Dave Lancaster in his garage with rock saws (Photo by Judy Lancaster)
Judy and Dave Lancaster at home with their triceratops fossil find (Photo by Judy Lancaster)
Just a few of Dave and Judy’s rock slabs (Photo by Judy Lancaster)
Varda Main
Dave Lancaster has come to the ground! After a career in avionics in the Navy and industry, Dave has chosen more earthly pursuits—among them rock slabbing, cabbing, plus fossil collecting and we at the SaddleBrooke Silversmith and Lapidary Club (SSLC) are glad he did! Dave and his wife Judy moved to SaddleBrooke in July 2019. One of the must-have features for their new home was a garage large enough to hold their five rock saws. We guess that was the first time their real estate agent had had that feature as a must-have! If you haven’t seen some of the amazing slabs they produce, you should ask for a showing. Dave was instrumental in SSLC getting and installing the new 10″ lapidary saw, training of members, and upkeep of the equipment.
Eleven years ago, Judy was making jewelry from silver clay, cabochons, and crystals. They took a class to learn how to make cabochons and soon got their own Genie cabbing machine and their first rock saw and haven’t looked back since. Judy started selling rock slabs on Facebook with the idea to keep the best slabs to make into jewelry. It was on a trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show to procure rough rock that they found SaddleBrooke and decided this was the place to settle. Dave and Judy are currently focused on cutting rock slabs and making cabochons. Dave also wants to start doing stone carving and is looking forward to participating in rockhounding/collecting trips when local rock clubs start those back up again. Dave enjoys finding, prepping, and collecting fossils. He has a 20-pound brain case with occipital condyle from a triceratops which Judy and he collected in eastern Montana. When Dave isn’t in his garage cleaning and maintaining the saws, or the Turquoise Room slabbing rocks, or out somewhere rockhounding, you’ll find him on the golf course or playing pickleball.
Dave grew up in Nevada, Mo. He has degrees in Oceanography (U.S. Naval Academy) and Systems Technology (Naval Postgraduate School). Then followed a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer (NFO). After leaving the Navy, Dave worked as both program and proposal manager at Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics in Minneapolis, Minn. Dave and Judy have two children: Katie in Portland, Ore. and David in Minneapolis, Minn.
SSLC is so glad to have Dave and Judy Lancaster as members. And we think we’d all like to hear more about their triceratops fossil find! If you want to see some of their beautiful rock slabs check out Full Moon Rock Shop at www.facebook.com/groups/FullMoonRockShop every Saturday for their latest treasures!