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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 7, 2018 20:10:44 GMT -5
Well just about every one. I did not get the pudding stone collection out and I did not photograph any from my personal stash. I have a show in a couple weeks so today was the day I took a look at my stock to see where I stand. These photos are what I take to sell. Rio grande agates Moonstone Montana agates Brazilian agates Large Petoskey stones Petoskey stones Tiger Eye Botswana agates Obsidian (dusty from being stored. I see now I need to clean them) Grade A rose quartz Agatized coral - jamesp's other obsession before this new glass fad stole him (HA) Crazy Lace agates Carnelian agates Lake Superior agates (2 for $5 based on size and quality) Lake Superior agates ($5 each based on size and quality) Lake Superior agates ($10 each based on size and quality) Lake Superior agates ($15 each based on size and quality) Lake Superior agates ($20 each based on size and quality) Snakeskin agates Apache tears Mixed quartz Bahia agates Lake Huron common beach rocks - These do not take a good shine but they are good for showing people what to expect from our local beaches And of coarse the most popular part of my booth is the $5 velvet bags. Folks spend a lot of time searching for the best gems. I weighed them last night and there's exactly 50 pounds. Hope you enjoyed the preview of my tumbled rocks for the upcoming show. Chuck
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Post by MsAli on Mar 7, 2018 20:15:38 GMT -5
I have a huge soft spot for Lakers and I love the moonstone. Good luck at the shoe and happy selling!!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 7, 2018 20:17:43 GMT -5
I have a huge soft spot for Lakers and I love the moonstone. Good luck at the shoe and happy selling!! Thanks Lakers are one of my favorites so my prices may be a little high. My feelings are not hurt if I do not sell many Chuck
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Post by tims on Mar 7, 2018 20:22:33 GMT -5
Nice selection. For some reason the moonstone makes me drool. Have fun at the show!
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Post by MsAli on Mar 7, 2018 20:53:59 GMT -5
I have a huge soft spot for Lakers and I love the moonstone. Good luck at the shoe and happy selling!! Thanks Lakers are one of my favorites so my prices may be a little high. My feelings are not hurt if I do not sell many Chuck I don't blame you-I tend to be greedy and hoard mine
If you don't mind me asking; Where did you get the moonstone? I am so tempted to try tumbling some
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 7, 2018 21:31:47 GMT -5
Thanks Lakers are one of my favorites so my prices may be a little high. My feelings are not hurt if I do not sell many Chuck I don't blame you-I tend to be greedy and hoard mine
If you don't mind me asking; Where did you get the moonstone? I am so tempted to try tumbling some
The moonstone was a difficult tumble. Between the cleavage and fractures I only ended up keeping about a third of them after stage one. It is a unique batch though that not everyone has done. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 7, 2018 21:55:54 GMT -5
This is a fun post. That’s a lot of shiny. It’s easy to see why your giant box of mixed tumbles are so popular. I imagine people spend a long time digging though those.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 7, 2018 22:07:00 GMT -5
This is a fun post. That’s a lot of shiny. It’s easy to see why your giant box of mixed tumbles are so popular. I imagine people spend a long time digging though those. Thanks Rob After doing the same two shows for the fifth straight year I have gotten to know a bunch of loyal customers. There are a few that I call professional tumbled stone pickers. They will literally spend an hour cherry picking all the very best stones. I am going to try something new this year. I am going to look through the entire box myself and set aside the really nice ones and the very popular ones. I will slowly add those back into the box throughout the day to make it more fair. As an example one lady picked out every single piece of snowflake obsidian last year so she got a half pound of tumbled snowflake for $5 and nobody else was able to get any. Chuck
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Post by MsAli on Mar 7, 2018 22:15:50 GMT -5
I don't blame you-I tend to be greedy and hoard mine
If you don't mind me asking; Where did you get the moonstone? I am so tempted to try tumbling some
The moonstone was a difficult tumble. Between the cleavage and fractures I only ended up keeping about a third of them after stage one. It is a unique batch though that not everyone has done. Chuck I am going to attempt it-I went through a lot of the threads today here on it and most of the pictures are from photobucket, so I didn't get to see any finished and then you showed it can be done. Perfect timing!!
