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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 10:28:49 GMT -5
Nice tumble I think the rocks look pretty good. Some materials fall into the "is what it is" category. Never rolled Lavic but have heard it is hard to get the perfect tumble out of it. I have literally, in the past, tumbled pieces for a year trying to get perfection. These days I decide to accept as is or cull. "Lowered expectations" have taken away a lot of frustrations for me. Thanks, Ken. Lowered expectations, exactly. I figure, even the broken pieces left in the mix will help grind the others. They are all perfect in their own way.
I have another QT12 rolling more of them now. Those would be the ones that, after (let's see, pulling out log book) about six weeks of 36 SiC, they still needed more tumbling. Added more coarse grit, added more rough rock. Contents of batches constantly changing. Need to see how those are coming along today. Jean
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 10:40:41 GMT -5
Not bad, I like the group in picture 9 Thanks. Those are from Ocotillo Wells, they may or may not be highly silicified fossils. Or something else altogether.
I am always picking up the orby ones... and orange ones, and striped ones and fossils and....
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Post by MsAli on Jun 27, 2018 11:06:29 GMT -5
Not bad, I like the group in picture 9 Thanks. Those are from Ocotillo Wells, they may or may not be highly silicified fossils. Or something else altogether.
I am always picking up the orby ones... and orange ones, and striped ones and fossils and....
I like the orange-different from the rest
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Post by mohs on Jun 27, 2018 11:20:40 GMT -5
good looking rolled stones Jean roll & throw tumble & stumble rocks are hard out in the yard may not be a puuurrrfect whet yet fine shine please throw rocks at my poetic fumblings
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Post by mohs on Jun 27, 2018 11:34:36 GMT -5
actually the pits and cracks retain the natural character of the stones rolled to highlight to the geological curious that can be a plus mohs
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 11:35:13 GMT -5
What stage did you start them in a vibe.....or was it all rotary...?
I'm starting to believe that all tumbled Lavic that is Chalcedony embedded will suffer undercutting, pitting and leach line fractures......even if disc prepped prior to tumble like I've been doing. The only material that finishes silky smooth (at least for me), has been the orange and solid red/brown jasper. When I trial ran a bunch in the rotary (as we've discussed previously), through the first three stages 60/90/ 120/220 and 600, I then decided to go to the vibe and only rotary 60/90.........It made a bit of difference since the fractures and pitting didn't start showing up until the 600 Sic cycle.......that's with disc prep first.
Regardless, your's took to an excellent shine, and thanks to you Jean, I'll never have to ask "what's that red/brown/orange Chalcedony embedded stone" again....!
Out of curiosity, wonder if anyone has had success cabbing a piece of this "embedded" stuff into a marketable show piece......and what rate of success was had (1 in 10 pieces, ect.)............?
Still one of my favorites.....and bonus points for "find, grind and finish".......Pick to Polish is the most rewarding aspect, IMHO......! Joe, I know you are aware of most of the story, but for anyone else interested:
Batch started 5/1/18 in QT12 barrel, with 1 cup 36 grit SiC, water and dried grit (to jump-start slurry). Sorry, don't know those amounts, as I don't measure them, only eyeball them. Rocks were predominantly Lavic, with corals and misc from Ocotillo Wells added. Over the course of the next three weeks, adjustments were made periodically to slurry thickness, and 3 additions of 1 cup each of coarse grit were added. Did first cleanout on 5/31/18. On 6/2/18, I took out the ones that were well shaped, splitting the batch in half. Then went into my second QT12 barrel with 80 grit for eight days, and then were moved on to the Gy-Roc A vibe on 6/17/18, where they were started with 220 grit. Instructions for the vibe say to us the high speed for certain things. I did use both speeds at first, but now only use low speed. Less damaging that way, or at least that is how I look at it.
The other half of that barrel (ones not yet happy ) received another dose of 36 grit, and resumed tumbling . The barrel suffered a catastrophic failure - lid opened and spilled out contents - on 6/20/18. Was able to scoop everything up, add another cup of 36, and set it to tumbling again. Will check the progress on those today.
Back to these finished ones - They ran for 25 hours in 1/3 C water, 1 rounded TBSP 220 grit. Didn't mention this before, but before/between each grit change, the tumbles are ran through rinse cycles with water and 1/2 tsp powdered detergent. Then ran for 48 hours in 600 grit. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Next moved them into dedicated polish bowl. Added 1/3 C water, 2 tsp Cerium Oxide, 1/2 tsp powdered soap and ran for 24 hours. Cleaned and rinsed one more time, then added 1 cup water, 4 tsp powdered soap, and burnished for two hours. 3 to 4 hours is recommended, but as many chips and cracks as I could see, I figured less was more.
