An Odd Garnet Model
Based on a specimen from Yekaterinburg, Russia
This model is based on an unusual specimen, and there is a story behind it as well.
Most of the time, I model specimens that are in my personal collection. I’m not strict about this rule, but having a guideline in place prevents me from being distracted by all the gorgeous crystal drawings out there, and keeps me from spending all my time modeling beautiful rarities that I’m not likely to see in person. But just this once, I allowed myself to be persuaded by the incredible form of John White’s “Odd Garnet” described in the March/April 2025 issue of Rocks and Minerals magazine.
I was lucky enough to meet John in person for the first time a few months prior to the publication of his article. He showed me his garnet specimen, the article he had written about it, and the illustrations that had been prepared for the article. I was blown away by the beautiful crystal drawings made by Pete Richards using his SHAPE program, and said “wow! I wish I could make a model of that!” John just shrugged and said “well, then you should!” And just like that I was committed to attempting the most difficult model I had ever imagined making.
Making a CAD model of the outside surface of the garnet wasn’t hard. The screenshot on the left above shows my CAD model. Figuring out how to make actual three dimensional pieces of wood do what I needed them to do was much more difficult. The photo on the right shows the trouble spot - the place where two fourfold vertices touch at a single point. At least, that’s what happens on the outside. Since a real piece of wood has thickness, it’s what’s happening on the inside that presented the real challenge.
Making this model took an entire winter, and I had to invent some new techniques to pull it off. There are more faces than any other model I’ve made (168), and all of those peices had to fit perfectly!
But the time and effort I spent on the model was worth it, especially because I’ve since lucked into a matching specimen of my own. I now have my own odd garnet to display with my model, from the same location as John’s. So there’s a happy ending to this story - I made a new friend, built a challenging model, and ended up with a really cool specimen for my collection!
If you like unusual garnets, you can also look at this elongated one (link to come). And here’s a link to another complex garnet, though not quite as complex as this one!
Model details: 15" across opposite points. Trapezohedron faces are cherry, and dodecahedron faces are birdseye maple.
Specimen details: Almandine garnet, Palkino Village, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. 3.5 cm