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Post by puppie96 on Oct 7, 2004 4:38:03 GMT -5
Not with my tumbling efforts. I love them. Some more than others, but they are all a learning experience, and they are all great.
I am just nuts with trying to ID this stuff, in the field as well as after I have tumbled it. I know that the majority of tumbling material is "quartzy." I've got a sense of what is a member of that very inclusive group, and I know I pick up a lot of chalcedony, broken down into chert, flint, jasper, agate, etc. I love looking for rocks, and picking up pretty rocks with interesting features isn't really a challenge -- I believe I was born doing that -- but as I read more, I realize that many of the best rocks look like nothing in the field. I'm thinking particularly of Lake Superior agates, which have been a major topic recently, and which are listed as possible finds in the rivers in our state, and which, from the pictures, look like nondescript "old potatoes" as someone described them. There are also other agate types locally. As a neophyte, I start looking in a gravel bed, and given what I just wrote above, pretty much everything looks like a pick up! This is truly making me crazy. Anybody have any advice? In the meanwhile, I manuevered my tumblers to allow me to start a load of local rock that I picked up last Friday on an impulse trip. This stuff looked awesome and I can't wait to see it, but what the heck is it? Grrrrrr.!
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phoenix1647
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 186
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Post by phoenix1647 on Oct 7, 2004 8:09:44 GMT -5
A rose by any other name is still a rose.....or something like that..so does that mean a rock by any other name is still a rock? Hmmmm.. I feel for ya puppies....I am the same way...I pick up a rock,,,,scratch my head and ask..what is this thing? I am looking into taking a course at the college near me. They have one of the top geology departments in the world....Texas A and M University. What I am going to do is contact them and see if I can take a basic course in rock identification...not for degree credits..but just to learn what I am looking at and for...something you may think about in your area too.... In the meantime...keep picking up all those pretty rocks....they could have a treasure hidden inside them...
Pho
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 7, 2004 8:39:07 GMT -5
I can't identify rocks either! After they a tumbled if I find a pic of the same thing, I know what it is..
Hey, Pho, you must be somewhere around College Station. My oldest nephew, his wife and her whole family are Aggies. Needless to say, we're an Aggie family. Gig em, Aggies! I always wanted to take a course in geology, should have done it before I moved out in the sticks, at least 50 miles round trip from any kind of school that offers something like that.
llana
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bcbunny
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 112
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Post by bcbunny on Oct 7, 2004 9:49:17 GMT -5
Hi, I have not even begun to figure out what kind of rocks I have, If I like the rock I pick it up, my little rock room is filling up fast....not sure what I will do with them all. Guess once I get a saw I will start sawing them up and see what happens. might end up with a big rock pile outside. Even some I picked up cause I thought they looked so nice, I look at them now and think "wonder why I saved that one" but figure there was something I liked about it at the time. I have been studing rocks on the net alot, trying to figure out some of the ones I have. Bunny ;D
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Post by Cher on Oct 7, 2004 12:39:15 GMT -5
That's why I was thinking of trying to put up a rock id page ... because it's so freakin hard to know what you have. Problem is, there's so many "common rocks" that could be gorgeous tumbled but I haven't found any books or anything that describes just plain common rocks. I'm terrible, I go out "agate" hunting and come home with 1% "agates" and 99% "don't know what it is but I like the way it looks" in my bucket. But, I've gotten some great stuff for tumbling that way and a few pieces of leverite too. Be great to be able to take a college coarse, just to audit it for the learning, not credits but there again, how much are they going to teach about "common rocks"? [glow=red,2,300] ~ Cher ~[/glow] pages.prodigy.net/bestsmileys1/signs/RockOn.gif [/img]
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Oct 7, 2004 20:52:03 GMT -5
Puppies,
As with anything in life ... the more you do it the bettter you become at it.
Do not be frustrated ... just look at it like this ... if you were able to identify every stone that had ever been found ... you would be swamped just asking all of the questions that we would have for you ;D
It's a time/learning thing that never quits.
John
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 8, 2004 3:50:57 GMT -5
Everytime I think that I might know something, that I've finally gotten something out of all this reading and looking at pictures, I find something else that makes me realize I don't know anything after all. Oh well. Right now I started a bunch of cool looking local rock that looks like quartzy type stuff with sometimes bands and stuff on the powdery exterior and has some nice colors and inclusions. So it is what it is and hopefully I can post some photos in 2 months or so! .... these stories do drag on. What is leverite, by the way?
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agatenut
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 127
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Post by agatenut on Oct 8, 2004 6:26:42 GMT -5
hey puppie, Leverite: (pronounced "leevirite") any dull rock that you find but don't want, as in, "you "leverite" there. also known as a "love stone" (a "f***ing rock" hehehe) ;D ralph
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 9, 2004 1:46:57 GMT -5
WooHoo! Thanks Ralph, I woulda felt really foolish posting photos of my newly polished leverite...always best to be "in the know...."
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Post by Cher on Oct 9, 2004 2:11:30 GMT -5
Awww hey Puppie, go ahead and post them, I'm going to. *smile* Most of what I have in my upcoming "first batch" of polished rock is probably what other's might consider "leverite" but that's ok. It's going to look mighty dang pretty to me and that's what counts. Other than maybe ..... hopefully (if I can learn how to wire-wrap before then) some of my family who may receive some pieces as jewelry. Anyone who can bring plain ol' rocks to a pretty shine should be proud of the time and effort they put into them, leverite or not, it's the effort that counts. [glow=red,2,300] ~ Cher ~[/glow] pages.prodigy.net/bestsmileys1/signs/RockOn.gif [/img]
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 10, 2004 3:34:30 GMT -5
Hey Rosebud, that backyard and driveway and river rock often turns out real pretty. Don't we seem to have 2 subgroups on this board, those who tumble stuff that they know what it is and those who go out and get everybody else's leverite and tumble it? Tumbling this wild rock is a challenge -- especially if you think you might have something worthwhile and you start wondering whether the tumbling will ruin it.
