robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 6, 2012 22:03:45 GMT -5
Hi all. Well wasn't in the mood to watch tv tonight so i've been out in the barn cutting rocks. See most of my rocks have been bought generally in bulk and it's prior owners haven't been able to tell me what many of them were and I don't go to clubs etc so I really don't know. So i'm gona cut a slab or 2 every day or two of ones I don't know what they are and post them on here for you to guess. I'm not sure how big a thread can get but I think I will just keep using this one so I don't become a board hog and you can just see when I put updates on it for now. For tonight here's rock i've wanted to cut for a long time but didn't have the capacity till I built the 16" swing arm saw. The saw is 'ok' but considering it gets the job done for a ridiculous low amount of money I can't complain. This piece is probably as big as it will cut, 7" on the diagonal. I don't know if this first one is some kind of jasper maybe? Blues, whites, greens, yellow etc it's very nice. 2 pics, one of the exterior and one of the interior.
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 6, 2012 22:13:58 GMT -5
Ok, this next one is some type of quartzite/granite etc type that is glacial material. Most people use these for yard rocks however I have a couple locations high in the hills that have some really nice ones. I've heard it's grainy and doesn't take a high polish, which I can see in the typical chunks but I pick out the more solid looking ones. This one is kinda a dark purple with some red and white quartz orbs. I don't have my grinder set up, and as you can see my upstairs office is a bit of a mess right now but im working on it. So.......if anyone here sees potential in this and can try cutting it right away into a stone and perhaps mounting it in something please pm me and I will get you a piece. I see potential in some of these. Someone was over the other day and picked this particular slab up and said 'oh that's cool'. It fits right in with all my all lapidary wonders so why not lol. I'm convinced there's gold in them thar hills! LOL.
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albertarockhound
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Spending too much time on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 92
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Post by albertarockhound on Aug 6, 2012 22:29:11 GMT -5
The glacial will polish likely, it is the ones with a lot of black in them that I have trouble with. If they are mostly quartz and jasper like this appears to be, it isn't bad. Brenda
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jason12x12
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2011
Posts: 798
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Post by jason12x12 on Aug 6, 2012 23:18:45 GMT -5
Red is beauty... is that really blue in the first pic
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 7, 2012 6:35:12 GMT -5
Jason....The outside looks green. I was totally surprised by the interior as you can see in the 2nd pic all the different colors. I actually met Daniel last wknd from RTH who is a really nice guy and he offered to let me bring a piece of the glacial over and work it. I thought if someone here seen a use for it they could try a piece of it and let me know if it's worth messing with, which I think some of it is as a lot of it comes in multiple colors and stripes,etc. I have a large Highland Park grinder and a couple arbors but i've been too busy to get to them. I will be building a 24" saw next but then again I have an old stock 36" blade in my shop that's begging attention and I do have some larger glacial boulders of the same type that i've drug home over the years whenever I see one surface that looks nice.
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Post by frane on Aug 7, 2012 19:02:19 GMT -5
the first picture really looks like there is some schiller or flash to it. Not sure of the hardness but it could be amazonite if there is flash,mixed with other minerals causing the red or it could also be some chrysocola. Nice looking piece. The quartz looks cool. I suspect it will make some nice cabs. I had some hematoid quartz that looked similar. Fran
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 7, 2012 21:20:26 GMT -5
Hi Frane, thanks for the guess. I don't know what it is........but I know it's not amazonite(although I do see what you mean--it's not though) for sure, and it's not chrysocola. I mean I guess I can't be 100% sure it's not some sort of gem silica but I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it's expensive material considering the guys wife I got them from was complaining a lot about how much $ he spent on the rocks lol. I was like damn, he's not going to show up while im loading the truck is he? Then she said no he's been gone for a year so I got what I could get. The guy had a lot of jaspers so im thinking along those lines but im not an expert. That particular red one is from a chunk I can get at least 20 more slabs from and I have one boulder size of it probably the size of 3 basketballs lol. Need to get that 36" saw built lol. I'd like to just cut that one in half and stick it in the yard somewhere. I haven't been to my collecting spot since spring need to go back this fall.
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Post by helens on Aug 7, 2012 21:32:31 GMT -5
Very neat saw Rob:). I don't have a big saw, so don't usually look at saw threads, but that first piece is really pretty, and if it's chantoyant too, I can well imagine it's worth a lot! Multicolored chantoyant stones are rare. Very neat:)!!
Maybe try picking up the slab to take a pix so you don't have the light reflection, it's easier to see the rock and anything different about it. I usually just take snapshots on my porch, but I hold it so I can face it towards where there's enough light, but no reflection, it's easier to see the whole pattern that way:).
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 7, 2012 21:51:35 GMT -5
Hi Helen, it was dark outside when I cut that last night. So I had to use the indoor lighting and im not that great a camera guy. I'm gona put some outside tommorow and take more pics I cut more of it tonight. These are nice big slabs. BTW.......I don't know the name of those ball things you make but I am particularly mesmerized by that one in the keepers thread you posted and have looked at it several times. I will say this photo on here is pretty accurate in terms of if someone know what that kind of stone was they'd recognize it. I have some other nice ones to take shots of too.
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Post by helens on Aug 7, 2012 22:42:29 GMT -5
Thanks Rob:). Not sure which ball you meant tho? You mean the pendant that looks like a blue wave with the orange flowers? I call that my 'tidal pool' series, each one is a little different but they are all the same colors. I'm always open for trade, but I've been terribly uninspired to work glass lately. That doesn't mean I don't have stock pieces or special pieces:).
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Post by deb193redux on Aug 7, 2012 22:43:07 GMT -5
I think it only looks chatoyant in the photo. I have seen lt green and gold and cream jaspers from Oregon. Not sure it has a name.
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Post by tandl on Aug 8, 2012 6:44:35 GMT -5
First thought was amazonite, by the rough side, the cut side has affinity to india bloodstone/fancy jasper. The maroon/purple one looks like the purple puddingstone .
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cabjunky
has rocks in the head
Regency Rose Plume
Member since November 2008
Posts: 683
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Post by cabjunky on Aug 8, 2012 9:19:39 GMT -5
Nice set of saws. I am not sure on the first one, but with all of the colors, it should make some really nice cabs.
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 8, 2012 11:53:34 GMT -5
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 8, 2012 11:58:55 GMT -5
Oh yeah........I found an old rusty horseshoe too. LOL.
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Post by 3rdrockfromthefun on Aug 8, 2012 12:04:48 GMT -5
Nice rock!
That first one might need one cut deeper to really show off - rinds can be thick sometimes. Not sure what it is though.
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Post by tandl on Aug 8, 2012 12:33:34 GMT -5
i agree they are a jasper material . it would help if we knew where you found them , like state, or... gosh, or corn looks better than that and we are in the worst drought ever here -Illinois. although some areas here are a total loss.
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Aug 8, 2012 18:47:53 GMT -5
See that's just it.......except for that red one all these others I didn't find. Most of my stuff has been bought by the box or bucket from someone who doesn't or didn't know much about them.
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rockingthenorth
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2012
Posts: 1,637
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Post by rockingthenorth on Aug 8, 2012 21:35:20 GMT -5
you found that in a corn feild or close to it how awesome
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Post by phil on Aug 9, 2012 16:25:25 GMT -5
The greenish ones look like a low grade chrysocholla. Hard to tell from a pic tho....
Do you have any pics showing the inside of the swing arm saw you made?
Thanks! Phil
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