how they started wars, how to buy, how to care for them, and shows loads of pictures of famous stones.

Crazy Lace Agate Basics

Zig-zag and lace are two words that best describe the pattern in crazy lace agate, which consists of many irregular curves and twists. The unusual pattern is caused by the agate forming on top of other crystals of aragonite or calcite. The layers of agate form a contour over the other crystals making this lace-like pattern. The sharper the crystals or more pointy the crystals of aragonite or calcite, the more the zig-zag the pattern appears.

Imagine if you strip down your bed to the mattress and put lots of tall kitchen utensils on the bed standing straight up and really close together. Now start placing thin blankets and sheets of red, white, gray, peach, and yellow, etc. on them. Once you have a foot of thin sheets and blankets draped over the utensils, you take a big saw and cut a cross section of the bed and blankets so you can see the inside. This is what Crazy Lace Agate looks like. And it is not much more comfortable to sleep on than the bed we just made.

The coloration of Crazy Lace Agate is usually a gray matrix with the bands being reds, browns, and yellows. If you are very lucky, you'll get greens and blues. In the 1920's to the 1970's it was common to dye this material all kinds of colors. Since the dyed material was sold in rock shops and tourist stops, question pieces you come across that are unusually colored.

Crazy Lace Agate has become harder and harder to come by. We don't currently have any in stock.

We have the greatest rock shop community!

Rockpick Legend Co. started as Lewis Rock Shop in 1964. Over the many years, a great "community" of customers has built the Rock Shop. We're never quite sure how to address our newsletters, since "Dear Customer" seems really cold, and not truly applicable to the relationship we feel exists. Most of our customers are friends and comrades. Here are a couple of unbelieveable, but true stories:

When we bought the Rock Shop in 1995 there was a rhodochrosite necklace in the store that Anita really wanted to keep, but we couldn't afford it. When Anita sold it, she mentioned how much she loved the necklace, too. A year later the "customer" that bought the necklace sent it to Anita with a note saying that they had enjoyed it for a year, and now she could enjoy it, too. We cried.

Our youngest child, Zeke was born in 1999. "Customers" brought us baby gifts. Our hearts were touched.

We've had "customers" give our children gifts based on the individual interests of the different children. "Customers" have brought us souveniers of their vacations--including some beautiful Mexican wall hangings. "Customers" have brought us lunch. We've received so many displays of kindness from our "customers," that we can't even mention them all here, even though we appreciate each and every one of them.

When we started this blog we sent an e-mail to our rock shop community asking them to help us compile copies of our 10 years of newsletters. Once again, we owe a great big thank you for the help we've received! I'd especially like to thank Sandra B. for sending in 11 articles.

Thank you all. Please comment on the articles if you've had experience with some rock, or been to some site. We'd really like to hear about it. If you'd like an article on a specific topic, please request it. E-mail me at rockshop@rocks4u.com.

Sincerely,
Rick Dalrymple

Blue Agate from Mexico

Blue Agate from Mexico is a very attractive blue with some tan matrix (most of it comes off in the tumbler). Most pieces are smaller than a silver dollar so it is already to go into the tumbler.

This material is very rare. It was mostly mined in the early to late 1980's and has been gone since then. When it was available, the wholesale price was around $25 per pound. We found an old time rockhound in Colorado who had a stash of it, and we were able to negotiate for his entire collection.

To see a picture of it before and after polished you can follow this link;

Blue Agate from Mexico, polished & rough.

Montana Moss Agate--A Great Rock to Tumble

Montana Moss Agate is famous for the "moss" patterns inside the clear to milky agate. The "moss" isn't really moss but water deposits. They form as black fern-like or tree-like patterns that resemble moss.

Often there is some redish to brownish banding. When you have both the moss and the banding it is quite spectacular. Unfortunately there isn't much you can tell from the outside.

These agate nodules are pretty bland on the outside. It's the inside you get excited over.

You can see a sample and order at Montana Moss Agate Tumbling Rough.

The Story Behind Candy Jasper

It was discovered about 3 miles off the coast of Madagascar under the ocean. The miners have to take small boats, like bass boats, out during the receding tide and wait for the boats to sink on the ocean floor. Then they fill the boats up with as much of the Candy Jasper as they can and wait for the incoming tide to ship the rock back to shore. Because of the unusual circumstances involving this unique gem, only limited amounts will be available as they can only do this mining process for about 4 -6 months (or less ) of the year due to monsoons and weather.

We have tumbled several batches ourselves and we can't keep it in the store as it takes an incredible shine.

Here's how to polish it:
Run it in the step 1 coarse grit for 1-2 cycles. We like ours well rounded so we run it for 1 week then change it all out and start it over again in the step 1. Then do it the same as you would any other agate. Make sure you put the plastic pellets in with the polish.

Obsidian Tumbling Secrets

Obisidian is a very common extrusive igneous rock. It is composed of the smae minerals as granite, but cooled so rapidly that different minerals don't have time to crystialize.

It is natural black glass that often has visible inclusions of water, feldspar crystals or iron. Water inside microscopic air bubbles can act as a prisms to light and cause a rainbow effect inside the obsidian.

Feldspar can crystalize within the obisidian as white "snowflakes," hence the name snowflake obsidian.

Iron can oxidize in bands caused by the flow of obsidian while it is still liquid, causing brown swirl patterns to form. This is known as mahogany obsidian.

