donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Jun 28, 2004 11:05:03 GMT -5
Hi all, I attended a stone tool festival last weekend to sell modern made arrowheads/stone tools and buy rocks. I had a great time and found some real neat rock. I was on a search for some really killer Flintridge tumble rough and scored big. I wanted to share some pics of some of what I found. First is the pic of some of the Flintridge, Ohios' gemstone. It is as good as it gets, for those who aren't familiar with it, good color can be hard to find. From what I understand about it, only about 10 percent of Flintridge is decent quality. Or high enough silica to make good chipping or polishing rock, much of the rest is slaggy and pretty much useless. Of that 10 percent, 90 percent of it is creme or grey colored, only about 10 percent of the good rock has much color. That said, here it is. I spritzed with water to show the color better.  a close up of a few pieces of the 'ridge'  I also came across some rare 'Burns Green' obsidian. It also can be hard to find, it only occurs in several places. The main claim that was mining Burns Green is shut down at present, making it even harder to find.  Last is what I think is the coolest find of the weekend, possibly of my life. I truely believe it is Fulgarite, which is a type of glass formed either by lightning striking sandy soil or by a meteor impact. It was a large chunk found in a remote Georgia farm field. The guy didn't know for sure what it was and spalled it down into pieces for knapping. At the same show, a retired dentist from Texas who had purchased some fulgarite for making arrowheads reconized it laying on their tarp for sale. We took a piece of it and compared it to the pieces he had, and it was the same material, no question. Also the pieces he had were lab tested and proven to be fulgarite. The sad thing is that if the piece would have been left whole, its value would have been astronomical, as it surely would have been one of the largest pieces of fulgarite ever found. I'm still not totally convinced that it truely is a type of fulgarite, but we sure had fun with it all weekend. This material does seems to have a kind of magical property to it. I made 3 arrowheads from it during the weekend and sold 2 of them. I kept one for myself and you can see it laying at the bottom of the first pic. It is a paleo lance ( Agate Basin) point. The second pic is of it backlighted to show the beauty and transluciency of the Fulgarite. Thanks for looking, talk to you later, Don   |
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Post by sandsman1 on Jun 28, 2004 11:51:58 GMT -5
hey don sounds like you had a great weekend that flintridge is real nice great color and the obsidian is way cool too havent seen green befor, and the Fulgarite point very nice allso, very nice job--i know i woulda broke it befor i got it finished hahaha
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deepsouth
fully equipped rock polisher
He who rocks last rocks best
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,256
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Post by deepsouth on Jun 28, 2004 12:09:29 GMT -5
Great rocks Don , hope to see the polished rock in due course.
Obsidian looks awesome. I do have some black from a volcano which erupted last in 1886.
But this green of yours. WOW
Jack
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Banjocreek
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2003
Posts: 1,115
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Post by Banjocreek on Jun 28, 2004 12:18:22 GMT -5
Nice catch Don! Great looking rocks. I love the color in that Flintridge! You are going to be a busy busier boy.  Thanks for sharing. I just got a big chunk of 'White and Black banded Onyx', from this guy at work. Can't wait to work on it  Along with my faceting and wire wrapping, I'm becoming a hermit. My wife actually makes me carry a wireless doorbell in my pocket so she can page me from out of my "cave" when she needs me.  |
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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 28, 2004 12:27:59 GMT -5
Thanks guys, it was a good weekend. It is always a great time to be around people with the same love you have, just like here on this site. Haha Banjo, I've been a rock tranced hermit for quite a while now. The wireless doorbell is a good idea. I think my wife would like to hook me up to 220 an buzz me good when she can't get my attention. I won't even say where she'd probably hook it up.  later, Don |
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 28, 2004 16:12:22 GMT -5
amazing rock that flintridge...what is the MOH of it? i just love the color variations and the banding, can't wait to see some polished!
great finds, all of it!
