Category Archives: Agates

An Amazing Laker

Coming out of Warp Drive inside a Laker. I just might get a poster made of this. “*These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise”…..you know the rest.*

I cut and polished this odd Tube Agate and had a vision of the Starship Enterprise coming out of warp drive and finding they had actually warped right into this agate. Only an old Trekker, like myself, would think this. How WOULD that look exactly? How would Kirk or Picard escape from this dilemma? I’ve never been known to think like others, I admit, but if this shows up on the IMAX screen, I WILL claim credit.

A Very Special Lake Superior Agate.

You might suspect, based on how many blogs I’ve written on Isle Royale Greenstones, that they are my favorite rock or mineral from the Great Lakes Region. I do indeed love Greenstones, but those that know me also know that Lake Superior Agates are really my favorite stones. The more unusual the Laker, the better I like it. This blog is the story of one particular Laker. Other than playing with lighting, I have not enhanced this agate in any way. What you see in the pictures is as close as I can come to what I see.

A Citrine, banded, tube Laker salted with micro Quartz Crystals. How many of these have I seen? Answer: None.

When I first view a rough Lake Superior Agate I always wonder what does the inside of this agate look like? In many cases I can take an educated guess based on the thousands I’ve seen, but in many cases it becomes a mystery, and I cannot wait to slice that agate open.

I obtain my Lake Superior Agates in many ways; find them, trade for them, or buy them. These Lakers may come from swap meets or rock show, but most of my best agates come from trusted dealers. I make jewelry from my stones, and I do not apologize to my Purist collector friends that just collect them to perhaps oil them and put them on display shelves. I have no issue with simply collecting Lake Superior Agates, but to me, they are beautiful and deserve to be shown off.

The full banding, crystal, and tubes appear here.

Clearly the tubes are seen. Don’t they look like balloons?

I would never make jewelry from a large, super quality Laker, one that is clearly a true collector agate. I try to obtain fracture-free Lakers of smaller sizes, rare colors, patterns, and types. Classic Candy Stripers are always in demand for jewelry.

In Tucson, several years’ back, I bought a quantity of medium sized “Buckers”. This is a term Laker collectors give to pocket-sized Lakers, neither large nor small. I like the size of Buckers for jewelry. I can slice them on an 8” saw, and quickly see if there is a piece of jewelry hiding inside.

Micro Quartz crystals are seen here. This is the best I can do lacking a camera-microscope.

This Laker is just loaded with floating Quartz Crystals that sparkle as you move the agate under bright lights. I’ve never seen anything like it. Some of these tiny, clear quartz crystals are double terminated and resemble Herkimer Diamonds. I wish I could show you in person because I can’t do justice even in a close up to this inclusion rich agate. I do not have the capability or microscopic photography, but I was able to confirm the Quartz Crystals by using a Corbascope.

What a surprise when I plucked an agate from the bucket full of Lakers I purchased in Tucson. It was a very unusual yellow and orange coloration, it was not the normal banded beauty. As I cut this agate recently, I found that is was a Tube Agate, with some banding. But, to me, it looked like a Lava Lamp (they were a big thing back in the 60’s). I could watch a Lava Lamp for hours and globs of an unknown substance rose and fell within the globe. I never imagined 50 years later I would find a Laker Lava Lamp.

A Lake Superior Agate Lava Lamp. The **Lava Lamp** is the name I call this Laker.

Usually my blogs involve several specimens, but this Laker deserved a blog of its’ own. Hope you enjoyed your voyage with me today. Continue the journey by picking your favorite on our Lake Superior Agate Jewelry page.

You might have noticed the new look in our blog. This is part of a major update we recently had done by our web people. Please let me know if you like the changes. We (Snob Appeal Jewelry) apologize for the disruption of our website as changes were made. If you have any problems at all with our new systems, PLEASE, let us know, so we can correct things.

Turkish Stick Agate: One Stone-Different Looks

My next cab is ready to be cut.