BTW, have you ever thought about the fact that these rocks have been lying there for millions of years waiting for you to get them?
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birdseed
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2004
Posts: 167
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Post by birdseed on Oct 10, 2004 4:33:42 GMT -5
Try this--Rock #1 Rock #2 etc....
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Post by Cher on Oct 10, 2004 11:08:10 GMT -5
You are so right Puppie. I'm totally fascinated by the different rocks I've found. I have some now that I can't wait to get into the tumbler, don't know what will happen to them and don't know what they are but they are the coolest green with darker green spots. I'm hoping they will take a good shine, I think they'll be awesome. Someone's got to give those wild rocks a chance. LOL Might not be gemstones in the eyes of the world but they are free and I like free. *smile* [glow=red,2,300] ~ Cher ~[/glow] pages.prodigy.net/bestsmileys1/signs/RockOn.gif [/img]
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 11, 2004 1:20:08 GMT -5
Wow, where did you find the green on green rock? Do you have any idea what it "might" be? I've picked up quite a bit of mystery green rocks of various sorts.
I'm envious of you northern midwesterners because of rocking.
That's probably outweighed by other factors, though.
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sweetiehound
starting to shine!
Member since June 2004
Posts: 36
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Post by sweetiehound on Oct 11, 2004 2:20:16 GMT -5
Lake Superior agates are my speciality. Here's what I do to help me sort through and find the rocks. I like to go to where rivers meet Lake Superior 2 days after a good, heavy storm. The storm brings new rocks up on shore and in two days the water levels are back down. Even better if it is slightly raining outside, wet agates are easier to spot. I even will lick them, and no, I have never gotten worms or girardia. I even made an "agate finder". A large circumerance plastic pipe fitted with a plexi-glass piece on one end. It allows me to look underwater like a periscope in reverse. Uncut, raw Superior agates do look like potatos-see my picture in the "Trip to Yellowstone" area. Things to look for- roundish, but irregular shapes (agates formed in air pockets of cooling lava), dimpled or pock-marked outside, and rusty speck marks. I hope this helps. Sweetiehound
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agatenut
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 127
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Post by agatenut on Oct 11, 2004 6:37:40 GMT -5
Hey puppie,
I've been collecting tons of agates, but some of my prettiest rocks are leverites. I learned that you just won't know until you polish them. I've picked up beautiful looking agates in the field, and been really disappointed after polishing them. Any rock, no matter what it is, if you consider it pretty, then it has value. So lets see some rocks! ralph
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 12, 2004 2:17:46 GMT -5
Wow, sweetiehound, maybe you can make your fortune patenting the reverse periscope -- great idea. I did look at your photos. Several times, actually. I keep picking up rocks that look potato-ish too. Lake Superior agates can turn up in the local rivers, I'm told. Our local name brand (StLouis burbs) is Union Road Agate, named (duh) for the location it was originally found at a construction site (now covered over). However, I've read that they turn up from time to time at digs. Lately, there are frequent impulse stops to pick up rocks and last weekend was no exception. We drove into a new home development and there was lots and lots of rock. One area had lots of rocks that looked stark white and there was rust all around -- like it must be an iron deposit, there was all this bright red dust and rocks that were often weathered on the surface to very white and sometimes with this red. Some had chips where you could see interesting looking stuff inside. So I picked up a bunch of this. Turns out my guide book mentions that Union Road agates are "encased in white chert." By the time I put this together I've got the big barrel going with rocks from another place. I am such a dummy -- now I am thinking -- construction site -- duh -- opportunities to pick up rocks there will end -- duh -- so if I happened onto Union Road agates I'd better find out in time to go get more rocks -- so I'm getting this stuff into the big barrel as soon as I can. We do have a lot of good rock here.
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Oct 12, 2004 2:25:55 GMT -5
Hey Puppie, why don't you crack a few of these in half to see if they are agatized inside? That way you could either save yourself a bunch of work/tumbling, or find out that the motherlode beckons, and make the most of it.
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 12, 2004 2:59:14 GMT -5
Actually, I busted up one large piece this morning. Unfortunately, "crack in half" usually isn't the order of the day when I start whacking up my rocks. Try shards. Or noise, sore arms, no break. Really, eventually I did break this piece up and it does look interesting, but I know it's different from others in the batch that are broken, in that it seems to have a crystalline structure but is more granular than many of the others, which have more of that unbroken, like poured plastic, look, that I associate with flint or chert, or possibly agate or jasper. Most of the pieces I picked up are small enough that I wouldn't want to bash them. The ones that are broken reveal that they do have what I believe to be something in the flint/chert/agate/jasper family, some seem to have interesting patterning. Many of these chunks have a definite rind on them, sometimes the rind looks agatized more than the inside does. On the rare occasions when my bashing results in a clean break, usually it's along a fracture, which means that the area revealed was a crack that has had stuff leaking in for zillions of years, so I still don't get a good idea of the inside.
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Oct 12, 2004 3:11:13 GMT -5
At the risk of sounding like a snothead, do you use a chisel when you bust your rock? A chisel isn't much use on really big pieces until you've made them into small pieces. But on rocks that start off as small pieces, which sounds mostly like the stuff you have, a chisel should make for mostly clean breaks where you want the breaks to be. Of course, you already knew this, and I'm being a snothead for suggesting otherwise.....
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