|
Post by tims on Sept 13, 2021 17:27:48 GMT -5
Granted that trip seemed almost like you were begging for trouble, but props for persevering and getting home. One thing that might be beneficial, get a phone / tablet whatever with a GPS chip in it so you can use map apps offline (and / or have a paper map backup). Being dependent on internet / cell service isn't a reliable option anywhere outside city limits.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 13, 2021 16:47:50 GMT -5
Really cool agates, never seen them before. The nearly clear quartz surrounding the forts in some of them is really fantastic. Beautiful tumbles thank you for sharing them.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 13, 2021 12:11:55 GMT -5
Lots of nice detail in those, thanks for sharing more pics.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 10, 2021 4:52:41 GMT -5
Gotcha. I'm guessing it's going to come down to a lot of manually picking and prying with tiny pointy tools. If you end up going that route, maybe start working on the one you love the least just to get a feel for it and get the nasty surprises out of the way before you tinker on the more precious ones. I'd be happy to send you some baculite mudballs if you want something to practice on ...
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 10, 2021 4:34:59 GMT -5
Are you referring to the ones in your Ammonites thread? I didn't see any noticeable deposits on those but gonna take another look ...
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 10, 2021 4:31:31 GMT -5
Awesome that your photos are back. The deposits in mine look like gray mud and some tan sand. I am leaving everything with pyrite replacement as it, including the deposits. Am thinking about gluing the Ammonites to a board, like done when slabbing end pieces of rocks. Then carefully using Dremel to grind away a little. Then use diamond files for some. Who knows what after that. Some of mine with deposits have an amazing chatoyancy and patterns. Chatoyant makes me think they've got the original nacre, which on my stuff is very fragile and prone to pop right off. It's also possible that the nacre is gone, which on mine is when you see the detailed patterns best, and that whatever material has replaced the original in the fossilization process is what's giving the chatoyancy. In that case it might be easier / safer to grind away the deposits. I'm mostly a rockhound and am pretty clueless about proper fossil prep ... would be tempted to run it by fossilman or one of the pros rather than taking any kind of advice from me. The Fossil Forum also has some prep guides and the community there seems pretty responsive from my limited experience there, thefossilforum.com. Do you have any pics up? Would love to see them if so.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 10, 2021 3:35:40 GMT -5
Oh no. Find them, quick. I am considering purchasing some Ammonites that have deposits on them. Need to determine the best way to remove the deposits from them. Most are in the middle of the natural sides. Aha, they disabled my SSL for some reason but I got it set back up. Sheesh. What kind of deposits, do you know? Mine come from shale beds and if they're not completely weathered out they're stuck in a matrix of compacted shale that is a pain to remove. I have to resort to trying to pry pieces out or carefully chip away at the matrix and either way often results in breakage or stripping of the nacre if it's still intact.
Here's a wad of baculite in matrix for comparison, your deposits may be something completely different:
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 10, 2021 1:58:46 GMT -5
FFS my hosting company did something with my SSL today, and it looks like I lost all image links. Grrrr.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 20:29:16 GMT -5
Looks like you're suffering from the too-shiny-to-photograph curse in a few of those -- a "problem" that should make you proud. hey, it's cheaper than those fancy water-marks
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 20:28:19 GMT -5
That is a fantastic batch! The turitella cabs are amazing. I don’t think I’ve seen any with that fine a polish. Hey thanks alot Brian. This was my 2nd try with turitella, finished off a small slab i started a couple weeks ago. I lost a couple along the way but the survivors did ok.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 19:56:56 GMT -5
That's a load of nice finds Tim! Congrats on the ammonite! Okay, in the pic above, what are the pieces that look like a Hippo on its back with its legs sticking straight up - in the center of the pic is a good one? (Best way I could think to describe them! LOL) I find a lot of pieces that look like those and have always dismissed them as I didn't know what they were! Those are Buffalo Stones. Individual segments of the baculite body, separated at the suture line. In life each was a mostly hollow chamber that the baculite could use to control buoyancy, but most fossilized segments have been filled solid. From the side they can resemble a bison, hence buffalo stones, but hippo stones is pretty fitting too
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 18:45:20 GMT -5
Kind of a fun one: Muddy baccy Barite baccy Same baccy and some pieces with void or nearly void chambers, light and delicate as egg shells
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 14:36:54 GMT -5
Haven't hit my baculite spot all summer but finally got out yesterday for a couple hours. Lots of muddy pieces, but some freshly exposed with colorful nacre intact. The brown and yellow ones i think are barite replacement. And a little ammonite that is a rare find for this kid: Just curious, does anyone have hints for cleaning up pieces with colorful nacre? I'm afraid to even use a toothbrush on them, just gave these a light rinse.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 14:23:39 GMT -5
Great collection. Wow. Thanks for sharing.
