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Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 15, 2012 19:40:13 GMT -5
My son and I just finished up a batch of quartz. We started with a mix of clear quartz, citrine, and amethyst from the Rock Shed. This stuff took forever to rough in the rotary tumbler. We lost a lot of size in the process. As we removed the finished pieces, we replaced them with quartz we found locally or up in Lake Superior. I really enjoy tumbling stuff we find ourselves even though it might not be considered as valuable. There's just something about picking it up in it's rough form and polishing it. Then again, maybe it's just that the beach tumbled stuff can be rough tumbled in a week or two. I'm sort of impatient. I separated the batch into the purchased rocks and the rocks we found. I know this next one isn't quartz. It's chert. I'm not sure how it got in here, but I like it! There's a subtle pattern in this one: I picked this one up a couple weeks ago in Grand Lake from my kayak. Thanks for taking a peek!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jul 15, 2012 19:50:10 GMT -5
All great! Love the pink kayak one.
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Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,102
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Post by Thunder69 on Jul 15, 2012 19:51:46 GMT -5
Nice shine on those quartz pieces....Glue a bell cap on and make some goodies ;D....John
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 15, 2012 20:48:59 GMT -5
Nice shaping and shine!
snuffy
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Post by Pat on Jul 15, 2012 20:58:08 GMT -5
You and your son sure know how to tumble rocks! Beautiful shine on all! I don't have the patience for tumbling rocks, and the constant noise would drive me bats.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 15, 2012 21:01:06 GMT -5
You and your son sure know how to tumble rocks! Beautiful shine on all! I don't have the patience for tumbling rocks, and the constant noise would drive me bats. The dead silence when they stop drives me batty! ;D snuffy
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 15, 2012 21:34:48 GMT -5
You sure got a excellent shine on those. Your beach finds are great. If you think the quartz took a long time wait till you try lakers! We do most of our rock hounding from our kayaks too and over the 4th of July even anchored the kayaks over some rock shoals and snorkled for the rocks the beach combers can't get too.
Chuck
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Post by talkingstones on Jul 16, 2012 6:00:42 GMT -5
Really nice batch! I know what you mean about tumbling your own stuff. There's just something about doing rocks you find yourself that makes them special and I always watch them a little more and hope they turn out a little more.
Cathy
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Post by paulshiroma on Jul 16, 2012 8:48:11 GMT -5
Beautiful pieces, guys! Paul
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Post by Toad on Jul 16, 2012 9:37:42 GMT -5
You show great patience - awesome batch
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mjflinty
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 356
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Post by mjflinty on Jul 16, 2012 10:27:54 GMT -5
Great job with them! Nice polish too! Collecting and polishing rocks is certainly a little more special than buying and polishing them :-)
Michael
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riverrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2010
Posts: 1,395
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Post by riverrock on Jul 16, 2012 12:29:50 GMT -5
Very nice job , i like your own finds too.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 16, 2012 15:49:47 GMT -5
Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Jul 16, 2012 15:57:10 GMT -5
Beautiful stuff! That orange one (quartzite? aventurine?) is really nice.
There is a fair amount of chert on some North Shore Lake Superior beaches, mostly not very interesting, but some of it is banded, and I usually find plenty of it in glacial out-wash here in Minnesota.
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rockingthenorth
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2012
Posts: 1,637
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Post by rockingthenorth on Jul 16, 2012 16:07:45 GMT -5
Really nice
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 16, 2012 16:09:19 GMT -5
Yes, many of the rocks from Lake Superior could probably skip the rough grind altogether. However, my picky son is not capable of skipping the rough grind altogether!
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Jul 16, 2012 17:45:59 GMT -5
Great finish on that batch and the quartz clear pieces are standouts! You can't beat the stuff you find yourself. Rocks you see on the ground after this will inspire you and fire up the imagination!
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Post by susand24224 on Jul 16, 2012 20:12:54 GMT -5
Great stuff! Some of that quartz you tumbled is rather difficult, and it turned out *very* well. Great patience, as well.
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Jul 16, 2012 21:04:39 GMT -5
That first pic would make a cool screen saver!
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