Obsidian is the same hardness as man-made glass, and cannot be tumbled with other stones.

"Apache Tears" are small blebs of obsidian that formed within a glassy rhyolite. They are semi transparent and have a long legend that goes with them.

To tumble any type of obsidian in a rock tumbler, follow these simple procedures:

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 as you would any agate (with obsidian as the only stone in your tumbler). You might find that cutting down the length you run them from 7 to 5 days is good enough.

2. When you load step 3, replace 1/2 the water with corn syrup. This will thicken the solution, which makes the process slow down. This step will also keep the obsidian from chipping and scratching itself. If this trick doesn't solve all of your chipping problems, add plastic pellets and more corn syrup. Let your rock tumbler run for 7 days in this stage.

3. For the final polish use TIN OXIDE ONLY. Cerium may work OK, but not as good as tin oxide. Aluminum and titanium don't work at all on obsidian. Once again replace at least half the water with corn syrup. Do use fresh plastic pellets. Don't try washing and re-using the pellets from the previous step.

Here is the final trick: Let your rock tumbler run for up to 3 weeks in the final polish stage. Check you rocks once a week to make sure they are progressing.

I have used this process in 3 to 40 lb tumblers with great success.

If you have questions, just e-mail or call. rockshop@rocks4u.com 801-355-7952

Good luck--Rick

A Fist Full of Pyrite Dollars

There is one place in the world where you can get smashed pyrite crystals and really enjoy looking at them--Sparta, Illinois.

In the old coal beds, pyrite suns (or dollars) form between the layers of coal. This is not an easy process for the pyrite, as they would probably make more of a sphere of pyrite similar to the ones that come from France.

They are formed from the coal itself. Coal has a lot of sulfur naturally in it. Some of this sulfur reacts with the iron that happens to be found in the coal beds in Sparta. When the sulfur and iron hook up together you get a wonderful product--Pyrite. Because they are sandwiched between the layers of coal, they are flat. They have no room to grow but out. So you get flat discs of iron pyrite. For a long time they were thought to be marcasite because the odd shape resembles a crystal form closer to marcasite than pyrite. But extensive research on them has proven they are indeed pyrite.

They range in size from about ½ inch to over 8", and I have heard rumors of some over 3 FEET!

My favorite ones are the ones still attached to the coal (which is really carbonic shale, but that's another story).

Recently I have seen some with a beautiful coloring--blues, reds, oranges, pinks and purples with a wonderful iridescence to them. These colors are a vapor coating of titanium dioxide. It is the same thing dealers do to quartz to make "aqua aura" and to Moqui Marbles to make "bogi stones"--100% not natural.

Fossils of Shitamaring Canyon

Coprolite is fossilized dung. It can be from a turtle, dinosaur, camel, birds, lizard, or human.

Utah has loads of coprolites, including dinosaur and human. We are going to talk about the large dinosaur coprolite that comes from the Henry Mountains. The Henry Mountains are located south of Hanksville. They are really a series of 5 mesas and not just one mountain range. They look like typical Basin & Range (or Horst and Groben) type mountains at first. But they were caused by a laccolite rising up, exposing the soft sediment to be weathered away, which in turn exposed all the wonderful fossils. They rise up to almost 12,000 feet above sea level. They are famous around the world as being an anomaly, as they are so young. They cover an area of almost 500 square miles. I think their real beauty is the sight of low rolling hills of faded purple, green, and gray pastels that resemble the bad lands of North Dakota.

The rock that was left exposed contains some of the most stunning fossils recorded. Coprolite in many sizes and colors can be found. I have seen pieces up to 2 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. Often they look just like a cow pie turned to rock. They don't smell--they are ROCK now.

I have seen coprolite that look just like something your neighbor's dog left on your lawn. I have seen some that are 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter and resemble a cucumber.

Shitamaring Canyon is famous for coprolites of distinguished shapes. It is also famous for the cycad wood that can be found there. Cycads are a very unusual plant that resembles a pineapple. The trunk of the tree has a hard armor coating of leaf stems that resemble a palm tree. They are not related to palms but look just like them in small hand samples. Ancient cycad has 165 living decedents today include some common house plants.

Whole cycads are usually under 1 foot tall. Complete pieces are incredibly rare and extremely valuable. I have only seen a few in my whole life and none ever for sale. But the most beautiful ones in the world come from this area. When cut along the grain parallel to the skin the insides can reveal a diamond pattern of reds and yellows. These are the best specimens!

The area also has brachiopods, other woods of different colors from black to browns to reds & yellows, dinosaur tracks, gold, and uranium minerals from a very extensive uranium deposit all found right in the canyon.

All of these things would be great to collect still today, but they are now protected in the Escalante Staircase National Monument.

Oh, did I mention in the late 1970's the name of the canyon changed to Shootering Canyon. Many of you are already familiar with this area. It is a fun place to camp and see some unique geology. I think the original name fits the description of the coprolite and the canyon better. Apparently the BLM sign maker disagreed because he was the one that made the sign, giving the canyon it's new name.

Some information for this article came from Petrified Wood: The World of Fossilized Wood, Cones, Ferns, and Cycads by Frank Daniels. We have this book for sale as well. It is $75 and well worth the price.

Welcome

Welcome to Rockpick Legend Co.'s new blog!