KD
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jun 28, 2004 17:08:28 GMT -5
don those are great! y'all didn't by any chance rub it in to the guy that if he'd left that fulgarite intact...... ;D
kim
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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 28, 2004 17:52:38 GMT -5
Thanks KD & Kim, yes we did rub it in...lol...just a little. Actually, it was his wife and teenage son that were at this show, he and his daughter had taken rock to sell at another one going on in Eastern PA the same weekend. He will get an earfull when they all get back home..hehe. And KD, good question, it usually runs about the same MOH as quartz (7), as it is actually an impure form of quartz with a little extra silica, which gives it the property desirable for making arrowheads from. Concoidal fracturing, meaning it will flake or cone. Like the hertzian cone formed when a BB strikes glass. It can range from low 6 to mid 7 I'd guess. The thing is that with heat treatment the MOH can be lowered by nearly a point. This ridge has all been heat treated so it should be somewhere between 6 & 7. If you know how hard most raw agates can be, Flintridge at it's hardest will be a bit softer than that. Wow, that is a long answer for a short question, isn't it? Sorry bout that, later, Don ;D |
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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 29, 2004 0:20:14 GMT -5
HAHAHA Don. I found your comment about the 220 very humorous! Good idea but not sure hubby would appreciate that! Besides might take a bigger jolt than that since he's been bitten by worse. (He's an electrician by trade.) But I'll share the post with him anyway! By the way the "ridge" is great and I love that fulgarite. So cool!!
Otter
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Post by cookie3rocks on Jun 29, 2004 0:26:32 GMT -5
Once again, I'm drooling. Hell of a haul, dude. That obsidian almost looks like slag glass, I'ev never seen any thig like it before. YUMMY ;D
cookie
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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 29, 2004 8:48:26 GMT -5
Don, that flintridge is beautiful! We have lots of flint around here, some of it pretty neat looking, but nothing like that. I didn't know it came in colors!  I can't wait to see them tumbled. The obsidian is really nice, never seen the green before. The Fulgarite is just WOW! Excellent job on the point. llana |
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Penguin
off to a rocking start
Roll with the changes
Member since January 2004
Posts: 7
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Post by Penguin on Jun 29, 2004 12:06:21 GMT -5
Is Fulgarite always white with the black streaks?
congrats on those great rocks.
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Post by creativeminded on Jun 29, 2004 13:52:24 GMT -5
That is a great find, I will be head to Colorado for the weekend and visit my Aunt and Uncle that have a cabin in Pitkin, CO. The great thing is, not too far from the back of their cabin is a creek can't wait to hit it.
Tami
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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 29, 2004 22:58:30 GMT -5
Thanks all,
Penguin, I don't know much about fulgarite. I haven't seen the inside of any other specimens. I had always thought that most of it was dark, almost black colored? The white is suppossed to be from white sand strikes, not sure what the black streaks are from, some impurity I'd guess. On a couple of the pieces there are small holes that have grains of white sand still in them.
Hehe, Otter, I work in a power plant. We ship out power on 345,000 V lines, that would be my wifes preference I suppose if she could get it here at the house.
Cookies, that Burns green is some of the prettiest I've ever seen, the pics don't show it very well, I picked those pieces because they have some parts that even have a tinge of blue in them too.
Llana, yes, Flintridge is a favorite of knappers all over the country because of the color, a lot of knappers from Texas come up this way to our big fall knap-in.
Good luck in the creek Tami, hope ya find some beauties.
Talk to you all later, Don
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Post by creativeminded on Jul 1, 2004 10:02:07 GMT -5
Well it looks like my plans for the Colorado trip went up in smoke, my aunt and uncle that have a cabin in Pitkin are going to have a house full. Oh well some other time.
Tami
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Sept 27, 2004 5:16:50 GMT -5
How did I miss this post? Great score Don. I'm really begining to appreciate the art of flintknapping. These rocks are georgous! In fact, due in part to you (posting various pics of arrowheads etc...) I've now taken up the hobby of flintknapping. I started off with about a $300-$400 buget.  I bought 4 books and 1 video on the topic. As well as a delux tool kit, 10 lbs of Novaculite, 5 lbs of Burlington chert, 10 lbs of Mook and 20 lbs of fancy jasper. I already have 100 plus lbs of obsidian. I figue this will be enough to hold me off for now. At least until I "learn the ropes." I still need a kiln... |
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Post by Cher on Sept 27, 2004 14:00:43 GMT -5
Wow, that stuff is really pretty! Shame to see it all being knocked into little pieces, bet it tumbles beautifully.
Cher
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later, Don
I can't wait to see them tumbled.
I bought 4 books and 1 video on the topic. As well as a delux tool kit, 10 lbs of Novaculite, 5 lbs of Burlington chert, 10 lbs of Mook and 20 lbs of fancy jasper. I already have 100 plus lbs of obsidian. 
