carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Aug 26, 2008 20:16:15 GMT -5
I bought a used Lortone tumbler with two 3 lb cans so I could share with my granddaughters (age 7 and 9). I wanted to tumble rocks we found in our area, Robstown, South Texas. I had not realized how much agate, jasper and petrified material there is around here and one of the best places to look is on railroad tracks with river rock beds. I've followed the instructions you good folks have provided here and we are now on the polishing step. Boy! what a way to develop patience! I think some of our rocks are a bit large but I sure hate cracking them with a hammer. We're gonna buy a tile saw as recommended in another forum. We'll post pictures of our first tumble as soon as I find some instructions in these forums. Thanks for these forums.
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Post by deb193redux on Aug 26, 2008 20:17:38 GMT -5
Looking forward to pics.
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Post by johnjsgems on Aug 26, 2008 21:30:05 GMT -5
Your railroad track rocks reminds me of a character in CA that sells at tailgate shows. He has beautiful agates of every color/pattern. I asked him "where is this one from?" answer "Panama". After about 7 or 8 very different rocks all from Panama I questioned him about it. As it turned out he was stationed in Panama in the Air Force and collected the ship ballast rocks dumped along the canal. OK, all from Panama but really not local Panama agates.
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Post by sitnwrap on Aug 26, 2008 23:55:31 GMT -5
Looking forward to the pics and nice meeting you. If you have a photobucket account, posting pics is pretty easy. If you need help, just holler.
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Post by Noosh9057 on Aug 27, 2008 12:54:37 GMT -5
Cant wait to see the pics. Welcome to the site.
Roger
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Aug 27, 2008 17:21:17 GMT -5
Welcome! And please post progressive photos of your tumble! I am most curious what can be found in TX railroad beds...
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Aug 27, 2008 19:49:46 GMT -5
I had read on another forum that the San Patricio county gravel pits in South Texas were top location for agates and petrified wood and palm and fossils. I got to wondering where I could find this gravel and realized that tons of it had to have been used in the local railroad tracks. Nowadays most of the tracks have been rebedded with some sort of basalt looking material that is very uniform (boring) in appearance. But, I found that old abandoned tracks and seldom used spurs were still bedded with these river rocks, mostly 2-3" water tumbled gravel. I've used Google Earth to find these old tracks with mixed success.
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