"Life', as Forest Gump so famously said, "is like a bunch of chocolates". He was referring to the unexpected surprises (good and bad I guess) that serve to make our lives interesting.
Cutting rock is much the same. Surprises, both good and bad are revealed. True, if you know what you're doing, you have an inkling. But you never REALLY know.
The weather on Digby Neck has warmed up enough so that my water cooled lapidary machines can be fired up and recently I did a bit of cutting. Here are a few interesting pieces.
The first piece looked pretty good on the outside, with nice pink colouring.
But it was only when cut that the beautiful patterning was exposed, including the gorgeous pockets of fortification agate.
The next is a piece of petrified wood found on a beach. It had all the earmarks of petrified wood on the outside.
But when I cut it, the beautiful organic structure became evident and the great colouring also showed up.
Sometimes you get a complete surprise. On the outside it looked like a nice piece of agate.
But on the inside, there was an amazing array of colour and patterning. This will make a couple of amazing cabochons!
I'll be doing more cutting next week so stay tuned. And if you are in the area, come by and see our retail shop as well as my "Lap of Lapidary!
