|
Post by Garage Rocker on Dec 20, 2016 14:41:30 GMT -5
Ha! Too bad you're on your toes, I'd have been all over that rerun bit. Super batch again. I always like the palm you find, but that #7 is the mack daddy. A whole lot going on in that beauty. 13/14 doesn't look like a KY native, though I wish it was. It could have made it's way in a box I sent, but I'm having trouble placing it. Anyway, it's pretty sweet. Great photos again, you're definitely on a roll!!!
|
|
napoleonrags
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2015
Posts: 474
|
Post by napoleonrags on Dec 20, 2016 14:53:48 GMT -5
Rockin good post. I like the provenance of those generally mossless stones. Ok, well I had to look up provenance, but can now say THANKS! Sorry, English teacher in me. Seriously, though, it's hard for me to keep straight the rocks that I get from people, so I appreciate your ability to do it.
|
|
|
Post by pghram on Dec 20, 2016 20:55:33 GMT -5
The red one in #3 pops, the Rio in # 9 has a river running through it, and the Marfa in #17 is a beauty.
Peace,
Rich
|
|
dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305
|
Post by dottyt on Dec 21, 2016 1:41:27 GMT -5
Jaw-dropping batch! Too many too pretty to name!
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 21, 2016 8:45:40 GMT -5
Great batch. That #5 is amazing! Thanks, Dave! Still don't know what it is........
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 21, 2016 8:57:09 GMT -5
The palms, oh yea. The Kentucky and the flint ridge. Flint Ridge with the yellows and reds would be great a candidate for heat treatment. Marfa and blackskin How hot do you have to get the flint and how long do you hold the temp? What kind of results would you expect?
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 21, 2016 9:35:30 GMT -5
The palms, oh yea. The Kentucky and the flint ridge. Flint Ridge with the yellows and reds would be great a candidate for heat treatment. Marfa and blackskin How hot do you have to get the flint and how long do you hold the temp? What kind of results would you expect? Jeremy, heat treating our coastal plain cherts and silicified coral is popular practice for knapping arrowheads. Texas cherts are also a great candidate. Especially if they have iron causing pinks yellows oranges reds. Flintridge fits the color scheme well. Heating magnifies color. Can in a strange way make a grainy piece of chert totally smooth and waxy. Uncanny how much it alters grainy chert. Once heat treated chert is like glass and knaps easily making waxy/shiny arrowheads. Copied this, lots of info on the web about heat treating flint/chert These Flint Ridge flakes show the dramatic contrast in color before and after heat treating. The flakes on the left are unaltered as they appear from the Flint Ridge quarries. The more colorful flakes on the right were altered by heating the preforms. Roy uses an electric kiln to heat treat his flint. The process takes from three to four days before the preforms are removed from the oven. He programs the kiln to slowly heat 25 degrees per hour until it reaches a maximum of 500 to 550 degrees. He can control the temperatures close enough to bring out more of the yellows at a slightly lower temperature and more of the reds with a higher temperature. All of these flakes were quarried from Roy Miller's property which is part of the ancient Flint Ridge quarry complex in eastern Ohio.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 21, 2016 9:41:18 GMT -5
This Pasco County Fl. coral was about all yellow with a slight black aurora around the edges. Crazy colors after cooking. No dang telling what colors you will get. 600F, 3 day cook. Used an industrial welding rod drying oven. Before: After:
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Dec 21, 2016 19:51:53 GMT -5
Do you have any idea what would happen to chert if it is heated up to or close to its melting point? I think that is around 1600C.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 21, 2016 23:29:36 GMT -5
Do you have any idea what would happen to chert if it is heated up to or close to its melting point? I think that is around 1600C. No idea sir. lava ? I know it will explode if you do not pre-heat the water out of it. Rock pulled out of a river or lake must be pre-heated 24-48-72 hours at 200F(below boiling) to remove water absorbed. When it blows apart it has dented pressed steel wall of oven. Or left in a greenhouse or hot shed for a year or so.
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 22, 2016 9:15:33 GMT -5
"throwing in extra ceramics that hadn't been broken in" Makes perfect sense. Rough ceramic media = Mohs 9 abrasive = scratched up rocks. Polished ceramic media = Mohs 9 abrasive = polished rocks. So true: "Normally the ceramics run with the batch from 500 on and get broken in with the batch." Question(from someone who can not polish obsidian): If you used softer than Mohs 9 media(ceramic media) on obsidian would the media break in faster and polish the obsidian quicker ? I just went back to Krystee's Obsidian Recipe, for reference. She starts her ceramics at the 220 stage in the Lot-o. Should have re-read her directions so I didn't have to re-do the batch! Can't answer the softer media question, though.
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 22, 2016 9:34:52 GMT -5
Ha! Too bad you're on your toes, I'd have been all over that rerun bit. Super batch again. I always like the palm you find, but that #7 is the mack daddy. A whole lot going on in that beauty. 13/14 doesn't look like a KY native, though I wish it was. It could have made it's way in a box I sent, but I'm having trouble placing it. Anyway, it's pretty sweet. Great photos again, you're definitely on a roll!!! Thanks, Randy! You do a great job of keeping people on their toes! Not sure where 13/14 came from, but it looked kinda Kentuckyish.
|
|
ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
|
Post by ChicagoDave on Dec 22, 2016 9:54:18 GMT -5
txrockhunter, are you tumbling your rocks "whole" or do you usually cut them in half? I've noticed on a bunch of your pictures (and Garage Rocker) that there appears to be a nice flat surface. Just curious if you do anything to prepare your material for tumbling. I've just been throwing the rocks I bought from you in whole since they were already a nice size.
