Weird Things at Rock Shows

Electric Park (if you get there early)

What's in the bags?

Moroccan Geodes are in the bags.

Two shows in the same area exhibit the most diverse and eclectic stuff. The Tucson Kino Sports Complex has both the Electric Park Show and The Rock Show (That we call the RV Show).

The Rock Show is mostly a tailgate type show where vendors sell on tables on the side of their RV’s. There are many slabs and much rough. I find it great fun to search through the many containers filled with water-covered slabs. I found a Moroccan agate that was pretty and asked the guy if he had any more of it. He told me that a kid had just been through and picked out the best pieces. I found a couple in the bin that he missed. It is not fun when a 7 year old outpicks you before you got there. That vendor really did not have to tell me that.

Malachite $2000, The Rhodocrosite behind it was $1100.

A genuine Rock Fish.

Got room for a new coffee table?

Not a Malachite Man.

At a Rock Show? Come on...

I liked these wine racks.

Some bought ALL these and left many skull collectors wanting.

Would you believe a Steer Head Robot. Made from junk.

An Alien made from junk.

Detail of all the junk.

Tiffany Stone Rough.

Bumblebee rough.

After fun at the Rock Show we looked at Electric Park, with a wide variety of fun stuff.

I also went to the Diamond Pacific Tent, as well as the Graves area. Graves was also selling Covington Machines. I did not see anything new at the DP area, but did learn a couple tips on my X-pert (grinding machine).

I tried to find new stuff in equipment, but nothing new. I did find a couple things you may not know about.

I thought a little sphere machine from Covington was cute. I was told that many marble collectors use this little machine to polish their valuable and old marbles, but anyone could use this machine to cut Agate or other stone marbles on it up to an inch.

I saw a massive Covington grinding unit with 8″ expando drums. This thing could do some damage on larger rocks.

Most importantly I bought a new 4″ or 5″ saw with a -1/4 HP Motor. It will be waiting for me at the end of my journey. All the stuff I bought here in Tucson and at Quartzite will be first to test the blades!

A cute little Marble Making Machine from Covington.

Covington 8" Expandable Drum Unit, variable speed, sealed bearings, 1/2hp high Torque Motor...Nice

My New 4" Unit.

Today was not expensive at all. Oh, I guess with the new saw it was! (I think that my old saw was in such bad shape that I didn’t even consider this an expense!) Anyway, what I mean to say was even though I saw lots of rough rock I did not see much I didn’t already have.

62 and light rain

We have seen a few unusual things on our trip, as we usually do. I find things that are quirky and odd when we are out, so let me share.

Mater Truck

The first thing we saw was a “Mater” (TowMater) similar to the 56 Ford that is Mater’s kind. This was a Chevy of about the same time period in Parker. I had to turn around and get a shot of it beside a retro garage.

What the H...?

The weirdest thing we saw was an old school bus that a hippy-type guy had welded a VW bus to the top of it. Now this is by far one of the oddest vehicles I’ve seen.

We took the back roads toward I-8 and were rewarded by seeing the Mesquite Mine in a desert area that looked like a Lunar Landscape. This open pit mine is one of the largest gold mines in the United States. The massive waste piles could be seen off to the side of the roadway.

I post this for my favorite Geologist in training (she knows who she is). This is the field of boulders that seemed as thought they were dropped from the sky.

Glamis sand toy area is another strange geological feature. rolling sand dunes for miles and miles.

After traversing this area we entered a massive sand dune area called Glamis, and advertising as the “Sand Toy Capital of the World”. This appeared to be a place you could easily, on any weekend, go and kill yourself surfing the sand dunes on the sand toy of your choice.

Does this strike anyone else as funny?

We stopped at a McDonalds and the birds seemed to like their playplace.

The dunes were up on a high bluff that drops into the Imperial Valley. Cotton was being harvested as we went through the area and giant rectangular bales were stacked along the road, ready to be hauled to the mill. They were large rectangular bales, like hay bales the size of a truck trailer, and covered with tarps. White stuff was on the ground, but it wasn’t snow.

We spent the night in El Centro and headed to San Diego the next day. We enjoyed seeing the terrain change from flat rich valley farming areas that looked like a giant had dropped boulders in piles. Then came the Cleveland National Forest, which wasn’t a forest like we know, but some shrubby growth, but still way bigger than the weeds scattered among the Giant’s boulders.

