darter
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Post by darter on Aug 29, 2017 21:08:13 GMT -5
We were on a family vacation a few weeks ago and my daughter picked this out of a dry riverbed. We thought it passed the hardness test to tumble with granite. But after just 24 hours in the 80 grit, it had a piece chip off and the rough edges are already softened a little. It's roughly an inch long and lighter in weight than it looks. Slightly translucent. Any ideas? We have an identification book that pictures a very similar specimen from ND, commonly found with river rocks. It calls it a banded agate. Could this be a similar stone?
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lookatthat
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Post by lookatthat on Aug 29, 2017 21:18:55 GMT -5
If it's already becoming rounded in 24 hrs i doubt if it's agate. Reminds me of hyalite opal. I have no idea if its in that area. Does it fluoresce?
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lookatthat
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Post by lookatthat on Aug 29, 2017 21:20:15 GMT -5
Speaking of which, where did you pick this up?
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lookatthat
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Post by lookatthat on Aug 29, 2017 21:29:36 GMT -5
There is definitely opal in central Wyoming.
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darter
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Post by darter on Aug 29, 2017 21:43:01 GMT -5
If it's already becoming rounded in 24 hrs i doubt if it's agate. Reminds me of hyalite opal. I have no idea if its in that area. Does it fluoresce? Yeah, a piece chipped off and it's not sharp there like one would expect. How does one check fluorescence? Is a black light needed?
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darter
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Post by darter on Aug 29, 2017 22:11:19 GMT -5
By the way, this is our first tumble. When we opened the barrel for inspection and removed this stone, instead of a watery slurry that I was expecting, we found the mixture almost entirely foamy. Is this common?
We filled the barrel to 2/3 full, water up to the bottom of the top rocks, and 4 tablespoons of grit, per the instruction booklet.
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lookatthat
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Post by lookatthat on Aug 31, 2017 15:20:12 GMT -5
I am quite new to this, and have not gotten foamy, so I don't know. There are different wavelengths to black lights and I can't remember which is which. If you have any sort of black light give it a try. Any fluorescence people out there?
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Aug 31, 2017 15:44:26 GMT -5
By the way, this is our first tumble. When we opened the barrel for inspection and removed this stone, instead of a watery slurry that I was expecting, we found the mixture almost entirely foamy. Is this common? We filled the barrel to 2/3 full, water up to the bottom of the top rocks, and 4 tablespoons of grit, per the instruction booklet. No worries,keep tumbling...
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lookatthat
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Post by lookatthat on Aug 31, 2017 15:46:16 GMT -5
Fossilman, do you think this could be opal?
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nemesis21
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Post by nemesis21 on Aug 31, 2017 19:38:44 GMT -5
Is that crystals or a fracture in the 2nd picture?
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Post by Pat on Aug 31, 2017 22:10:02 GMT -5
I know nothing about tumbling and less about fluorescent rocks, but pet stores sell a lamp for detecting pet urine. Lamp inexpensive. Humm, will look for more definition.
It's a UV lamp.
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Post by coloradocliff on Aug 31, 2017 22:16:31 GMT -5
Darter.. Did you use a clay like kitty litter in your rotary so you don't bruise your stones? Water doesn't pad the stones much and you can really bruise the stones badly and you wont see all the damage until further along in the process and then you will be heart broken. Thicker slurry is better, but not too thick. Could be a chalcedony agate too. Not quartz looking because quartz is more common and more coarse grained. Roll it for another week and then see how rounded it is.
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darter
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Post by darter on Sept 1, 2017 8:46:28 GMT -5
No worries,keep tumbling... Very good... thanks for confirming! From some other threads I've read, a little borax should help with that. I'll try some on the next batch.
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darter
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Post by darter on Sept 1, 2017 8:48:05 GMT -5
Is that crystals or a fracture in the 2nd picture? That is a small hole. Just to the left of it and downward is another small opening that runs perpendicular to the one that's visible.
