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Post by Tweetiepy on Mar 4, 2005 15:06:11 GMT -5
I know you can go rock collecting practically anywhere. But how do you get a chunk of rock off a big piece? All rocks seem to look pretty much the same in the rough, how do you recognize keepers? (bring a pocket knife to scratch them?)
Now that we've just gotten a dumping of another 8 inches of snow, I'll have lots of time to think this over…
I contacted a minerology group in my area, but I'm still waiting for a reply back
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stonedagain
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2004
Posts: 114
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Post by stonedagain on Mar 4, 2005 15:18:14 GMT -5
Hi Tweety, I try to take a rock hammer with me to use to break pieces off. It's a crapshoot to determine keepers if you can't break them open, but you can always use the throwaways as filler in your batches or maybe your driveway. Where are you located? I got a fresh 11" of snow this week, too. Prior to this week, I had crocus and daffodil sprouts, but now they're buried -Rhonda
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Post by gaetzchamp on Mar 4, 2005 15:18:34 GMT -5
Take a water bottle to clean them off, or dump them in a stream. After they are clean and wet, then you can see the rocks "real" colors and most likely determine if they'll polish up.
Other times it's just by trial and error. 5 minutes ago I was just looking thru my rock bucket from the mountains and spotted a cool pink colored rock(in fact my kids are out busting it up right now). I have no idea how it will turn out after I polish it, but if it does turn out, I know where to go get a whole bunch more.
gaetz#nosmileys
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Post by Cher on Mar 4, 2005 18:12:15 GMT -5
I go mostly to gravel pits so I take along my water bottle and a couple of 5 gallon pails. Never see anything that's in a size where I want to break off any chunks but do mind quite a few that need to be whacked. I look for color mostly, and interesting patterns. Yes, I've brought home a few "leverites" but they just get tossed in what has now become my "rock garden".
Cher
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Post by Alice on Mar 4, 2005 19:41:40 GMT -5
I live close by a river (which has ice fishers on it right now). But in the summer time all I have to do bend down and scoop up whatever they put down as gravel at the bottom of the boat ramp. Lots of pretty colors. Impossible to choose just a few. They're ALL good.
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Mar 4, 2005 22:16:39 GMT -5
Hello Tweetiepy,
That is a good question and hopefully I will be able to help you a little bit with some information that will eventually help you to better identify better rocks.
These points will apply to anywhere in the world you go, it is not region specific:
1) Look at the exterior of the stone. If it has a nice glossy exterior ... it is most probably a nicely agatized piece that will offer you some nice tumbling material.
2) Look for a conchoidal fracture (like the surface of a shell - scalloped in appearance). These stones will ALWAYS have a excellent agate/chalcedony ontent that will offer you some great tumbling material.
3) Rocks that have a smooth or waxy exterior ... will generally offer you some great tumbling material.
4) Exterior looks can be deceiving ... some agates have extremely rough exteriors and do not show the intricate colors or patterns.
5) If you have a suspect rock ... take a rock hammer and knock off a small flake of the sone and look at the fracture ... is it smooth, glassy, waxy, have a conchoidal appearance ... if so, it is a keeper!
6) If you do not have a rock hammer ... I have a small ball pein hammer in my truck ... just in case I forget to get my rock hammer. It works ina pinch and you can get a really cheap one for this particular purpose.
7) If I find rocks that have a granite or shiest appearance .. I will leave them there and continue looking for better tumbling/slabbing materials.
8) Next time you go to a rock shop take a while to get familiar with the various exteriors of rocks and keep them in the brain on the back burner ... then, when you are in the field ... you will be able to readily recognise some of the various stones at a quick glance.
9) Time in the field and practice are generally your best learning tool. Rock shops help ... but you don't get to see them in their natural environment. All I have to see of a piece of rock is an area of about the size of a dime or nickel ... and I can tell whether it is work looking at or not. It's juts a learning thing ... something that I have had a knack of doing since I was roughly 2 or three years old. It really used to get my Grandpa, when we were out in the field. He would tell folks ... "I don't know how he does it ... one minute he is just walking and he will stop and pass me a piece of petrified wood or an agate of some sort ... he just has a knack for it".
