jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 6:12:10 GMT -5
Duds. You never know unless you break or saw them. Basically they are poorly silicified.   Some polyp tube patterns  Keeper coral puedomorph before cleaning  after cleaning   |
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Post by captbob on Oct 10, 2017 8:09:24 GMT -5
Those "duds" - you can't tumble them or they just aren't worth the time & effort? Would cooking make 'em any better?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 8:25:55 GMT -5
Those "duds" - you can't tumble them or they just aren't worth the time & effort? Would cooking make 'em any better? The first one is totally pithy. Like a sponge. No pretty shiny surface will come out of it. The second one has nice solid material around the edge, not much for color though. The only reason those two got brought back is because they were found in a vein that has has a high yield of hollow corals. i.e. one out of six aprox. I did not attack them with a hammer for fear of damaging the potential hollow innards. No matter how experienced you are, no one can say if a specimen is going to be hollow. There are signs but no guarantees. Those 2 had the surface characteristics of hollow botryoidal coral. A pimpled surface. That is why I wish I had a 24 inch saw on site. You could rack up on fine hollow specimens. Alternative is to overload boat in one hour and bring potentials home to saw them. I at least need to rent a 5' X 10' storage space close to river and keep a 24 inch saw there. As far as cooking is concerned, the orange and yellows will give fine color, the grey and white will not change:  Most of the yellow and orange corals are from shoals or out in the middle of the river. they have been exposed/absorbed to/by the river's mineral rich water for many years and will change color. |
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Post by orrum on Oct 10, 2017 8:47:49 GMT -5
Liken them psuedouya whatchamacallits!!!
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Post by fantastic5 on Oct 10, 2017 9:24:35 GMT -5
jamesp did you change your photo hosting site? Just sat down to a late breakfast here at work and your pictures don't show. Our hospitals firewall prevent me from seeing pictures from most mainstream photo sites. Up until this morning I could always see yours. I may need to report my employer as having a hostile work environment  Edit: now I can see them. Maybe just a long load time. 
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Post by fantastic5 on Oct 10, 2017 9:27:41 GMT -5
These look like the dud spongy Paint Rock Agates that I have collected. They will take a polish, but just full of holes. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 10:19:48 GMT -5
These look like the dud spongy Paint Rock Agates that I have collected. They will take a polish, but just full of holes. Dummy me had my point and shoot set on 8M that trip by accident. Normally set it on 3M. that was why the load time was slow, big files. sorry, my bad. I'd rather tumble the worst color imaginable than pithy stuff. Some of the coral has structural holes at the polyps, that is fine. But the pith is a turn off. spongy paint rock is a turn off too. Nothing like good solid rock. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 10:22:00 GMT -5
Liken them psuedouya whatchamacallits!!! Gotta look this word 'whatchamacallits' up Bill. Can you back off of the giant words, I only have a BS degree. BS - ha, don't start. |
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Post by orrum on Oct 10, 2017 10:46:52 GMT -5
LOL Luv ya brudder!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 11:25:35 GMT -5
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Post by oregon on Oct 10, 2017 13:39:27 GMT -5
No matter how experienced you are, no one can say if a specimen is going to be hollow. There are signs but no guarantees. Are the hollows filled with water? Cant do a density measurement? - think some places do that for Brazillians. Cheap Scale, and large enough cylinder? Wonder if you could trick a wall stud finder into telling the difference. hmmm.. Could always drill with a small masonry bit where you plan on cutting anyway... all 2c. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 14:15:42 GMT -5
No matter how experienced you are, no one can say if a specimen is going to be hollow. There are signs but no guarantees. Are the hollows filled with water? Cant do a density measurement? - think some places do that for Brazillians. Cheap Scale, and large enough cylinder? Wonder if you could trick a wall stud finder into telling the difference. hmmm.. Could always drill with a small masonry bit where you plan on cutting anyway... all 2c. If breached then yes, full of water. Well, most are found in the river underwater. If the hollow is breached and all the clay has leaked out you can do a bubble test y draining it and holding it under water. Or drainage test. If it is in the natural state as dug from protective clay the are for some reason packed tightly with blue clay. A mystery. Virgin pseudomorph un-breached. Every one of them like this:  After cleaning with serious pressure washing(same one in saw above):  That clay is heavy, may be as dense as the silicification. Density test may fly. Many are very porous and would score low on density but be full of pulp and pith. |
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Post by captbob on Oct 10, 2017 14:26:20 GMT -5
How about a portable drill? See if the drill bit brings out clay or not.
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Post by fernwood on Oct 10, 2017 16:45:31 GMT -5
Great finds. And great cleaning.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 17:15:26 GMT -5
How about a portable drill? See if the drill bit brings out clay or not. It is a good possibility. If the walls are thin it would be best, some of them have thick walls. Once you get a hole in them you can probe with stiff music wire and map out the hollow zone. |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 10, 2017 17:19:38 GMT -5
Great finds. And great cleaning. The insides of the virgin hollow ones that are packed with the blue clay are pristine once the clay has been removed. The clay totally seals them from the environment. They start out iridescent, a few months later the iridescence disappears. Just the exposure to the atmosphere and dry air alters them a bit. Consider that they have probably been damp since formation. |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Oct 10, 2017 17:27:27 GMT -5
That last one you posted after cleaning is spectacular.
Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 14, 2017 14:04:54 GMT -5
Lots of those down there Chuck. Many far to big for my saw. strange just leaving them.
Judging from the size of your pudding stones you would have not left them.
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