ThinksLikesRocks

I got a good UV flashlight!!!

Cut a few rocks on a warm afternoon! In the 30s now, but maybe this weekend it'll be warm enough to cut some more

Rocks! Tuff with iron and manganese and a funky unknown white mineral. I'm playing at a local excavation site and finding all kinds of things! I have project Manager's permission to collect, and he too is a massive rock nerd.

More trent, because this stuff is stunning even if it is poisonous. 

On the subject of 100% natural things that can absolutely harm you, this is Trent agate. It's from one tiny deposit in eastern Oregon and is allegedly no longer able to be found and collected but still circulates in quantity in the lapidary hobby world. That stunning vibrant red firework pattern is likely Realgar, a very beautiful arsenic sulfide. It'll decay with time to bright yellow Orpiment, a historical pigment whose toxicity is well-documented! While I'm not going to make myself sick cutting this one slab, my saw oil now has trace arsenic and orpiment in it and will transfer tiny amounts to everything else I cut. Opse. At tiny amounts on not-food-objects it's a negligible concern but it'd absolutely harm my long term health to be repeatedly breathing in the dust and dust-laden oil off the saw. I'm going to let the oil settle, then pour it off and discard the sludge. Not worth scrubbing it off everything else I cut!

My coworkers adventure dog :) he's a mouthy shepherd mutt pound pup with two braincells and he comes on most of our rock and shed hunting trips! He can find neither rocks nor sheds.

Dragging all my coworkers backwards into rock collecting by cutting their rocks for them :)

Start to finish, round 3 of learning to foil and solder! I’m still better at finding and cutting rocks than I am at soldering :P we’re getting there! 

Thanks :) it mostly means I have to carry that much rock around in a  backpack over the next few weekends and I’m going to moan and groan about it a little. I have learned the hard way to cap my waitlist at a reasonable volume for next year!  

HAHAHA nevermind people, stop cutting rock. 

Excuse me while I go discover tiny worlds inside the pebbles underfoot...

We are leaning hard into this whole "adults learning new hobbies" thing. It's different but a bit more forgiving than the metalwork I did in college. We'll see where this goes!

And while sure it might be on trend to bedeck one’s stuff in dyed Brazilian agate rounds, if you want to buy something made out of rocks go get it on Etsy from a home studio somewhere! 

We’re starting very, very simple. We’ll see how it goes!