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 7, 2018 22:16:40 GMT -5
This is a fun post. That’s a lot of shiny. It’s easy to see why your giant box of mixed tumbles are so popular. I imagine people spend a long time digging though those. Thanks Rob After doing the same two shows for the fifth straight year I have gotten to know a bunch of loyal customers. There are a few that I call professional tumbled stone pickers. They will literally spend an hour cherry picking all the very best stones. I am going to try something new this year. I am going to look through the entire box myself and set aside the really nice ones and the very popular ones. I will slowly add those back into the box throughout the day to make it more fair. As an example one lady picked out every single piece of snowflake obsidian last year so she got a half pound of tumbled snowflake for $5 and nobody else was able to get any. Chuck Sounds like a good plan. It’s more fun for everyone that way. Except the snowflake lady I suppose.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on Mar 8, 2018 5:43:11 GMT -5
Lots of work invested in our cherished tumbles
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Post by fernwood on Mar 8, 2018 6:21:26 GMT -5
Great selection. Love the idea of slowly adding the good stuff to the mix. Have a very good show.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 8, 2018 7:35:05 GMT -5
Lots of work invested in our cherished tumbles Yep. That may be an understatement. I think I have finished somewhere between 400 and 500 pounds of tumbles all in small 3 pound Loto batches. Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on Mar 8, 2018 7:50:38 GMT -5
Lots of work invested in our cherished tumbles Yep. That may be an understatement. I think I have finished somewhere between 400 and 500 pounds of tumbles all in small 3 pound Loto batches. Chuck Hell I don't care what you use and how you do it. 100 pounds of tumbles is a lot of sweat and hard work. Seems like the more pre-shaping I did paid more dividends in production than any other way. And the end product was better. Despise tumbling junk rocks. Face reality and trash the ones early if they aren't going to look nice at the end.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 8, 2018 8:01:17 GMT -5
That's a heck of a lot of nice tumbles. Some sweet Lakers in there. I can't imagine how long it would take me to gather that many stones. Have a habit of giving bowls of rocks as gifts.
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 8, 2018 8:30:19 GMT -5
Have been selling tumbled stones at the shows(6) I have done over the past year. They are set out in a big flat clear plastic bin, 4 for $1. I have yet to put any special ones in there or any of the larger stones. If two little kids are there picking out I usually tell the parent to let the kids pick an extra couple. Have been pondering how to put out the larger ones and the special ones and to keep them separate, especially during any busy periods. Do like your suggestion of adding a few special ones in the big bin as day goes on. I know everyone is striving for the perfectly smooth tumbled stone but I have found that a lot of the customers, especially the kids, are not that picky and like the "pitted" ones or the ones with character. The less than perfect ones in each batch go in the Show bucket along with some of the nicer tumbles. That does allow me to focus on tumbling the better material longer and passing some of the more pitted ones on quickly through the process. Have not done an analysis but my suspicions are that I am paying a good portion of my grit and polish with the tumbles I sell. The preforms, the large slabs are also getting done in those same tumbles and those get sold as separate items. Also realize that a real economic analysis considering cost of electricity, machine cost, raw material cost including transport and lodging would eat up any profit and then some! Like I have said before, "Beer and gas" money
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 8, 2018 8:37:33 GMT -5
Have been selling tumbled stones at the shows(6) I have done over the past year. They are set out in a big flat clear plastic bin, 4 for $1. I have yet to put any special ones in there or any of the larger stones. If two little kids are there picking out I usually tell the parent to let the kids pick an extra couple. Have been pondering how to put out the larger ones and the special ones and to keep them separate, especially during any busy periods. Do like your suggestion of adding a few special ones in the big bin as day goes on. I know everyone is striving for the perfectly smooth tumbled stone but I have found that a lot of the customers, especially the kids, are not that picky and like the "pitted" ones or the ones with character. The less than perfect ones in each batch go in the Show bucket along with some of the nicer tumbles. That does allow me to focus on tumbling the better material longer and passing some of the more pitted ones on quickly through the process. Have not done an analysis but my suspicions are that I am paying a good portion of my grit and polish with the tumbles I sell. The preforms, the large slabs are also getting done in those same tumbles and those get sold as separate items. Also realize that a real economic analysis considering cost of electricity, machine cost, raw material cost including transport and lodging would eat up any profit and then some! Like I have said before, "Beer and gas" money Selling the tumbles in velvet bags eliminates folks grabbing all the big stones. If they are 4 for $1 all the bigger stuff would be taken first. I pretty much know that each velvet bag holds 1/2 pound of rock so I dont care if they have 4 big rocks in there or 100 pebbles. Kids always get something extra. Usually a piece of $2 tiger eye or a choice of from the mixed quartz bin. Chuck
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 8, 2018 8:53:06 GMT -5
I have thought about using the velvet bags, may go that route. It would simplify things and I could put out my bigger tumbles. Thanks Henry
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 8, 2018 8:57:29 GMT -5
I have thought about using the velvet bags, may go that route. It would simplify things and I could put out my bigger tumbles. Thanks Henry When I first started selling I just had three bins that were 10 for $1, 5 for $1 and 2 for $1 but that is more work sorting through them all. My next step was 3" x 4" ziploc bags that held close to 1/2 pound for $4. I found the velvet bags for about .40 each and since they hold a full 1/2 pound I figured $5 was good. I try not to have anything at my table that requires coins. Chuck
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Post by nowyo on Mar 8, 2018 9:45:28 GMT -5
Nice mess of tumbles and great set up.
Russ
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