Turkish Stick Agate is an interesting pseudomorph agate, from Turkey with a variety of intriguing patterns and colors. The Turkish Stick Agates come in different types. A distinguishing characteristic of Turkish Stick Agates is needle-like tubes, forming what looks like pointy, sharp sticks within the stone, so it can be referred to as Needle Agate.

Experienced rock collectors will have in their mind what a certain agate looks like or what represents a body of agates with that name. When I say Lake Superior Agate for most people a red and white banded agate might appear in their mind, but we know that there are many types of Lakers.

When we say Stick Agate you might expect needlelike structures in a clear quartz agate, but there are many types of Turkish Stick Agate even from the same mines. I thought you would enjoy seeing these samples which are quite different. You can see another very nice piece at mindat.org.

Just a little aside folks.This brings up an important question; Can you poke your eye out with a Stick Agate? My mother had four boys and unlike kids today, we played OUTSIDE a lot. It was not uncommon for her to yell at us for doing dumb things. ” Don’t run with that stick; you could poke your eye out”. As I have grown up (maybe) I came to realize it was impossible to “poke your eye out” while running with a stick. You can only poke your eye IN. The only way you can poke your eye OUT is to stick the stick up your nose and then you could theoretically “poke your eye out”. Now back to our regular program…

The most characteristic form of Turkish Stick Agate shows needle-like patterns.

Turkish Stick Agate with banding and shadow effect

This one sports fortification banding showing some Parallax (shadow effect) and tubes.

Turkish Stick Agate with tubes and banding

Tubes and banding as well as beautiful colors make this a Turkish Stick Agate with no sticks!

High quality Turkish Stick Agate is quite expensive in the rough, and every time I’ve tried to get a break on it, Turkish miners, at the Tucson shows, decline to give much, claiming how difficult it is to find and mine. Much of this material comes from mines near Ankara, Turkey. Actually the good stuff comes from Cubuk, Turkey; but who knows where Cubuk is? (Central Turkey: I looked on a map)

Quality depends on how solid a particular Stick Agate is. Most Turkish Stick Agate has geodes with gaps, or vugs, and also can vary in hardness within a stone.

I find it intriguing that such variety can come from the one source. I am not an expert on Turkish Stick Agate, but I do know it is very beautiful. I guess that’s why I make jewelry from it.

I lied; When I did a search on Turkish Stick Agate, I came up as one of the experts. This has often happen. Bonnie (wife) says it’s because I’ve written so many blogs over the past 10 years. I guess I could say I’m a pseudomorph of knowledge on many subjects.

This agate has only become known in the United States within the last 20 years, and is not commonly available. Usually there is a Youtube video on everything, but there seems to be no video of actual mining Turkish Stick Agate.

In this blog I show three pieces of jewelry I made from expensive rough I bought a couple years ago in Tucson from the Non-negotiable (price) dealer.

Can you poke your eye out with a Turkish Stick Agate? Like a stick, the answer is probably “NO”, unless you take a small, sharp shard and shove it way up your nose. If you ever try this experiment, make sure your camera is recording it. I’m betting you could go viral; until Youtube pulls it off.

*pseudomorph

1: a mineral having the characteristic outward form of another species:

Good examples in the mineral world happen quite often in replacement fossils, where minerals replace, for example, wood; they often look like wood, with patterns, bark, and even knot holes. Another good example is petrified dinosaur bone where you can see every cell (each cell is actually an individual agate).

2: a deceptive or irregular form

In. The “sticks” in Turkish Stick Agates were originally Aragonite Crystals but they were replaced by Silica. The sticks still look like Aragonite, but they are not. Pseudomorphs are common in many Agates, but that is a whole other subject.

3: Don Reed

Don Reed, according to the Internet (and we should always believe the Internet), is one of THE experts on Turkish Stick Agates. Don Reed appears to be something he is really not. This may not be true, or perhaps it is…..Like the Internet; Don Reed would never intentionally deceive you.

Pseudomorph of Don Reed in Crystal Quartz from Brazil.

