Can anyone take a crack at this rough?

[kenny]

I got this moonstone-like rough today from a dubious source.
It has some nasty feathers so I'm not sure if it will even stand up to polishing so I can set it in a ring.
Besides, I was informed that it was only 5 on the Mohs hardness scale.

Actually, it kind of brings to mind the look and translucency of some kinds of ivory.
I'm afraid I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time.

 

[chrono]

I have no idea what you can do with it but softer material is usually cabbed, so that's not the issue. It's the feather than concerns me.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

 

[VapidLapid]

That's the way of rough, especially moonstone and orthoclase, so named for its eight cleavage planes. If you have a diamond wet saw you can try to saw along the feathers til you have clean pieces. moonstone you can shape and polish in your fingers with successive grades of wet/dry sandpaper, to 1500 grit then switch to leather with some cerium oxide and water.
I find that whenever I locate the orient for the flash the feathers to be cut out run straight through the stone perpendicular to the base requiring me to cut much smaller.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

lol Kenny you troll!

 

[minousbijoux]

lol Kenny you troll!

What am I missing here?

 

[iLander]

It's Kenny's broken tooth. He's pulling everyone's leg.

To see more pics (I don't know why you would want to, bleah! ) he has a thread in Hangout.

 

[kenny]

My apologies to anyone who feels slighted or tricked.
I have a goofy sense of humor.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/whaaaa-i-just-broke-off-part-of-a-tooth.176996/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/whaaaa-i-just-broke-off-part-of-a-tooth.176996/[/URL]

 

[minousbijoux]

You Bad Boy.

Sorry about your tooth.

 

[kenny]

You Bad Boy.

It does kind of look a little like a gem, well, at least a mineral.

 

[gsellis]

When you get some bigger teeth, come back. Until then, that is just too small to cut, but for you $10,000 if you insist.

 

[kenny]

When you get some bigger teeth, come back. Until then, that is just too small to cut, but for you $10,000 if you insist.

I assume this is a quote for you to cut it for me, not an offer to purchase this infinitely priceless biological relic of the illustrious Kenny of Pricescope.

Does anyone, even the Goths, wear jewelry of their own bones and teeth?
I still own 3 of my wisdom teeth, extracted in 1980.

There is, or was, a shop on Melrose Ave in Los Angeles called Necromance.
They sold actual human bones.
They sold a pendant of the bones of a human finger, quite the ultimate conversation piece.

http://www.laweekly.com/bestof/2010/award/best-shopping-on-the-other-side-1991-1081942/

 

[chrono]

I am sure teeth accessories remain quite popular among certain circles. String them all together on a chain / cord.

Ewww....didn't think it'll be yours.

 

[Fly Girl]

I have an extensive collection of my children's baby teeth, most of them obtained for 25 cents to $1.00 each, the going rate for the tooth fairy at the time.

No plans to make them into anything, but if someone has some good ideas, I'll listen.

 

[T L]

Kenny, now THIS is a tooth!

 

[kenny]

WOW!
That tooth is worth of Liz Taylor or the Queen.

Must be from a dinosaur.

 

[chrono]

Extinct shark's tooth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon

 

[T L]

Yup, Chrono found the link. Megalodons are enormous (think bigger than Jaws) extinct giant sharks. Wouldn't want to go swimming in those waters!

 

[kenny]

OMG!
That mouth is even bigger than that of Mick Jagger, Sandra Bernhard or Julia Roberts.

 

[T L]

OMG!
That mouth is even bigger than that of Mick Jagger, Sandra Bernhard or Julia Roberts.

And don't forget Cameron Diaz.

 

[petit_bijou]

Kenny that's so cool!!!! The lines you see running vertically along the outer surface are called perikymata, and they're kind of like growth rings on a tree. They're often polished out of the surface due to normal eating and require a cross section of the tooth to be taken to observe in adults. Dental anthropologists study them for a variety of purposes (usually in skeletal remains) to reconstruct what peoples' lifestyles or health status was like at the time that particular tooth was growing.

For those who have childrens' teeth they don't necessarily wish to keep, your local university's physical anthropology department may accept them as a donation! Skeletal anatomy students need to learn how to identify different teeth and determine where in the mouth you came from, so they could be a valuable teaching tool. If you are willing to provide information about the teeth (if they came from a boy or girl, age when it was lost, any major illnesses your child suffered before the tooth was lost) that would be useful information to them too.

On a more PS-related note, I think there are also some etsy artists who use teeth and hair to make keepsake jewelry, so you could browse there to find a home for your unwanted baby teeth?

Sorry for geeking out... who would've thought I'd have a chance to reveal my inner anthropologist on PS!

 

[kenny]

Kenny that's so cool!!!! The lines you see running vertically along the outer surface are called perikymata, and they're kind of like growth rings on a tree. They're often polished out of the surface due to normal eating and require a cross section of the tooth to be taken to observe in adults. Dental anthropologists study them for a variety of purposes (usually in skeletal remains) to reconstruct what peoples' lifestyles or health status was like at the time that particular tooth was growing.

How interesting you say, "require a cross section of the tooth to be taken to observe ".
Actually those lines were extremely difficult to photograph.
As always I move my lights around to get the most pleasing appearance.
Suddenly out of nowhere these perikymata lines appear.
When the lights were in any other position the perikymata vanished completely; I couldn't believe my eyes.

If you work in this field tell the dental anthropologists to experiment with side lighting and back lighting of various angles.
Granted, this is not a whole tooth so there was less enamel and dentin for the light to pass through.

