[Rockhounds] inside the monster: a slice of golf-ball garnet photo

[DonH]

Howdy again,

I made the difficult decision to cut the golf-ball sized garnet I found 
and described.  It was a good descision.  I could have trimmed off the 
schist and picked off the crust, but it would have been a much smaller 
specimen and opaque anyway.  This will be cool when polished.

http://mysite.verizon.net/resqkdq4/z-garnetslice.JPG

Actual size of garnet, 5 cm.  Note the reaction rim around it, 
especially visible on the left and right side.  Note also the folding of 
the matrix.  If you look carefully at the right side you can see the 
distinct crystal faces and the interfacial angle of the core.

Sorry I didn't have more time to finish polishing it or set up a better 
photo.  More than the fact that I found it--which was dumb luck--I am 
proud that I pushed the 5" trim saw beyond its limits again, spray 
shield off, working blind with fluid on the safety glasses and on my 
hair and face, without losing the specimen or making a really bad cut.

Photo: Nikon Coolpix 5000, close-up mode with flash, HI quality file, 
outdoors on wet specimen.  Photo cropped, re-sized, enhanced for 
brightness, and converted from TIF to JPG.

I should get back to school work.

Don