RiverOtter
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2004
Posts: 339
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Post by RiverOtter on Jun 16, 2004 0:28:36 GMT -5
Remember me telling all of you about the driveway rock that surprised me? Well here it is. The first pic is what we started with. It isn't the exact same rock but it is the same type and what we did start with looked just like it. Of course I have NOOO idea what it is so if anybody has a clue, please let me know!  And this is what we ended up with.     Thanks Otter |
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Post by sandsman1 on Jun 16, 2004 0:41:54 GMT -5
otter--very nice you should start mineing the driveway hahaha--it kinda looks like the beach rock i got from capemay i think thats a mix of agate and quartz and what ever else washes down the bay from the rivers but yours look alittle fancyer, i been useing it for fill but after seeing banjos finished im gonna let it run till the end see what it looks like ,,you got a great shine on them
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Post by puppie96 on Jun 16, 2004 1:44:41 GMT -5
Wow, I've got a ton of this stuff -- it's the same, I'm telling you. I'll have to put up a photo this weekend, you'll see. I got a bucket full of this stuff out of my motherinlaw's yard after she died and the house was on the market -- it was under the back porch and nobody knew where it came from. It didn't look to be indigenous. A friend of mine tells me that this stuff is easily available landscape rock that you can buy at Home Depot type places. I've never gone out shopping for landscape rock! I guess from what I was told that you can buy various grades or looks of backyard rock.
Sandsman, you're right, this stuff reminded me of CapeMay rocks from the git-go, only more uniform in size and larger. They look like quartz derivative type rocks. There's an occasional one that looks like agate or jasper in mine. Looks like nicely shaped beach rock starting out. The easiest tumble in the world for quick and spectacular results.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jun 16, 2004 1:53:03 GMT -5
i get them in my driveway rock but you have more yellow in yours than mine have - remind me of jelly belly beans - buttered popcorn, tangerine, lemon, toasted marshmallow - do i know those beans or what ;D.
kim
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Jun 16, 2004 4:12:18 GMT -5
Wow! Those are beautiful. The rock is quartz. Looking back to one of my previous rockhounding trips, I was in a field of that stuff (left it all behind.) The surface looks dull but boy are those pretty when polished!
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Vividdreams
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2004
Posts: 4
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Post by Vividdreams on Jun 16, 2004 7:29:53 GMT -5
My first post here ;D
Anyways I am new to the hobby and when I saw these rocks I had to make this my first post. These rocks can be found everywhere! I get mine from a local playground. Infact I spent an hour there this past Sunday 'mining' rocks just like these. I have about 3lbs ready to tumble. I plan to skip the corse grit and start with 120/220. I hope to have pics to share soon of these and the Rough Emerald I have been tumbling the last month.
Anyways great pics! I do hope you will post some more! Could you tell me the steps you took? What polish did you use?
Vivid
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Post by creativeminded on Jun 16, 2004 9:59:30 GMT -5
Those rocks are beautiful, I am half temped to go to our local nursery that has this huge pile of large rocks sitting out and see how much they would charge me to go through it.
Tami
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RiverOtter
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2004
Posts: 339
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Post by RiverOtter on Jun 16, 2004 10:39:46 GMT -5
Hey all Thanks. Yeah these were kinda like a birthday/Christmas present. They were kinda ugly and dull when I put them in but after 11 days in 120/220 the outside was cleaned up and the colors and patterns showed up. I was very surprised and quite excited. After that we have been mining the driveway for more and we have collected enough to do a 3 lb barrel. Rocky..funny you should say that because I was thinking they reminded me of jelly bellys too!  Guess I'm lucky or something ;D. These came in the 40 ton of driveway gravel ( rough-hehehe) that my hubby put down a couple months ago. The rock was mined from a gravel pit about 30 miles south of me. The pit sits on glacial morain and is situated next to one of the larger rivers around here. I say lucky because my Dad manages the pit so I have access to all the free rock I can get my hands on. When he saw them he said "Those are from the pit??". Anyway he is now on a quest to find some for himself! Here is the procedure I used: 11 days in 120/220. (As you can see these were already rounded and shaped nicely so I skipped the 60/90) 7 days in 600 prepolish. 