If this craziness is of interest to you, you should also read our embarrassing story about a missing chunk of this Turkish Stick Agate.

Visit our Turkish Stick Agate jewelry page for currently available pieces.

Swing into 2019 with Great Lakes Stone Jewelry

“Greenstone, Copper Agates, Lake Superior Agates, Datolites, and Pink and normal Petoskey Stone Jewelry continued to be popular in 2018; and we expect this trend to continue. Our loyal customers understand how rare these Gemstones are becoming, and eagerly order them as impressive and historic pieces of jewelry from the Great Lakes Region. Many are buying these rare Gemstones as investments and treasured heirlooms. Great Lakes jewelry makes unique and highly appreciated gifts.Thanks to all of you that bought handmade in the USA, Great Lakes jewelry treasures, in 2018.

Christmas is past, but many of you are now wearing our jewelry. Thank you so much.

Bonnie’s Christmas Pendant: Top to Bottom; Lake Superior Agate, Yellow Keweenaw Point Datolite with Copper, Greenstone with Thomsonite from Isle Royale (Collected at least 50 years ago).

What does the jewelry makers wife get for Christmas? The trick is to make her something special (and make it in a stealth mode). I think I pulled a good one off.

I picked out three special stones; cabbed them, and made a beautiful Lake Superior Area Showpiece. The top stone is a wonderful, flawless Laker. Stone two is an ultra rare Keweenaw Point Yellow Datolite with Copper. The third Stone a very finely colored Isle Royale Greenstone that I retrieved from my very old collection of Isle Royale Stones. All these stones swing freely and separately from each other.

Bonnie: “You’ve got wires going everywhere!!” Me: “Don’t worry, I’ve done this before.”

I took care of all those errant wires; (see above picture) which proved me worthy.

Very unusual pattern and coloration from the Central Exploration Mine. Enhanced with a nice pair of Greenstone beads. 2.8 Gram Greenstone about Quarter-sized large Greenstone.

A double Greenstone pendant with a free-swinging bottom. Phoenix Mine.

I’ve decided to up my game in 2019 by making some exceptionally notable pendants. Thanks all, and a very Happy New Year to you all.

Visit our best-selling Great Lakes Stone jewelry pages: Lake Superior Agate Pendants, Petoskey Stone Pendants, Thomsonite Pendants, Michigan Greenstone Jewelry, Mohawkite Pendants, Datolite Pendants, Firebrick Pendants, Prehnite Pendants, Copper Replacement Agate Pendants. Also we have beaded earrings: Jasperlite, Leland Blue Stone, and Lake superior Agate and Kona Dolomite. We also have Unakite, Binghamite, Kona Dolomite pendants in our show inventory. What’s your favorite Great Lakes jewelry stone? Chat with us on Facebook, or send us a message!

Brockway Mountain Agate Treasures

View from the Copper Harbor Lookout on Brockway Mountain Drive. Mid 1930’s

History is not really my favorite subject, I am more of a rock guy. I will tell you about hunting for Brockway Mountain agates, but first I will show you some historic pictures of the area.

I married into a family of historians. Bonnie’s parents collected many things, including postcards from 1930 through 1960. While she was looking through their old cards she discovered several that depict the Keweenaw when it looked a bit different. Some pictures from 1935 of Brockway Mountain were especially interesting, considering what it looks like 80 years later. I enjoyed looking back and comparing it with the area as it is today.

View from the Copper Harbor Lookout today. Really it is surprisingly similar to the earlier pictures. How many other areas as beautiful as this are not cluttered with huge mansions and gated communities or condos?

From the 1950’s, This sign welcomed people to the Keweenaw. The “Copper Country Vacationist League’ was the forrunner to the Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Mid 1930’s. The trees are bigger today. You can see the top of Brockway Mountain in the distance.

From the mid-1930s, shortly after Brockway Mountain Drive was completed, you could see Lake Fanny Hooe on the right and Copper Harbor on the left. The trees frame this view today.