In vain we searched for English-speaking radio stations. Our Spanish is not so good. Tejano music is not our top pick. We are old people and old people like Oldies (in ENGLISH).

When we arrived in San Diego our first stop was to buy the last umbrella at Penny’s, because the weather here is a disappointing cloudy, rainy day. Perhaps no blogs until we get to the Tucson Shows, but you never know.

Tyson Wells Flea Market.

Jan 24

Cool 64 degrees, cloudy

We did the PowWow so thoroughly yesterday, we decided to visit some of the “lesser” venues today.

The rarely seen Horseshoe Cactus.

We walked through Tyson Wells and found a lot of stuff that was not rocks. Alaskan seafood, produce, hardware, t-shirts, RV mats and rugs, wax gel, bike repairs, kitchen gadgets, postcards, dates from California, soaps, shopping bags, chairs were some of the varied items we saw. You could buy glue that holds anything together, including car parts. This would be handy for anyone. A couple folks sold some sort of artistic items, such as hearts made our of coat hangers, and dried cactus structures. World famous cinnamon rolls did not even lure me in this year. The closest things to rocks here were the Orthocerus things (an ancient squid-like ancestor), and Himalayan halite lamps.

A stuffed camel guards a fossil water feature-only at Tyson Wells.

Bonnie bought a few beads, just to get her bead-buying “fix”, and I bought some very decorative small pieces of turitella agate from Wyoming.

"Fake" rock at the Tyson Wells Show.

Across the way was a more interesting stop—a pile of slabs. Yeah! Here I found some interesting Picasso marble with nice spooky black/gray patterns and brown for good interest. With bits and pieces of poppy jasper, and a really nice chunk of old Mexican crazy lace, I had a good bag full of stuff for Bonnie to take back to the car!

A couple places at Tyson Wells had good pickings.

How many cabs could you get out of this Pallet sized piece of Mookaite?

We stopped back at the Desert Gardens, and the Australian dealer John Bennett asked us “What are you doing here? The bargains are at the Powwow!” I told him I wanted to get a picture of an even bigger piece of Mookaite than I saw two days ago. I bought a couple of Condor Agates I am eager to cut: pricy but nice.

We stopped at T-Rock and I sorted through a pile of Morrocan Agates, buying a few at their usual great prices.

The afternoon was spent motoring across the undulating desert, sand dunes, and Imperial Valley of California.

Realistic California PETRIFIED wood.

Tonnage of it!!!

We could not help but stop at a rock shop in Palo Verde, California when we saw tonnage of California Petrified Wood. I have seldom seen petrified wood that looks so like real wood.

All you wanted at bargain prices! A buck or two a pound. Your neighbors will think you brought home driftwood. This would be more like sinkwood than driftwood.

This is the final Quartzite Post, BUT, I have a couple humorous blogs in the next few days. You will really like the one tomorrow..I promise.

One of my recent Facebook Posts about Fordite generated some questions about the safety of handling and/or cutting potentially hazardous Rocks and Minerals. Old Fordite contains lead.

This Fordite looks like candy, but don't eat it.

We here in Michigan have been known to “lick” our rocks (don’t say you haven’t done this also). In NW lower Michigan the Calcite Fossils, Quartz’s, and Igneous glacial till is fairly docile and the pattern is much more prominent when moist.

While hunting in Utah with local expert rockhounds, we were told, “Do not lick the rocks here like you do in Michigan”. It was explained that many western rocks contain Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As), Mercury (Hg), and other things you should not put into your body. A great article I found through a Google is at: http://wildaboutrocks.com/Articles-Show-Reports/Toxic-Minerals

Azurite/Malachite makes beautiful jewelry, but is one of the gemstones we should be cautious cutting.

Those that collect rocks and minerals are exposed to hazardous specimens all the time. Mercury-containing minerals like Cinnabar or Realgar are two that come to mine, but other minerals that we lapidary-types come in contact with are generally fairly docile, but release hazardous materials when cut.

Fordite is paint layers that formed in paint booths from overspray. Much was laid down in the 60’s +/- and contained lead. Years ago we were not as aware of exposure to this mineral, but today we know, and are cognizant of the hazards of exposure to certain minerals.

Malachite, wonderful stuff but contains copper.

