Woodies

[kenefick]

I recently had the good fortune to meet a gentleman who used to have a rock shop in our area.  His shop has been closed for several years, and he is "cleaning house".  I ended up with about 100# of free pet wood rough and a new friend.  Most of the pet wood was collected locally, and he has offered to show me the locations.  In addition, he is a very accomplished silversmith, and has offered to tutor me.
Anyway, here's a set I made from one of the first pieces I cut.

[Bentiron]

That will make a beautiful set of jewelry for sure and with some tutoring I'm looking forward to see what you make of it.

[lithicbeads]

Nice wood . See if you have any with dendrites that is one of my favorite woods.

[Enchantra]

Awesome.  Definitely a nice set worthy of a great setting.  Love the patterns in this variety of wood.   

[itsandbits1]

lucky man you are
hope you get the time to take him up on the tutoring

[kenefick]

Thank you all.
Yes, I was lucky.  When we moved here some 35 years ago, I saw a little sign on the highway, "Rock Shop", but had stopped doing lapidary and silver work, so never visited.  When I got back into it about a year or so ago, I went looking for the sign, and it was gone, and I could not remember which side road it had been on.  A friend of my wife called one day to tell me about the "old rock ship", and that the gentleman was disposing of the remains of his former business.  His wife passed away a couple of years ago, and he was gearing up for an estate sale for the household goods.  He gave me the address, and we arranged a time to meet.  What followed was a very enjoyable 2 hour visit, complete with a tour of his collection of polished palm and pet wood slabs, his silver working shop with completed pieces and work that had been started and set aside, and a walk around to see the material he had left.  (He told me he had disposed of about 12000# of rough and virtually all of his equipment previously.)  I had come prepared to buy, but he insisted that I was doing him a favor by hauling the rough away, and would not accept any payment for it.  He did, finally, and with twinkle in his eye, quote me a price of 25 cents for a small carton of palm slabs.  As I was preparing to leave, he invited me to visit again to show me how he does his silverwork, and to show me some of areas where one could find pet wood and palm.  A truly generous and fascinating gentleman.
I'll be merrily sawing slabs soon, and can post pictures of the results if there is any interest. 

[asianfire]

Ohhhh yes please. Looking forward to the treasures you going to find.

[john likes rocks!]

Nice work Ken that is a beautiful cab set! ....thanks for posting the pix.

[Former sealdaddy]

Wow, ol' friend.
A great guy to know.
I truly wish I as still down there to hound again with ya~!!!

[Rockoteer]

Nice wood . See if you have any with dendrites that is one of my favorite woods.

Could you maybe post a pic of pet with dendrites?  I have a lot of pet.