Thanks to the persistence of many folks, the mountain was saved from private development and access was retained for the public. What a loss that would have been!

Making jewelry on the mountain top while waiting for the sunset.

I made this Firebrick Beauty on the mountain

The sunsets from the top of Brockway Mountain have to be some of the most spectacular sunsets on earth.

I shared my secret hole with a couple of my best rockhounding buddies. Chris Cooper and I.

You finding anything in that hole Gary (Gary Katt)?

Looking for agate seams

During the constuction of Brockway Mountain Drive, many large egg-shaped agates were found. The inside of these were pretty much colorless Quartz. Very few had any banding except near the crust. I had one in my collection, did not know what it was, cut it and found the Quartz. In recent years I did some digging in the hard rock, opened a hole that has been very productive. You can see this in the videos.

Close up of an agate seam in matrix

A nice nodule collected

Don’t these Keweenaw agates look nice when they are washed?

State law limits collecting to 25 pounds per year now. When this was collected no limit was in place.

THE FOLLOWING MOVIES ARE REAL; AS THEY HAPPENED; WITH NO CAMERA TRICKS OR EDITING. ENJOY!! I just thought they’d be more exciting with disclaimers.

Today, further down the Mountain, some nice Seam Agate can be found. This agate is referred to as Keweenaw Agate, Ledge Agate, or Brockway Mountain Agate. This Lake Superior Agate is often opaque and peachy colored, but some have nice banding. Many diggers, including me, have secret glory holes on Brockway. I have told a few rockhounds I trust to keep a secret and hope they find good Brockway Mountain Agates.

A prime example of Keweenaw Agate, also called Ledge Agate.

Opaque Ledge Agate from Brockway Mountain.

As you can see from my pictures and videos I love the Keweenaw and the gemstones that come from that area. If you like these stones, I invite you to purchase our pendants either as gifts or for yourself. They are great reminders of Brockway Mountain, Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor, and other copper mining areas. Visit our selections of Lake Superior Agate jewelry, Michigan and Isle Royale Greenstone jewelry, Firebrick, Mohawkite, Prehnite, Datolite, Thomsonite today.

Lake Superior Agate Hunt; My Best one EVER

Slices ready for cabbing

I love Candy stripers

These Lakers were some I picked that day in Wisconsin.

Over the years Bonnie and I have had many rockhounding adventures. Some stand out above the rest. This month I would like to tell you the story of our best Lake Superior Agate Hunt Ever; a hunt both amazing and unexpected.

From the name of the agate, people might expect to find Lake Superior Agates only on the beaches of Lake Superior. However, Lakers (as we fondly call them) are found in a broad streak starting at Lake Superior and spreading to the southwest over several states.

Nothing better than a small stash of slices begging to be cabbed.

We were driving through Wisconsin, enroute to Minnesota, perhaps 20 years ago and noticed just outside Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, a road widening project, very extensive, with lots of land being moved with heavy equipment in preparation for a new four lane road. I mentioned to Bonnie that I thought we were in Lake Superior Agate area, but due to all the heavy equipment moving about, I never had a second thought about it UNTIL we saw a flea market just down the road.

I saw a large sign on one of the tents as we went by that said AGATES, so of course we stopped. I hit it off with the dealer, and he and I bonded over our love for Lake Superior Agates. He mentioned he had a friend that lived nearby and loved to show off his agate collection. He called the elderly gentleman (we surmised he was in his 90s), and subsequently we were invited over to his house to see his agate collection.

Unusual coloration and shadow

A wild guy in a wild Laker

We knew we were in the right location as we drove up the driveway and saw a full-sized petrified wood log among many other large rocks laying in the yard.

Unfortunately it has been so long that I do not remember the old guys name, so we call him George. We were welcomed into his house and noticed he had agates everywhere. Beside the four china cabinets filled with Lake Superior Agates, he had agate tables, agate lamps, agate counters, agate covered boxes, agate slices in the window, agates of all sizes; everything Lake Superior Agate–jaw dropping! George hinted that we had not seen anything, and should go look in his basement. He was in a wheelchair and couldn’t go down with us, but our excitement level was already elevated. The basement was another stony story. The walls were lined with shelves holding large Lakers of every sort, plus various other rocks collected from many locales.

