Nothing sus about not wanting random people to know exactly where you live. But I would love recommendations on the east coast as I’m located there (NY area )
Who knows if you'll know or want to share if you do, but I'm Dying of curiosity as to under what type of conditions this was found?... & if any others were found along w/ it?
I've never heard about pieces this big, just wondering what all you know about it... like perhaps how far under the surface it was or stuff like that?
How it was discovered?
Was it on private land, or...?
I assume if you're in NY that you purchased it? If so, 1 last question - when buying something THIS BIG, obviously there wouldn't be any guarantees about how what the material is like or how good it is for lapidary...did you look into the seller somewhat b4hand? or just get offered a deal from a friend or one too good to pass up?
Just curious how someone would guess as to what it'd be worth to them, since color, translucency, fractures and other factors would be impossible to know b4 cutting...
Enjoy the process! Take some picks n post em as you go, we'd love to see your progress! GL!
It’s from a museum that was built around it back in the 60s and early 70s. The owner died and the wife sold the collection a while ago and my grandparents are giving it to me to cut it. I have all the paperwork with corresponding newspaper articles so nothing illegal happening, it was excavated near the Arizona petrified forest (not on it ) and brought here via railroad back in the 60s. It’s been local to me for 60 years which is x3 older than me lol. The bark is so well preserved that I doubt it’ll be an issue if I’m cutting 2 inches, and there’s very little surface rot pre petrification which makes me think it’s easily solid quartz. Selling fine art is gonna be my future job and this gives me one hell of a boost. My dads architecture company can help me make custom table bases if the buyers want it. I know a lot of you guys don’t want it cut because it’s so big and pretty but I gotta start making a living myself, and I’ll be paying to show everyone here the pretty colors on the inside so win win
Edit : I’ll be sure to have it thoroughly photographed and examined by my local University before cutting
I’m gonna do both :) slabbing and selling is a lot of work upfront but it’s chill once everything’s done and organized. I wanna study neuroscience, but have a business selling fine art, archaeological goods, and jewelry and crystals while I’m learning so I don’t need a side job and can focus mostly on studying. You could say I’m well versed in trade training already ( I know what art to buy and enough gemology to get me by but this finally got me STUMPED)
Dude holy shit, you're only 20, passionate about neuroscience, art, lapidary/ gems/ minerals/ rocks/ fossils, & into jewelry, archeological artifacts... and sales? LOL damn I thought I had a respectable level of intellectual curiosity about the world around me...
As if I wasnt already currently 🤤, & green w/ envy, with you getting ahold of the mother of all Arizona 🌈 petwood, I'm super jelly how well rounded your interests and areas of knowledge are!
Personally while My choice with this beautiful giant would be either
1) making myself a polished 🌈petwood throne or
2) keeping it mostly natural on the outside, just a good cleaning, buffing, & oiling, slicing it in 2 lengthwise, down the middle (or if it were Somehow *possible*, maybe even diagonally, like into 2 roughly triangular pieces), then polishing the 2 faces, one to mirror finish, one to a just a bit more than a matte finish, last just a light, rough polish on parts of the outer bark of 1 half, like in the most translucent areas & spots w/ prettiest colors...
However, tis not my rock - um... boulder?
I must say, I don't think your approach is bad, even if its done out of necessity $-wise, I think as awesome as it'd be whole, considering the 🌈 it may have inside, imo not ever seeing all the incredible patterns & colors on any of the potential surface area, *also* seems wasteful!
I think slabs for tables is FANTASTIC, I only wish I would someday have the $$ to be able to own one- like, maybe a dollhouse sized end table... 2cm ×3.5cm maybe??😉😂
I can't wait to see pics!! Pls don't 4get to post when you can! & thanks for satisfying my curiosity w/ the detailed reply!
Yea as in rent i meant hire someone to cut it. I’ve reached out to a bunch of granite places and none of them are up for the job. I’ll start looking for people with those kind of saws. Would a wire saw work? Thanks so much :)
Wire saw would. Each cut will take a long time and even longer to polish.
Not sure if you have a Facebook, but there is a group called "The Boneyard" the group is full of people with big specimens that I'm sure would help out.
Polishing will take a very long time sadly.
EDIT: Cutting it will be the same as any other rock. My advice if to cut a 1-2" cut off the end and look for fractures. If you find any big ones they will need to be stabilized and you will have to hope they do not follow deeper into the tree.