I know the pits are just a fact of life with that material, but should have taken the time to pre-grind before tumbling was started. I'm sure there were a lot of fractures that I didn't see (or ignored?) before I even started them rolling, and more damage may have been incurred at times when the slurry got too thin. Listen to the rocks, they will tell you when something isn't right!
Not giving up, on Lavic. I will run more of them, just need to keep a better eye on them and cull ruthlessly. I think the great colors make it all worth it.
Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for looking. Jean
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 11:36:57 GMT -5
Thanks. Those are from Ocotillo Wells, they may or may not be highly silicified fossils. Or something else altogether.
I am always picking up the orby ones... and orange ones, and striped ones and fossils and....
I like the orange-different from the rest The sun is shining this morning, unlike when those photos were taken. Will try to get some better pics.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 11:42:57 GMT -5
Awesome shine on those . Yeah , pits are the pits . Sometimes running in low gear helps with problem rocks . Might need a day or so longer in polish . Thanks, Rich.
I always run the Gy-Roc on low speed. High speed way too frantic!
Was afraid to run the polish overly-long, because of the condition of some of the rocks. I did pull several of them out of the mix and set them aside, so they wouldn't do any more damage. Instructions for that vibe say to run polish 2 -3 days, "or until desired finish is reached." I ran it for 48 1/2 hours.
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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 Jun 27, 2018 12:44:57 GMT -5
That's the one! I think it's quite the stunner, really. www.flickr.com/photos/105707613@N07/28101597487/in/album-72157670430985628/ looks a LOT like the stuff we found a handful of years back, but don't see as often any more. It's usually in very crusty little nodules, almost all of them very small. It's kinda crazy since it's on the opposite side of the country from Lavic! The colors here are not anywhere near as vibrant, though, as most of these. (More pale, lots more beiges and greys.) I'd love to get out there some day when there's some travel budget. I started with just a vibe so I can't even tell you how many re-runs in 120/220 some have had. The husband accidentally hauled the 'started, needs more rounds' bucket outside with the rest, and when I found it I just tossed 'em back in, 'cause what the heck, right? They'd come out or they wouldn't. (They seem to be behaving, though progress is slow.) I came to the point where, with some of them, the texture's just 'a feature'. To take another old saw from computer-land and turn it on its head a little, "It may not be a vug, but it's a feature!" First go at the hobby a few years ago, only about a handful like that made it through a few months of constant runs in the vibe, and I have teensy child hands. Most still have flaws, too. (I need to figure out how to deal with the dremel enough to grind some spots, I think.)
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Post by wigglinrocks on Jun 27, 2018 15:01:45 GMT -5
Awesome shine on those . Yeah , pits are the pits . Sometimes running in low gear helps with problem rocks . Might need a day or so longer in polish . Thanks, Rich.
I always run the Gy-Roc on low speed. High speed way too frantic!
Was afraid to run the polish overly-long, because of the condition of some of the rocks. I did pull several of them out of the mix and set them aside, so they wouldn't do any more damage. Instructions for that vibe say to run polish 2 -3 days, "or until desired finish is reached." I ran it for 48 1/2 hours.
I used to run mine in high gear with great results , but it tended to bruise the tender stuff a lot more . And it took more frequent checks to keep the action right . Downshifted to low gear and get the same wet shine in a day , or two if I get lazy . Ya can change the action by adjusting the counterweights but I haven't done any messing with that , someday I might .
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 15:07:34 GMT -5
Don't think I want to touch that adjustment with a ten foot pole, lol. Probably screw it up!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 15:35:17 GMT -5
That's the one! I think it's quite the stunner, really. www.flickr.com/photos/105707613@N07/28101597487/in/album-72157670430985628/ looks a LOT like the stuff we found a handful of years back, but don't see as often any more. It's usually in very crusty little nodules, almost all of them very small. It's kinda crazy since it's on the opposite side of the country from Lavic! The colors here are not anywhere near as vibrant, though, as most of these. (More pale, lots more beiges and greys.) I'd love to get out there some day when there's some travel budget. Oops, just realized you had linked to the corals. Those are from Ocotillo Wells also. A lot of them out there. Collected more just west of the Colorado River when we went prospecting for gold at Potholes. Larger, rounder cobbles closer to the river.
