u/BPLEquipment

Here is a collection of macros from a piece I recently cut.
Location is unknown at this time. Picture of the full slab is at the end of the photos. Piece is about 8” on the long side.

Sometimes petrified wood can appear solid black in color. Most of the time it can still be very solid and capable of being polished. Using household bleach, you can most of the time lighten these dark colored pet woods.
This bleaching technique only lightens an extremely thin surface layer, so the technique should be used after polishing. Or you can bleach a piece and if you don’t like it, you can repolish the piece and remove the bleaching.
Pics 1-3 show a piece that was bleached and then polished, so some of the bleached area was removed. The light colored areas are what was left of bleaching after polishing. Pic 4 is the polished piece soaking in bleach. You want to use high strength liquid bleach. Do not use the thick anti splash/drip type of bleach. The high viscosity will not allow it to soak into the wood. Depending on the hardness and porosity of the wood, bleaching can take 1 hour, or it could take 3 days. It really depends on the material and your desired result; for how long it should soak for. Some tips to help in the process. If the piece and the bleach are warm and exposed to sunlight, that can definitely help the process. When done bleaching, make sure to soak the piece a few times in plain clean water to flush any bleach from the material/piece. Something to keep in mind while monitoring the bleaching process, the piece will appear lighter when dry, versus wet in the bleach. Pic 5 is dry and pic 6 is wet with water. So if you want to keep it more black, then pull the piece, rinse it, and dry it to see how it truly looks.
Hope this helps someone wanting to see more details in their pet wood. This only works on fossil woods and not limbcasts.

Hey everyone, the r/lapidary mod team is continuing the monthly giveaway, with this absolutely mega May giveaway!

While I am still relatively new to Reddit and this amazing group, I have already met some great people, and learned some valuable information that was of great use!
I share a lot of high end and rare materials through photography mostly, but every once in awhile I go bonkers and just want to share some of the goodies.
I definitely went crazy digging through the old collection of rare materials!!!

Comment on this thread and you will be entered for the giveaway. Giveaway will close May 15th and a randomly selected winner will be announced shortly after.

THE PRIZE!!!

A 17 pound plethora of Central Oregon old stock, rare materials. A small piece of Carey Plume, a piece of Powell Butte agate, a Priday thunder egg piece, a piece of Robinson Ranch Plume, a piece of Ochoco Moss Jasp-Agate, a piece of awesome Marston Ranch, a piece of Warm Springs / Stinking Water Plume, 2 small pieces of Powell Butte Plume/Moss, a large piece of wild water line plume agate that was possibly part of a giant thunder egg from the Valley View mine in the Ochocos, a small piece of polka dot agate, a piece of Maury Mountain Moss, and last but not least, a small piece of Hay Creek Ranch Moss/Plume agate with an amazing angel wing formation.

Someone is going to win big!!!!

Good luck everyone!!!
I am so freaking excited to get this shipped to one of you lucky members!!!

Thank you everyone, for creating such a great community!

If you are in the area this Saturday, stop by and check out some rocks. There have always been some amazing deals at these tailgate events. Good opportunity to meet fellow rock enthusiasts, learn about new materials, and maybe even find something for your next lapidary project or creation.

This material came from Woodward Ranch in Texas.
Full slab pictured at the end of the album.

Here are just a couple of the limb casts that we found last weekend here in Central Oregon.

Hiked 3 miles out to a hill we only briefly visited at the end of a long day of hounding and collecting; and after a few hours we each had a massive pile of limb cast materials and had to pick a backpacks worth to haul the 3 miles back…. I hauled about 90lbs back, over uneven, rocky, and sometimes soft terrain. It was brutally challenging, but the rewards are so worth it. Have a few more loads to retrieve, when our bodies feel up to it again😂🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️