In time you will develop an eye for finding the better materials ... it just takes time.
Hope this helps,
John
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Duckbean
fully equipped rock polisher
Looking for rocks in all the wrong places
Member since February 2005
Posts: 1,072
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Post by Duckbean on Mar 4, 2005 22:56:53 GMT -5
Hi everyone I have bought all of my rocks so far and am looking forward to spring so I can get out and hunt. anyone know what types of nice rocks you can find in Ohio? How long you been at this John if you don't mind me asking?
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Post by Cher on Mar 4, 2005 23:32:36 GMT -5
Isn't Ohio where that neat Flint Ridge flint comes from? Try doing some searches and checking on Ohio's DNR site for info. I did a quick search for "Ohio rocks and minerals" and saw several links but I didn't check them all out.
Cher
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Duckbean
fully equipped rock polisher
Looking for rocks in all the wrong places
Member since February 2005
Posts: 1,072
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Post by Duckbean on Mar 4, 2005 23:51:40 GMT -5
That's the only one I know Cher, bought a nice slab at a rock shop nice looking, but don't know how common it is.
Bob
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 5, 2005 3:40:09 GMT -5
Hi everyone I have bought all of my rocks so far and am looking forward to spring so I can get out and hunt. anyone know what types of nice rocks you can find in Ohio? How long you been at this John if you don't mind me asking? There's definitely a good bit of stuff on the web -- I looked up Ohio a while back because of a forthcoming trip to the Cincinnati area. It's also worthwhile to buy the "Rock Trails" guidebook that covers your state. I've had great luck with these. I'm just starting out, meaning that while I've always liked picking up random rocks everyplace, I only recently started seeking out specific or known sites to search. Ohio is in the Midwest -- Great Lakes States book, which I recently purchased in advance of this trip! If nothing else, you can follow the locations in the book as you drive down the interstate and time your pit stops at places with sites near the highway. I brought back whole bunches of rocks last summer from Wyoming and South Dakota by using this "method."
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Mar 5, 2005 8:13:47 GMT -5
Hey Tweetie, if you go to my website, I've got several pages of rocks that I have collected around my house. I have put them with pictures of slabs I cut from them. I did this to help show what rocks in the field look like in comparison to what's inside them. I have been working on identifying more of them with names and some pictures of what some of the rocks look like after tumbling.
Ron
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Mar 5, 2005 13:44:30 GMT -5
I like to wet them- If they don't soak up the water real quick- and if they have a nice shine to em- they get to come home- that works most of the time- Sometimes I just can't pass up some leaverites- I just finished a small piece of banded sandstone- it did not take a high gloss but the Matte finish is very nice! Trial and error!
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Post by mrbrett on Mar 5, 2005 16:05:14 GMT -5
Duckbean, I have some Ohio ridge flint that has many colors to it. I always heard Ohio was a good source of good flint. Now, I don't know what part of Ohio. Try and see if your area has a mineral club. They could help you. Brett
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Mar 5, 2005 17:43:55 GMT -5
Hey Tweetie, if you go to my website, I've got several pages of rocks that I have collected around my house. I have put them with pictures of slabs I cut from them. I did this to help show what rocks in the field look like in comparison to what's inside them. I have been working on identifying more of them with names and some pictures of what some of the rocks look like after tumbling. Ron Hey Ron, I sure did enjoy your website and pictures. Wish there was that many nice rocks around here. Really makes me want to go out and look though. Trish
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Mar 5, 2005 21:04:07 GMT -5
Hello Duckbean ... I have been picking up rocks since I was two or three ... and actively looking/searching since about 1976, when we lived in Southern California. I had a 250 Yamaha Enduro that I would always bring back home with rocks tied onto the bike somewhere . I have been cutting cabs since 1979, where I was first introduced into Lapidary. Have a great weekend, John
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