indychris
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2008
Posts: 81
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Post by indychris on Apr 10, 2008 14:15:45 GMT -5
Well, I'm still getting ready to tumble my first batch, and I've got an order of various materials from Shawn at TRS (seems like a GREAT person to work with!), so while I wait, I thought I'd ask a curiosity question.
How many of you go out and collect most or all of your own rocks to tumble, vs buying/trading for stone?
What types of places do you look? My daughter and I love to find rocks together, but we're not that knowledgeable about geology, so picking out the right stones to tumble seems a bit daunting to me right now. I've followed some of the "charts" that I've found online, but it's still a bit confusing at this stage.
What do you look for in stones? How do you know what might turn out nicely? Is there anyone from around Indiana that has some good places to look for good polishing stones?
Thanks for putting up with my ignorance!
Chris
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jmyers
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2007
Posts: 20
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Post by jmyers on Apr 10, 2008 14:33:29 GMT -5
I am the furthest thing from an expert around here, but I thought I would repeat some interesting information that I heard from a friend. I am told that there is an area in southern Indiana where there is a stream bed full of thousands of geodes. I was led to believe this is open to the public but I am not sure. While geodes are not for tumbling, they can be very beautiful and interesting. Maybe someone on the board is more knowledgeable about this area. Or you can search for rock shops in Indiana that might have more info.
Jeff
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jmyers
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2007
Posts: 20
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Post by jmyers on Apr 10, 2008 15:00:16 GMT -5
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indychris
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2008
Posts: 81
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Post by indychris on Apr 10, 2008 16:15:07 GMT -5
Thanks, Jeff. That is very helpful. Because of your suggestion, I did a little searching and came up with another site: www.42explore.com/rocks2.htmI'd love to hear some more ideas from people who do their own rockhounding. Thanks! |
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Post by akansan on Apr 10, 2008 16:38:16 GMT -5
One of the quickest indicators I've used is the wet test - how long does it take the rock to absorb the water I poor on it. If it's pretty quick, the rock will be harder to tumble polish. If it's more gradual, then I have an even chance of getting a good polish.
Other than that, take a quartz point out with you. If quartz doesn't scratch it, again, you have a good chance of getting a polish
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Post by krazydiamond on Apr 10, 2008 18:26:20 GMT -5
i live in the land of granite and slate, so i mainly buy or trade for my tumbles and cabbing material.
KD
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Apr 11, 2008 7:46:11 GMT -5
Two good ways to find out if there are any good local collecting spots:
1) Join a club! Odds are there's one nearby, and you can bet it'll have some folks that have collected hill and dale for the last few decades. You'll meet lots of friendly, helpful people, learn all the local places, and membership costs peanuts.
2) Collect the literature for your area. This might be one book or a few hundred documents. Consult local libraries, the earth science section at local universities, the gov't geological survey, online used book sellers, etc. A wealth of info is at your fingertips but you've got to dig it out yourself.
Cheers,
SirRoxalot
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indychris
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2008
Posts: 81
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Post by indychris on Apr 11, 2008 8:12:01 GMT -5
Great ideas, SirRoxalot! I just complete the application for our local Gem and Mineral Society. Looks like they have monthly meetings, plan monthly trips and have a couple of big out of state trips each year. I'm guessing I can learn a LOT from these folks!
I didn't think about our local universities. One has a strong natural science department. What a logical place to start!
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Apr 11, 2008 10:36:02 GMT -5
I live in sandstone country... so pockets of agates and jaspers are hard to come by. And nearly every place requires high clearance vehicles or 4 wd, and I have neither.... I have to convince my roommate to drive me out into the desert. It doesn't happen that often, as I'd rather go out early before it gets hot, and he's still asleep.
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chassroc
Cave Dweller 
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Apr 11, 2008 11:33:12 GMT -5
Akansan mentioned the wet test...let me add a little. If you wet a rock, that's probably as good as you can shine it. In fact that's exactly what you want the final product to be.
csroc
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Apr 12, 2008 1:04:56 GMT -5
I collect all of my rocks, I think its more fun that way. I usually just go anywhere rocks are exposed then if they are fairly hard and look nice wet they will probably tumble ok and are a keeper. Not to scientific but it works for me.
