LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Dec 19, 2013 16:15:16 GMT -5
Lately I've been complaining about how terrible Lavic is to work with. Yesterday I was standing out on Goober's patio admiring our ever growing rock piles. Found 4 very interesting Lavic. It's very rare to find ones with white or blue stringers in it. These have tons of white. Didn't have to twist my arm to slab these today in the rain. Will be trimming & cabbing tomorrow. Slabbed these on the thick side, 5/16"-3/8". Going to make high domes with these. Looks like corn flakes in milk. What's great, no pits! Larry, Diane & Goober
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 16:25:37 GMT -5
wow!!!! That yellow is absolutely KILLER!! Can we see the outside of the yellow? I have a 5# chunk of yellow. My biggest piece yet! It may be similar material to your yellow. I'll say it again.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 19, 2013 16:27:52 GMT -5
Those are beauties, Larry! Especially love the brecciated yellow. But that Lavic stuff sure is a mess to cut. Why is that??
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Dec 19, 2013 16:30:49 GMT -5
Yeah, turns your saw coolant burnt orange. But for some odd reason these rocks didn't stain the coolant. No complaints here! Hey Scott, what's bad is I forgot exactly where I found these. Think I picked them up last New Years when we were with Bluesky Susan out there. May have to retrace our steps and do some digging!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 16:43:57 GMT -5
rockpickerforever - I think Lavic material is maxed out on iron content. That is thy the red stuff doesn't polish well. Not enough silica in it to polish. I stopped picking up the reds and only pick up light colored pieces now. They all seem to polish. At least the ones I gave away at school all polished. Happy classmates! BTW, it's my opinion lavic doesn't make the oil any dirtier than any other stone. No matter what you cut the blades removes the same amount of material. One can just see the dirt easier with lavic rocks. ¿Entiendes?
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 19, 2013 17:30:45 GMT -5
Yo entiendo. But I disagree. My saw is now a chocolate mess, after the last bit off slabbing I did. And it was this one rock (from an estate sale, I'm pretty sure it came from Lavic) more than any of the others that mucked it up. Until I cut this one, the oil was just dirty. After this one, the mineral oil was brown and viscous. Agree with statement of high iron. Maybe because the material has a high iron content, the particles are smaller, and tend to suspend more in mineral oil?
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Dec 19, 2013 18:45:21 GMT -5
Guess Scott hasn't cut much Lavic! Turns my whole saw into a burnt orange mess!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 19, 2013 19:12:16 GMT -5
Larry, thanks for backing me up on that. I knew it wasn't my imagination, lol! For me, this time it was a red one. The red added to the dirty oil gave me brown. (Shhhh, don't tell him I haven't cleaned the saw yet.)
I have also cut yellows and gotten some golden oil, not quite the orange that Larry gets. That is a pretty
nice color of orange, though.
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Post by radio on Dec 19, 2013 20:44:32 GMT -5
WOW!!! Nice Lavic! I collected there one time several years ago and found a couple of really neat chunks with drusy centers. I don't recall ever seeing yellow Lavic before
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Dec 19, 2013 22:11:16 GMT -5
I chipped several pounds to put in tumbler that Scott kindly sent. It seems to be lower density. It is a challenge to knock chips off w/out breaking into pieces.
The beauty makes up for a lot. He gave Jean the big pieces. ha
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 19, 2013 22:31:52 GMT -5
James, he offered me some, but I didn't take him up on it. I get mine the easy way - pick it up cheap at estate sales after someone else went to the trouble and expense to pick it up 40 - 50 years ago when the getting was good.
Besides, Scott would have kept the big pieces for making spheres.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 22:49:54 GMT -5
the biggest piece I have found is 4-5#
I kept it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 22:51:39 GMT -5
Guess Scott hasn't cut much Lavic! Turns my whole saw into a burnt orange mess! The oil isn't dirtier. The dirt is just more visible. lol Besides, that doesn't look too burnt. It looks sunkissed!
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Dec 19, 2013 23:48:49 GMT -5
Actually it's not oil, it's Gem Lube/water. I'd really be mad if it's oil! I dig a hole behind the house and bury the snot, then rinse it all down with the garden hose. What's odd, no matter what the color of the Last Chance jasp/ag, the coolant still comes out light gray.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 23:51:30 GMT -5
Of course... you use water base. My bad, I forgot that! I have cut 10 different materials with brand new oil. Maybe 40 cuts or so. It is grey/clear no color. Yes, I know when I cot my lavic chunk it will color it. Lavic gives a longer memory!
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,881
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Post by Tommy on Dec 19, 2013 23:53:06 GMT -5
Hey Larry, can't wait to see how the first one - the red and white - turns out. I found one just like it but haven't gotten around to cutting it yet. Now I'll have to go searching for it...
I got a couple of pieces of yellow too but I don't think it's as agaty as yours.
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Post by christopherl1234 on Dec 20, 2013 0:38:31 GMT -5
yeah that yellow is killer!!
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Post by 1dave on Dec 20, 2013 11:21:56 GMT -5
Those are beauties, Larry! Especially love the brecciated yellow. But that Lavic stuff sure is a mess to cut. Why is that?? Think "Agatized rhyolite flow." Thanks to the "Geode Kid."
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 20, 2013 11:55:16 GMT -5
Jasper is almost always messy.
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Dec 20, 2013 13:17:21 GMT -5
Repositioned the rock and here's the cross cut. This isn't your usual Lavic jasper!
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