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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2023 10:01:25 GMT -5
Should I be posting these types of post in this Forum section or in the Photos section? I'm uncertain, as these aren't just photos but I always try to make educational comments. Two weeks tin oxide plus 12 hr burnish. About half purchased, half self-collected. Misplaced my tripod, so these are hand-held with cellphone and some photos aren't very crisp.  |
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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2023 10:04:10 GMT -5
Some stream chert.   |
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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2023 10:06:19 GMT -5
Misc. mostly various jaspers.  Petrified wood. I'm tumbling a lot of it now after having built up a lot in storage for years. This is all from TX, OK, NM, but those 2 bright pieces I bought at Quartzite last winter and think they are from AZ. I bought a handful of those as an experiment and could hardly believe how tough they are and how long they took.  Kambaba "jasper", nephrite, aventurine, and prehnite. This I think is the first time I've had pure prehnite come through w/o any inclusions of that black material. I love the pure pieces and have more in process.   |
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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2023 10:13:16 GMT -5
Tecovas jasper from TX. Almost all that I collected of this is processed now.  Feldspars.  Pedernal chalcedony from NM. It's exhausting to trim off the bad parts and keep doing it again and again but results are worth it.  Crystal quartzes: amethst purchased, crystal collected in AR, smoky purchased, and rutilated purchased. A few pieces of the smoky are pure w/o fractures which is rare.   |
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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2023 10:19:23 GMT -5
Left is quartzite I think. Right is something I'm unsure of, and whether purchased or collected.  One of those quarztites has quite a subsurface pattern. I collected this somewhere and not sure at the moment where, but I think it was at Lake Superior. Never have found another rock like this one.  This material looks a bit like a interim stage between TX Tecovas jasper/chert and some other things.  Exotica jasper, unakite, tigers eye, and one piece of Vanport chert. All purchased.  |
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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2023 10:27:10 GMT -5
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Oct 11, 2023 21:39:00 GMT -5
Quite a batch! Great variety, great shaping, and great shine!!
Always enjoy seeing your tumbles.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,158
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Post by dshanpnw on Oct 12, 2023 6:27:40 GMT -5
What a wonderful batch of beauties. I appreciate all the great photos and stories behind all the rocks. I am attracted to the psilomelane for the metallic look. They're all so nice. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by velodromed on Oct 12, 2023 8:24:51 GMT -5
All these are quite beautiful! That one quartzite with the subsurface pattern is particularly interesting. Thank you very much for posting all of these!
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Post by Bob on Oct 12, 2023 12:12:46 GMT -5
One thing forgot to mention about the pet wood...I've learned to be brutal with trimming. I don't like fractures in my end product and that's why so many piece of PW have that horrible squared off end where I had to trim off a lot to get past the fractures. It would be common I think to say that most of the time at least half has to be trimmed off and sometimes even more than that. And I no longer pick up every piece as a lot of it isn't worth it.
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Post by pebblesky on Oct 12, 2023 18:22:03 GMT -5
They look great!
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,240
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Post by quartzilla on Oct 16, 2023 8:13:00 GMT -5
Your rockin it Bob! Prehnite is a tough one to polish, your results are excellent!
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Post by Bob on Oct 16, 2023 16:33:34 GMT -5
Your rockin it Bob! Prehnite is a tough one to polish, your results are excellent! Have not done much of it, but so far at least it hasn't seemed difficult. Once coming out 1,000, it seems to always polish perfectly w/o fail. It must be tough too, because I don't think I've ever had a piece break or fracture. Perhaps that's because of this radiating fibrous like structure in it. It, and rhodonite (when I'm lucky enough to have a really nice bright, pink piece make it through) seems to be the only materials my wife can't walk by w/o saying they look very pretty. There was some prehnite laid out by a guy from Africa at the Pow Wow. It was almost twice the usual price but I did notice it was entirely pure w/o the black stuff, so I got 5-10 pieces. At Desert Gardens that Asian lady with the huge layout had a big pile of it for super price but all had the black stuff in it and I got 10-20 pieces there and also similar quality from the guys that were smoking pot. Wish I had only got the pure, and will be looking for it next time. Can't figure out why I seem to like prehnite so much--maybe it's the unusual color that reminds more of some places in the ocean. |
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 937 
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Post by ashley on Oct 16, 2023 19:56:03 GMT -5
Awesome, awesome job Bob!!
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