jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2013 17:07:09 GMT -5
Conditions were finally good to go way up river to find these.I had discovered them many years ago and never could find them till this trip.These are tiny coral heads and rind removals by ancient man to get to core material.The rinds have been stained by many years of tannic acid in the water.The tannic acid will create insane patterns after heat treatment. Whiskey river(tannic acid)  Coral bar(a rogue vein heavily used by ancient man)No other napping matls for a long way that i could find..  Cleaning before heat treatment.This material is mostly clear.The yellows,oranges,redishes are from tannic stains over many years exposure.Thank you ancient man for tanning these rocks.They will be highly affected by the heat treatment    The corals in the center were test heat treated and ground to see results.  Thanks for looking |
|
Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,105
|
Post by Thunder69 on Jan 2, 2013 17:18:05 GMT -5
That is crazy cool James.....JOhn
|
|
|
|
Post by Pat on Jan 2, 2013 18:07:25 GMT -5
You find the neatest things AND you know what they are. I'm always amazed by your discoveries. Thanks for the show.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 18:12:46 GMT -5
That is awesome and I love your glasses.
Jim
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2013 18:16:35 GMT -5
Is that what Buffaloe Bill said Thunder69?
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2013 18:21:55 GMT -5
Thanks you guys.
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718 
|
Post by Fossilman on Jan 2, 2013 19:18:50 GMT -5
Freakin' awesome james!!!!!!!
|
|
bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
|
Post by bhiatt on Jan 2, 2013 19:30:35 GMT -5
Thanks for showing the pics. Pretty cool looking stuff. That water looks wicked.
|
|
|
|
Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Jan 2, 2013 19:42:38 GMT -5
That's pretty cool! Is that stain & pattern only on the surface? If you slice & cab do you lose the color & pattern?
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2013 20:02:39 GMT -5
It depends Ms Rocky.The stain moves thru the original skin shallow-in most cases.If the inside is exposed it can run thicker than a cab or two.Best to design the cab w/some pattern in it.Do you want some to try?It is all variable.If the core is pulpy then a lot of minerals soak into the skin.If it is a large coral(like 100's of pounds)and a section of the original patterned surface gets broken and exposed the color way intensifies and runs much deeper-in most locations on the top.The root end colors differently than the original sun facing side.And the polyps show better on the root and sun side.I removed some of the sun side of a 3 foot diameter head and the skin was yellow/orange and 3 inches thick-it heat treated the color coral.The side skin turned yellow-a rare color.
This stuff will not hold a candle to the beautiful stones on your website.But if you want to give it a try i would like to send you some.I would just like to see a picture.
Let me know and Happy New Year to you and yours
|
|
itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
|
Post by itsandbits on Jan 2, 2013 21:45:06 GMT -5
now that's a good picture of your rig!! Thanks!!
Lloyd
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 3, 2013 1:10:45 GMT -5
The river is full of sharp rocks.Outboards can't do this river when low.Air boats illegal.So my little swamp boat is the ticket.The prop is susceptable to breaking on the rocks,the hull to cuts.This boat is slow,so i was 3 hours to get here.Need to go another 1.5 hours up stream.Came back with 3-400 hundred pounds of rock,boat overloaded.Look up Go Devil.
|
|
|
|
Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Jan 3, 2013 7:38:55 GMT -5
James thank you very much, yes I would & thanks for the compliment! I will pm you with details.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 3, 2013 8:29:36 GMT -5
Your the one Donnie.They are coming your way.The Florida state stone.Got 30 pounds of these in the furnace as i type.And your not allowed to live in the Keys.It's not fair to the rest of us:>
|
|
carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
|
Post by carloscinco on Jan 3, 2013 9:31:27 GMT -5
Great info and photos, thanks.
|
|
|
|
Post by helens on Jan 5, 2013 19:32:18 GMT -5
I apparently still have a LOT of jamesp posts to catch up on!! Great pix!!!
|
|
jcinpc
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2009
Posts: 722
|
Post by jcinpc on Jan 6, 2013 20:40:45 GMT -5
those river stains dont penetrate the rock. all rivers have their own color stain. Most of the coochie river coral is a whitish pinkish color so it absorbs on the surface, when it was legal to dive for points our points would come out orangish colored but you can wash the color off
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 6, 2013 22:13:30 GMT -5
I believe these are stained by the water.
|
|
|
|
Post by helens on Jan 7, 2013 0:20:41 GMT -5
James, what are you doing with hundreds of pounds of these agates? Are you selling or just using them as decoration around the house?
You are astonishing at how much info you have about these... In just a few notes, I learned more than I have in the entire time I've been in Florida about these corals!!! (decades)
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 7, 2013 7:26:06 GMT -5
I have been collecting these for many years Helen.I have sold a lot of coral heads to high end interior decoration shops here in Atlanta.I cut the head in balanced halves,polish both faces,mount on acrylic/steel/drift wood.Sometimes add a lamp in on the pedestal.And i chip them into thin jewelry size pieces and tumble polish to sell for jewelry also in shops around Atlanta.It just pays for the equipment and travel.I hope to take this stuff to rock shows soon.
Finding mass amount has allowed a alot of experimenting.Learning to intensify color/pattern w/ heat has reopened a lot of avenues,especially with the many trips collecting(the best part is-collecting) specimen grade material.It would surprise you how many variations of this material is in the little 20 mile section of just the Withlacoochee river i explore.Another 50-80 miles i have not even stepped foot onto.And many other locations to hunt.And my Florida old timer mentor Bill Burke who collected and heated coral for almost 50 years and sold it out of his Tampa rock shop.His honey hole was 5 acres in downtown Zephyr Hills.He was full time and made a lot of money.Things are slower these days in rock business. More my hobby Helen.
|
|
