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Post by velodromed on Apr 29, 2023 21:22:29 GMT -5
A buddy on my RC Car forum sent me a bag of little Lake Superior agates a month ago. They are mid way through tumbling so I threw them in the vibe with a 1/2 teaspoon of cheap Amazon 1200 AO polish for a day. I’m rather stunned by how well they polished. Most need a bit more tumbling though so are back in the course grit for another week. I’ll start pulling ones that are ready out then. Man these are gorgeous! I need to get some larger versions soon…
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 29, 2023 23:11:13 GMT -5
You're right Velo...there's something that's just GORGEOUS about LSAs! They are very similar to Botswana Agates with regards to their look and the amazing polish they take!! Way to go!!
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Post by velodromed on Apr 30, 2023 0:50:36 GMT -5
You're right Velo...there's something that's just GORGEOUS about LSAs! They are very similar to Botswana Agates with regards to their look and the amazing polish they take!! Way to go!! Yup! I’ve been looking for some larger ones. Kingsley North has several different sizes, but all are out of stock. The gem shop doesn’t have any. I don’t trust Etsy anymore… eventually I’ll track some down. I’d love to get golf ball size basically. I just got a near 20lb box of mixed rocks from the gem shop. I made sure to get several of their beautiful large untouched Botswana agates from the 1970s batch. Man…if someone had told me a year ago I’d spend 100 bucks on a box of rocks I would’ve said they were crazy
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Post by Starguy on Apr 30, 2023 1:03:14 GMT -5
Very nice! LSAs are always fun.
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Post by velodromed on Apr 30, 2023 9:37:10 GMT -5
Very nice! LSAs are always fun. Thanks! They will be even nicer in an another couple weeks or so lol. And yes, they are a blast.
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Post by Starguy on Apr 30, 2023 10:15:54 GMT -5
I started a 3 pound batch in stage 2 last week. It should have a few LSAs. I’m looking forward to photos of your finished batch. velodromed Edit: I just switched them to stage 3. Definitely some nice small LSAs in there. Big ones are getting too expensive. Check these out. You might need to zoom in a little. It has killer LSA banding and shadows. No eyes though unfortunately.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 30, 2023 15:44:03 GMT -5
I got 5 Lbs from Kingsley North back at the first of the year. I was thrilled with them and toss some in with every batch. They take forever, but turn out so nice. I wanted to get some more, but as you well know they are out of stock. I sorted my 5 pounds and had 2 polished ones and about 10 duds. pretty decent for almost 300 stones! The largest (a dozen or so) are about the size of a ping pong ball, even the smallest were larger than pea sized.
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Post by pebblesky on Apr 30, 2023 19:33:20 GMT -5
These are adorable!
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Post by velodromed on Apr 30, 2023 20:04:35 GMT -5
I started a 3 pound batch in stage 2 last week. It should have a few LSAs. I’m looking forward to photos of your finished batch. velodromed Edit: I just switched them to stage 3. Definitely some nice small LSAs in there. Big ones are getting too expensive. Check these out. You might need to zoom in a little. It has killer LSA banding and shadows. No eyes though unfortunately. Good grief, those are beautiful! Wow… how big are they? I am beginning to understand that they are becoming more difficult to obtain in larger sizes. Haven’t really been able to find anything so far. Of course they come up on Etsy, but I am very wary considering the difficulties I’ve had with sellers on that site. The only good place I found on Etsy is Meekos mine…and it just occurred to me that I haven’t checked with them lol. Can’t wait to see those two that you posted after the polish stage.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,751
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Post by Mark K on Apr 30, 2023 20:34:38 GMT -5
I just found two outstanding agates on Friday. Sent them home with a co-worker for her kids to fight over.
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Post by velodromed on May 1, 2023 7:37:08 GMT -5
I got 5 Lbs from Kingsley North back at the first of the year. I was thrilled with them and toss some in with every batch. They take forever, but turn out so nice. I wanted to get some more, but as you well know they are out of stock. I sorted my 5 pounds and had 2 polished ones and about 10 duds. pretty decent for almost 300 stones! The largest (a dozen or so) are about the size of a ping pong ball, even the smallest were larger than pea sized. That was a good buy. Those top three are very nice. I talked with the guy from Meekos mine last night. LSAs around an inch run 15-35 bucks apiece now. He’s meeting with an old timer this weekend who collects them, but I can’t justify the cost with so many other beautiful agates out there. The more I research them the more I feel lucky that I was given the bag that I have.
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Post by velodromed on May 1, 2023 7:41:25 GMT -5
I just found two outstanding agates on Friday. Sent them home with a co-worker for her kids to fight over. That’s great lol. I do that as well. Even had to slow my ‘giving away’ down some while I figure out what I eventually want to do with all my finished stones. I still keep my 10 year old step daughter stocked up with nice rocks though. She uses them for bartering at her elementary school, which I think is great as it’s a good skill to learn.
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Post by velodromed on May 1, 2023 7:42:39 GMT -5
Thank you! I think so as well, cute little things lol.
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doublebluff
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 60
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Post by doublebluff on May 3, 2023 9:13:53 GMT -5
Great stuff!
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Post by velodromed on May 3, 2023 14:28:07 GMT -5
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lapidarycentral
starting to spend too much on rocks
(Brian Rhode) LapidaryCentral.com - Fueling your Lapidary Addiction.
Member since August 2021
Posts: 218
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Post by lapidarycentral on May 3, 2023 17:58:31 GMT -5
Those are pretty neat!
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Post by velodromed on May 4, 2023 14:03:21 GMT -5
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on May 8, 2023 16:50:54 GMT -5
Well the wife and I were very settled on having no more kids but after seeing these baby LSA’s I’ve changed my mind!
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Post by velodromed on May 8, 2023 17:47:13 GMT -5
Well the wife and I were very settled on having no more kids but after seeing these baby LSA’s I’ve changed my mind! That’s great!
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Post by velodromed on May 12, 2023 14:46:31 GMT -5
The little Baby Lake Superior Agates are done with all the course runs from the rotary to the vibratory. I tried something different this time, once I was done with stage one. I did stages 2-3 in the vibratory all at one time, by using 2 teaspoons of 220 SiC grit and letting it run for seven straight days. After a long clean out stage of six hours using dish soap, I’m throwing them back into the vibe for the final polish. I decided to try the AO polish that came with the Ray Tech 5 and will let it run four-five days straight. If it doesn’t work well, I have some micro polish that I can use. I completely forgot to take pictures. I’m not feeling good. So the next ones will be of the finished product. I hope. I will say one thing, I think I might’ve run them for them too long in course. I’ve have lost a lot of mass and some complete rocks so…yeah. I think I need to chill my roll a little bit next time.
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