12 days in 1000 prepolish. I didn't rush this step as most of us have found (thanks to James) that this step is critical to getting a good shine. When these were done in the wash and had dried they already had a dull shine to them. I knew at that point that I was going to get a good shine from them. 7 days in aluminum oxide polish. I tumbled these in a 1.5 pound barrel so I used approximately 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of grit and polish. And of course I did a borax wash between each step. I intend to do some wirewrapping on several of them. Many have a great shape for that. If you look at the last pic on the bottom left corner there is a yellowish-orangey one that is round. That one is perfectly symetrical. It's nearly a cab. My other favorite is the one in the 3rd pic near the middle. The pink one. It is quite pretty, it has spots in it that are clear enough for light to get through. There are quite a few others that are perfect for wrapping. Funny how you look at your rocks differently once you start wrapping! Thanks for the info on them James. Thought that they were some sort of quartz type rock. In fact I have been calling them quartzite but not sure if that is correct. I have also been calling them my aquarium gravel, because to me before they are tumbled they look like the stuff they sell in pet stores for aquarium gravel. Makes me really wonder now. I forgot to take a pic of the one rock that didn't shine up. Kinda odd looking because it's kinda dull except it has little knobbies that did shine. Anyway, this was a great rock to work with. Very simple to tumble, no complications and it came out great. Well I think I've rambled long enough! Otter |
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Trouthunter
having dreams about rocks
Member since May 2004
Posts: 63
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Post by Trouthunter on Jun 16, 2004 11:28:34 GMT -5
Fantastic! Those look an awful lot like the driveway rock I have tumbling right now. I've been calling it quartz as well, and it's in 120/220 right now. I ran it a week in 60/90 because it wasn't quite as nocely shaped as yours. Now I can't wait to see how it turns out.
BTW - jelly bellies are my favorite. I had the same thought when I saw them.
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RiverOtter
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2004
Posts: 339
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Post by RiverOtter on Jun 16, 2004 11:39:03 GMT -5
Ok, so maybe we should just call them Jelly Belly rocks!! ;D HEHEHE.
Otter
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Jun 16, 2004 12:31:23 GMT -5
Otter, those are remarkable! Who would have ever thought such bland looking rocks could be so pretty after some TLC!  You have inspired me to go out and collect some river rock/driveway rock and get it tumbling. I have used it before for fill but never took it through to polish. Great batch of Jelly Belly rocks. ;D Beautiful shine! llana |
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Trouthunter
having dreams about rocks
Member since May 2004
Posts: 63
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Post by Trouthunter on Jun 16, 2004 14:15:39 GMT -5
Jellybellytite
You know what's funny? I was eating a handful of jelly bellies about three days ago while reading the posts on this site and seriously considered taking a picture of a bunch of the strawberry daquiri ones and posting it here as a joke under the heading "Need help identifying these rocks" I was going to pretend I thought they were rose quartz but just wasn't sure and see how many of you I could get going.
I decided that most of the people here would think it was funny, but it wasn't worth it if even one person got upset, so I nixed the idea. Now I sort of wish I had done it.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jun 16, 2004 18:57:52 GMT -5
trout you should have - i think we've all got a sense of humor here - maybe you should wait awhile and do it anyway ;D
kim
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Post by cookie3rocks on Jun 16, 2004 19:05:14 GMT -5
If they don't have a sense of humor they need to go somewhere eles.  Sandman has posted some funny pictures he found on the web (ie "my buddy" the gorilla) as have others. Who did the one about the "workshop" snd it was a falling down shack? I think it would have been cute. And now I'm wondering about some of James's "wet candy" pics...huumm... just kidding, dude. cookie |
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 16, 2004 20:11:08 GMT -5
cookie's right, humor is essential....poke fun, pull a prank, play a joke......laughing is good for a body!
KD
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Trouthunter
having dreams about rocks
Member since May 2004
Posts: 63
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Post by Trouthunter on Jun 16, 2004 20:54:34 GMT -5
Yeah, you guys are right. I've joked around and always enjoyed it when others did as well. Oh well, I'll come up with something else sooner or later. I can't help it; it's what I do. I think there might be something wrong with me.   ;D |
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donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Jun 16, 2004 22:21:59 GMT -5
Hehe, go ahead Trouthunter, we'll forget about the jelly beans in a day or so...lol Hey, Otter, those are the 'lucky stones' I had talked about before. And if any of you remember, a good while back we talked about the quartz that has piezo electric propertys, same animal. Rub 2 of those together in a dark room, before they have been polished smooth, and they will spark internally ( do it slow, with heavy pressure) ....cool  p.s. great job on them by the way! |
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Post by cookie3rocks on Jun 16, 2004 22:59:40 GMT -5
I have so much quartz, I'll have to try that ;D
cookie
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;D
