Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 10, 2007 12:24:39 GMT -5
Blarney and Lady B expressed interest about how firefly jasper looks finished or cabbed. I've only cut one 30 X 40 cab of this material so far ( I'm not very good at cabbing and don't do much of it) and I'm not really happy with the pattern I got as grinding removed some of the color I was looking for. It does have some healed fractures but not nearly as bad as some poppy jasper and works up to a good polish. I've tumbled a lot of it and it tumbles real fine.....Mel Tumbles and my only cab: Cab close up:
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Post by sbreed on Aug 10, 2007 12:31:50 GMT -5
That stuff is really beautiful!!
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nightop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 132
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Post by nightop on Aug 10, 2007 12:33:28 GMT -5
Neat stuff!
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Post by flintfish on Aug 10, 2007 12:39:40 GMT -5
Top rox Mel, that's some beautifu jasper variant, do you collect that one locally? I think the tumbles look amazing.
Harry
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 10, 2007 12:56:08 GMT -5
Harry: I mine this material near a ranch my wife and I own in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California. Only thing around our southern Callifornia home are fossils and sandstone. *S*....Mel
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Aug 10, 2007 13:20:07 GMT -5
Wow! That stuff polishes up nice! You sure are lucky to find that stuff so close by. Very cool. Thanks for the pics! Dan
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Post by Lady B on Aug 10, 2007 13:25:17 GMT -5
Thanks so much for posting the cab and the tumbles. I love this stone. It has such intriguing designs and colors! Okay, that's another one for the list...Bob is going to have so much fun shopping for me this Christmas! ;D Lady B
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Post by flintfish on Aug 10, 2007 14:34:31 GMT -5
Nice one Mel, that sounds like quite a spot you've got. I love rock collecting, and finding really fine tumblable material is always great fun.
I love my local flint (which is plain and dark), but it sure aint pretty like your stuff, what other tumbleable material do you get in your "neck of the woods?". Is there anywhere that sells where I can get some sent? I'm always happy to pay the price, I'd love to run a batch of that, it's got such personality.
I saw Dons now legendary Ocean Jasper run, and my jaw dropped, I've been out of the rock scene for a while, and never found the community when I was heavily polishing rocks a few years ago. Since finding this place I've seen a massive spectrum of jasper and jasper like material, all the stuff over here is generally plain red, and I only find small chunks on the beaches, but it polishes beautifuly.
So I've seen Poppy Jasper, and I loved the spots and patterns in your Hornitos stuff the other day - is that a local to you? Or do you trade that from Mexico? It was truly amazing stone, how separated are those spots, looks like 1/2inch? I would love to see a slab or two of that one tumbled, I'm thinking they would look brilliant. I've got some leopard skin jasper waiting to rumble, and I'm trying to find a local source for a batch or two of Ocean J - I'm afraid Don may have got me started on somthing now!
On a general note, has the forum put together "show and tell" type threads, all our jaspers, bandy agates etc... I thought the cab collection put up by Susan - NMRocks was a fabulous thread, just to see all the different styles of cabbing, it was great. It would be nice to see lots of tumble runs we've all done, by variety, partly to help ourselves choose what to go for next!
Thanks all,
Harry
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Post by Lady B on Aug 10, 2007 14:49:12 GMT -5
....On a general note, has the forum put together "show and tell" type threads, all our jaspers, bandy agates etc... I thought the cab collection put up by Susan - NMRocks was a fabulous thread, just to see all the different styles of cabbing, it was great. It would be nice to see lots of tumble runs we've all done, by variety, partly to help ourselves choose what to go for next! Thanks all, Harry Harry, What a fantastic idea that is! It would be a wonderful showcase AND a wonderful reference point for Newbies like myself. I hope the experienced Tumblers here at RTH take you up on your "Show & Tell" suggestion. Lady B
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Aug 10, 2007 15:10:01 GMT -5
I'm thinking that The Rock Identification Library section is pretty much the same thing... isn't it? Dan
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 10, 2007 15:35:32 GMT -5
also right at the very beginning on the very first RTH page, there is a link to click called "Samples Photo Section", i don't think Mark has had a lot of time to keep it current, but it does have some good photos.
