|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 17:28:44 GMT -5
oooh... look at all those future flat laps!
frightening bug!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 17:27:14 GMT -5
I'm thinkin' Cliff is part Magpie ColoradoMagpie MagpieCliff hmmmm.....
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 15:39:18 GMT -5
Heck, Mel's post got me feein' kinda good! Cuz I have many of his regrets. Thanks Mel !!! ONE of mine was (I dunno...) over 15 years ago, I was buying a LOT of rocks from Teresa Rocks (eBay) back before she moved to Texas. She had the stuff back then. No telling where she came across all those collections... Anyway, one day she listed that she had maybe 5 50 gal barrels of old time highest quality chevron amethyst. These were the big chunks - like so (swiped Google pic) but even better quality. You could maybe fit two of them in your hand. And the best quality I have ever seen. I don't recall what she was asking PER BARREL - how she was selling them, not able to buy less than a barrel. But it was something I could have swung had I not just spent a bunch that week on some other rocks. Maybe something like 1000 bucks per barrel. Don't recall. It was reasonable, I was just tapped out that week. There were hundreds in a barrel. In burlap sacks. Good luck finding them today. You can buy pieces this quality individually for $50/100/200 EACH now. Wish I had a barrel of them sitting out back today. *sigh* Many regrets due to "If only I had known!". Rocks used to be SO much cheaper. Stocking up then would have meant fortunes now. Guess most of us have hindsight regrets.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 14:30:05 GMT -5
He figures out how & where to find that quality material and he could retire and dig rocks for a living!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 14:16:51 GMT -5
Is the dog okay being in a pic? Some nice tumbling material there Win !
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 14:11:06 GMT -5
Oh Lord, this could take awhile! Will come back to touch on a few of 'em when I have time. Most would be buying opportunities that I let slip by. Should be a fun thread. ETA: Mel Sabre52 - Bet he has some good (heartbreaking) ones!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 13:09:51 GMT -5
Smokeys from Arkansas? Irradiated? Good call Ann. Figured it had to be. www.quartzpage.de/smoky.htmlIt's still common practice to artificially irradiate colorless quartz and sell it as smoky quartz. On big fairs, dealers are obliged to clearly label that quartz accordingly, but it's impossible to tell whether the source of the irradiation was natural or not just by looking at the crystals, so some dealers don't do that and get away with it. In the U.S.A. a lot of produce gets irradiated with gamma rays as a means of sterilization, and a box of white quartz just needs to be put on the same conveyor belt as the tomatoes for a couple of times. Often the dealers overdo it and the crystals turn out suspiciously black.
The only hints to tell if a specimen was irradiated are its origin and the geological environment it grew in. The latter requires a piece of matrix. Deeply colored, almost black quartz usually only occurs in igneous rocks. Gangue quartz is rarely black (at least I have never seen it), so you should raise your eyebrows over black quartz along with galenite or pyrite.
The location is often more helpful. A typical example is Arkansas. There is natural smoky quartz from Arkansas, but it is rare, and thus will not be sold by the lot on a fair. Anything smoky you get from Arkansas is irradiated. The specimen to the right probably was a little cloudy inside, and it also has a lot of little crystals grown on the prism. So it received some treatment, and voila, what a nice piece you get. Occasionally there's a picture of a "smoky quartz" from Arkansas in a book to serve as an example for a typical smoky quartz.ETA: Now about what to call a bunch of trilobites ...
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 10:43:31 GMT -5
Thought this was going to be a thread about Trump! Interesting story.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 10:40:16 GMT -5
I like that BD-10 saw. Have been temped to get one just because it's so pretty. I have the HP-14 saw that is just below the BD10 on that web page. Sweet saw! Shop around! Rock Shed is the go to on some things, but not everything. Check Kingsley North AND, johnjsgems a long standing member here is a dealer for much of this stuff. Often has sale prices or show demo units. He is also the go to guy for saw blades! Used isn't a bad word when buying a larger slab saw. Older machines were just built better and will outlast us all. Patience on looking for a big saw. Members here sell them (Tony catmandewe ) often has saws available. eBay, craigslist, rock shows, check to see if you have a local rock club. All places to look. The Lortone Panther (I do not have one) has issues that it runs too fast for cutting hard material. You can swap the motor out for a 12" saw motor to slow it down. Depending on how deep you want to jump in here, you may want 3 saws! A trim saw, a med size 12" - 14" saw, and a big honkin' 18" to 24" slab saw. I'd get a trim first, mid size second and wait until the great deal on the big saw falls into your lap. The money you save by waiting to find that sweet deal on a big slab saw will pay for the mid sized saw.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 19, 2017 10:24:31 GMT -5
Ya got some nice pieces there Cliff. Probably not what I would have gone after, but some nice ones. These things are hideous! Really like your Mad River and the smokey quartz specimen. Nice Labradorite pieces and your Mexican opal looks interesting. You set down 2 boxes of rocks that you had already bought and forgot about them? ouch... Didn't know you were into fossils. I'm gonna have to go to a show with you and show ya how to buy rocks!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 19:22:44 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 17:27:01 GMT -5
Rob, your shop is WAY too clean and organized!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 17:24:26 GMT -5
That's a start! Yup, those tote bins are pretty cheap. Fill the buckets and take them to the tote in your vehicle. Unload and go refill the buckets.
Repeat until your tires start to go flat!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 17:21:03 GMT -5
They sure are pretty whatever they are! We have some members from up that way, hopefully someone will know for sure for you.
Welcome to the forum.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 17:18:11 GMT -5
Well now you have my curiosity up. What do you need the measurements for? Does an inch either way (from the LS12) matter?
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 16:34:48 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 15:26:53 GMT -5
Thanks for checking in Donnie! News we get is about how bad the Keys were hit. Sounds like you were lucky and made out okay. Have friends further down the Keys that I haven't heard from yet. Hope "back to normal" doesn't take too long.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 14:01:09 GMT -5
Funny thing memory...
I can easily recall trivial things from decades ago. Can put on a music CD and say what the next song will be - even if I haven't played the CD in years. Remember the name of my 1st grade teacher, every school I went to (lots of 'em - military brat), old addresses from childhood, ... etc etc etc
But don't ask me what I had for dinner two nights ago!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 13:16:57 GMT -5
Need to take some pictures of the material or at least some of the material I got to post a thread. Also took a lot of pictures while driving over to it and ack from it. I live on the Western Slope, you know , the really pretty part. grin.. .. Yeah I know its dangerous.. grin and will post a thread on that. Colorado is an interesting place to drive. Dramatic scenery and if you like geology its fantasy land.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2017 13:05:38 GMT -5
I couldn't find my drill when it was time to do hurricane proofing. Tore the house/garage apart looking for it. Had to go to HD and buy a new one. I've had that drill around 30 years. GOTTA be here somewhere. How do you lose a drill? Now if I can't find something (unusual) wife unit says it is with the drill. ha ha ... (turkey butt!)
Probably with Woofer's rocks!
|
|