Blue Quartz from Brazil and Wonderstone from Nevada - from our Plumber!

[Redrummd]

Okay, stone just seems to find me at times. We had a plugged drain and had a local plumber come out as I always try to find a local company. While he was here he visited my shop and told me that a 96 year old woman had paid him for doing a major plumbing repair in stone from her collection going back to the 1950's. This occurred a decade ago and he told me he still had the stone stacked in piles on his property. One thing led to another and I did go out to his home. Most of what he had gotten in the collection was too small for use on knives but he did have some very interesting Blue Quartz from Brazil and Rhyolite (Wonderstone) from Nevada. Now these stones can still be found but I have never seen any of the quality of the pieces he had.

I ended up making a trade of three knives for the stones I wanted and they are not huge. I got a 11 pound piece of the Blue Quartz and 3 pieces of the Rhyolite weighing about 14 pounds.

Here are some photos of the knives I did to pay for the stone. The Blue Quartz is REALLY blue and takes a high polish too. It is like nothing I have worked with before. The blue in the stone is probably tiny Dumortierite crystals.

 

[Redrummd]

I actually did an extra knife in each material so I will have one of the Blue Quartz knives for sale. The "spare" Rhyolite" knife looked like it had a minor line in the stone which is a typical feature in almost all stone.

Unfortunately it was more like a "flake" that really stand out in a bad way on the finished knife. I have given this knife an EDC rating (Every Day Carry) and will probably make nothing on the knife but my costs in materials back.... I hate when that happens but it does more often than I would like for sure.

 

[Redrummd]

I should note that these will be some spendy knives as paying three knives for the stone will probably net only 20 to 24 knives if all goes well. I am a bit worried about finding more of the line issue in the Rhyolite Wonderstone. I just had never seen anything like these pieces before and believe I will do okay on the trade long term.

 

[testdw]

Mike,
Wow, the Blue Quartz is a great addition to your knife Art specimens. I suspect the Blue Quartz to be highly desirable on the market. It does remind me of the Peruvian Dumortierite stone with perhaps a better polish finish. The Blue color tone is exceptional.

Just noticed the striking similarity of the Wonderstone to the Australian Mookaite ie 1804PCS the "Clouds of Jupiter".

Dennis