Would you sell any of these? is a question any rock lover would ask when confronted with agates so amazing and abundant. His reply was to the negative. I accepted this, but wondered why George would not want sell a few. He clearly had health issues and none of us are going to live forever!

The final discussion involved hunting Lakers. I just love picking the old rockhounds brain. I ask him if he would go looking in the area for Lakers where would he look. He responded: Sonny, I’d look out in that road construction zone.

Ok Bonnie, I am going agate hunting. We rented a motel room nearby, waited until 5pm, and headed out to the construction area. I recall Bonnie opted to stay at the Motel. I found a safe place to park, briefly wondered if we were doing anything illegal. As the cars whizzed by on the old road, we hunted the newly smoothed landscape. I noticed a pile of gravel filled with rocks; and guess what–many of them were Lake Superior Agates. I filled almost a five gallon bucket and found at least a dozen fist sized or better, over a pound each. I actually felt guilty, and wondered where other rockhounds were; why am I the only person hunting here? The rock hunt took perhaps an hour or two to fill the bucket. I like to imagine what we would have gotten if it had been raining!

I think if old George had been able, he would have been there also. I often wonder what happened to him and his agate collection. I will never forget this amazing hunt. I think I still have some of the Lakers we found that day, but they are all mixed with other Laker Buckets.

Every Rockhound has stories like this. Sometime I will tell you about the deluge rain storm in the Keweenaw when Greenstones were actually flowing in little streams down the banks of a mine waste pile. A story for another day,

Where’s my Turkish Stick Agate?

I’ve built a custom tumbling unit that will handle three 12# barrels at one time. You might ask, what has has that to do with Turkish Stick Agate? I also bought a Diamond Pacific Cab Machine in Tucson last February. So how do these things connect?

Turkish Stick Agate Rough was purchased in Tucson

I found some absolutely fantastic Turkish (Pseudomorph) Stick Agate rough rock at the Keno Show in Tucson. It was very pricey old stock, but the best material of it’s kind I’ve seen in many years. I actually spent almost an hour searching through buckets of this stuff to find the cream of the old stock crop. Finding this Stick Agate happened after I bought a used Titan from a dealer at the 28th Street Show. The deal with the Titan included spare parts, wheels and several containers of tumbling grit (which had nothing to do with the Titan) that the dealer also threw in as he was getting out of the lapidary business.

(A pseudomorph is when the original crystal form of one mineral is occupied by another, chemically or structurally different species. I love pseudomorphs (from the Greek “false form”). Here’s a tip: If you see triangular shapes occupying a rock you possess, it is most likely a pseudomorph of Aragonite. When someone asks what those triangular shapes are in a rock it also makes you look smart when you say “Oh that’s a pseudomorph of Aragonite” (Better if you practice saying “Pseudomorph” so it just flows easily off your tongue.)

Move ahead to April: I got back home and unloaded all the stuff, started cutting and polishing new rock. I ask Bonnie about the stick agate; she looks and can’t find it. A picture of this Turkish Stick Agate had appeared in the February blog, so I had proof that this was a genuine purchase, not just something I thought about buying. I searched and searched for the Stick Agate and I cannot find it anywhere. A note is posted on the refrigerator “FIND STICK AGATE”. When notes are posted on the refrigerator they become points of stress until acted upon (I know you guys know this).

What wonderful lapidary material.

I named this pendant “Bugs”. Notice the fully-banded agate bug on the left.

I wear this pendant. The auburn background is unusual.

Move ahead to October: I’m tumbling some Lakers for drilling and reach the 600 grit stage. While looking for 600 grit in one of the boxes I got with the Titan, I FIND THE STICK AGATE. I do know there are Desert Gnomes in Arizona, and I think those little bastards intentionally hid that Stick Agate bag (It could never have been Bonnie or I that did this). That’s my story……..

