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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 24, 2021 18:45:11 GMT -5
really great batch!
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 24, 2021 18:40:47 GMT -5
Large saws are a large investment but very addicting. Anyways if it’s tumbling material can you put a notch or slot in it with your smaller saw, then wedge a few small chisels in there and sequentially tap? My little saw can cut a golf ball in half I'm afraid that I will eventually want a saw that can cut a bowling ball in half. Good thing I'm broke because I have no restraint with a pocket full of money lol. Don't we all ... this is an addiction. Dime bags = six inch saw ... kilos = 16 inch saw ... etc...
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 24, 2021 18:37:36 GMT -5
I've usually made large-once-a-year purchases to make the shipping costs more palatable. I agree - a single bag of grit costs almost as much to ship as to purchase. A few years ago, I did what saxplayer did - purchased 50lbs of grit. It was expensive to ship but I've been slowly using it up for years now.
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 24, 2021 18:16:26 GMT -5
Hello, Sid! Welcome to the forum! I've not used it but may give it a try now. Is it for Android? Apple?
By the way, are you into tumbling? Cabochons? Just starting out? Looking forward to seeing your work!
EDIT: I just looked at the reviews in Google Play. YIKES! not very positive ... I suspect it doesn't work very well, given the reviews.
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 22, 2021 11:05:34 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing your work!
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 14, 2021 19:22:01 GMT -5
Hoping to see some folks up there. Prior years have been great.
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 31, 2021 14:59:49 GMT -5
These are great pieces. Thanks for posting the pics!
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 23, 2021 15:30:07 GMT -5
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 22, 2021 17:06:45 GMT -5
Wow what a write up! Tons of details including the little important stuff like with the gate! You should do this for a living: hunt rocks and write about it! Thanks although I'm not sure I could make a living off it! LOL. Sure would be fun, though. When you're four hours from home or 45 minutes from decent cell service, knowing the details definitely helps. Hoping others will also find this useful.
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 22, 2021 17:04:21 GMT -5
They grow up so fast. I remember the last backpack trip with my son before he left for boot camp, precious memories. What a haul, too. The best kind of trip - great memories made with family and actually finding really neat stuff!
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 22, 2021 0:51:12 GMT -5
Fantastic report Paul, thanks so much! Hoping to go on a trip out west with my son this year that will include some rockhounding. Adding this to the list of possibilities. Put this location high on the list, Rockindad! My usual ratio of "keepers" to "garden rock" is usually about 20%/80%. Not this place. It's exactly the reverse. Here's to hoping you two can go and, as rockjunquie mentioned, make some memories for a lifetime.
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 22, 2021 0:48:24 GMT -5
Sounds like a great trip with your son. I liked all the photos and recommendations you made. Anyone should be able to use this info and do the same trip. The slabs of your finds are nice. What is the 6th one? Honestly, I'm not sure. I found several rocks just like this one. Maybe on of the more knowledgeable forum members can ID it. I may take some of this up to Nevada Mineral and Book and see if the proprietor (Walt) can help me out. Thanks.
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 21, 2021 1:49:13 GMT -5
Well, not exactly a last trip but Andrew moved into the dorms and starts college today. A few weeks ago, he asked to go rockhounding so we made arrangements to visit the Clear Creek Management Area in the San Benito Mountains and overnight in Coalinga CA. This trip was special for me as I think he wanted to get in one last rockhounding trip with Dad before he starts classes. While there may be other trips, it was a special one. For those of you who’ve not been to the CCMA, it’s pretty awesome location. I thought some logistics tips might be helpful if you plan to visit. Where to Stay: If you’re a camper, there are two excellent campgrounds with (actually clean) pit toilets: Oak Flat and Jade Mill Campgrounds. This is a great option. This is Oak Flat: There were only two other parties there that weekend. One camping and another rockhound. The weather may have had something to do with it. It was a shade warm. If you’re not camping (e.g. like me), then Coalinga is your best option. Just be prepared to make the drive as it’s about 39 miles each way from where we stayed - Best Western Plus 1786 Jayne Ave, Coalinga. There aren’t many other places to stay.
This Best Western hotel is relatively new - according to the front desk staff - it was built three years ago (as of the date of this post) and they did a nice job with the interior decorations and up keep. The lobby is beautiful and doubles as the breakfast area. Pleasantly, they were serving hot breakfasts. When we were in Bishop CA back in July 2021, everything was still pre-packaged muffins and such. This was a welcome change. King and Sofa Sleeper room.
20210731_154640 by Paul Shiroma, on Flickr Our room was a bit larger than normal, or at least it felt like it, and the decor was subdued and pleasant. Bathroom was nicely put together, water was hot, and there were enough towels. Beds and sofa sleeper were nice and firm, which I like, but I know mattresses are very subjective. The staff was also pleasant and very helpful. They really rounded out the experience. Overall, should we visit the area again, I would definitely use this hotel (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32227-d13511767-Reviews-Best_Western_Plus_Coalinga_Inn-Coalinga_California.html). I drove by the other hotels in Coalinga and I would not recommend any of them. They look like the kind you see on “The First 48” or “Cops”. A good option is Harris Ranch, just a few miles north on Highway Five but the price is a bit higher although it’s fancier. If you stay in Coalinga, definitely try out Me & Ed’s pizza. It was really good.
