Justin
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2022
Posts: 76
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Post by Justin on Oct 26, 2022 21:11:59 GMT -5
So I went to an estate sale this past weekend, the guy passed away in 1981 and his house sat vacant until now. His family said they didn’t have any idea that he had any rocks at all in the garage…. HE HAD SOOOOO MANY ROCKS, all self collected according to his neighbors, that on the last day I came back and got well over 2,000lbs of material… for basically nothing. he lived in NE Tennessee, traveled the country to dig rocks (according to neighbors) Had vibrating laps/gem- maker cabbing machines/ 24” Covington slab saw / shelving for rough the shelves with rough *WERE*labeled but the paper was obviously from the estate sale people, it certainly wasn’t from 1981 so I don’t know who wrote them, and the labels had (maybe) written on them, so I k ow it wasn’t from the owner. I don’t know how they came up with their labels or why they thought those places exactly… but the labels were “Woodward ranch” “Banded onyx” “petrified wood””priaday ranch” I have a lot of different material and no clue what any of it is…. These are the pieces I have cut so far. Any help or guess is appreciated! the one uncut piece at the end is the same rock from three different views. I have like 70+ lbs of it so I’m really curious to see if anybody recognizes it. I have cut a piece of it and it looks like you would expect on the inside but I didn’t supply a picture of it cut because it’s currently in my new vibrating lap 😃
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goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 272
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Post by goldfinder on Oct 26, 2022 22:06:53 GMT -5
Excellent score! I'm sure you'll find some more awesome material as you work through it all.
It first glance in the 6th picture the colors look similar to Sonoran Sunrise/Sunset, but is that agate banding going on in there?
Looking forward to seeing what other sweet material you scored!
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 467
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Post by hypodactylus on Oct 26, 2022 22:07:51 GMT -5
I don't know what any of them are, but nice haul!
I especially like this one:
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on Oct 26, 2022 22:11:41 GMT -5
Wow you must have been like a kid in the candy store! Great gets, I love finds like this!
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Post by pebblesky on Oct 26, 2022 22:17:51 GMT -5
Not helpful on identification but this is really colorful
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 26, 2022 22:20:08 GMT -5
Lucky you! Estate sales are awesome for rocks if they have them. The people who run them have no clue what anything is worth. Woo-hoo!
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Justin
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2022
Posts: 76
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Post by Justin on Oct 26, 2022 22:39:13 GMT -5
Wow you must have been like a kid in the candy store! Great gets, I love finds like this! My heart was racing, brain was in overdrive, twitching like a tweeker and running numbers like an accountant 😂 I got an old highland park 8” saw and was cleaning out the reservoir earlier tonight… I found full preform slabs of natural unstabilized turquoise… and the guy passed away in 1981. 🫢
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Justin
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2022
Posts: 76
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Post by Justin on Oct 26, 2022 22:46:13 GMT -5
Lucky you! Estate sales are awesome for rocks if they have them. The people who run them have no clue what anything is worth. Woo-hoo! I tried to tell the guy that they had some really nice stuff. He didn’t care. Not many people in my area mess with or know about rocks. I couldnt believe what I was seeing when someone showed me the sale. On the last day the guy in charge said give me $100 and you can have everything that’s left. It was a literal dream come true. saw, vibrating lap, dual arbor tapered spindle variable speed polisher, 24” diamond sintered blade ,extra brand new motors, new belts, and TONS AND TONS of mystery rough.
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Justin
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2022
Posts: 76
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Post by Justin on Oct 26, 2022 22:49:07 GMT -5
Excellent score! I'm sure you'll find some more awesome material as you work through it all. It first glance in the 6th picture the colors look similar to Sonoran Sunrise/Sunset, but is that agate banding going on in there? Looking forward to seeing what other sweet material you scored! Yes it is, and it’s gorgeous!
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markb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Oct 27, 2022 1:41:34 GMT -5
Nice score!
