ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Oct 7, 2008 10:40:36 GMT -5
Okay, I figured I'd let everyone get a good laugh at the newbie for thinking he found something interesting when in fact it is probably something totally boring and un-post-worthy! I don't do much while rock hounding out here in rural NH, but my son does love to look for quartz chunks. I live on a dirt road and they periodically bring in dump trucks worth of material to add to the road to smooth it out. We find quartz chunks in there. Every once in a while, I find a rock with some interesting colors in it. I wonder if some jasper could be mixed in with the material that they add to the road? Well, here are the photos. This is what the rock looked like when I picked it up: Here are both sides of the whole rock wet: And here is what it looks like wet after I broke it up with a hammer: Is this stuff worth collecting/tumbling? Any help with ID? This is where I find out that it is some ordinary boring granite that isn't good for anything and I delete the thread in shame!
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Post by sparkles on Oct 7, 2008 11:53:56 GMT -5
I ain't laughin! Looks like a fun rock to me... I can fully appreciate your "sons" urge to grab any likely looking chunk laying around the place... Encourage him! Seriously though - There's loads of stuff lurking around that is fun to tumble and looks quite nice when it's shiney. That particular chunk looks like a quartzite to me (un-even fracture and a squished sandstone appearance), depending on how tightly packed the "grains" are - it may or may not tumble (use a loupe or magnifier to look closely at the crystals or grains, it's invaluable in learning about what you've found). Grab a hard steel nail or some such and give it a good scratch somewhere on the rock, if you leave gouge marks or scratches, it's likely to be too soft to tumble nicely, personally - I'd simply "sneak" a sample in to the next handy rough barrel and see what it does! The colours really only show up when its wet, so it's nice to see both "states". And the fresh breaks show the pattern and structure continue through the rock. I find similar "odd" rocks in the beach pebbles here. I have tumbled plenty of quartzite odds and ends, I always give 'em a whirl in the tumbler, after all, if YOU like it, and it takes a shine - then it's a "cool" rock isn't it! ;D Just remember that it's never going to magic in to Ocean Jasper in the barrel, but you can find some really fun stuff. As far as hunting the oddments goes, I love picking through beach rocks, and I'm quite partial to a nice Granite too... So next time you find a sparkly looking granite, think twice before discarding it Here's a similar looking quartzite I found on a Suffolk beach, It's currently awaiting my tumbler Cheers, Sparkles.
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Post by Titania on Oct 7, 2008 14:21:08 GMT -5
Hi ejs! I'm a local, too...grew up in NH, now just over the border in MA. I can't help with an ID. I really stink at ID'ing rocks. But, I wanted to show you a cab I made a while ago...one of my very early ones, so it's not that good. Here's some plain, ol' MA granite. It took a good polish, too. I bought some NH jasper (who knew NH had jasper!) from a slab seller in Concord last week, who got it directly from the miner. I don't have a photo yet, but I'll try to take one for ya. It's not nearly as showy as Ocean Jasper, but it's subtly pretty. I found several rocks full of garnet from rock loads that got dumped at my parent's house, when I was a kid. They're really what started me with my love of rocks.
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Post by stonesthatrock on Oct 7, 2008 15:45:58 GMT -5
i think its all pretty neat. not only are you collecting cool rocks but they deliver them to you lol
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Oct 8, 2008 15:45:26 GMT -5
Could be quartzite. Here are some photos after one round of coarse tumbling in 60/90 silicon carbide: Any other thoughts?
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Post by sitnwrap on Oct 9, 2008 13:43:21 GMT -5
if they are shining like that after course, can't wait for the finished polished pics. There is just something special about being able to say that you found it and polished it yourself even if it is just plain ole rock. But then again plain ole rock can and does have spectacular color.
Proof is the above pic. WTG!
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Post by Michael John on Oct 18, 2008 17:50:24 GMT -5
Yup, Quartzite. The majority of rocks around here are Quartzite. It's worthless, but some of it can be real pretty. When I see particularly nice chunks, they "follow me home" to lay around my yard. I left tons of it at my old house.
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Post by puppie96 on Nov 8, 2008 1:13:37 GMT -5
Looks like "a quartzy rock." Don't laugh. It's some kind of jaspery-agatey-cherty-quartzitey stuff, it turns up all over the place. High grades of this stuff with the right colors, patterning, and geography, could be mozarkite or some kind of named flint perhaps. We have tons of that stuff around here and some of it seems to grade into low end mozarkite. They will make really pretty tumbled rocks.
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