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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 12, 2017 21:59:57 GMT -5
Jugglerguy txrockhunter rockpickerforever fantastic5 illusionist
There were a few comments and questions about the pics posted by Jeremy and me recently, so I put together this thread to share a few more of the baby Brazilian agates. I got mine from riverbendlapidary before he ran out of them. There is a lot of variety inside these things and they are fun to cut. Here is a pic of the ones I have left. There was a layer of rust on a lot of them.
Compared to a few 'regular' size Brazilians. To be fair, I've already cut most of the larger 'babies' I had. 
The outer crust and a cross section showing how deep it goes in some of them. 
These pits will sometimes cause those orbs in the crust when it's tumbled down to the agate. You just have to tumble the rock until the crust is almost gone, to your liking. 
I'm curious what happened to this one. Anxious to take a look inside. 
Here are some of the finished tumbles. 
The cut side of the one above. 
I shaved the outside of this one a little, to get to the agate, and then tumbled. 
The other side. 
Here is a bunch of pieces I tumbled early on, probably my third batch or so. I would throw some of these back in for a while, if I could. But shows the mix of looks you can get inside. 
If given a choice, I'd definitely take a bucket of these over their big brother. It's a lot of fun to cut them on the little tile saw.
Thanks for looking!
Cutting baby Brazilian agate
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391 
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Post by richardh on Sept 12, 2017 22:17:35 GMT -5
Wow those are SWEET!
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Post by fernwood on Sept 13, 2017 5:25:03 GMT -5
Nice. So, wonder what happened to the strange one? Looks like someone cut it and glued it back together off center. Must have been drinking too much of that craft beer.
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Post by orrum on Sept 13, 2017 6:39:54 GMT -5
Lookin different, I like them.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2017 9:41:48 GMT -5
Dang....
I missed out on those for sure. JR always has something fun. But those didn't catch my eye so I passed. Mistake!
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ontherocks
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2017
Posts: 76 
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Post by ontherocks on Sept 13, 2017 11:27:32 GMT -5
This may be a weird question, but could you tumble them whole, without cutting them? Or would they not come out very interesting? I have looked at these in the past, but I don't have a saw so I was thinking of just sticking them in the tumbler as is.
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illusionist
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 137
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Post by illusionist on Sept 13, 2017 15:17:53 GMT -5
Wow! Such eye candy!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 13, 2017 15:30:46 GMT -5
This may be a weird question, but could you tumble them whole, without cutting them? Or would they not come out very interesting? I have looked at these in the past, but I don't have a saw so I was thinking of just sticking them in the tumbler as is. Yes, you could tumble them whole. Here's why I wouldn't, for most of them. The crust can be pretty thick on these and would take a lot of time, grit, electricity and extra cleanouts to get down to the agate. Otherwise, the rock will just come out a plain white. Also, Brazilian agate has some very nice scenery on the inside. You can find waterline, fortification, a multitude of colors and quartz crystal centers. If tumbled whole, you would miss all that. The last photo I posted has an example of what the whole thing would look like if you don't cut or tumble through that outer layer. The white one at about 11:00 is basically what you'd get on a lot of them. Not all of the nodules I got had that thick crust, though. The carnelian pieces usually had a rough, bumpy skin and could be tumbled whole with no problem. They do take a while to smooth out, it's very hard agate.
I believe you could just about pay for a cheap tile saw with the savings you'd realize from cutting them and then tumbling, versus the long, long grind to get through that outer layer. My tile saw set me back just under $80.
Would have missed this, if they hadn't been cut... 
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minerken
Cave Dweller 
Member since August 2013
Posts: 466
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Post by minerken on Sept 13, 2017 16:56:34 GMT -5
THOSE ARE NICE!!! I see where Kingsley North has them 1# and under and a fairly good price I love working Brazilians I think I'll order a batch $1.80 if you get 25lbs $3.00 for 1-4lbs is that comparable to what you paid or is it high seems pretty reasonable to me patterns can be a crap shoot sometimes.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 13, 2017 17:36:04 GMT -5
Thanks for this post, Randy. It's super informative and very interesting. Wish I would have gotten some of those. The outside sue doesn't look like much, but the insides are so fun!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 13, 2017 19:21:00 GMT -5
THOSE ARE NICE!!! I see where Kingsley North has them 1# and under and a fairly good price I love working Brazilians I think I'll order a batch $1.80 if you get 25lbs $3.00 for 1-4lbs is that comparable to what you paid or is it high seems pretty reasonable to me patterns can be a crap shoot sometimes. I looked around when I made this thread and saw that Kingsley had them for the price you listed. That is a good price. I paid $2.50/lb. at the time and I think I got 15 lbs. I can't give any recommendation on the quality of rough at Kingsley North, I've only ever bought grit there. The two other places I saw the small Brazilians are both places I have ordered from before. Not Brazilians, but I have been satisfied with everything I have ordered.
The Gem Shop has them for $5/lb. They look like good quality.
Stone Age Industries has them for $3/lb. I've been very satisfied with everything I've purchased there.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 13, 2017 19:29:10 GMT -5
I'm not a tumbler guys, so do you think this belongs in the tumbling tute section for the info? I do.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 13, 2017 20:52:05 GMT -5
I'm not a tumbler guys, so do you think this belongs in the tumbling tute section for the info? I do. Oh, I don't know, Tela. Those kind of decisions are above my pay grade. I just wanted to pass off a little info to those that are interested.  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2017 21:00:57 GMT -5
I'm not a tumbler guys, so do you think this belongs in the tumbling tute section for the info? I do. Yes |
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 13, 2017 21:05:11 GMT -5
OK, I'll give it a few days here and then archive enshrine it. Jeez, I hope I remember....  |
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ontherocks
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2017
Posts: 76
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Post by ontherocks on Sept 13, 2017 21:27:20 GMT -5
This may be a weird question, but could you tumble them whole, without cutting them? Or would they not come out very interesting? I have looked at these in the past, but I don't have a saw so I was thinking of just sticking them in the tumbler as is. Yes, you could tumble them whole. Here's why I wouldn't, for most of them. The crust can be pretty thick on these and would take a lot of time, grit, electricity and extra cleanouts to get down to the agate. Otherwise, the rock will just come out a plain white. Also, Brazilian agate has some very nice scenery on the inside. You can find waterline, fortification, a multitude of colors and quartz crystal centers. If tumbled whole, you would miss all that. The last photo I posted has an example of what the whole thing would look like if you don't cut or tumble through that outer layer. The white one at about 11:00 is basically what you'd get on a lot of them. Not all of the nodules I got had that thick crust, though. The carnelian pieces usually had a rough, bumpy skin and could be tumbled whole with no problem. They do take a while to smooth out, it's very hard agate.
I believe you could just about pay for a cheap tile saw with the savings you'd realize from cutting them and then tumbling, versus the long, long grind to get through that outer layer. My tile saw set me back just under $80.
Would have missed this, if they hadn't been cut...
That is pretty much what I thought. Thanks for validating. |
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Post by coloradocliff on Sept 13, 2017 22:26:21 GMT -5
Nice. So, wonder what happened to the strange one? Looks like someone cut it and glued it back together off center. Must have been drinking too much of that craft beer. Nope Fernie, Not the ales. Can't drink too much of those.. Wow interesting set. Some look like bots, other typical Brazilians, and some like ocean jasper. Wonder where Randy got those. Over in Denver for the big rock show and can grab some if I knew.
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Luminin
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 400
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Post by Luminin on Sept 15, 2017 3:21:48 GMT -5
Very nice! I really need to drag out our tile saw...
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Post by txrockhunter on Sept 15, 2017 8:10:32 GMT -5
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,722
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 15, 2017 8:34:54 GMT -5
Nice little critters aren't they!
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