richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 11:18:14 GMT -5
jamesp
I forgot to add, that coral looks really cool, where do you find it?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,182
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Post by jamesp on Jul 29, 2016 11:38:09 GMT -5
It is worth the effort to purchase rock. You are married to them so long you might as well get good stock. Being in Texas you have a smorgasbord of material.
Coral is from lowland rivers in S Georgia N Florida. Never froze, never got rolled down a river, well silicified, harder than hell. But at the end of the day(2+ Months) it does tumble well.
Live Oak county is paved with fine pet wood. Then you have the famous Rio Grand down on the shores of Lake Falcon. Must go there. You mentioned Jacincto. You lucky.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 11:52:29 GMT -5
My family goes out to Live Oak County once a year for a big get together. Do you know of any particular locations to hunt for rocks? I did find a nice gravel road near our hose that has lots of pet wood on it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2016 12:07:53 GMT -5
Schorl is a mohs 7. Try to scratch thr black one with an agate or jasper. Report back here If I really bear down on it quartz will barely scratch it. I couldn't really get it to scratch the quartz. I think it is slightly softer than Quartz. Then your friend may be correct on the black one being tourmaline. Look up how to measure specific gravity. Then do that. Report back here.
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dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305
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Post by dottyt on Jul 29, 2016 12:18:42 GMT -5
Hi Richard- Have you looked to find out if there is a local Mineral and Gem Society you could join? Here is a starting point: www.amfed.org At least the ones in my area are surprisingly inexpensive and you most likely can also attend meetings as a guest. Probably a lot of the members will be more advanced and involved in making cabs or whatever, but at least a few should be friendly and a couple might be into tumbling. My club's annual show has free "ask a gemologist" and "ask a rockhound" booths for ID and informal appraising. Keep posting, but also check this out if you want to get even more involved!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Jul 29, 2016 12:32:36 GMT -5
Being in Texas you have a smorgasbord of material. you have the famous Rio Grand down on the shores of Lake Falcon. Must go there. You mentioned Jacincto. You lucky. Rio's
San Jacinto
Lajitas area
You should be sending us all material, Richard. Get your bucket out and get busy.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,182
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Post by jamesp on Jul 29, 2016 13:47:52 GMT -5
Mr. Dillon is king of Texas agate. I believe George West reservoir and the soil roads in Live Oak county are chock full of pet wood. Maybe some research as to what section of the county. I found wood my first run up there. No specific spot. It was on most of the soil roads. www.flickr.com/photos/97769244@N00/albums/72157622353574911
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 14:28:47 GMT -5
If I really bear down on it quartz will barely scratch it. I couldn't really get it to scratch the quartz. I think it is slightly softer than Quartz. Then your friend may be correct on the black one being tourmaline. Look up how to measure specific gravity. Then do that. Report back here. As best as I can determine the gravity of the black rock is 3.1
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2016 15:29:50 GMT -5
Schorl is 3.15.
Nice.
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victor1941
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2011
Posts: 1,983
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Post by victor1941 on Jul 29, 2016 16:16:22 GMT -5
Richard, I agree that your failure is due to material that is not suitable for tumbling because of cleavage problems, pitting or fractures that transverse the rock. The color is right but the material is wrong for tumbling since removing one layer just exposes the next bad layer. You need to have a good mix from the beginning and you will be successful. You should find some really good wood in your area that will do well. Best of luck.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 23:33:02 GMT -5
dottyt,
Great idea. I did a quick check and Houston does have an organization, the Houston Gem & Mineral society. Hopefully I can make it to a meeting and check them out. Looks like a neat group! Thanks for the suggestion.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 23:35:46 GMT -5
Being in Texas you have a smorgasbord of material. you have the famous Rio Grand down on the shores of Lake Falcon. Must go there. You mentioned Jacincto. You lucky. Rio's
San Jacinto
Lajitas area
You should be sending us all material, Richard. Get your bucket out and get busy.
Those are some nice looking rocks. I need to train my eye to spot the really neat ones. I find that so far it is easy for me to spot the red jasper and the pet wood but I haven't been able to find any agate yet. I have been searching for photos of what agates might look like laying on the ground but when I search for photos I pretty much find tons of beautiful photos of the inside of them. So much to learn!
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 23:41:21 GMT -5
Mr. Dillon is king of Texas agate. I believe George West reservoir and the soil roads in Live Oak county are chock full of pet wood. Maybe some research as to what section of the county. I found wood my first run up there. No specific spot. It was on most of the soil roads. www.flickr.com/photos/97769244@N00/albums/72157622353574911Some very interesting photos there. This is definitely the sort of thing I am looking for to help me recognize what sorts of things might be worth picking up. This afternoon I had the opportunity to go out and look for some rocks along a gravel road not too far from our house. I spent the evening cutting open some of the ones I thought might be agates but what I got was just boring brown rock inside. I don't think I ended up keeping any of them. I did get a few pieces of pet wood. I tried cutting that and wow does that stuff fragment easily. I had my first saw accident when a piece of pet wood broke in half when I was cutting it and tore up part of the tip of my thumb and thumbnail. I will definitely be more cautious going forward. I'm already wearing safety glasses and a mask. Maybe I need some sort of gloves as well.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 29, 2016 23:47:04 GMT -5
Richard, I agree that your failure is due to material that is not suitable for tumbling because of cleavage problems, pitting or fractures that transverse the rock. The color is right but the material is wrong for tumbling since removing one layer just exposes the next bad layer. You need to have a good mix from the beginning and you will be successful. You should find some really good wood in your area that will do well. Best of luck. You are definitely correct about the wood, I seem to have no problem finding the petrified wood around here. I am ashamed to admit it but I'm not nearly as into pet wood as I am the pretty jaspers and agates that I see posted here. I am in the process of purchasing some Mexican Crazy Lace Agate that will hopefully be easier to deal with. From the photography section of this site, the stuff should look really neat. Thanks very much for your help, I think I have finally accepted that not every neat looking rock is suitable for tumbling.
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victor1941
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2011
Posts: 1,983
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Post by victor1941 on Jul 31, 2016 9:14:32 GMT -5
Richard, even though you can't tumble some material doesn't mean you can't finish the special pieces by hand. I vibe tumble but some material requires hand work and epoxies to finish the way I like them. I collected wood around College Station in the mid 60"s and didn't find much that had color. Some of the wood from New Mexico and further west will have great color but my main thought was to have you tumble something that was readily available and be successful.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 31, 2016 14:59:36 GMT -5
Richard, even though you can't tumble some material doesn't mean you can't finish the special pieces by hand. I vibe tumble but some material requires hand work and epoxies to finish the way I like them. I collected wood around College Station in the mid 60"s and didn't find much that had color. Some of the wood from New Mexico and further west will have great color but my main thought was to have you tumble something that was readily available and be successful. You are not the first to suggest alternative polishing methods. I plan to explore some of the options. I have purchased some polishing compound and a buffing wheel for my grinder and will try it out as soon as my dust mask arrives. I was advised to be sure to wear a mask so I ended up ordering a proper one rather than the cheap paper ones I picked up at Home Depot. Thanks very much for the suggestion.
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