ALL my stress is lifted from my shoulders, I can quit my anxiety counseling, take less drugs, and REMOVE THAT DAMN MEMO FROM THE FRIDGE!!! I will always remember October 9th, 2017 as one of the highlight days of my entire life!!

Here’s the really great thing: the Stick Agate is even more beautiful than I remembered it! The saws and Titan are simultaneously humming with Stick Agate Bliss. I think I’ll make myself a new pendant in celebration of my stress relief.

Now that our Missing Rock Saga is explained, let’s talk about Turkish Stick Agate shall we? From Cubuk, Northern Ankara, Turkey. TSA (Not Airport security) comes in various forms of Pseudomorphic Aragonite in Chalcedony. The Aragonite needles are hollow tubes that formed in the shape of church steeples. Long needles forming fans are considered the best, but these agates can also contain sagenite or fortification areas. Some TSA has tubes and not the normal Pseudomorphic Sticks.

(Aragonite and Calcite are the same composition. The only differences are that the Calcite has form differently and under different conditions. Aragonite is Orthorhombic while Calcite forms in a rhombohedral crystal. Both Calcite and Aragonite become pseuddomorphs in other minerals because of their sensitivity to acids.)

One Stick Agate I re-found had a rare reddish background color. This was the one I grabbed for my personal pendant.

Hard to believe that this too is Stick Agate from the same mine.

Another piece had beautiful dark pink banding, and looked nothing like the other Stick Agate in the piles I sorted. One cab showed white botrioildal Quartz under clear Quartz with random reddish-brown tubes throughout the gemstone.

To add to the fun I saw one large bug or a couple bugs on a stick in one cabochon. Really extraordinary stuff. We’ve been celebrating the prodigal TSA for two weeks now. May you find your missing rocks.

You can find our current selection of these pendants at our Turkish Stick Agate Pendant page!

Multi-Stone Lake Superior Agate Pendants

In my quest to have jewelry that no one else has, I’ve created a line of multi-stone Pendants. My first ones were scarfed right up by discriminating buyers that wanted something no one else has.

These pendants are all comprised of two or three individual parts tied together by hinges or eyes so they can all move individually. This is such a complicated procedure, it may take up to ten hours to make a pendant (I suppose if it were easy, everyone would do it). I use a multitude of precious metal wires: 14/20 rolled gold gold, Pink Gold, and Argentium Sterling, often in multi-colors.

In this blog, I’ve taken a few Triple Threat Lakers and broke them down to show you why I like the varieties of Lakers. Although the Dinosaur Bone pendant pictured is nice, all three pieces are cut from the same stone, whereas in the Lakers I wanted to mix varieties.

This transparent Gembone gave me the idea for my Triple Threat Laker Pendants.

Movement is important to me in these multi-Stone Triples.

In the past I have created some multi-stone pendants, but the Lake Superior Agate ones I recently finished, are in a class of their own. I mixed metals as well as different types of Lake Superior Agates for each one. Even though many feet of precious metal wire is used, it is used in my usual classical style; neat, precise, and elegant, yet not used in a way that takes way from the inherent beauty of the Lakers

This made the perfect Mother’s Day Gift for a great mother (and wife).

Great “Shadow” effect in this one; very deep.

A beauty; Mauve, banded, perfect!

Red and White Paint Agate.

Unusual Tube Agate

Gorgeous Candy Striped pastel Fortification

Paint Agate with Water Level (Gravitationally Banded)

The Lake Superior Agate is the Minnesota State Gem. Incorporating some of the different varieties of agate colors and patterns, (paint, tube, candy striper, fortification) you see here why this is such a prized stone throughout the Great Lakes region.