The Drive in to the CCMA So, if you decide to stay in Coalinga, it’s a really nice, if long, drive to the CCMA. Google Maps is correct on the time. The road is a two lane, winding road that follows the creek. Don’t speed as there is a lot of wildlife back there. Take your time and take some pictures, the scenery is beautiful. When you reach the Condon Peak Campground, continue west. Just a bit past the campground, you'll cross from Fresno County to San Benito County. The road changes names from Los Gatos Creek Road to Coalinga Road. It also goes from a well-maintained two-lane road to a sort-of-maintained-about-two-lane road. The road, more or less, follows the creek. Eventually, you'll reach the Clear Creek Road entrance to the Management area. Now, all the roads are dirt. Here's a Google Map snip of the two campgrounds. The red circle next to Jade Mill is the locked entrance gate. More on that in a moment.
Cell service is non-existent back in the management area and it’s remote enough that you should make sure your vehicle is tanked up and ready to go. Bring food, water, etc., you know … all the usuals. Permits: The Bureau of Land Management requires access permits. For our purposes, it was one vehicle access permit (valid for seven days from the date of entry) and two individual access permits, one for each day (four total). From their website: “Each person requires a “Serpentine Area of Critical Environmental Concern” (ACEC) Permit: This free permit allows an individual to access the Serpentine ACEC within the Clear Creek Management Area for the duration of one day. Each person, regardless of age, entering the Serpentine ACEC is required to have a permit in their name and on their person. An individual is allowed a total of five permits per calendar year.” NOTE: You have to purchase one permit for each day you’re there. Andrew and I were there for two days so we needed two permits each. This permit also has the combination for the locked gate. The combination is changed each day. The first and second permits are what we purchased. The second one is the permit that is required per day per person. I made a mistake on that and had to order again so I’m being a bit anal-retentive and mentioning it multiple times. LOL. Access: As mentioned, there’s a locked gate, just past the Jade Mill Campground. The ACEC permit will have the gate code, shown here. The code pictured is from early August so don’t try using it, LOL. Gate and Combinations Locks: The green guard covering the locks makes it a bit difficult to see the wheels. While I was fiddling with the lock another rockhound showed up. We had a nice chat before moving on. He was there for garnets in a specific location. Nice guy. The location is beautiful. Here’s some pics… Andrew, 2021:
Andrew, 2010 (Lavic Siding): There is so much material there, it becomes a question of what NOT to take. For example, this one wouldn’t fit in the bucket: … not for lack of trying … haha … For what it’s worth, while the roads are maintained dirt, the grades can be rather steep. While my Forester had no issues, I’d hesitate to use a standard passenger car. I suspect most of us have some sort of off-road capable vehicle so this is probably a non-issue but I wanted to mention it. We hauled back our finds after lunch and met a park ranger. He was really great and had some additional intel for us (after checking for permits) which was helpful. Here’s some early cuts: We didn’t get very far in and needed to head out before lunch on Sunday. Much of where we ‘hunted, was directly in the creek bed just east of the Jade Mill Campground, shown here. I’ve still got a lot of material to cut. That was a fun trip and I’m glad we made the time to do that one last trip together before his university career started. Thanks for checking out the thread. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 9, 2021 10:03:41 GMT -5
paulshiroma Don't encourage me or I will start hi-jacking threads with cat photos. Until now I've tried to include at least one rock in each photo as a pretext. This is Javier and Big Brother. Big Brother is big into surveillance and psychological manipulation; hence the Orwellian name. If you don't know where Big Brother is at, chances are, he is watching you. He is also quite big. About 15 pounds and not really overweight. Just big. LOL! these are genuinely beautiful animals. Great markings and colors! Gotta love our fur babies!
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 9, 2021 10:00:25 GMT -5
RWA3006 I’m fixing to saw one of my star sapphire boules. I’ll definitely post some photos. I think I’ll get around 20 slabs out of it. Please ... looking forward to seeing the work!
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 9, 2021 9:59:59 GMT -5
I lost interest and stopped tumbling for almost 6 months. But I still logged into RockTumblingHobby everyday. The interest came back and been rolling nonstop for a year now. Glad you're back in the addiction! Uh, wait, "HOBBY" ... Yeah ... that's it.
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 9, 2021 9:59:09 GMT -5
Frankly, we are probably all mentally defective, but we like sharing and helping. Ha ha ha. We are all crazy — just not at the same time. The affliction ... er hobby ... usually manifests itself when I start looking around at the ground, ... "ooooh, look at that! Oh, wow, check that out ..." LOL
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 6, 2021 15:18:03 GMT -5
Great point on the blade speed. I did have to check that when I moved up to the 16 inch blade. And yes, I do miss John. I'm sure he's enjoying retirement. I was surprised to get a response from his old website, albeit, from the new owners - they were helpful.
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 6, 2021 15:15:49 GMT -5
These are GREAT photos, Jonathan! I love your cat. We have two but they're not into rocks. Everything else ... yes ... LOL
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 6, 2021 10:01:41 GMT -5
Completely concur with these posts. Shared Interests > great network > wonderful people. This is a great forum. Thanks for starting this post, Brent!
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