Fossilized wood

[hardtimehermit]

Last summer i went to Gabbs valley to hunt for opalized wood, but there is also petrified wood. I spent half a day wandering around while the Navy is training pilots above me. Once i looked up and saw a jet 100 feet above the deck with mountains just beside him was an impressive sight. Had a good time, didn't think i had found anything too interesting, until last week i took another look at a piece of fossilized wood i found and thought this stick is pretty cool. To me it looks as though one end has been burnt, and even more it looks like a prehistoric fire poker. This could only happen if a caveman was eating dinner when a volcanic eruption sent tons of ash in the air and buried the site. Or it's just fossilized wood with a white tip, either way i thought you might enjoy a look.     h.t.

[Morlock]

Very nice and unusual find. Congrats. I might have passed it up thinking it was a 2 by 4.

[BMc]

2 hours ago, Morlock said:

Very nice and unusual find. Congrats. I might have passed it up thinking it was a 2 by 4.

It's not? Huh!

[wet/dry washer]

back 2009, partner don's wife lives in a home in palo verde ca. county building inspector red tagged her property for having firewood next to the house. she told him it was fossilized wood, his reply was that all wood burns. she received notice to appear in court, El Centro. me appeared for her. to this day they have never bothered her again.

 

[hardtimehermit]

7 hours ago, Morlock said:

Very nice and unusual find. Congrats. I might have passed it up thinking it was a 2 by 4.

Actually it measures 1/4 " by 3/4 " and is 6" long. I am with you though, it's like a stir stick from the past. Thanks Morlock   h.t.

[4meter]

I'm thinking  Paleo-Coctails, Mmm 

[Bedrock Bob]

That is a cool piece! The grain was really retained as the wood mineralized.

In my experience opalized wood or bone often has a soft, white, almost chalky cortex. It also retains the grain or vascular structure more than agatized wood. Consequently many of the shapes you find will be "splits" just like little pieces of wood.

I think yours probably splintered off from a larger rock. I think the white tip on that piece represents the cortex of the original, larger opalized stone. The colored portion represents the interior of the original stone.

 

….

Back when I was a young hippie kid I used to wear a little petrified wood "split" on a cord around my neck. It was a popular piece of bohemian jewelry back in the day. 

Nowdays at the Farmers Market you can find the long little pieces of wood tumble polished and wire wrapped. They are getting really popular again and can be more valuable that you think. Opalized and agatized wood and bone are some of the easiest stones to get a nice finish on and people really snap them up. The artists at the market are always after the long shapes to wrap as pendants and the thin flakes to drill as ear rings. They are really in demand.

I have sold several pounds of petrified wood for wire wrapping in the past year. All as individual pieces for pendants or thin paired flakes for earrings. All of them wood similar to your specimen (although none retaining such nice sharp corners and even faces like yours). A gold pan full of polished pieces can be worth several hundred dollars at $1-$3 per stone.

The ladies I have been selling the stones to will invest a couple hours in some really intricate wire work and sell the piece for $40-$50. I take a bag of petrified wood every Saturday and can always sell a few pieces for wrapping. So far I have recouped my initial investment for the tumblers and grit and have made that much more in profit. So don't underestimate how valuable a few handfuls of pretty rocks can be. 

[hardtimehermit]

2 hours ago, Bedrock Bob said:

That is a cool piece! The grain was really retained as the wood mineralized.

In my experience opalized wood or bone often has a soft, white, almost chalky cortex. It also retains the grain or vascular structure more than agatized wood. Consequently many of the shapes you find will be "splits" just like little pieces of wood.

I think yours probably splintered off from a larger rock. I think the white tip on that piece represents the cortex of the original, larger opalized stone. The colored portion represents the interior of the original stone.

 

….

Back when I was a young hippie kid I used to wear a little petrified wood "split" on a cord around my neck. It was a popular piece of bohemian jewelry back in the day. 

Nowdays at the Farmers Market you can find the long little pieces of wood tumble polished and wire wrapped. They are getting really popular again and can be more valuable that you think. Opalized and agatized wood and bone are some of the easiest stones to get a nice finish on and people really snap them up. The artists at the market are always after the long shapes to wrap as pendants and the thin flakes to drill as ear rings. They are really in demand.

I have sold several pounds of petrified wood for wire wrapping in the past year. All as individual pieces for pendants or thin paired flakes for earrings. All of them wood similar to your specimen (although none retaining such nice sharp corners and even faces like yours). A gold pan full of polished pieces can be worth several hundred dollars at $1-$3 per stone.

The ladies I have been selling the stones to will invest a couple hours in some really intricate wire work and sell the piece for $40-$50. I take a bag of petrified wood every Saturday and can always sell a few pieces for wrapping. So far I have recouped my initial investment for the tumblers and grit and have made that much more in profit. So don't underestimate how valuable a few handfuls of pretty rocks can be. 

Hey Bob, thanks for your comments, i get what you mean about the piece splitting off of a larger stone seems to make sense. I still am leaning towards cave man's fire stick, but i know your opinion is a good one. I am pretty sure there is no opal in this wood, it is fully agatized. I think your right though that it could have split off a bigger stone. 

Thanks for sharing your ideas on turning some fossil wood into product for market. I am at the stage of gathering and hope to tool up this summer, so i am just getting started in some ways.  h.t.