jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 11, 2015 13:28:48 GMT -5
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Post by orrum on May 11, 2015 13:45:23 GMT -5
Great colors James! Let's roll them rocks n c how they do pardner!
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Post by captbob on May 11, 2015 14:38:04 GMT -5
I was going to jokingly post that it's pretty sad when you're down to tumbling granite, but that's a nice variety of good looking and interesting rocks. And, ya can't beat the price!
Pretty sure we don't have such rocks in the bed of our RR tracks down here. Prolly stoopid limestone.
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Post by gingerkid on May 11, 2015 14:55:49 GMT -5
Nice railroad granite tumbles, jamesp!  Really like the variety of colors and patterns in them. |
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on May 11, 2015 15:30:22 GMT -5
Nice tumbles James-Polish is great too........I use smaller granite for fill in my tumblers,with agate,petwood and thundereggs..
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 11, 2015 16:58:10 GMT -5
They break them nice just for tumbling folks. They will run me off one day. Loooooowly granite, slim pickins captbobThose are the ones that should tumble well orrum. They grind slower than the felspar rich granite. |
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Post by Pat on May 11, 2015 20:08:29 GMT -5
No rock within miles of you is safe from one or more of your tumblers!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 11, 2015 20:35:08 GMT -5
darn granite always looks so good when I see it on the beaches but always disappoints me in the tumbler. your finds look great. good luck in the viking.
Chuck
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on May 11, 2015 22:47:35 GMT -5
I've never seen as much color variety in granite, fun stuff nicely done.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 12, 2015 6:39:02 GMT -5
LOL Pat. Poor abused rocks. No rock safe. Chuck, some of that is good hard quartz with granitoid particles in it. Some of it will shine, but the real felspar granite is about impossible. Georgia so loaded with granites and hybrids thereof. Wasting time on some types, but learning more and more about the hybrids that will tumble well. 200 yard walk along the tracks really gives a wide variety, especially when it is wet. The hard stuff is very hard and NOT hammer friendly. quartz Larry, I would like to find the quarry where the colorful stuff comes from. Just to see it in it's natural occurrence. And before it is sent thru the crushers. This is #2 and #4, 2-4 inch size. I would think they do 4-6 inch chunks, perfect for the lapidary saw. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 12, 2015 6:43:52 GMT -5
Nice railroad granite tumbles, jamesp! Really like the variety of colors and patterns in them. Time for Jan to try the cross tie walk bugaloo. Wear boots, that is some ankle twisting stuff to walk on. |
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Post by gingerkid on May 12, 2015 8:35:19 GMT -5
ROFL, jamesp! I confess to looking at the granite at the tracks not far from our home on Patillo Road. All of it is the usual granite and nothing fancy with pretty colors and patterns like the material you've been finding. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 12, 2015 8:52:53 GMT -5
ROFL, jamesp! I confess to looking at the granite at the tracks not far from our home on Patillo Road. All of it is the usual granite and nothing fancy with pretty colors and patterns like the material you've been finding. I always stop at the crossings to do a granite analysis Jan. Look for pink. Most of it around here is the plain Jane white stuff too. They constantly add to it from a rail buggy that deposits it. So it is often in layers. I took photos, will be sending them to rail police. |
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Post by gingerkid on May 12, 2015 9:26:04 GMT -5
I took photos, will be sending them to rail police. oh no! LOL! Will keep an eye out for different colors, James. We have to go over the tracks if we travel down Patillo. Have seen them working on the tracks a couple of times but haven't seen them adding any granite. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 12, 2015 10:12:03 GMT -5
Darn women walking my railroad tracks stealing all the pink granite.  |
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Post by 150FromFundy on May 12, 2015 15:54:59 GMT -5
jamesp - Technically, those rocks aren't granite, but they may have been once. If you notice the rocks, especially on the left side, are "foliated", which is geo-speak for banded, or striped. The once random speckled crystals of the granite have become melted and reorganized forming bands, or stripes of varying colour and material. This happens when granite (an igneous rock) becomes gneiss (a metamorphic rock). What you have there is some really nice gneiss.
Darryl.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 12, 2015 16:12:44 GMT -5
jamesp - Technically, those rocks aren't granite, but they may have been once. If you notice the rocks, especially on the left side, are "foliated", which is geo-speak for banded, or striped. The once random speckled crystals of the granite have become melted and reorganized forming bands, or stripes of varying colour and material. This happens when granite (an igneous rock) becomes gneiss (a metamorphic rock). What you have there is some really nice gneiss. Darryl. Thanks Darryl. I was hoping a good geology mind would jump in and help with their ID. Nice gneiss sounds nice. Is gneiss really tough and about Mohs 7, like it is basically a compressed quartz ? Similar to good solid quartzite ? Really needs to be slabbed, hammer is about useless. Thanks Darryl |
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Post by snowmom on May 13, 2015 5:46:45 GMT -5
gorgeous colors and shine. Keep them coming, those are great!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 13, 2015 7:14:21 GMT -5
gorgeous colors and shine. Keep them coming, those are great! Looks like it is metamorphosed granite Deb. Rearranged. As if remelted and repressured. I think we live on very old mountains that have worn down to nubs. And the rock was under a lot of pressure and heat at one time. Add the fact that the quarries are 10-30 stories deep. Which also creates a hazardous environment making them off limits to rock hounds. Have not spent much time cherry picking thru this stuff at the railroad tracks. Guessing more finds to come. Unfortunately most of it is on the too dark side in color. The pinky at lower left is real nice, a bit pearly. the redder one at top is flashy and a bit pearly too. All three in this photo are some really hard rock.  |
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Post by snowmom on May 14, 2015 6:02:20 GMT -5
I get a lot of that sort of metamorphic granite here, too, the colors it comes in are incredible. Some of it sort of walks the line between granite and stuff like the above with bits of each, all gorgeous stuff Jamesp, no matter the name I love it all!
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Really like the variety of colors and patterns in them. 
