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Writer's pictureDan Mabbutt

Ya Gotta Cut 'Em

Close call for a great piece of Dino Bone


Nick ordered some rocks a few weeks ago. He let me pick them out from the piles of my dad's rocks. This one ALMOST went over the side into Surprise Wash.

When I first looked at this rock, it was covered with dust so it didn't even look as good as this picture. For a minute or so, I seriously considered tossing it into Surprise Wash. But I spent a lot of hours scouring the ground for dino bone with my dad as a kid. That does something to your brain so you instinctively recognize patterns. There was something about this rock that said, "dino bone" to me.


So, I tossed it into the package to send to Nick. After he cut it, this is what it looks like.


That's a NICE piece of dino bone! I had no idea it would turn out that way. The takeaway from this blog is, "You gotta cut 'em to find out what they're really like." Nearly all of the rocks I sell at KinesavaROCKS are rough and a lot of them have a weathered surface. (Like this one.)


But my dad was a great rockhound and he didn't bring back any leaverrite. The whole pile is great old stock.

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7 comentarios


Nicholas Hale
Nicholas Hale
23 may 2024

Was very nervous cutting, only having my first saw for 3 months now and not knowing how the material would "behave", but it cut very cleanly and the replacement detail inside is AWESOME! Planning to leave it intact now, per the pic above, though I may take a small mini "slab" off someday when I am more experienced and can actually do something with it...maybe a bolo tie, in honour of who I got it from ;) Thanks for the great piece, Dan!

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Dan Mabbutt
Dan Mabbutt
23 may 2024

I'm glad it turned out that way for Nick. He's in Canada and getting rock up there is a "weighty" problem.

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Melissa Dokken
Melissa Dokken
22 may 2024

That is a beautiful piece!!

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Dan Mabbutt
Dan Mabbutt
23 may 2024
Contestando a

I think so. Dino bone is never the same inside. Some has multicolored cells. Some are a spider web pattern like this. I've always liked this type. Thanks for the comment.

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Trent Burroughs
Trent Burroughs
22 may 2024

What a lovely pattern. Great contrast!

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Dan Mabbutt
Dan Mabbutt
23 may 2024
Contestando a

Yeah. It does. Some dino bone is completely replaced with banded agate and there are no cells. I like this kind better.

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ktvolkle
22 may 2024

That is some beautiful bone!

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