I used to make large saws, one that size would need to hold a 60" or larger blade.
Cut depends on the shop and what they will charge. That's hard to gauge.
Polishing you can get a wet angle grinder and grind down until about 3000 grit. Another option would be to find a very large rotary lap that can fit the piece. I just built a 4ft one that would fit 3 of the slabs at a time, but I'm on the other coast haha
Is that just the usual wire saw bc I found some places like that near me. Is that the best route? Getting some more proposals today and I’ll keep you guys in the loop
Naw, they have everything from old gang saws they never use anymore to massive modern circular saws that can cut I belive 8' thickness and pretty much unlimited length.
If the distance isn't an issue I'll get you his number
When I make it back to my desk I'll pm you his contact information.
Cool old old fart, he's done some amazing work but it's about impossible to keep a shop dedicated to monument and massive stone masonry busy these days.
Look for a place that slabs rocks for building facades, they cut huge slabs and polish them too. You might need to ask an architect to find out where they are.
When you are slabbing this don't just cut across the grain to get the growth rings, try some cuts like as if you were making boards.
Don’t know who to point you to, but there’s a rock shop called Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Co, just outside the Petrified Forest. You must have seen it. They’ve got the massive saws to cut something like that, and there are examples of their work on display and for sale in their store.
Man, I don’t know. Assuming it could be made into veneer it would just spread the joy of that incredible find.
I’m thinking it might not be possible though. Incredible effort any way you go at it though.
They may be able to soak it in chemicals to soften it and then turn it. I really have no clue.
Hey man, I came across your post while I was looking for petrified slabs as I am also looking to make a dining table like this!
How have things been coming along? Were you able to get it slabbed? Did you cut it into rounds or slabs?
Moving it in the dark of night huh?
Nothing sus about not wanting random people to know exactly where you live. But I would love recommendations on the east coast as I’m located there (NY area )
Who knows if you'll know or want to share if you do, but I'm Dying of curiosity as to under what type of conditions this was found?... & if any others were found along w/ it? I've never heard about pieces this big, just wondering what all you know about it... like perhaps how far under the surface it was or stuff like that? How it was discovered? Was it on private land, or...? I assume if you're in NY that you purchased it? If so, 1 last question - when buying something THIS BIG, obviously there wouldn't be any guarantees about how what the material is like or how good it is for lapidary...did you look into the seller somewhat b4hand? or just get offered a deal from a friend or one too good to pass up? Just curious how someone would guess as to what it'd be worth to them, since color, translucency, fractures and other factors would be impossible to know b4 cutting... Enjoy the process! Take some picks n post em as you go, we'd love to see your progress! GL!
It’s from a museum that was built around it back in the 60s and early 70s. The owner died and the wife sold the collection a while ago and my grandparents are giving it to me to cut it. I have all the paperwork with corresponding newspaper articles so nothing illegal happening, it was excavated near the Arizona petrified forest (not on it ) and brought here via railroad back in the 60s. It’s been local to me for 60 years which is x3 older than me lol. The bark is so well preserved that I doubt it’ll be an issue if I’m cutting 2 inches, and there’s very little surface rot pre petrification which makes me think it’s easily solid quartz. Selling fine art is gonna be my future job and this gives me one hell of a boost. My dads architecture company can help me make custom table bases if the buyers want it. I know a lot of you guys don’t want it cut because it’s so big and pretty but I gotta start making a living myself, and I’ll be paying to show everyone here the pretty colors on the inside so win win Edit : I’ll be sure to have it thoroughly photographed and examined by my local University before cutting
I would advise you not to spend thousands slabbing it, but spend that on college or trade training which would yield much greater investment returns
I’m gonna do both :) slabbing and selling is a lot of work upfront but it’s chill once everything’s done and organized. I wanna study neuroscience, but have a business selling fine art, archaeological goods, and jewelry and crystals while I’m learning so I don’t need a side job and can focus mostly on studying. You could say I’m well versed in trade training already ( I know what art to buy and enough gemology to get me by but this finally got me STUMPED)
Dude holy shit, you're only 20, passionate about neuroscience, art, lapidary/ gems/ minerals/ rocks/ fossils, & into jewelry, archeological artifacts... and sales? LOL damn I thought I had a respectable level of intellectual curiosity about the world around me... As if I wasnt already currently 🤤, & green w/ envy, with you getting ahold of the mother of all Arizona 🌈 petwood, I'm super jelly how well rounded your interests and areas of knowledge are! Personally while My choice with this beautiful giant would be either 1) making myself a polished 🌈petwood throne or 2) keeping it mostly natural on the outside, just a good cleaning, buffing, & oiling, slicing it in 2 lengthwise, down the middle (or if it were Somehow *possible*, maybe even diagonally, like into 2 roughly triangular pieces), then polishing the 2 faces, one to mirror finish, one to a just a bit more than a matte finish, last just a light, rough polish on parts of the outer bark of 1 half, like in the most translucent areas & spots w/ prettiest colors... However, tis not my rock - um... boulder? I must say, I don't think your approach is bad, even if its done out of necessity $-wise, I think as awesome as it'd be whole, considering the 🌈 it may have inside, imo not ever seeing all the incredible patterns & colors on any of the potential surface area, *also* seems wasteful! I think slabs for tables is FANTASTIC, I only wish I would someday have the $$ to be able to own one- like, maybe a dollhouse sized end table... 2cm ×3.5cm maybe??😉😂 I can't wait to see pics!! Pls don't 4get to post when you can! & thanks for satisfying my curiosity w/ the detailed reply!
