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Post by vegasjames on Apr 1, 2024 18:26:24 GMT -5
Also keep in mind the cost of traveling to obtain the material if not purchasing rough from a dealer. That is time, and with the cost of gas these days this has to be factored in.
Even rough from dealers is going to go up as fuel prices increase as it costs them more to ship.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 1, 2024 7:05:35 GMT -5
Looks like a desert rose, so could be either barite or gypsum crystals.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 17:46:22 GMT -5
Slabs
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 17:09:52 GMT -5
Looks interesting. Hoping you are going to polish so we can see what it looks like then. I cut the smaller pieces in to small slabs. Will get some photos shortly.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 17:08:19 GMT -5
Do you know what they are? The one on the left I think is a coral, and the right stromatolite. Both are pretty common here in Southern Nevada. Crinoids, bryozoans and fossil sponges are also pretty common here in Southern Nevada.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 17:04:25 GMT -5
vegasjames do you have names that go with the rhyolite images? Also, I did not know Goldfield Jasper ( #2 & #10 above) was a rhyolite. Thanks for the post. I am not a big rhyolites fan in general because many do not polish well but Goldfield Jasper is one of my favorites. Most the rhyolites do not have names, so I name some of them such as the fine grained multicolored ones I simply call confetti stone.
The green one took me many years to identify, and only comes from one small location not easy to access. About a mile hike up and down some very steep terrain to reach the main deposit.
Most of these rhyolites are from the Goldfield District (1, 2, 3, 8-14, 18-20). Some from the Gemfield area, but not the claim. I know several areas around Gemfield that have really nice common opal and rhyolite that is generally better quality. The material from the claim though is mainly rhyolite, known as sandstorm rhyolite or candy rhyolite, and there is some common opal, and green jasper at the claim as well.
The owners do have the material misidentified as "chalcedony". The only chalcedony at the claim is the dark green jasper. The colorful stones with flow banding is rhyolite, which gets the flow banding from the flow of the viscous lava. Chalcedonies are the dehydration product of opals and thus do not have flow banding.
These rhyolites do take an excellent polish. I water tumble them (no grit or polish) in the rotary tumbler for a month, then water polish them in the vibe tumbler for a week and they come out very glossy. I have done this with chalcedonies as well, which works, but they do not get as high of a polish. I think this is because the rhyolite is slightly softer being a mix of feldspar and quartz and so grinds a bit easier creating a smoother surface faster. I may just have to water tumble the chalcedonies longer to get more of a polish.
Here is a video of the water tumbled candy rhyolite. Water tumbling helps maintain more of the stones natural shape rather than rounding the stones, which tumbling with grit will do.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 16:44:19 GMT -5
Welcome from Southern Nevada. Best to get more Apache tear to tumble it with since you need more rocks to tumble since they need to rub against each other. And it would be hard to get the same hardness. If you are near Southern Nevada, there are several places to find abundant Apache tear that yo could full the tumbler up with. There are previous threads on here on tumbling these stones. As for the name, there is nothing disrespectful about the name. It is part of a Native American legend. owlcation.com/humanities/apache-leap-the-legend-of-apache-tears I am part Apache, my grandmother being full blooded Apache and Cherokee, born on the White Cloud Reservation. So, I am very much in to Native American tradition and do not find the name offensive at all.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 16:31:14 GMT -5
The metal rims on my old barrel were digging in to the rubber on the rods and damaging the metal rods as well, finally wearing the metal on the barrel rims til they broke. So I bought new barrels and this time I cut rubber strip and glued the strips around the metal barrel rims with Goop (super strong silicone compound) to protect the barrel rims and reduce damage to the rollers.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 16:26:17 GMT -5
Welcome from Southern Nevada
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 16:25:33 GMT -5
Happy Easter everyone.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 6:39:43 GMT -5
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 31, 2024 6:38:05 GMT -5
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 29, 2024 18:15:37 GMT -5
Welcome Del from Southern Nevada.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 29, 2024 18:14:00 GMT -5
Rhyolites are formed from viscous, high silica lava flows They consist of feldspar and quartz making them a bit softer that quartz rocks such as chalcedonies.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 29, 2024 18:11:45 GMT -5
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 29, 2024 8:05:37 GMT -5
Welcome from Southern Nevada
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 28, 2024 19:33:19 GMT -5
Great job, nice and tight.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 28, 2024 19:07:12 GMT -5
Happy Birthday
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 28, 2024 7:20:53 GMT -5
Welcome Emily from Southern Nevada.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 28, 2024 7:16:48 GMT -5
I like using denim. I save my old jeans for helping to buff cabs. I have used old jeans also for a hand buff on Petoskey stones. Old canvas shits seem to work well also. Aren't shits a bit soft and gooey for polishing? Or does the fiber from the canvas firm them up?
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