firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 7, 2005 23:50:00 GMT -5
Hey all, i am the father of an extremely intelligent 6 year old who got a rock tumbler kit for his birthday. I am turning the little bag that came with it per the instructions right now  . He has asked me if we could go find rocks and put them in (we havent even looked inside the first one yet.LOL) the tumbler to make them smooth so he can make stuff for his family. We are both learning astronomy right now since he is VERY interested in space so I figured Geology would probably help him out too. Anyway, I know very little about space and even less about rocks . I try not to look too stupid so I say "Sure, well find some rocks". Now I think maybe I should go to a rock shop and "plant" a cool rock for us to "find"  so I have some questions (loads of em but Ill start with just 2) 1. Where do you find good "tumbling" rocks in Northern Nevada? 2. How do I become more proficient in Identifying raw minerals and rocks without going back to college? Any help would be great as I can only think of his high school math homework as harder than this..LOL |
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Post by rockyraccoon on Nov 8, 2005 0:18:03 GMT -5
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firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 8, 2005 0:24:44 GMT -5
Thanks, There are like 10 shops in that list within 60 miles of me! I will check there for some books and stuff!
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Post by LCARS on Nov 14, 2005 22:06:56 GMT -5
Awww, that sounds just like me when I was six...  Get that kid some rocks I say! ;D |
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Post by Cher on Nov 14, 2005 22:38:02 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Firecop!
I always love to see kids being turned on to nature, good for you dad, keep it up.
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Post by gaetzchamp on Nov 14, 2005 23:32:13 GMT -5
Firecop-
Congrats on finding a new hobby for your "child" LOL. We think we're in it to help the kids, but it's mostly for us right.....wink, wink. Just kidding.
Your child will love it and you should have no problem finding great materials. You said Northern Nevada so you should really be in some prime areas. If you live in a desert environment find a dry riverbed and start walking up/down it (as you know, be careful this time of year if there has been lots of precipitation in the area) and start looking for anything "glassy" or transparent/transleucent. You may want to take a squirt bottle with water to wash it a little bit. You should be able to find lots of jaspers, agates, petrified wood etc without a whole lot of trouble. You'll also have better luck going out just after a storm as the water tends to wash off the dust and exposes some of the better material.
Take your time as you walk thru the washes and pick up anything and everything that looks glassy or red. You'll soon find your eyes will start picking up on some of the good material. For some reason your kids will often find the best stuff. Some of the greatest finds have been my kids or their cousins. They will bring everything too you, almost to the point that it will be annoying, but don't disregard them as they WILL find some of the best stuff.......maybe it's because they're closer to the ground.
Another tip.....as you search the desert floor/riverbeds, try to keep the sun to your back. The agates and jaspers will act as a "mirror" and reflect into your eyes making them easier to spot. I also like searching mild-grade slopes as it's easy to lean into the hill allowing you to get closer to the good stuff.
Well, keep us posted on how it's coming and keep in touch.
Gaetz
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firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 23, 2005 22:34:31 GMT -5
Thank you Everyone!!  My boy and I are VERY exited to go to a wash and scout some rocks! I am off this week so we are gonna go out for a couple hours. ;D The tumbler he got as a gift is one of those "Toy" ones. If he stays interested enough he may get "upgraded" LOL. The noise is a bit much but I have devised a plan that should cure it. LOL Update::::: We washed our tumbler with AJAX as directed and cleaned it Super good. Added our polishing compound and set it back on. We are going to check it December 1st. Question.... I read somewhere on this forum that people use "Borax" to burnish after polishing. Do I put the borax in water or run it dry? Also, how long should I run the burnish cycle? Thanks again and I will keep you updated. I will post some pics of our first batch when we are done.  |
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Post by krazydiamond on Nov 24, 2005 17:35:32 GMT -5
borax in water, welcome to the forum, firecop!
KD
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firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 26, 2005 11:55:31 GMT -5
Thank you all again! Well we went out and collected loads of rocks! The weather was perfect as it had rained during the night. We went a whole 3 blocks from our house and found a large wash that came out of the Pinion hills behind our house ;D We had the sun to our backs and EVERYTHING was sparkling!! I could have filled a dump truck with what I believe may be quartz. Honestly, I dont know what kind of rocks we have..LOL I will download the pics from my Camera and post them if i can. The "quartz" we got, we seperated into white, red colored and orange colored. We tried to just pick the different types. Now we have to figure out what we can tumble together. I would like to do the first batch different so maybe we can see what each type looks like polished. I still have to get a book so I can"try" to figure out what these are  |
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firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 26, 2005 13:24:32 GMT -5
 these are some that we found! |
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firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 26, 2005 13:55:34 GMT -5
 Close up of two, dont know what they are..LOL |
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firecop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2005
Posts: 103
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Post by firecop on Nov 26, 2005 14:02:05 GMT -5
 Close up of metallic lookin one. |
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. He has asked me if we could go find rocks and put them in (we havent even looked inside the first one yet.LOL) the tumbler to make them smooth so he can make stuff for his family. We are both learning astronomy right now since he is VERY interested in space so I figured Geology would probably help him out too. Anyway, I know very little about space and even less about rocks 
so I have some questions (loads of em but Ill start with just 2) 1. Where do you find good "tumbling" rocks in Northern Nevada? 2. How do I become more proficient in Identifying raw minerals and rocks without going back to college?
... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew