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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Apr 9, 2014 20:41:34 GMT -5
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Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,104
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Post by Thunder69 on Apr 9, 2014 20:48:43 GMT -5
Chuck ya did good with the cut.....I see quite a few potential cabs from this....John
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Apr 9, 2014 21:10:17 GMT -5
Chuck, you got some nice snails for sure. But if I could offer some help (which I rarely can do here, ha) unfortunately it looks like you did not cut it in the optimal direction. (Or maybe it was too small for anything else?) For Turritella you want to cut parallel to the plane of the ground the slab was resting in (i.e. parallel to the bottom of the pond they were in). That way you get a lot, lot more of the shells showing cut along their long axis. I learned this the hard way. Usually the black layer was the lowest-in-the-earth part of the slab and yields the best specimens in my experience and has the hardest agate. You want to cut parallel to this plane. The shells when they die settle flat along their long axis in the mud on the bottom of the pond. Cutting this way gets more of that long spiral that you want. Some of my best slabs that I got oriented right for cutting are just stacked with the nice long spirals.
I hope I didn't butt in and sound too smart or anything like that. Just trying to help when I can.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Apr 10, 2014 6:02:59 GMT -5
Chuck, you got some nice snails for sure. But if I could offer some help (which I rarely can do here, ha) unfortunately it looks like you did not cut it in the optimal direction. (Or maybe it was too small for anything else?) For Turritella you want to cut parallel to the plane of the ground the slab was resting in (i.e. parallel to the bottom of the pond they were in). That way you get a lot, lot more of the shells showing cut along their long axis. I learned this the hard way. Usually the black layer was the lowest-in-the-earth part of the slab and yields the best specimens in my experience and has the hardest agate. You want to cut parallel to this plane. The shells when they die settle flat along their long axis in the mud on the bottom of the pond. Cutting this way gets more of that long spiral that you want. Some of my best slabs that I got oriented right for cutting are just stacked with the nice long spirals. I hope I didn't butt in and sound too smart or anything like that. Just trying to help when I can. Yeah, this piece was only 1.25" thick in the other proper direction and rough/uneven on both sides so no way to hold it to cut it lengthwise. I'll get 4-5 good cabs out this batch and tumble the rest. Chuck
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Apr 10, 2014 7:22:44 GMT -5
I see some very nice cabs in those slabs!!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Apr 10, 2014 9:55:15 GMT -5
I see some decent snails in there! Nice work, looking forward to the cabs.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Apr 10, 2014 9:57:22 GMT -5
As to what Mark said, yeah there is a lot of this I will only get 1 or 2 slabs out of, when it is thinner like that. I have enough that I will orient it that way regardless just to get the best slab, but you did manage to get some snails out of the orientation you used.
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