I have always been intrigued by rocks, a gift I received from my mother. I couldn't help but think of her and the hours she would have spent learning from Glenn in his rock house. He must have a ton of rocks, gems, and minerals.
He started out by showing me the earrings and pendants he has made which he plans to sell at a few Farmer Markets. He has ordered a few displays. I loved the jewery, because I love rocks. And then he decided to start me from the beginning. It's a passion he has had for 18-20 years.
Glenn has a variety of saws all diamond tipped. Diamond saws and drills need water dripping on the rock and because he doesn't have running water in his Rock House he made his own water dripping system. He actually has a large homemade saw where he can take a large rock and cut it into manageable pieces. As he is telling me about the process he grabs a rock and tells me what it is. "This is Turquoise. This one is Jasper, Oregon Jasper. He picks up Corral, and then Hawaiian Jasper, which he found on the Oregon/Idaho border.
He does attend a rock show in Helena each year. About 3,000 people show up in Helena. He gets some rocks there.
He takes the manageable pieces and goes to another saw and cuts a slab. He takes a template and draws it onto the slab. After which he takes it to another saw and cuts it close to the design.
He shows me the Garnets he dug out of Ruby Mountain. They find Grumdum (please know this is not the spelling) which is a lesser grade Ruby. They dig into the hillside. "It's hard digging." Garnet is heavy and when they were digging for gold, Garnets were considered a nuisance. They use the smallest Garnets to let kids pan. Women also sew grab bags to sell to kids. Last year they sold 925 bags. "Children just really go for it."
"This one is Picasso Marble. It's pretty soft, you have to be careful when you work with it."
He has 15 pounds of Lake Superior Agates tumbling which takes 7-8 weeks to shine up. It depends on the hardness of the rock. "There is a Mochrs scale. Diamonds are the top number and are the hardest. Garnets are next and Montana Agates, for that matter and all agates are a seven."
OK now that we have the rough design trimmed up he glues it on a stick with shoe glue. Takes the design over to the CabKing machine which has six diamond sanders. An 80-course grit, a 220, 600, 800, 1100, and 1300. If he wants more shine he uses diamond paste, it makes a glass shine. "The harder the rock the prettier shine."
Then he takes me over to his diamond drills. Picks up a rock and says, "This is Willow Creek Jasper from Boise Idaho."
He is making all his own sterling silver chains now with magnets. "I know with my own arthritis."
"I've got to darn many rocks. I'll never.....And I found some to buy in the Black Hills last week."
He shows me Moco Jasper, "a lot of the ladies like this one it has purple and gold in it.
"I just stopped on the road and looked at the rocks and picked them up." On Mother's Day Vickie carried a 15-pound sack of rocks to the pickup.
He found some Dinosaur Bone, which make great pendants.
I pick up a rock and asked what it is. "Stink Water Plumb Agate." Then there was "Beacon Hill Agate from Idaho, it's got green in it." "Here is a Blood Agate from the Green River in Wyoming." "This one is an Opal." He showed me Geo he got from Mexico and Thunder eggs. Thunder eggs are hard digging. They are made by volcanoes blowing out junks of mud and ask. The Indians named them the Thunder Egg. They are beautiful inside. If you want to see the color in a rock just wet it.
He has Brazilian Agates, Jade from Wyoming. Lake Superior Agates, Desert Rose, Fools gold, agates from Africa, and Pink Opals.
He asked me if I wanted a Geo. And because I love the crystals inside I said yes! He showed me how to pick out a Geo that is hollow. He took it over to his saw. He uses mineral oil from the North Forty a lubricant used in the intestines of a horse. And after it was cut he used Dawn dish soap to remove the oil. It was beautiful!
Before we went to a different building to show me his Montana Agate collection he showed me the affect Florissant light has on the rocks. It was amazing. The colors where so intense; greens, purple, blues, oranges, and pink.
He likes to hunt a lot of BLM land for rocks.
'Oh, here is some Sweet Water Agates." They are agates with eyes. Eye Agates are from Lake Superior and pretty rare.
He showed me a rock he found East of Mount Baldy. Dr. Dave Burke told him it was Uranium.
He has piles of rocks outside on the yard, piles of rocks on shelves outside the building, piles of rocks inside the buildings. He knows what each one is. I love that he has taken the time, 20 years, to see such incredible beauty in what we mostly just step on.
