dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77 
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Post by dakotabirder on Jul 3, 2017 15:14:40 GMT -5
My son and I have recently become hooked on searching for agates, jaspers, petrified wood, fossils, and other geologic goodies here in South Dakota. We live on the far eastern edge of the state, but each of the last 4 weekends have made the long 3 1/2 hour drive to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. We've had a blast, learning about the different agates and other finds, but there are a few that we're not sure what to call. Given how different each of the following look, it's definitely not easy to key in on any one feature when scanning the agate beds for Fairburns! First one here is easy, the most obvious Fairburn when we found it...  The 2nd one here wasn't obvious at all when we found it. It was all jet black, and looked like an Easter Island head. Couple of weeks in the tumble polisher though, and this is what's emerging:  And then it gets funky. Found this one Friday. At first, it looked like a classic Prairie Agate from the region. Then on the back side was this pattern, almost as an inclusion within a prairie agate. Fairburn-ish banding??  Finally, one similar to #2. Looked like a lump of...nothing...when we found it, except instead of all black, this one is a variety of creamy tones. It's only been in the tumbler a week, but I did a sneak peak, and it's turning out like #2, with several eyes and some really pretty holly-leaf looking patterns where eyes intersect. (This is how it looked when we found it. It's back in the tumbler now, should have took another pic).  |
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Post by coloradocliff on Jul 3, 2017 15:53:08 GMT -5
Nice set. Glad you are getting out with the son and maybe doing some weekend camping. That Easter Island head one was really cool. Wouldn't tumble all the detail out of it but maybe think of just starting the finer grits and then the polish to maintain the look. Never seen one like that.
Happy Hunting !! Howdy from Colorado and Welcome to the forum. |
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Post by captbob on Jul 3, 2017 16:03:14 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. Your rock hounding trips sound like a good time! Very cool finds. Wonder if that last rock pictured might be a bubblegum agate. Sabre52 ETA Paging Don jakesrocks - he is also in South Dakota and our resident Fairburn agate guru! |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jul 3, 2017 16:15:48 GMT -5
Welcome aboard from another Fairburn lover in Aberdeen,SD.
# 1 & 2 are obviously Fairburns. # 3 & 4 are both prairie agates.
Just a little word of warning. To a serious Fairburn collector, You have reduced the value of your agates by tumbling them. Better to acid clean them, followed by oiling them with mineral oil to make the colors stand out.
PS, Don't believe captbob. I'm anything but a Fairburn guru. Just a guy who loves them. The real Fairburn guru is a guy who calls himself sdgoldpanner,(Bob). He seldom comes on the forum, But has written books about Fairburns and other rockhounding SD subjects. He lives in Rapid City. He's getting up in years, And doesn't get out hunting as often as he used to. He knows all of the most productive places to hunt Fairburns. One of his favorites is the Railroad Buttes area.
Have fun hunting those allusive Fairburn critters, and watch out for those buzz tailed snakes hiding in the grass.
Don
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dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Jul 3, 2017 17:30:20 GMT -5
Yeah, Friday I ran into two of those buzz-tailed critters. And a surprise downpour (forecast was sunny!) when I was a good 2 mile walk back to the car.
I have read about polishing fairburns and how it diminishes the value. In our case, it's the experience of enjoying this with my son, and we're definitely never selling! However, for something like the first one where it's obviously a Fairburn and quite gorgeous as is, we're not going to polish it. For Easter Island head one...there was no visible pattern at all before tumbling, so had to try something with it. The picture shows what came out of the rough-grit phase. I too like the black contrast with the bands, so I'm on to a finer grit now. I am going to polish that one.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jul 3, 2017 17:54:35 GMT -5
If you could get rid of the orange rust staining, the black and white Fairburns are one of the rarer color combinations, and can be quite valuable.
The first one I found was just S.E. of the Badlands State Park. It was only a large chip off of a much larger agate. It had the very rare orange bands. Not knowing any better at the time, I face polished it.
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dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Jul 3, 2017 17:59:04 GMT -5
"Not knowing any better at the time"...You've just summed up our entire last month as we've started to introduce ourselves to the hobby. :-)
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Post by orrum on Jul 3, 2017 18:04:42 GMT -5
Jake is the man with Fairburns! I been to the area you are going several times. I found a "tweener" one time. The lady we met called it that. It's between a Fairburn and nothing! LOL In other words just a rock.
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dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Jul 3, 2017 18:06:54 GMT -5
Someone also told me finds like that are "Nearburns". Close but no cigar, story of my life...
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Post by jakesrocks on Jul 3, 2017 18:07:12 GMT -5
Hope this works. Photobucket has been giving problems lately. This is my prize. Both halves of a broken Fairburn, found within a few yards of each other.  |
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dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Jul 3, 2017 18:08:09 GMT -5
Damn...I WAS happy with what we've been finding. After seeing this one I feel so...inadequate. :-)
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Post by jakesrocks on Jul 3, 2017 18:11:55 GMT -5
Damn...I WAS happy with what we've been finding. After seeing this one I feel so...inadequate. :-) LOL A friend found these, and I bought them from him. I've never been that lucky myself. |
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Post by orrum on Jul 3, 2017 20:43:25 GMT -5
Don those r incredible!!!
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