In general ANY Mineral that contains the aforementioned Minerals, as well as others can be potentially harmful. Michigan Minerals from the Copper Country are of particular concern. Any copper related mineral like Chrysocolla, Cuprite, or in particular Mohawkite should be cut with caution. Mohawkite is a Silver-Copper-Arsenate found in the mine waste piles in the central Keweenaw. I wait until my saws are ready to be cleaned out before slicing Mohawkite, then dispose of the saw oil in a safe manner.

Whenever I cut one of the minerals containing a hazardous mineral I always use loads of water, mask, and rubber gloves. Malachite is one stone that really concerned me is that many people just cut without any protection. If a tart, metallic taste is detected, or if you can taste any rock dust, be concerned and take action. Every time I see all the cut Malachite in Tucson I think of how many poor, unaware Africans are being poisoned making this stuff.

Mohawkite is a Silver/Copper/Arsenate. After I cut my cabs, I seal them in Industrial Epoxy. I do this so they do not tarnish, but it also seals in anything that may be hazardous.

Most of the hazardous gemstones can safely be worn in jewelry with little or no concern.

The bottom line is; ALWAYS be aware of what you are cutting. Try not to inhale the spray generated in cutting (even Quartz-Silica dust should not be induced into you lungs). Be safe in your shop. The internet is a great place to check on the hazards of rocks and minerals. Check the chemical makeup of the rocks you are working with. If the rock contains any of the minerals I’ve mentioned earlier, be wary.

Tiffany Stone (Betrandite). I named the pendant "X marks the spot".

I haven’t even mentioned the radioactive minerals. In general, we do not use those minerals in jewelry making.( wait; my wife mentioned Tiffany Stone) Tiffany Stone is an Opalite material from Utah that contains the radioactive mineral Beryllium. The percentage of Beryllium in Tiffany Stone is so small it is considered not to be of a concern.

I am going to also post this up for my Facebook friends. This short blog is only a start for this discussion. Feel free to add your comments and suggestions. I know I left things out. I’ve only had one cup of coffee so far.

Our stylish new business card.

I just completed updating our business cards.

We love our current business cards, but wanted to step them up a notch or two. Our trademark logo of the snobbish woman with her nose in the air over our stylized red SAJ logo was not changed; just updated.

I changed our tagline to read “Specializing in masterful wire-wrapping of uncommonly rare gemstones from Michigan and throughout the world”. This slogan more reflects our philosophy of producing the highest quality jewelry made from gemstones both scarce and unique. Many people use the term “one of a kind”, so much so that it has become a cliche. Every rock is “one of a kind”, offering so many opportunities for the lapidarist and jewelry artist. The combination of cutting and polishing my own diverse rocks, as well as my meticulous wire-wrapping, make my jewelry unlike any other jewelry on the market. We know this is one of the things that keep people looking at and buying our semiprecious stone jewelry, again and again.

We have also added a business Facebook page, so of course we want people to “like us“.

I continue to custom cut and wire wrap stones others bring me. I especially love it when customers bring me assorted rocks or gems that their parents or grandparents have found in years past. Some of these have much more sentimental value than intrinsic value. No matter how plain these stones may be, I dress them up so they can be proudly worn.

What do you guys think of the new business card? See me at a show or order something off the website and I will give you one absolutely free!

August 15th

Beautiful sunset from the top of Brockway Mountain.

Bonnie and I went out rock hunting with our friends Chris and Crystal today. We started at an old mine that is not on any map where we found U.P. Thomsonite (Prehnite nodules and nice Patricianite which is a mix of pink and green prehnite with bits of copper. It is a wonderful cutting material. Crystal found a few Greenstones.

It was quite sunny and hot on this first pile so we headed to Thomsonite Hill near Eagle Harbor and dug a bit of Prehnite under and old pine tree. I was not real excited and we all bailed out of there and found a logging road a couple years old. I hunted the road for small prenite nodules and Datolite. The road was constructed from tailing out of the Delaware mine so there is always the possibility for datolite. Bonnie and I each found a Datolite. Bonnie’s Datolite was much nicer than mine. I can see I’ll have to make her another pendant (but that’s what I do).

Chris with his first piece of Float Copper. I'm surprised he stood still for this picture as excited as he was.

Chris' float copper after preliminary cleaning.

I told Chris that these logging operations are often times great for finding float copper. Float copper was gouged out and carried by glaciers in the area. Pieces have been found weighing several tons. Chris grabbed his trusty White and headed into the bush. Within 10 minutes he had a nice two to three pond piece of float copper. Finding a nice piece of float copper has been Chris’ goal and I really have never seen him so excited. So, in honor of Chris’ first “floater” I dedicate this blog to him.