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Rockygibraltar
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,404
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Post by Rockygibraltar on Apr 12, 2008 1:25:58 GMT -5
It's about 50/50 for me. I like a nice variety of agates from around the world.
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Post by Condor on Apr 12, 2008 20:10:04 GMT -5
I collect, and buy rough rock. I go to Arizona to collect and buy petrified wood, and go to the Quartzite shows for rough. The Quartzite and Tucson show are awesome. I also go to Deming, New Mexico for their annual show where I also buy rough, and here in far West Texas where I go to collect pet-wood and agates.
Condor
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Post by cina on Apr 12, 2008 21:06:05 GMT -5
I go out and get 97% of everything I tumble but two things we got in Wyoming is rocks and wind to dig them out  |
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calxoddity
off to a rocking start
Me lying sideways on custard spill
Member since February 2008
Posts: 19 
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Post by calxoddity on Apr 12, 2008 22:28:58 GMT -5
I collect all my own - it's the other half of my hobby. Large pet wood in the creek about 10 metres from my back door, pebbles to fist-sized pet wood from the beach around 7km from home, mixed with jasper, ryolite and the occasional agate; jellybean smoky, citrine, rutilated and clear quartz from a place around 750km from the front door (okay, I have to get out some time!!)
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,790
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Post by adrian65 on Apr 12, 2008 22:36:15 GMT -5
I collect almost all of my rocks. And I cherish them the most because when I am looking at such a rock I have the complete "story", plus a remembrance of a nice trip (usually). I also like rocks that I receive from friends and members here. It's fascinating to know that a rock was coming from the other side of the planet. Adrian PS. Claxoddity, you made me drool when you described your pet wood "neighbours"  |
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Apr 12, 2008 22:48:07 GMT -5
I have collected 95% of the rock I have.
I have spent about $20 on other rock and anything else has been kindly sent over the ocean by the good people at RTH.
For me at least 50% of why I like this hobby is the rock collecting. I love the country, the bush and the treasure hunt of rock collecting.
Mike
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Apr 13, 2008 3:47:18 GMT -5
Hi,
I collect a lot but also buy in more of the bright colours.
I buy from the Aqurium shops as well Garden shops
I test with a penknife if it leaves a silver streak It WILL polish
Im about 1/2 or 1 hour from 3 of my favorite beaches and wwe have a fair selection of the Quartze family around ,
I also colected while on Holiday in Scotland where there is some great blue Grey banded Agates as well as salmond orange Agates
I do envy Mike ,Adrian, and Calloxditty with the supply of Pet Wood so near, !!
Jack
Yorkshire UK
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emyhro4048
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2007
Posts: 396
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Post by emyhro4048 on Apr 13, 2008 20:57:50 GMT -5
Hello and welcome to the board,
I collect almost all of the stones that I tumble. I don't live very far from the Merced River in Maripos County, CA. I just look for ones that look good to me. A lot of them are already pretty smooth and I can skip the rough grind and sometimes even go to the pre-polish if I get lucky.
It's very theraputic and I really enjoy it.
Have a good time on the board, lot's of very knowledgeable people.
Ed M.
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Apr 14, 2008 2:13:42 GMT -5
I enjoy rockhounding, and I collect some material locally -- mainly petrified wood, but also some quartz/quartzite/granite/feldspar. Always nice to take something from a rough rock found while exploring a river gravel bar, to a tumble-polished little gem.
But I also buy lots of stuff online or at rock shops, probably more than I collect locally. It's a big world out there, and it's filled with interesting rocks, so I would really hate to restrict myself to just what I can find locally. With online rockshops and ebay, I can get material from around the globe at a fraction of the price of actually going to any of these places, so bring it on!!!!!
-Don
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