Took the time to post this, so will leave it here.
The fusulinid was not from Lavic (Mojave Desert east of Barstow), but from Ocotillo Wells (southern Colorado desert). About 108 miles to the south as the crow flies. Many fossils found in that area.
Here are several views of one I found about ten years ago -
This one being an average size for "well traveled" fossils. I love fossils, I find them intriguing!
Being as the area was at various times a shallow inland sea, freshwater lake, and riverbed, many types of fossils found there. There are also fossils from land animals, camels, etc.
My favorite fossils there are the colorful corals and bryozoans. I found a colonial rugose coral in OW that should not have been found there. The specimen had gone extinct before the sediments there had been laid down. It was out of its time. Someone on the fossil forum told me it had been transported there from a neighboring horizon. Many of the rocks containing fossils there are very hard (silicified) and small (mostly fist-sized or smaller). Easy to understand how they could have been transported down the predecessor to the Colorado River from points north - Utah, AZ, etc. Jean
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2018 15:48:28 GMT -5
Beautifully detailed stuff. They look like little troves of coins and engraved gems.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 15:54:05 GMT -5
Thanks, r2d. They really are special. Funny how I can find fossils, artifacts, etc. out in the field and pick them up knowing I liked them, but not really noticing or knowing what they are. But it is not until I get them home that I see all the intricacies.
Once they are home and cleaned up, then to start searching the internet, books, whatever to find out what they are. I had never seen nor heard of these before.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Jun 27, 2018 16:57:55 GMT -5
Missed this one. what a fine load of goodies Jean. Love the spiral fossils. Orsen Wells produces again ! Those spirals are a wow. The finish and shaping is great too.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 27, 2018 17:09:04 GMT -5
Thanks. Those are from Ocotillo Wells, they may or may not be highly silicified fossils. Or something else altogether.
I am always picking up the orby ones... and orange ones, and striped ones and fossils and....
I like the orange-different from the rest A better pic of the orange one - Air bubbles! (kidding)
A better pic of the orby one
Do you like orange? Here's one with a really cool pattern you might like. No idea what it is...
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Post by MsAli on Jun 27, 2018 17:29:27 GMT -5
I like the orange-different from the rest A better pic of the orange one - Air bubbles! (kidding)
A better pic of the orby one
Do you like orange? Here's one with a really cool pattern you might like. No idea what it is...
Those are great! Love the patterns in them, especially the orbs. Thank you for sharing
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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 Jun 27, 2018 19:58:08 GMT -5
*faints* Those are wonderful. That big chunk reminds me of an earthy version of millefiori glass.
The fossil corals are the #1 thing I look for on the beach here. None of it still has any orange to it -- they're everything from black to brown to grey to blue to a milky quartz cool white, and much, much smaller.
The Delaware River dumps into the bay, and the beach is right at the point where the bay hits the Atlantic, so the mix there can be a little strange when it's good between storms and how powerfully the river has been flowing. A lot of local rivers come down from the mountains north of here and end up in the river, which likely accounts for some of the more unusual stones. The variation is enough that there are a few companies that dredge the river for 'landscape stone'. (I keep getting tempted to ask one of the local places if I can fill a bucket for a fee, since places to look here are sparse! ...they normally only sell by the cubic yard, and I have no earthly notion of where I'd put that without completely reworking our relatively small yard, unless I hauled things over next door by the bucketload to some part of my folks' property. There's a lovely nook where we could on ours... but it's right over the plumbing out to the street, which is old and dodgy at best and requires work every few years. Naturally!)
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goatgrinder
spending too much on rocks
Make mine a man cave
Member since January 2017
Posts: 368
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Post by goatgrinder on Jun 29, 2018 15:28:40 GMT -5
Pish-tosh; these stones are perfect. Without pits and cracks they might as well be glass or poured plastic (I've seen that a plenty).
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 29, 2018 16:05:00 GMT -5
Pish-tosh; these stones are perfect. Without pits and cracks they might as well be glass or poured plastic (I've seen that a plenty). You are correct, they are perfect. Very easy for me to admit when I'm wrong, lol. They are only rocks, after all.
They are definitely rock, not glass or plastic. I am humbled that so many RTHlings like them, thank you. I'll leave perfection to Mother Nature from now on.
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