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darter
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Post by darter on Sept 1, 2017 8:51:38 GMT -5
Darter.. Did you use a clay like kitty litter in your rotary so you don't bruise your stones? Water doesn't pad the stones much and you can really bruise the stones badly and you wont see all the damage until further along in the process and then you will be heart broken. Thicker slurry is better, but not too thick. Could be a chalcedony agate too. Not quartz looking because quartz is more common and more coarse grained. Roll it for another week and then see how rounded it is. No kitty litter, but that sounds like it would make great filler media. Most of my other stones are much harder. Do you think it would worth adding cushion to this batch. I'm afraid to put this one back in with the current batch. I might try to come up with a softer batch of rocks I don't care much about and tumble it in that. My daughter really likes this stone, so I don't want to chance ruining it... that would get me into big trouble!
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darter
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Post by darter on Sept 1, 2017 8:55:42 GMT -5
No UV light yet, but I took a flashlight to it and it is completely translucent. Light shines all the way through all over, except where there are minor inclusions. Can't tell if the milkiness of the appearance is just on the surface or goes all the way through.
We did leave the small piece that broke off in the tumbler. So if anything, that will tell us how well it survives with a full tumble. Will take another look at the batch on Monday night (8 days).
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Post by coloradocliff on Sept 1, 2017 9:45:23 GMT -5
Darter.. Did you use a clay like kitty litter in your rotary so you don't bruise your stones? Water doesn't pad the stones much and you can really bruise the stones badly and you wont see all the damage until further along in the process and then you will be heart broken. Thicker slurry is better, but not too thick. Could be a chalcedony agate too. Not quartz looking because quartz is more common and more coarse grained. Roll it for another week and then see how rounded it is. No kitty litter, but that sounds like it would make great filler media. Most of my other stones are much harder. Do you think it would worth adding cushion to this batch. I'm afraid to put this one back in with the current batch. I might try to come up with a softer batch of rocks I don't care much about and tumble it in that. My daughter really likes this stone, so I don't want to chance ruining it... that would get me into big trouble! Yes add the Kitty litter to it right away. Buy the cheapest, no fragrance type at a dollar store or Wally world. In a 15 lb barrel use 12 oz or so. Smaller barrels much less. Run for a while and then peek inside to see how thick it is. This picture the slurry is too thick. Add a bit of water and go back to rolling if this happens. Too thin isn't good. Keep adding and checking until you get the amount right and then write the recipe down so you can just add the correst amount up front next time you change grits. Don't use a slurry in a vibe. Just a rotary. PS if you are going to save the stone for later, put in a cup of water so the rock mud doesn't dry and becme permanent cement. Keep all your rocks wet between stages. I probably want it a bit smoother and would roll for a few more days. Checking every couple days. Daughters are worth it..big smile.. The finer grit stages later won't shape or smooth your rocks. Only the coarse step does that.
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darter
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Post by darter on Sept 2, 2017 8:41:10 GMT -5
Since we were already packing up to head out of town for the weekend, I tossed a half bag of 1.5mm tile spacers into each barrel, and added a half teaspoon of borax. Hopefully I did OK with just that?
Next time I will have more time to get the kitty litter recipe perfected. Thanks for that tip!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2017 13:57:50 GMT -5
Since we were already packing up to head out of town for the weekend, I tossed a half bag of 1.5mm tile spacers into each barrel, and added a half teaspoon of borax. Hopefully I did OK with just that? Next time I will have more time to get the kitty litter recipe perfected. Thanks for that tip! Kitty litter is a slurry maker. It will turn to liquid and help carry the grit around the barrel. I use about 2 kitty litter for every unit of grit. Less doesn't seem to work well in my barrels.
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Post by Pat on Sept 3, 2017 14:03:55 GMT -5
Kitty litter is good stuff. We use it when annealing metal, and as a desiccant in a jar for keeping air from drying out glue. Don't know anything about tumbling rocks.
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