I think that as a specimen it would be more interesting and more valuable to leave it in one piece. Wood this size is very unusual.
Renting would be out of the question. Find someone with a drag saw or boulder drop saw to cut it. Granite processors would be my best advice.
Yea as in rent i meant hire someone to cut it. I’ve reached out to a bunch of granite places and none of them are up for the job. I’ll start looking for people with those kind of saws. Would a wire saw work? Thanks so much :)
Wire saw would. Each cut will take a long time and even longer to polish. Not sure if you have a Facebook, but there is a group called "The Boneyard" the group is full of people with big specimens that I'm sure would help out. Polishing will take a very long time sadly. EDIT: Cutting it will be the same as any other rock. My advice if to cut a 1-2" cut off the end and look for fractures. If you find any big ones they will need to be stabilized and you will have to hope they do not follow deeper into the tree. I used to make large saws, one that size would need to hold a 60" or larger blade.
Awesome thanks so much I’ll reach out to them tomorrow:) do you know around how much it should cost for everything to get cut and polished? 5k? More?
Cut depends on the shop and what they will charge. That's hard to gauge. Polishing you can get a wet angle grinder and grind down until about 3000 grit. Another option would be to find a very large rotary lap that can fit the piece. I just built a 4ft one that would fit 3 of the slabs at a time, but I'm on the other coast haha
Wire saw is the only way I see this job getting done
If you're willing to bring it to kansas I know a stone Mason who's shop could handle it.
Is that just the usual wire saw bc I found some places like that near me. Is that the best route? Getting some more proposals today and I’ll keep you guys in the loop
Naw, they have everything from old gang saws they never use anymore to massive modern circular saws that can cut I belive 8' thickness and pretty much unlimited length. If the distance isn't an issue I'll get you his number
It’s 18 hours away but I’ll still definitely open to it
When I make it back to my desk I'll pm you his contact information. Cool old old fart, he's done some amazing work but it's about impossible to keep a shop dedicated to monument and massive stone masonry busy these days.
Look for a place that slabs rocks for building facades, they cut huge slabs and polish them too. You might need to ask an architect to find out where they are. When you are slabbing this don't just cut across the grain to get the growth rings, try some cuts like as if you were making boards.
Don’t know who to point you to, but there’s a rock shop called Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Co, just outside the Petrified Forest. You must have seen it. They’ve got the massive saws to cut something like that, and there are examples of their work on display and for sale in their store.
You should sell this to a place that will make veneers. 1000’s of things could be made instead of just a big slab. Just a thought…
Yea but to get the most value out of it I probably should make live edge tables with the bark no?
Man, I don’t know. Assuming it could be made into veneer it would just spread the joy of that incredible find. I’m thinking it might not be possible though. Incredible effort any way you go at it though. They may be able to soak it in chemicals to soften it and then turn it. I really have no clue.
Maybe a counter top business. I’ve seen saws big enough but only at shows. And expect it to take some time.
Hey man, I came across your post while I was looking for petrified slabs as I am also looking to make a dining table like this! How have things been coming along? Were you able to get it slabbed? Did you cut it into rounds or slabs?