I found my first full exposed ammonite yesterday while picking baculite, it's muddy and broken but still made my day.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 9, 2021 11:58:43 GMT -5
Grats jasoninsd, that's about as nice a finished Teepee as a guy could ever hope for. Inspirational piece.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 23:52:24 GMT -5
You know you did a great job polishing if you can’t get a picture without your reflection in it. My double-plus unfavorite for the TA is when one of the snails pops out of the matrix at the last moment. If the whole thing blows up, somehow that feels a little better (or less ungood). I did have a turitella in my first batch that had a small round shell pop out around 8,000 ... at least it didn't wait all the way til polish.
Oh, and i assume Jason hunts all around the Black Hills and that's my usual go-to, either hunt around Teepee Canyon or just pick a road / direction and hunt wherever i happen to end up. He's on the other side of the hills and closer to the fairburn stuff but i think there is much similarity in many of the rocks in and surrounding the hills.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 23:30:28 GMT -5
tims - Those are really some amazing looking cabs! Your polish on those is outstanding! - The Jasp/Agate is like a lot of material I find all over out here. I have a tendency to categorize it as a jasper Prairie Agate (as opposed to a chert Prairie Agate...so NEITHER is agate! LOL). Those cabs are outstanding! - Green and White Moss Agate from India. I'd put money on this being the correct ID on this one. I picked up a couple pieces from the Fairburn rock swap and had to do a lot of asking and some sleuth work to come up with the ID. - Obsidian - It looks like you did a fantastic job on the polish of those! I have some Obsidian that I struggle with finding the right angle to cut them in order to get the sheen to show up the best. I messed up several chunks trying to get the angle right. - Turritella Agates - You did a flat-out, hands-down fantastic freaking job on those! That material is so amazing when it ends up looking like yours...and so depressing when it blows up during the process (or pits appear out of nowhere!). Prairie agate sounds fine for that rock but the semantics bug me because i found it on a hill I concur with the India moss ID suggestions too. It sure is pretty, and hard stuff ... made the obsidian feel like warm butter by comparison. I tried and failed tumbling obsidian but it seems to do much better on the wheels. Hate cutting it still because i feed rock manually, and little shards of obsidian on the deck get really bitey. Thanks on the turitella, i had no idea what to expect. The slab i bought had some visible pits and there are a couple pinholes in those cabs, but overall it was ok to work.
Thanks for all the feedback.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 14:06:29 GMT -5
Nice work, I love the look of that self collected jasp agate. From what I can see on the obsidian you cut parallel to the layers which should be perfect to show sheen, it may not be rainbow. I'd first read that just off parallel was the way to cut it, but have also heard that just off perpendicular is best, and also 35-45 degrees off perpendicular lol. Hadn't even considered it might not be rainbow, i know zilch about obsidian and assumed if it had the layers it must be some kind of sheen if worked correctly. Thanks for some clarification, that was driving me nuts.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 13:59:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the encouragement hummingbirdstones I had another large cab of the turitella going but it exploded on like the 600 wheel, not sure what happened. I got a slice of that at a local rock show and we're having another show next week so hoping to get some more, it's neat stuff.
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 13:58:36 GMT -5
fernwood I'll try resizing those, I've just been cropping the pics, dumping them on my domain then linking them. They are obnoxiously huge Thank you.
|
|