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Post by tims on May 8, 2023 16:49:36 GMT -5
Inward curves in the shape of your cabs might be part of the trouble, your wire may want to pull out flush when tight and not keep to the shape of your cab. If the cabs had a standard round / oval shape i bet the groove wrap would be much easier.
Bails are my personal bane but imo yours look pretty good.
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Post by tims on May 8, 2023 13:22:35 GMT -5
This week is forecasted to have rain several days during the week. If it rains, it'll be inaccessible for a day or two. The road gets SO greasy. I've been out a couple times this year to the West Buttes, but I haven't been out to the East Buttes yet this year. The road going out is rutted and has been washed out pretty hard. There's several questionable spots. That being said, when I go out to the West Buttes, I go WAY out...where most people don't go. My wife found two beauties out there a week or so ago...one massive one which had lichen on it, so it's been exposed for awhile...not a "new" piece that just got unearthed. Not being coy, but I don't know the road numbers going out there...I just go. Same thing really on the East Buttes...I don't know the numbers, but I go WAY out. When you decide to go, shoot me a PM and I'll give you my phone number...it may be easier to try and talk you through it... Nice, thanks Jason. Wed Thur or Friday would probably be my free day this week and weather for Wall looks like solid chance of rain all 3 days so maybe i'll shoot for next week, dangit. Google should get me to the OHV area no problem, and if that's agate country can just scout from there i guess. My biggest worry is always wandering onto private land without realizing it.
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Post by tims on May 7, 2023 15:06:54 GMT -5
I'm hoping to try RR Buttes this Spring, maybe this coming week if work permits. It's a couple hours drive for me vs 20min to Tepee areas, but after several trips to fairburn areas i've still never found a fairburn and i need one. I don't know that area at all --- any suggestions for spots accessible with a worn-out 4wd?
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Post by tims on Apr 27, 2023 15:19:12 GMT -5
I'm right between the Black Hills and Thunder Basin grasslands which i believe were both part of the same ancient inland sea prior to the formation of the hills. Lots of marine fossils both places but i've only seen shark teeth out on the prairie. The teeth can be found embedded in sandstone and are very prolific in some areas, so i'd reason that with so many teeth the sharks must have been producing ample poo. Must find shark poo.
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Post by tims on Apr 26, 2023 19:16:45 GMT -5
Do you find these in areas that exhibit shark teeth?
Thanks for the magnified pics, spotting scales and crinoids is pretty neat.
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Post by tims on Jul 13, 2022 11:19:05 GMT -5
beautiful work, thanks for sharing these
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Post by tims on Jun 23, 2022 0:16:20 GMT -5
tims I'm tagging you on this one... Nice, that was a good sized ammonite. I like how bright the suture lines are, looks like someone drew a cartoon forest with chalk.
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Post by tims on Jun 4, 2022 14:37:38 GMT -5
Technically finds from yesterday from a find last summer. Hauled home this lunker and set it in the yard, then yesterday chiseled off the top at that nasty fracture line and broke that piece up a little. Fractures everywhere so not sure what of it will be salvageable, but hoping for some small slices and if not at least a bunch of pieces to tumble. Was getting dark so the pics suck.
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Post by tims on Jun 1, 2022 22:42:23 GMT -5
Ok, how do you tumble for 1900 miles? I'm picturing you driving across the country in a cement mixer truck full of rocks. Please tell me that's correct.
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Post by tims on Jun 1, 2022 22:37:28 GMT -5
Maybe protective gear is a given, but just in case: Wear eye protection. Even if you cut the "right" way chips can bounce at you, especially with a high RPM tile saw.
I'd also recommend a respirator or at least a dust mask --- you'll likely be getting a faceful of dust-infused water vapor every now and then and you do not want to breathe that stuff. I keep the respirator on until i can rinse hands and arms too ... my arms usually get drenched feeding rocks, but it dries quick then i'm white to my elbows with silica dust, and silica dust is not something you want in your lungs. I made a few cuts today wearing a respirator and a long apron to keep my clothes clean, rinsed off frequently, working outdoors, took a shower immediately after finishing, and I can still taste rock dust and feel a little itch in my chest. Do everything you can to protect your lungs.
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Post by tims on May 30, 2022 12:04:48 GMT -5
jasoninsd not sure where you hunt, but if you're a surface hound it may or may not be improved from last year. The forest service did a bunch of controlled burns around the area which cleared up some ground clutter but in the process charred much of the exposed rock. I found several yesterday with a nice coat of black pine smoke resin which makes things tough to spot and tougher to clean up. It does smell like a campfire when cleaning though which is a nice bonus haha.
If your nodules are coming from hillsides not near an established dig they're probably naturally exposed and not somebody's leaverites, but the digs are often worth a look too as decent material does often seem to get left behind.
Hope you get back out soon. I'm headed north toward Mallo today to visit ancestors and it will be chilly and wet but the hills can make any weather beautiful.
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Post by tims on May 30, 2022 9:19:56 GMT -5
Love em. Great cabs. You must be mining nodules? I'm hoping to get a few cabs this summer from my surface finds but i rarely find good cabbing stuff. I'll post some pics of my junk for people to get better perspective on how fantastic your pieces are Oh and nice wraps. Got agates on the brain. Hey that wasn't you up Sawmill Springs yesterday during the hail storm was it? Met a couple rabbit chokers in the big quarry there while i was picking the hillsides. South Dakota boys but i didn't think to ask names, whoever they were they had some nice pieces to show off.
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Post by tims on May 26, 2022 10:52:42 GMT -5
Pretty cab. I think silver would really complement it.
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Post by tims on May 24, 2022 11:50:31 GMT -5
Fine specimens tims . Those connecting joints are so mechanically sophisticated, true mind blower. Mine glow orange in short wave. Must be the barite but not sure. Yes, the suture lines always make me wonder how these critters functioned mechanically and how limber they might have been in life (I'm guessing not very). Sometimes I'll find long pieces with half a dozen or more individual segments cemented together and they're always straight as an arrow, so I'm not sure if they're designed for articulation or something else entirely.
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Post by tims on May 24, 2022 3:50:51 GMT -5
Dang tims ! Those are really amazing. I found some baculites on the Cheyenne River last week...but nothing like those! Thunder Basin NG is baculite heaven if you ever need more.
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Post by tims on May 23, 2022 16:57:35 GMT -5
With pretty crystal growth. From NE Wyoming. I'm guessing calcite and barite replacement and crystals but not really sure. The third pale gray one looks like it's agatized / chalcedony replacement but I haven't acid tested it. The air chamber on that one is hollow which is uncommon and makes it very translucent.
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Post by tims on Apr 23, 2022 19:35:56 GMT -5
Great presentation with before / after pics and a pretty load of stones. Really like the amethyst and the cool agates.
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Post by tims on Apr 8, 2022 20:22:52 GMT -5
That is neat material, fun just daydreaming on the slabs.
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Post by tims on Feb 16, 2022 7:48:25 GMT -5
Cool cabs. I hate to be agreeable but do prefer #2.
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Post by tims on Feb 15, 2022 18:37:27 GMT -5
Fantastic. Thanks for the close-ups.
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