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 22, 2016 10:18:14 GMT -5
Ok, well I had to look up provenance, but can now say THANKS! Sorry, English teacher in me. Seriously, though, it's hard for me to keep straight the rocks that I get from people, so I appreciate your ability to do it. No need to be sorry! I love expanding my lexicon of phonetically spelled words! (Wife was a language arts teacher, Mother-in-law is a retired librarian, & Mom was a language major (4 languages). I get a lot of opportunities...... I don't know why I remember who I got what from (probably need a comma in there somewhere), but definitely like to give credit where credit is due!
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 22, 2016 11:01:19 GMT -5
txrockhunter , are you tumbling your rocks "whole" or do you usually cut them in half? I've noticed on a bunch of your pictures (and Garage Rocker ) that there appears to be a nice flat surface. Just curious if you do anything to prepare your material for tumbling. I've just been throwing the rocks I bought from you in whole since they were already a nice size. When I 1st discovered the San Jacinto gravels, I cut just about everything to see what it looked like inside. Some of the flats that you see are old cuts that are just getting tumbled. Now, unless it's cool enough & big enough to cut slabs, I break at cracks with a chisel or tumble them whole. I do break most of the pet wood before tumbling. Take a chisel to cracks or low spots that will take forever to tumble. I think you get better patterning on the pet wood if it's broken vs cutting, at least on the San Jacinto stuff anyway. I am working on a jamesp inspired "super grinder" to pre-shape rocks before tumbling. It significantly cuts down on tumbling time, especially when some of these are rolling for up to 10 weeks.
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
|
Post by Fossilman on Dec 22, 2016 11:09:08 GMT -5
Jeremy,that Kentucky agate,from Garage Rocker- is the baddest thing on here,in a long time! Wicked cool!!!!
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 22, 2016 11:10:39 GMT -5
How hot do you have to get the flint and how long do you hold the temp? What kind of results would you expect? Jeremy, heat treating our coastal plain cherts and silicified coral is popular practice for knapping arrowheads. Texas cherts are also a great candidate. Especially if they have iron causing pinks yellows oranges reds. Flintridge fits the color scheme well. Heating magnifies color. Can in a strange way make a grainy piece of chert totally smooth and waxy. Uncanny how much it alters grainy chert. Once heat treated chert is like glass and knaps easily making waxy/shiny arrowheads. Copied this, lots of info on the web about heat treating flint/chert These Flint Ridge flakes show the dramatic contrast in color before and after heat treating. The flakes on the left are unaltered as they appear from the Flint Ridge quarries. The more colorful flakes on the right were altered by heating the preforms. Roy uses an electric kiln to heat treat his flint. The process takes from three to four days before the preforms are removed from the oven. He programs the kiln to slowly heat 25 degrees per hour until it reaches a maximum of 500 to 550 degrees. He can control the temperatures close enough to bring out more of the yellows at a slightly lower temperature and more of the reds with a higher temperature. All of these flakes were quarried from Roy Miller's property which is part of the ancient Flint Ridge quarry complex in eastern Ohio. Thanks for the info!!!!! I was too lazy to look it up and knew your response would be better anyway. With only a gas grill, I will have to appreciate the natural beauty, for now.
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Dec 22, 2016 11:23:03 GMT -5
Jeremy,that Kentucky agate,from Garage Rocker- is the baddest thing on here,in a long time! Wicked cool!!!! Thanks, Mike! It kinda reminds me of a sunflower. Too bad the name Sunflower Agate is already taken!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Dec 22, 2016 13:00:52 GMT -5
Do you have any idea what would happen to chert if it is heated up to or close to its melting point? I think that is around 1600C. No idea sir. lava ? I know it will explode if you do not pre-heat the water out of it. Rock pulled out of a river or lake must be pre-heated 24-48-72 hours at 200F(below boiling) to remove water absorbed. When it blows apart it has dented pressed steel wall of oven. Or left in a greenhouse or hot shed for a year or so. Yes I did a lot of reading before posing my question though 24-48-72 hours of pre-heating seems to be on the long end of the range from the various sites that I read from. It seems that the lower temperature heat-treatment makes the rocks much more brittle and seems like it might make tumbling a little more challenging. So far my limited experience suggests that this may not be ideal for a really shiny finish. I did collect some rocks in the past that I was told were from the edge of a caldera. They were sedentary rocks that had been heated by the magma chamber and had started to metamorphize. That rock was really neat looking and tumbled beautifully. I think if you heated rocks to near their melting point you might get a similar effect. My cousin used to work at a laboratory with a muffle furnace and I remember melting glass jars and even a fused Quartz cell in it. The furnace was programmable so a slow heat-up would have been easy. Oh well, missed opportunities. I think it would have been a neat experiment to try with some of the granular rocks from the Rio Grande.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Dec 22, 2016 13:05:47 GMT -5
txrockhunter , are you tumbling your rocks "whole" or do you usually cut them in half? I've noticed on a bunch of your pictures (and Garage Rocker ) that there appears to be a nice flat surface. Just curious if you do anything to prepare your material for tumbling. I've just been throwing the rocks I bought from you in whole since they were already a nice size. When I 1st discovered the San Jacinto gravels, I cut just about everything to see what it looked like inside. Some of the flats that you see are old cuts that are just getting tumbled. Now, unless it's cool enough & big enough to cut slabs, I break at cracks with a chisel or tumble them whole. I do break most of the pet wood before tumbling. Take a chisel to cracks or low spots that will take forever to tumble. I think you get better patterning on the pet wood if it's broken vs cutting, at least on the San Jacinto stuff anyway. I am working on a jamesp inspired "super grinder" to pre-shape rocks before tumbling. It significantly cuts down on tumbling time, especially when some of these are rolling for up to 10 weeks. Great post. I picked up a bunch of chunks of pet wood on my trip to the river and have been trying to decide what to do with them. I will have to put my chisel to work!
|
|