Any tips on finding some awesome rock for ROR?

[mattspinniken]

I love the look of Japanese Ibigawa (sp?) rock, I havent seen much here in the U.S. that looks as good. I attached a pic of Ibigawa. Any ideas on finding a good rock here in the U.S.? Ibigawa looks great but is priced like gold here with import costs etc. Ideally I would find a perfect rock for root over rock in a majestic stream locally but that doesnt seem to exist around here. I have seen lace rock and aquarium rock around here but just not as good as the Ibigawa from what I've seen. Why does the Japanese rock looks so much better? We have to have some good stuff locally.... right? Finding a really nice rock for ROR is almost as hard or maybe harder than finding the right tree.

 

[Adair M]

You want to use rock that is very hard. Tree roots can split rocks! Usually a dark colored rock is better.

 

[abqjoe]

I've always thought lava rock, preferably black, would be nice because it lends a great surface for roots to attach themselves to. We have some really old and hard black lava rock out here.

 

[Adair M]

Lava would be ok.

When you place the tree on the rock, bind it tightly so that the roots will "clasp" the rock.

Nothing looks worse than a root over rock where there's air between the root and the rock.

 

[mattspinniken]

Lava would be ok.

I would love to see some examples if anyone has one. Lava I have seen used for ROR has a reddish hue.

 

[Smoke]

Took these pics today at the nursery

 

[Shima]

I would love to see some examples if anyone has one. Lava I have seen used for ROR has a reddish hue.

I have access to a few. And this suiseki shore stone (Isogata-ishi) was requested by a California club show years ago. I don't do enough with rocks.

 

[Smoke]

Thats some awesome rock there!

 

[abqjoe]

I would love to see some examples if anyone has one. Lava I have seen used for ROR has a reddish hue.

I think I have a nice piece somewhere in my garage. If I find it and you want it just pay for the shipping......

 

[mattspinniken]

@Smoke and @Shima there is hope! You both posted some great stuff.

 

[sorce]

I still think having many rocks and saplings to chose from is key.

Sorce

 

[LanceMac10]

http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/collectors_corner/vft/mi1.htm

Curious if you could find some basalt here?

 

[GrimLore]

Took these pics today at the nursery

Where? Pretty certain I need the fifth one

Grimmy

 

[mattspinniken]

Took these pics today at the nursery

I love the 4th one!

 

[crust]

Keep in mind, some, and maybe many, of the Japanese rocks that are dynamic have been roughed in with tools and acid treated. Hard rocks with great shape,dynamism and detail are rare, in my experiece. I think the best choice for native rocks will be very hard lava rocks--there are great deposits of them in Southern Idaho(and I am sure many other places), however finding selected rocks like these is tough. Many lava fields are protected or private but there are some permits released for mining/collecting. I really don't know anyone mass collecting and marketing these rocks for bonzo.

 

[mattspinniken]

Keep in mind, some, and maybe many, of the Japanese rocks that are dynamic have been roughed in with tools and acid treated. Hard rocks with great shape,dynamism and detail are rare, in my experiece. I think the best choice for native rocks will be very hard lava rocks--there are great deposits of them in Southern Idaho(and I am sure many other places), however finding selected rocks like these is tough. Many lava fields are protected or private but there are some permits released for mining/collecting. I really don't know anyone mass collecting and marketing these rocks for bonzo.

Thanks, good info Crust. Any idea how hard it would be to use tools and acid on rock to get the needed detail on lava? Or do you know of anyone that can do this?

 

[crust]

My understanding is the acid treatment is on crystalline rock embedded with softer rock--this is what those Japanese rocks are usually composed of. The general shaping is because of the softer rock too. The acid treatment is a super duty ultra-caustic process. It only works with rock mixes like this--so I am told. Crystalline rock itself is nearly unalterable. The biggest market for cool rocks is to aquarists--softer stuff like Karst or Lace-rock is the usual stuff. Finding cool, hard rocks is tough.

 

[10-brink]

I bought some lava rocks on ebay that were being sold as aquarium rocks. got about 6 rocks with two or three which I thought would be suitable for RoR. some looked like they had been cut so they had flat parts that looked very unnattural.

look for lace rock also.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have a couple cool pieces of petrified wood, no plans to part with them. I did use one for a decade or so, but the tree attached passed away. waiting for the right replacement.

You can find petrified wood at rock shops. Definitely a ''collectors item'', as now there are rules about collecting petrified wood, it is not as easily available as it used to be.

@mattspiniken - Northern Michigan, you either have sand or round beach pebbles of granite or shale. Maybe some chert. You live in a tough area, with very few areas of rock outcroppings. (assuming far north lower peninsula of MI) In the UP get over to the area where the copper mines were, there could be some cool rocks out that way.

 

[mattspinniken]

In the UP get over to the area where the copper mines were, there could be some cool rocks out that way.

Leo you are right on with what we have in this area. Good point on the UP though, I think there must be some interesting stuff up there. I may plan a trip for the spring with the fam.