As you can see, the construction process began with finding wonderful agates and winnowing them down to three special pieces that go well together. Skillful cabochon cutting and careful jewelry design are the next steps. The spacing and careful blending of shapes requires patient and masterful wire wrapping. Creative work requires time to think through and create each pendant. The work is so meticulous, I need many breaks, thinking through the next steps, how the pieces will connect. Lake Superior Agates are my favorites and this jewelry has become my new way to showcase them. I have also enjoyed wearing them and talking with people about these multi-stone agate pendants.

A lot going on with this Floater

A Floater with floating banding. A special featutreat the banding shows the the bands actually are red Quartz Phantoms

A classic “Painted” Laker

Jewelry Making Just Got A Lot Easier

The Diamond Pacific Titan is big and bold. The Pixie (on top) that I take in my RV is a dwarf compared to its “daddy.”

People who have seen my shop will agree that it is pretty well equipped. I was able to cut and polish about any rock, but two things I was not able to do was cut and polish big Petoskey Stone.. I’ve solved this issue with a new machine I found in Tucson.

I own three cabochon machines; the Popular, six wheeled, Diamond Pacific Genie, a seven wheeled Diamond Pacific X-pert, and a Pixie. These machines have limits as to how big a stone you can polish. It has always been difficult to polish that large Petoskey Stone due to the wheels on these machines being close together. The six inch wheels on these machines have their limitations also (the pixie has 4″ wheels).

My dream machine has always been Diamond Pacific’s monster machine, the Titan. It has 8″ wheels, a 3/4 HP motor (Compaired to 6″ wheels and 1/4 HP for the aforementioned machines). Those large Petoskey Stones are no longer out of reach with my Titan. The story of the Titan’s acquisition is interesting.

With credit card in pocket, on the first day of the Tucson Gem Shows, we headed out to the Kino Sports Complex, where Diamond Pacific has their display and sales. But first, we decided to stop in and have a look at the 22nd Street Show.

While having a preliminary look around the show, Bonnie and I separate. Different things interest her than me, so the usual procedure is to set a back and forth pattern so we have some idea where each other may be. The 22nd street show tent is about 1/8 mile from end to end, so things can be missed. Bonnie caught up to me near the end of my 1/2 mile walk (back and forth four times). She ask if I saw the display that a couple had that were going out of the rock business. She said they had some rocks they were clearing out. ROCKS? I’m there.

Upon arrival at this booth I missed, I noticed many 8″ grinding wheels. What takes 8″ wheels? Correct, the Titan. I also noticed a small sign for a used Titan for sale. The elderly gentleman was a Diamind Pacific Dealer, and due to health reasons, was getting out of the rock business. It didn’t take me long to strike a deal after looking at his machine out in his SUV. Since these machines are almost indestructible, a used one is usually as good as a new one, except new wheels are sometimes needed. Since he had new grinding wheels, I bought a new set.

The Titan is a monster 16″ wide, 42″ long, weighing in excess of 130#. We had to come back the next day and pick it up, after clearing the back of our Tracker. The machine fit in the tracker with less than an inch on either side. Fortunately our daughter lives in Tucson and kindly loaned us a space in the garage for storage. Happy me! The Titan rode back to Michigan in the back of the towed Tracker.

Let’s see how long it takes to polish up this Petoskey.

I haven’t had this too long, but thus far it’s been great.

It’s coming!

The soft wheels really get the scratches out.

Now to the polish.

The lights in the shop really make the colors odd, but in the studio lighting the true colors and patterns appear.

The Titan, as mentioned, is capable of polishing those larger Petoskey Stones. I set the machine up and tested its mettle by polishing a 4″ X 5″ Petoskey stone. I show you the grinding procedure that took about a third of the time as the Genie; really amazing.

First cabs cut on the Titan

I also took some Lakers from rough to cabochons to test the Titan on smaller projects. I thought “why did I wait so long to get one of these?” Everything is so much easier and faster with better results. Now the possibilities have expanded. I eagerly look forward to going to “work” each day.

A “Painted” Lake Superior Agate

Lake Superior Paint Agate

I thought a short little blog was justified for this fine little Lake Superior Paint Agate.

