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Post by tims on Jun 2, 2015 19:36:05 GMT -5
I have some large, rough Teepee canyon (i think) agate. Should these be slabbed? Kept intact? I've received different opinions, was hoping someone here could shed some light. Here's one, basketball size-ish:    Thanks in advance. |
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Post by vegasjames on Jun 2, 2015 19:54:36 GMT -5
I think it would look a lot nicer slabbed.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 2, 2015 20:16:34 GMT -5
It's OK to slab TeePee Canyon agate. I have 2 large chunks which I will soon slab. Fairburns from nearby in South Dakota are another matter. They are worth much more uncut & unpolished as collector specimens. However, I don't think what you have is TeePee Canyon agate. I'll add a pic of TeePee in a minute. This is TeePee, self collected a few years back. Note the cream colored limestone matrix. This material must be dug, and isn't found a water worn rocks, as yours appear to be.  Another TeePee.  |
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Post by orrum on Jun 2, 2015 20:38:57 GMT -5
Yowser nice rock no matter what it is, slab that baby!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 2, 2015 20:39:30 GMT -5
Yep, doesn't look like Tee pee Canyon to me. That one is heavily fractured and would be a potential blade breaker.....Mel
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Post by stephan on Jun 3, 2015 0:32:25 GMT -5
I was noticing the fractures, too. Even if it doesn't break the blades, your slabs will be unlikely to be intact. Nice specimen, as is.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 3, 2015 8:58:46 GMT -5
Leave it as is..........To fragile! Nice though.......
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Post by tims on Jun 3, 2015 14:24:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. At present I don't have any way to cut slabs, but I've got several of these monsters and would love to find a way to slab one just to see inside. I've also got some small teepees and I was curious because like yours (jakesrocks) they are encased in rough tan rock. These big ones afaik were found exposed "on the limestone" which is what my grandparents called the area along the south and west edge of the black hills. I've yet to find a big one myself in the wild.
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Post by tims on Jun 3, 2015 14:37:47 GMT -5
Oh. And last year I payed a self-proclaimed "expert" to help identify these. He called them fairburn but I didn't buy it. Would like to properly identify them so I'm hoping to haul a couple to a rock show in cody wy come july. Visited a couple rock shops in south dakota last year where they assured me they are worthless but they'd certainly take them off my hands  |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 3, 2015 14:59:31 GMT -5
The south west slope of the Black Hills is the wrong location for TeePee's. They're found in Custer Co., just a couple miles west of the town of Custer. There are many varieties of agate & jasper found in the Black Hills. Most of the agates are called hills agates, with a location added to them. One of the types is commonly called a park agate. The location is inside the boundaries of Custer State Park, and are illegal to collect. I have one in my collection which came from a very old collection.
There is a rock show & swap coming up soon in N.E. Nebraska. Bunches of Fairburn collectors will be there, and many are familiar with the various types of agates & jasper coming out of the Black Hills. If you can make it, that would probably be the best place to get an identification on your pieces. The show is held at Crawford, Nebraska. The show will be September 3 - 6 this year.
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bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
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Post by bhiatt on Jun 3, 2015 15:56:54 GMT -5
I would love to have one of them big boys.
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mirage
off to a rocking start
Returning at the suggestion of @drocknut when we bumped into each other at the RHS1 meetup
Member since March 2011
Posts: 10
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Post by mirage on Jun 3, 2015 16:16:56 GMT -5
I did some collecting in the National Grasslands to the east of the Black Hills and came home with a lot of similar looking material (not as large) that I've heard called "Prairie" or "Bubblegum" agate. Most of it looked solid from the outside, but I found when cut, most had lots of voids, pits and fractures. Don't get me wrong, the colors on most of them were very striking, but for lapidary material, I got far less usable pieces than I expected to.
As for where TeePee is, I took your location description of "south and west edge of the black hills" to be more a generalization of the area, of which I would have considered Custer to fall within... but upon looking at the map again, I suppose Custer is more South Central in relation to the the "Black Hills National Forest". My ancestors homestead is one of the few remaining privately owned tracts of land within the BHNF. Sadly, I live ~1500 miles away and have never had the chance to poke around. It lies about 2 miles to the west of RT16 between Hill City and Custer... one of these days...
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Post by tims on Jun 3, 2015 22:01:11 GMT -5
I'll try to check out Crawford this Fall, it will be a good excuse for a road trip. Thanks for the heads up. I live about 15 minutes from Teepee canyon and found these this Spring:  My big agates were collected from the 40s to the early 70s by my grandparents, whose parents (my great-grands) homesteaded this area, and I know that many of the rock spots and old homesteads they used to explore are now no-access. They were major hounds though and I've inherited literally tons of cool rocks that should take me years to sort through. Here are some of their (much better than my finds) small Teepees:  I try to stick to BLM and known public areas for rock hunting but good spots are getting scarce, and I've never found anything that stands out compared to the existing collection I've got scattered around my property. My priority is to get my grandparents' collection sorted and displayed before it all sinks back into the earth. |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 3, 2015 22:07:06 GMT -5
After spring thaw, check out the Lame Johnny Creek road running out of Custer State Park. Last time I was out there I found a couple of nice pieces that had weathered out of the road cut, just outside of the park.
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Post by tims on Jun 3, 2015 22:28:08 GMT -5
Also just a note, the area referred to as "the limestone" runs from Custer NW to around 4 Corners Wyoming. Custer Limestone Road (FS284) covers about half of it, but I just heard the term as a catch-all for the area encompassing the South and West edge of the hills.
Thanks again for the responses and thanks jakesrocks for sharing your cool Teepees.
Never heard of Lame Johnny but I'll look for it, I always truck around in the hills alot during the Summer so that will be a fine excuse for a jaunt.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 3, 2015 22:53:15 GMT -5
About half way around the tourist loupe where the tourists go to see buffalo and the wild donkeys, Lame Johnny road runs to the S.E.
Wish I could have done more hunting in that area, but the day before I tweaked a leg, and could barely walk. I would have liked to climb down the embankment to the creek, but was afraid I wouldn't make it back up. When they blasted the road cut, all of the blasted material was just pushed over the side. There should be lots of nice material in there.
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