surreality
starting to spend too much on rocks
is picking up too many rocks at the beach again
Member since January 2012
Posts: 217
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Post by surreality on Feb 21, 2012 21:23:58 GMT -5
I promised myself I wouldn't do this until after I had a batch out that had been de-crusted to identify perhaps more easily, but after coming home with this little guy from the beach today, all that 'wait and see' became a little moot since there's no way on earth it's going into the tumbler anyway. What on earth is this? Pic is taken wet post-cleaning. It has distinct layering of some kind. The figure-like top layer really catches my eye now that it's cleaned off, but I actually didn't notice that when I picked it up. Whatever it is, it certainly caught my attention very quickly when I dragged it out of the pebble pile. (The red thing is a jasper chip from the Lortone kit that's helping prop it upright.) Color is a bit off since I still haven't set up my lights and relied on a few too many auto-adjustments, but it's not far off from what's in front of me according to my monitor. If anyone has any suggestions about preserving its nice 'wet look' for posterity since I don't plan to cut or tumble it, I'm all ears. It (understandably) loses some of its charm when dry. A friend suggested nail polish, but every fiber of my being cringes at the thought. There has to be a better way... ?
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 21, 2012 21:36:21 GMT -5
You could always use a good acrylic spray, or even several coats of paste furniture wax, rubbing it out between coats. For Fairburn agates which are worth more uncut and unpolished, I heat them to about 130 degrees, and drop them in baby oil until cool. Then I dry the excess oil with paper towels. A quick rub with a clean cotton cloth and they glow.
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surreality
starting to spend too much on rocks
is picking up too many rocks at the beach again
Member since January 2012
Posts: 217
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Post by surreality on Feb 21, 2012 21:40:22 GMT -5
That's a great suggestion -- thank you!
It's just such a unique bit of weirdness I wouldn't dream of cutting it... well, beyond maybe having the bottom flattened to stand on its own, but that's not even really needed.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 24, 2012 9:55:17 GMT -5
That's a pretty classic flint nodule. You may have some limestone or chalk deposits in your region they weather from....Mel
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Post by NatureNut on Feb 24, 2012 10:06:56 GMT -5
Hmmm... I was gonna say petrified penguin... ;D
Jo
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 24, 2012 13:26:17 GMT -5
Agreed on the flint. The softer material has eroded away, leaving the strange shape.
Chuck
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surreality
starting to spend too much on rocks
is picking up too many rocks at the beach again
Member since January 2012
Posts: 217
|
Post by surreality on Feb 24, 2012 17:58:42 GMT -5
I'm betting a lot of what I'm finding there is flint, in that case, which is really good to know. It has the same somewhat 'glassy' quality that the weird piece there has -- it sounds more like glass when it strikes itself compared to the rounded quartz crystal pebble bits -- and the same subtle translucence. I always wonder what on earth I'm finding there, since the only things listed in mindat for the site are 'quartz', 'apricotine (quartz)', and 'jasper' (not even a kind, just 'jasper' *laugh*) and I know I've found things there that probably don't quite fit into those categories. The beach is at the very tip of Delaware Bay, where the river eventually hits the Atlantic, and more stones apparently 'catch' there than on other nearby beaches because of a few well-placed jetties and (of all things) a concrete shipwreck just past the end of the longest of the jetties. The quartz is supposedly mountain runoff from the river much farther north -- so I always wonder if other things aren't being deposited there through the same mechanism as well that aren't necessarily native. (The entire beach area is tiny, but they sure pack the weirdness into a concentrated spot!) I like the petrified penguin idea. Apparently, the river itself is dredged rather often for garden stone and drive gravel in this area (I'm a little farther north than the collecting beach); there's a part of me tempted to buy a few buckets full from one of the local places just to see if it has a similar sampling.
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