jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 16:31:07 GMT -5
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39don
starting to spend too much on rocks
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonsLapidaryArts
Member since February 2012
Posts: 225
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Post by 39don on Nov 23, 2014 16:50:44 GMT -5
Excellent batch of Coral, James!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I knew if you ever used a vib for polishing you would catch the vib fever. I'm the lazy type so I load my 14lb'er with 3 tablespoons of 90 grit SiC and let her run for 7 days then change out to a teaspoon of Tin Oxide plus 2 tablespoons sugar for 2 days. Wash out and add 2 tablespoons of Borax for 1 to 2 days. My small slabs look like(close)to your coral. No fillers...............either.
39don
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 17:18:11 GMT -5
Excellent batch of Coral, James!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew if you ever used a vib for polishing you would catch the vib fever. I'm the lazy type so I load my 14lb'er with 3 tablespoons of 90 grit SiC and let her run for 7 days then change out to a teaspoon of Tin Oxide plus 2 tablespoons sugar for 2 days. Wash out and add 2 tablespoons of Borax for 1 to 2 days. My small slabs look like(close)to your coral. No fillers...............either. 39don I am starting to see the flexibility. 90 to tin oxide is extreme. That surprises me. A lot. I think the filler is not needed for agates. Will test the Viking with obsidian and fluorite. may whip out the sugar too.
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Post by MrP on Nov 23, 2014 17:32:54 GMT -5
What took so long? By the way, great batch!......................MrP
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rodeodan
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by rodeodan on Nov 23, 2014 18:00:39 GMT -5
Gorgeous corals, well done!!
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 23, 2014 18:19:33 GMT -5
Awesome batch James...
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 23, 2014 18:43:00 GMT -5
sweet corals James. Really glad to see you getting good results right away. imagine what your next 50 batches will look like. In the vibe world 50 completed batches = one year.
Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 19:53:15 GMT -5
What took so long? By the way, great batch!......................MrP You know us southerners are slow. even the ones w/German blood Really like the Viking. It has spoiled those that own them.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 19:55:40 GMT -5
Thanks rodeo dan and Fossilman. Like my coral. Not to mention it is about the only agate close by.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 19:58:08 GMT -5
sweet corals James. Really glad to see you getting good results right away. imagine what your next 50 batches will look like. In the vibe world 50 completed batches = one year. Chuck It makes tumbling too easy Chuck. Fascinating process.
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Post by fantastic5 on Nov 23, 2014 20:06:21 GMT -5
So glad to see your first batch from the Viking! Looks fantastic!! So good in fact the photographer is visible in the top row dark stone. Great job!!
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spiritstone
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Post by spiritstone on Nov 23, 2014 20:06:40 GMT -5
To me, blue seems to be the odd color out. Any truth to that? Or most rare.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 20:22:10 GMT -5
To me, blue seems to be the odd color out. Any truth to that? Or most rare. The closest to blue is the grey. Grey is common, grey w/a slight blue tint is hard to find. Straight blue may not exist spirit. However, that stuff is a product of the clay and soil around it, and it occurs over a very large area. No telling how many colors it comes in. Only a tiny percentage of it is exposed. It is a thin vein under 10-30 feet of sand. Mostly where rivers have removed the sand layer. Deeper construction excavation can expose it, but you may find one piece per yard of sand. A lot of it has color that I manipulated with heat. 600F heat. The last vein I discovered had this blue material:
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 20:28:01 GMT -5
So glad to see your first batch from the Viking! Looks fantastic!! So good in fact the photographer is visible in the top row dark stone. Great job!! The glare blocks the rock. Torn between showing off the rock or the glare due to polish. It was real overcast, that shows shine well. Will have to stop wearing pajamas when photo ing.
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spiritstone
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Member since August 2014
Posts: 2,061
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Post by spiritstone on Nov 23, 2014 20:29:25 GMT -5
To me, blue seems to be the odd color out. Any truth to that? Or most rare. The closest to blue is the grey. Grey is common, grey w/a slight blue tint is hard to find. Straight blue may not exist spirit. However, that stuff is a product of the clay and soil around it, and it occurs over a very large area. No telling how many colors it comes in. Only a tiny percentage of it is exposed. It is a thin vein under 10-30 feet of sand. Mostly where rivers have removed the sand layer. Deeper construction excavation can expose it, but you may find one piece per yard of sand. A lot of it has color that I manipulated with heat. 600F heat. The last vein I discovered had this blue material: A couple of Beauty's! Geez... I like that snow flake or frosted look they have.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 20:44:19 GMT -5
The closest to blue is the grey. Grey is common, grey w/a slight blue tint is hard to find. Straight blue may not exist spirit. However, that stuff is a product of the clay and soil around it, and it occurs over a very large area. No telling how many colors it comes in. Only a tiny percentage of it is exposed. It is a thin vein under 10-30 feet of sand. Mostly where rivers have removed the sand layer. Deeper construction excavation can expose it, but you may find one piece per yard of sand. A lot of it has color that I manipulated with heat. 600F heat. The last vein I discovered had this blue material: A couple of Beauty's! Geez... I like that snow flake or frosted look they have. The Florida material has the better corallite/polyp patterns. But the whole massive area is siderasteria coral, a shallow calm water coral, like in a bay. Present day coral is young, about all of it formed since the seas from the last ice age receded. This coral formed from an intermediate level sea, and formed on limestone bedrock from a much more older long lived ocean.
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spiritstone
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Post by spiritstone on Nov 23, 2014 21:07:59 GMT -5
A couple of Beauty's! Geez... I like that snow flake or frosted look they have. The Florida material has the better corallite/polyp patterns. But the whole massive area is siderasteria coral, a shallow calm water coral, like in a bay. Present day coral is young, about all of it formed since the seas from the last ice age receded. This coral formed from an intermediate level sea, and formed on limestone bedrock from a much more older long lived ocean. When the corals grows in different depths, wave or tide conditions. This plays a part in the polyps pattern development. Yes?
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quartz
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Post by quartz on Nov 23, 2014 22:12:27 GMT -5
Yup, hooray for you. Really nice variety in batch, great polish.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 22:24:22 GMT -5
The Florida material has the better corallite/polyp patterns. But the whole massive area is siderasteria coral, a shallow calm water coral, like in a bay. Present day coral is young, about all of it formed since the seas from the last ice age receded. This coral formed from an intermediate level sea, and formed on limestone bedrock from a much more older long lived ocean. When the corals grows in different depths, wave or tide conditions. This plays a part in the polyps pattern development. Yes? I think the different families and species that are fossilized are similar to modern corals. The hex shaped polyps are typical of shallow water. but coral is really complicated. The same species can take many forms due to depth, water clarity, temps, water type, etc. It is one of the most difficult to do taxonomy on. Deep water corals have similar structures to shallow water ones. the coral I found is at a certain elevation +/- 20 feet and looks just like modern siderasteria shallow type coral. It is pretty straightforward. start working w/other varieties and it gets complicated in a hurry. Even modern coral is tricky to put a name on it. But yes, the polyps may get larger as a certain variety grows to deeper water to bring in more light. I went fossil coral hunting w/a coral expert and he seemed challenged by many corals. And he said they seem to almost change species. They are finally using DNA to figure out the puzzles of coral.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 22:25:40 GMT -5
Yup, hooray for you. Really nice variety in batch, great polish. It was pretty straightforward. There was an instruction book. that helps. My wife made me read it
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