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Post by tims on Aug 10, 2023 15:34:03 GMT -5
Mark the top ... brilliant. I've dopped the wrong side a few times and that never even occurred to me I suspect those are gonna be gorgeous.
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Post by tims on Aug 10, 2023 15:19:01 GMT -5
These look delicious! Is your avatar also a group picture of tumbled Teepee Canyon agates? Yep that's this load wet prior to pre-polish. They looked better then than finished and dry
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Post by tims on Aug 10, 2023 15:12:26 GMT -5
Those are great! I still can't believe you can just walk out into nature and find rocks like this. Were they all just sitting around? Or do you have to dig a bit to find them? I don't dig but lots of people do. There are limestone formations you can dig / break into and find full chert nodules, some of which are agate inside and some which are just chert all the way through. The huge trenches rimming many of the hills out there that have appeared over the past few years are testament that it's a popular method for some, and i assume they're having some success because the trenches seem to get longer and deeper every week.
Digging is not my thing. I just pick a hill and wander around and pick up what i find exposed on the surface. There is plenty of pretty agate that gets naturally exposed but sometimes you have to scour quite a bit of ground to find them. Sometimes you'll hit a great spot and fill your pockets in an hour. I find mostly bits and pieces but do score the occasional full nodule (the 2nd and 4th pic are little nodges).
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Post by tims on Aug 10, 2023 1:17:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words guys. Means a lot.
jasoninsd Starguy if you guys have any secrets for these let me know Cutting or tumbling them is just a crapshoot for me still.
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Post by tims on Aug 9, 2023 18:06:04 GMT -5
Lots of chips, fractures and other imperfections. Some turned out ok but as always i fear they could have been much better. Rolled in 3# for about 8 weeks total. All plucked from hillsides in and around Tepee Canyon by my grubby fingers. This is about 2/5 of the batch, the rest are hard to look at. These are some of my favorites
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Post by tims on Jul 29, 2023 22:40:57 GMT -5
My tepee tumbles got delayed, now hoping to pull them next weekend. Dropped the batch doing cleanout and several that looked good now have chips and fractures, whether from my fumble fingers or tumbling technique I do not know.
Speaking of abject failure:
*edit: added horror music.
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2023 16:45:34 GMT -5
The Pigeon Blood is fantastic. Great shaping and polish on the whole batch. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2023 13:11:01 GMT -5
Starguy keep us updated. I've got some egg size and a bit larger quartz cobbles in the 12# now with a mix of really rough stuff, and was actually considering finishing them in 3# just because they're smoothing up already and the rest of the batch has a long way to go. Still have a couple weeks before the 3# is empty though it's got some of my most precious little tepees rolling right now.
Bob I do appreciate your input and agree about the pits on the "bottom" edge of that agate; to roll them out would take forever. That edge of the rock is thicker than my 10" will cut without flipping the rock and i'm afraid i'd just make a mess trying to trim it. Was thinking maybe could grind them out with the 110 hard diamond wheel but it'd be a lot of grinding. Will stew on it some more. And as mentioned, those pits wouldn't bother me a bit if the sides polished up ok.
Pondering on this rock i'm now concerned by the banding, it's a bit undercut between bands in its naturally smoothed state. Thinking the undercutting might get substantially worse in a long stage 1.
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Post by tims on Jul 24, 2023 20:21:49 GMT -5
HankRocks I followed the big pet wood tumble and was impressed with the result. Thinking this might be a good winter project since it won't require frequent cleanouts just lots of recharges and time. Though I'm having a hard time convincing myself this rock is worth the $ in grit, electricity, and time, even if it could finish with a decent polish.
Son Of Beach if this does get rolled I'd be happy to have the "top" 3/4 or so smooth since that's where it's got pretty banding. The divots out near the rind don't bother me. And besides us, no one else is likely to ever see it.
I appreciate all the input from everyone. Figured this was a quick fail and was fully prepared to let it go but you guys don't seem so eager to give up. Will spend some time going back through your suggestions and checking out the big boy tumble threads. If it clicks will give it another go.
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Post by tims on Jul 22, 2023 22:35:43 GMT -5
jasoninsd yeah, it was from up around Beaver Creek campground near the state line off Hwy 85. Might head up there next week for a break from the heat. Even when you don't find much you can dip your toes in the creek.
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Post by tims on Jul 22, 2023 18:46:27 GMT -5
I'm calling this one "The Snagger"
A peach-ish quartz with some tiny specks of mica that seem impossible to capture with camera. Mangled the bail so went with the psychic's favorite, two wavy lines. Work hardened them so they'll really dig into a fuzzy sweater.
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Post by tims on Jul 22, 2023 18:30:56 GMT -5
Amazing job hugging the edge of that tumble it looks great. Really shows off the whole stone.
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Post by tims on Jul 21, 2023 21:42:40 GMT -5
May come back to this. After it looked hopeless I pulled the big agate and filled the barrel with some normal but less than ideal rocks just to use up the gravel-grit mix. Probably 3 or 4 more weeks to finish what's in there then maybe can give it another go.
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Post by tims on Jul 21, 2023 18:42:00 GMT -5
A very pretty assortment. Are those smokey quartz crystals in the pic with the snakeskins?
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Post by tims on Jul 21, 2023 16:52:38 GMT -5
It was bouncing, even when 2/3 to 3/4 full (including other rocks/media)? Realizing now that bounce and hop were poor descriptors on my part. More thumping heavily downward, not bouncing upward.
But yeah. Had the big rock stood on end then a little over half the barrel filled with pea gravel with half the rock poking out the top, so close to 2/3 total, and every revolution it would thump in the same spot. Not like jumping clear of the rollers but an obvious rough spot with an audible thump. I made a video and could post it on youtube or something but it doesn't show the symptoms very well ... between my shaky hands and crappy phone I doubt it's very helpful at all. Holding my hand on the barrel while it rolled the thumping was more obvious than looking at it. I attribute it to the shape of the rock more than the size; if it was more oval shaped around the middle i think it would roll ok instead of riding up and flopping over. It's kind of wedge shaped looking at it from the end and much fatter on one end than the other, so not an ideal shape for smooth rolling.
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Post by tims on Jul 19, 2023 17:04:32 GMT -5
Is the bouncing around bad for the tumbler? Does it damage the bearings or the rollers or something? Just curious... That's my assumption. Bearings were the first thought as it had a very pronounced bump going at every revolution. Again just my assumption, maybe these machines are more robust than I give them credit for. Just seems to me that anything other than a smooth rolling barrel will lead to significantly faster wear if not complete failue with a such a heavy barrel. FWIW I also drive a 30 year old ford and a 20 year old kawasaki, neither of which i can afford to replace, so i'm prone to avoiding bumps whenever possible.
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Post by tims on Jul 9, 2023 22:53:46 GMT -5
Really nice. Were they very rough prior to rolling? If so do you prep them or just roll stage 1 til they're rounded? Those shaped up great regardless.
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Post by tims on Jul 8, 2023 21:46:37 GMT -5
Tim, that is a SICK specimen! That is flat out awesome!! I love that massive druzy pocket!! Thanks Jason! The colors are so muted it's an easy piece to overlook until you focus on it. This is from what i've started thinking of as yellow hill and usually the yellows up there are YELLOW
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Post by tims on Jul 8, 2023 20:33:08 GMT -5
My favorite from yesterday. Muted colors and plenty of fractures but it's a pretty chunk. Another 10 days or so will pull my first batch out of the new 3# which is all small tepee stuff.
Front: Back: Detail of the front faces:
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Post by tims on Jul 2, 2023 15:34:11 GMT -5
Really love your moss agates.
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