KD
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 10, 2007 15:40:17 GMT -5
Harry: Like Dan says, lots of pictures of everyones finer material are in the rock ID library section, especially if you go back into the older threads. Re Hornitos Jasper: That's just the general term used for the various forms of jasper from sites around the old gold mining town of Hornitos in the Sierras. I'm fortunate enough to have purchased a small ranch right smack in the middle of all the old jasper deposits that were mined back in the 1960's but are now covered in brush and are gradually being rediscovered by my rock hounding buddy and I. It's amazing, but as we explore more and more, we just keep on finding additional jasper deposits. Probably up to about thirty different types of mainly poppy jasper now. Unfortunately, some sites are being built on now so are again being lost but it's a huge and very wild area so still has lots of potential. The fancy red poppy jasper site has escaped us so far and we've only found scattered pieces. I was told by one old rock hunter it was all mined out. The poppies in that huge slab are large, some more than 1/2" so I sure wouldn't mine finding more of that one.....Mel
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Post by flintfish on Aug 10, 2007 16:19:11 GMT -5
Hi all - thanks for the pointers - Your right Dan, Mel, I've had a good look through the Rock ID gallery, and can see how it was intended to work. Theres some great info buried in there, and some lovely shots of rough and tumbles. I can also see how tricky it is to maintain a dataset like ours! I do boring data related stuff all day - mainly school buildings, and know the sort of issues concerned with keeping track of information, and organising it in ways which are easy and meaningful to use. My hat gos off to the moderators and you helpful folks, always willing to help the RTH community, Kudos to you all, you know who you are.... Stuff like this kind of grows - a bit like this thread - sorry Mel, I kinda diverted things from the point - your fancy jasper! I will populate the Rock ID section with whatever I have that's not represented, but theres the rub - I'ts going to be a job to work out what you've got showing, and what I've got in the rox box. I will also post a thread in that section, inviting further submitions from the gang, it would be nice to see lots of rocks from all sources, and tumble artists as we all work the stuff a little differently. I like "thins" in my tumbles, especially with transparent material - moss agate etc.. So when I break my rough up I try to knock off some thinner sections, and my final tumble may look different to a "chunk" fan. I also like "triangles" and so try to smash a few out of the rough before tumbling. It would be great to see all styles of work with the materials, I just feel a bit odd resurrecting someone elses thread from last year sometime, it feels a bit like hi-jacking. Back to the point - Mel - I'm sick as a parrot Sir! ;-) I love that "atomic measles" variety, I'd spend night and day looking for that stuff, what a magical stone. You've sure got your work cut out man, how large an area do you have to roam? And are or how are you mapping this for future reference? 30 types of Jasper! I've got 1 and its plain red! :-) I'm learning a lot about the US from you kind folks, I apologise for my very poor knowledge of your geography and local terminology, I feel like such a fool sometimes. I guessed Hornitos was some Mexican connection, Locale, mine, mountain.... or somthing such. Sorry! I did try to search but found very little. I'm sure it's not all mined out! I'm from the mining centre of the UK, the Nottingham Coal fields lie all around the town I grew up in, and the spoil heaps to mining are almost as rich as the material they carted off. Also in my Archaeology studies, I was lucky enough to work at one of the most amazing sites in the UK - Cresswell Crags. Anyway the caves were excavated years ago, and the finds were taken to museums and private collections - all lost to the passage of time, we were lucky enough to be allowed to investigate one of the caves for archaeology, and the richest areas? not the tiny sections which the old archaeologists couldn't easily reach? No - it was the spoil heaps by the entrance, we found Rhino, Hippo, Sabre Tooth Cat, Ancient Flints, Carved Bone, the list goes on - but the point remains I'm not sure how or what they were mining there, but... Theres bound to be some areas where it wasn't worth them following the vein, as the material peters out they stop and follow the richest source remaining, so somewhere there are a few corners, and I can't wait to see when You find it... Thanks for taking the time everyone, it's great to share our wealth. Harry.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 10, 2007 17:42:47 GMT -5
Harry: Wow sounds like a great archeology adventure you had there! I also find ancient man sites fascinating.
Hornitos is a Mexican place name ,as many in California are, meaning "Little Ovens" Ground there was so hard they buried all the dead gold miners and shootout victims in above ground tombs which look a lot like the ovens Mexicans bake bread in called "Horna". Many of the gold miners during the rush in the mid 1800's were Mexican and Hornitos was a wild gold town full of cantinas, dance halls and banditos including famed Mexican bandito, Joaquin Murietta. Most of the town burned down in past fires but there are still a few folks living there. I'm also sure there's still lots of jasper to be found but the hunt involves tough hiking and crawling about under rattlesnake infested manzanita thickets that are almost inpenetrable. More we hunt more we find though. Main limitation is summer heat and fire risk which keeps us afoot during 7 months of the year as we can't drive in. No limit on the hunting area though as it is absolutely huge and mostly untouched except by gold miners 150 years ago. I really don't use maps as the area is practically in my backyard and I know the area like the palm of my hand...Mel
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Aug 11, 2007 21:40:47 GMT -5
sabre, I love the fossils in that area, especiallt the sand dollars, my favorite.
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Aug 11, 2007 21:41:10 GMT -5
and that's a really neat jasper!
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