 

[Fly Girl]

Kenny that's so cool!!!! The lines you see running vertically along the outer surface are called perikymata, and they're kind of like growth rings on a tree. They're often polished out of the surface due to normal eating and require a cross section of the tooth to be taken to observe in adults. Dental anthropologists study them for a variety of purposes (usually in skeletal remains) to reconstruct what peoples' lifestyles or health status was like at the time that particular tooth was growing.

For those who have childrens' teeth they don't necessarily wish to keep, your local university's physical anthropology department may accept them as a donation! Skeletal anatomy students need to learn how to identify different teeth and determine where in the mouth you came from, so they could be a valuable teaching tool. If you are willing to provide information about the teeth (if they came from a boy or girl, age when it was lost, any major illnesses your child suffered before the tooth was lost) that would be useful information to them too.

On a more PS-related note, I think there are also some etsy artists who use teeth and hair to make keepsake jewelry, so you could browse there to find a home for your unwanted baby teeth?

Sorry for geeking out... who would've thought I'd have a chance to reveal my inner anthropologist on PS!

Thank you for the information on uses for children's teeth, petit_bijou.

Yes, you never know where these sorts of threads will lead.

 

[beau-wy]

While it is small and included, this is a magnificent specimen of natural, untreated (except perhaps routine fluoridation) aragonite in the narrow class of biologically derived, naturally occurring gems (along with coral, jet, pearls, amber and ivory), and in one of the most desirable of colors. This piece is exceptional in terms of the lack of strong yellow modifiers or brown staining typically seen in the type locality. This material only forms in naturally occuring pockets associated with moisture, and very specific concentrations of calcium, phosphorus and iron.

Our master precision toothcutters here at the Natural Aragonite lapidary and jewelers would be pleased to have the opportunity to cut this important specimen and craft one of our signature, gold crown amalgam pendants. We would discourage your initial plan for a ring; while a rather tough material, at a hardness of 5, as you noted, it really is too soft for a ring that will receive regular wear. A pendant piece will protect it better and allow you to enjoy it for many years.

 

[chrono]

While it is small and included, this is a magnificent specimen of natural, untreated (except perhaps routine fluoridation) aragonite in the narrow class of biologically derived, naturally occurring gems (along with coral, jet, pearls, amber and ivory), and in one of the most desirable of colors. This piece is exceptional in terms of the lack of strong yellow modifiers or brown staining typically seen in the type locality. This material only forms in naturally occuring pockets associated with moisture, and very specific concentrations of calcium, phosphorus and iron.

Our master precision toothcutters here at the Natural Aragonite lapidary and jewelers would be pleased to have the opportunity to cut this important specimen and craft one of our signature, gold crown amalgam pendants. We would discourage your initial plan for a ring; while a rather tough material, at a hardness of 5, as you noted, it really is too soft for a ring that will receive regular wear. A pendant piece will protect it better and allow you to enjoy it for many years.

Hilarious!!!

 

[minousbijoux]

Beau:

Very nice expert explanation and recommendation

PetitB: I had no idea you were so knowledgeable in this area! Are you an anthropologist? How cool is that?!

 

[petit_bijou]

Kenny, most people who study these lines either examine them in cross section using a microscope, or on teeth that have them preserved at the surface level like yours will use cross lighting under magnification or use a scanning electron microscope to get a good picture of the texture without the "noise" of reflections and colour inconsistencies obscuring the detail they want to look at. Well done for your first work at dental photography!! I would bring you along as a research assistant any day- trying to photograph teeth (either on their own, or still inside a jaw bone) next to museum windows for light is always a pain. I think I'll have to take a closer look at your posts describing your photography set up and try it on my research material!

Minous, I am an anthropologist... I wonder what gave it away?

 

[Richard M.]

While it is small and included, this is a magnificent specimen of natural, untreated (except perhaps routine fluoridation) aragonite in the narrow class of biologically derived, naturally occurring gems (along with coral, jet, pearls, amber and ivory), and in one of the most desirable of colors.

Aragonite? I've always been amused by the old joke that that our mouths are full of apatite.

Richard M. (Rick Martin)

 

[kenny]

While it is small and included, this is a magnificent specimen of natural, untreated (except perhaps routine fluoridation) aragonite in the narrow class of biologically derived, naturally occurring gems (along with coral, jet, pearls, amber and ivory), and in one of the most desirable of colors. This piece is exceptional in terms of the lack of strong yellow modifiers or brown staining typically seen in the type locality. This material only forms in naturally occuring pockets associated with moisture, and very specific concentrations of calcium, phosphorus and iron.

Our master precision toothcutters here at the Natural Aragonite lapidary and jewelers would be pleased to have the opportunity to cut this important specimen and craft one of our signature, gold crown amalgam pendants. We would discourage your initial plan for a ring; while a rather tough material, at a hardness of 5, as you noted, it really is too soft for a ring that will receive regular wear. A pendant piece will protect it better and allow you to enjoy it for many years.

Why thank you.
Actually the mine for this specimen is just a couple cm away source of some of the most intelligent PS posts eveah!

 

[beau-wy]

While it is small and included, this is a magnificent specimen of natural, untreated (except perhaps routine fluoridation) aragonite in the narrow class of biologically derived, naturally occurring gems (along with coral, jet, pearls, amber and ivory), and in one of the most desirable of colors.

Aragonite? I've always been amused by the old joke that that our mouths are full of apatite.

Richard M. (Rick Martin)

Mr. M. - for whom I have the deepest, greatest respect - is entirely correct. Mammalian dentition is a var. of apatite. However, given every indication that Kenny is, in fact, an ornithine, I took the poetic liberty of hoping his dentititon might be of a more exotic, yet known, animalian origin.

Henceforth, I dub Kenny's teeth superbulite. Any gem collector worth a hoot has one, or is just a poser.