Stone Identification Help...

[Pickle]

Hi there,
On a walk this morning, I found this stone on the banks of the river Tweed, just on the England/Scotland Border. Got all excited thinking it's a rough Cheviot Agate type thing or maybe Jasper but now I'm not sure. Shards of it, almost glass-like are splintering off when I go at it with a mallet and chisel. A steel file doesn't make a mark on it. It's translucent when held up to the light. Wet and dry photos attached. Anyone any ideas or inklings? I have a handful of Cheviot agate and Cheviot jasper cabs to set for Christmas presents - would be great to say that this is what the cabs would look like in their raw form...as you can probably tell, I'm a bit of an agate-lover :-)
xx

[CJ57]

Looks like agate of some sort, have found similar in the fields in Fife or at Balmerino or Arbroath beaches. I'll have a look for them later and we can compare. I think I chucked them into the gravel in the garden as I though if I hadn't done anything with them after 30 years.....

[Pickle]

Thanks Caroline....now where can I stash mine for years until I forget about it? hehehe!! It's really heavy so could possible make a good door stop x

[Dennis]

Is it flint? you could make arrow heads, or invent a tool for cutting things.

[Goldsmith]

I have got boxes of stone stored in my shed that I bought from a lapidary company when they closed down, I ought to find someone who wants to buy them.



James

[Pickle]

Probably Dennis - was just reading up on flint/chert - valuable in its time but not now we have steel!!
Wow James - some lovely looking specimens there. Have you ever tried cabbing any of them?

[Goldsmith]

Probably Dennis - was just reading up on flint/chert - valuable in its time but not now we have steel!!
Wow James - some lovely looking specimens there. Have you ever tried cabbing any of them?

No I have not cut any cabs, but I have sliced a few for antique restoration work, that was before I sold my slab saws to Stu.



James

[BarryM]

It looks distinctly like some from of metamorphic rock to me - possibly a metamorphosed quartzite?? A gneiss?

[Pickle]

It looks distinctly like some from of metamorphic rock to me - possibly a metamorphosed quartzite?? A gneiss?

Thank you Barry and everyone for your thoughts. I have come to the conclusion that if I can smooth off a shard I may see if I can make something nice for me when I get the time. The rest will, indeed, take pride of place as a doorstop