“Paints” are onte of the many varieties of Lake Superior Agates. The majority of Lakers are banded, called fortification agates and are fairly transparent in that you can see light through them. People will say the difference between Jasper and Agate is that you can see light through Agate, but not through Jasper.

This is not always the case as there are always exceptions to this rule. In most cases this rule is true, but sometimes we see opaque Lake Superior Agates, mostly as painted agates.

It is like someone took a wide paint brush and made swooshes (is that a word?). I guess if Nike can use it, so can I. These brushstrokes are wide and bold; in many cases in reds and oranges that make very striking Jewelry.

Here’s a paint I wrapped that I really liked. Enjoy

Crystal included Lake Superior Agates, and an Amazing Garden Rock

Some things found inside a crystal Laker are really amazing!

A classic “Floater”.

Lovely little Island.

A Big, Bold, red “Floater” on a crystal lake.

Dark Smoky Quartz Lakers. These will be fun.

I love Lake Superior Agates that are on the unusual side. Many of my agate jewelry pieces are made from agates other than the banded fortification variety. I love tube agates, moss agates, sagenite agates, painted–you know really I like all Lake Superior Agates. The Candy Stripers with their beautiful reds and whites are well liked. I also like “Floaters”, those banded Lake Superior Agates that float in a sea of crystal. A special variety I have really enjoyed working with are the banded Lake Superior Agates that surround amethyst crystal pockets. When that crystal happens to be amethyst–wow! I am always in search of amethyst floaters, but finding one makes me really excited. I want to cut, polish and wrap that agate right now!

This is the end cut of Janet’s “Garden Rock”

Amazing Crystally Lakers

Janets “Garden Rock” is a spectacular and amazing Laker.

Last summer we were vendors at the Agate Expo 2016 in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. We had previously participated at the Celebration of Agates and the Wonderful World of Agates which had been held in some prior years. In each of these shows we have always been next to Scott Wolter’s booth, and have joked and chatted with Scott and Janet at these events, as neighbors do. I was talking with Janet about my love for amethyst floaters and I asked her if she would be my eyes and try to find some for me at the Moose Lake agate event. Janet took this as a challenge and told me later that she had fun looking for them. She sent me a box and included a few Lake Superior Agates from her garden. I cut some of these that she sent including one of those garden rocks. What I found inside this crystal beauty was extraordinary, as you can see by the picture. I named it Orange Mountain, but nicknamed it Janet’s Garden Rock.

I sent her a picture of her rock after it became a pendant. From Janet: “Yes, I did give Scott a big hint that it would be a perfect gift me for Christmas. A very big hint! And as any smart husband knows, happy wife, happy life! I think Scott is just pleased as punch that one of his “cast off” agates he tossed in our rock garden, became a big hit with me.” Scott bought the pendant and it became a Christmas present for Janet. I was told Scott had a big grin on his face as he presented it to Janet, and her ordinary garden rock is now a piece she can wear and treasure.

Tubes and Amethyst? The possibilities are amazing. This is a larger Laker, so lots of jewelry if it’s a good one.

Citrine in a Laker is quite stunning.

An Amethyst/Quartz pocket inside of a Lake Superior Agate.

My retail outlet Copper World sold one of these one day. I was doing demos there and in 4 days 4 pendants made from adjacent slabs were sold.

Gorgeous; what more can be said?

No clue as to what awaits inside this one. That’s the fun of it, isn’t it?

Since the Agate Expo I have been able to locate some further Lake Superior Agates that show a lot of promise. I look forward to exposing the insides of these stones and I have taken some pictures so you can also predict what the inside will look like. Some of the Lake Superior Agates I have indicate Smokey Quartz instead of amethyst or clear quartz. I am also intrigued to see what they will look like. During this coming year, watch for some unusual crystal Lake Superior Agates turned into pendants at Snob Appeal Jewelry. Be sure to follow us on Facebook for the latest posts. And if you see Janet Wolter, ask her to show you her “Garden Rock”.