If the guy traveled or bought material out of state, the "priaday ranch” label may refers to the old Priday Ranch site near Madras, Oregon. The area formerly known as Priday Agate Beds, is now called Richardson's Rock Ranch. Richardson's doesn't allow public digging anymore but they do stock and sell LOTS of material still to the public and collectors. The rest of the ranch area was acquired a couple years ago by The Deschutes Land Trust. You can read more about it and the history of the Priday Ranch area here.
Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with all the material from the site so someone else in Oregon would have to take a shot at identifying the material you show if it's a match. Maybe someone like realrockhound or Rockoonz will know. There are others from Oregon too, but it's late and my mind is mush.
Hope this helps at least a little.
markb
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Post by fernwood on Oct 27, 2022 3:25:22 GMT -5
Lucky you! Estate sales are awesome for rocks if they have them. The people who run them have no clue what anything is worth. Woo-hoo! I tried to tell the guy that they had some really nice stuff. He didn’t care. Not many people in my area mess with or know about rocks. I couldnt believe what I was seeing when someone showed me the sale. On the last day the guy in charge said give me $100 and you can have everything that’s left. It was a literal dream come true. saw, vibrating lap, dual arbor tapered spindle variable speed polisher, 24” diamond sintered blade ,extra brand new motors, new belts, and TONS AND TONS of mystery rough. Wow. Right place, right time. Congratulations. Please post the Turquoise you found.
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Justin
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2022
Posts: 76
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Post by Justin on Oct 27, 2022 6:32:09 GMT -5
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Post by liveoak on Oct 27, 2022 6:32:56 GMT -5
On the last day the guy in charge said give me $100 and you can have everything that’s left. It was a literal dream come true. saw, vibrating lap, dual arbor tapered spindle variable speed polisher, 24” diamond sintered blade ,extra brand new motors, new belts, and TONS AND TONS of mystery rough.
Ya know I bet that guy would be happy to know his treasures went to someone who appreciated them. Good on ya.
Patty
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 27, 2022 6:53:56 GMT -5
Lucky dog!!!!!
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Justin
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2022
Posts: 76
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Post by Justin on Oct 27, 2022 8:09:23 GMT -5
Ya know I bet that guy would be happy to know his treasures went to someone who appreciated them. Good on ya.
Patty
I had the same feeling. If it were me I would certainly want someone that cared about my stuff coming in and getting it instead of people just trying to resell for profit.
I currently have his vibrating lap running in my basement and I’m cleaning his saw up and refurbishing it.
I have found 6 slabs with template stencils on them that he had traced out to cab and didn’t get to finish. As a thank you to him, I’m finishing the cabs for him and passing them out to everyone in my mineral society that went to the estate sale.
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Post by liveoak on Oct 27, 2022 8:33:37 GMT -5
I have found 6 slabs with template stencils on them that he had traced out to cab and didn’t get to finish. As a thank you to him, I’m finishing the cabs for him and passing them out to everyone in my mineral society that went to the estate sale.
That's a nice thing Justin- makes me smile
Patty
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 27, 2022 9:57:07 GMT -5
Holy sh*t, Justin, that was a major score! The people who run estate sales don't care about anything excepting getting their cut out of the profits. They will sell everything really cheap just because they want their cut and unsold items don't make them any money.
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Post by Rockoonz on Oct 27, 2022 10:25:25 GMT -5
Looks like you were... Justin time... No, I didn't have to say that... Yes I did. The 2nd pic down reminds me of stuff I got from Arlene Handley called Mexican swirl rhyolite, but there are other locations for stuff like that, some in Utah. The large batch of rough is remindful of stuff out of the Ochoco area (sp?) in the general area where the Jumpin' Jeep and Butterscotch agate is found, remotely possible that the bright colored stuff could be some super high end jumpin jeep, it has the stromatolite agate look to it like that and the German stromatolite agates.
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Post by Rockoonz on Oct 27, 2022 10:38:22 GMT -5
markb glad to hear that the old remaining Priday property is being preserved. I went all the way back to the old Sunset agate mine years ago and took a lot of pictures, breathtaking scenery, had no idea that it extended back into Deschutes watershed, or even that there were still Priday family heirs left around.
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Post by Rockoonz on Oct 27, 2022 10:40:01 GMT -5
When do we get to see all the tools?
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