Later he cleaned the copper up and brought it to our campsite at Fort Wilkins State Park. What a great find! We have to go back to the bush Wednesday and find some more. I forgot my detector today, but I will have it Wednesday. I’ll keep you all informed.

Advertised as the “last hunt at the Historic Cliff Mine”, rockhounds paid a generous fee to have this tailings pile moved around so they have a better chance to uncover a long-ignored piece of copper. I found a different treasure there which I’ll tell you about, but first some basic history.

Everyone waits with anticipation to be let onto the rock pile.

The backhoe was busy at the Cliff digging trenches for us to hunt.

The Cliff mine was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country. The mine is at the now-abandoned town of Clifton in Keweenaw County. Mining began in 1845, and the Cliff was the most productive copper mine in the United States from 1845 through 1854. Large-scale mining stopped in 1878. The cliff mine was a vertical lode (the vein ran almost straight down). I can only imagine how much trouble mining was at this location.

View from the top of the Cliff pile.

Diggers on the rockpile.

There are tailings piles remaining at the Cliff. One of the piles has been re-worked for copper in the 60’s but still contains small specimens. The backhoe was in constant operations on these piles and we are happy we pid for that extra deep digging. The cliff has not been dug this deep in recent years. Everyone was getting small chunky copper pieces. There could be copper crystals on a few I found, but I have to clean them up. The Cliff Mine area has been worked for copper by natives since prehistoric times. Chisel Chips from these prehistoric mining operations can still be found at the Cliff and most people found a few using sensitive metal detectors. I found a couple, but they were small. Valuable ones can reach 12″ or more. I saw no one that found one that size.

There are also silver and copper crystals at the Cliff and silver-copper “halfbreeds”. I might have some of these, but I need to acid off the Calcite from the specimens I found. It was a very pleasant day on the rock pile.

OK, since you have patiently read this far I’ll tell you what my best find was. I was searching with the metal detector, but I still look around for other minerals I can make jewelry out of. I saw a gorgeous apple green Prehnite just sitting on the surface. Other searchers were so concentrating on copper and listening to their metal detectors, that they totally missed this treasure. Of course not everyone makes jewelry, but it still was the finest piece of gem grade prehnite I have ever found in the Keweenaw. I just can’t wait to get it home and make something from it! Stay tuned for the cutting and wrapping!

Next blog: Last night we went to the new Seaman Museum’s open house and picnic. This will be reported later. We are having a real problem finding Internet Hot Spots up here so I can get this blog done. But even though these may be a couple days late I hope you still appreciate these reports.

The Quincy Mine's Gift shop is in this building and the tours start there also.

Wednesday August 10th

One of the highlights of the Copper Country Mineral Retreat is the swap meet that takes place at the Quincy Mine’s parking lot. Dealers from all over the area bring in their local stuff and set it out on tables for the many rock enthusiasts to drool over and purchase.

Mine Hoist Building at the Quincy

Bonnie liked these mine related relics.

By carefully searching the tables, bargains can be located. A savvy and knowledgeable rockhound can make some great deals as all the dealers enjoy bargaining. Prices can vary for the same item dealer to dealer, so a quick go-round is in order, then a more careful look and the games can begin. After attending the show for many years, I know most of the dealers. I consider many of them friends as we also hunt on the same rock piles.

The most fun is meeting up with old friends that are there to look and buy. We have good friends from Wisconsin, Maryland, and Michigan that we saw and chatted with.

I bought some great Lake Superior Agates, Mexican Fire Opal, Datolite, and Pink Opal from out west. I am always looking for different colors, great banding or patterns, crack-free, and jewelry potential. My spending was limited, but I’m like a frog when a bug flies by–he just can’t resist snapping it up. When I see high quality stuff that my customers would like, I snatch it up quick.

There were also some dealers geared for the history buffs. Books on the copper mines, documents of share ownership, lights, and paraphernalia from earlier copper mining days were available along with great copper specimens.

Some "Lakers" for sale.

I love this colorful Datolite and even bought some for future jewelry.

some of the rabid rockhounds at the swap meet.

This swap meet is open to anyone, and is a great tourist attraction. Rock shows are a great training place for newbie rock enthusiasts, with such friendly people and a wide variety of stone and minerals. Rockhounds at a swap–we’re in heaven!

Next I will report on the hunt at the historic Cliff Mine.