Skipper
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 258
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Post by Skipper on Feb 26, 2005 13:01:59 GMT -5
A few months ago I attended a lapidary auction in town. There was a ton of good stuff and most of us would have had to take buckets to catch all of our drool. Anyhoo...most people seemed to be interested in slabs. Finally, a bag of agates came up for bid for tumbling. About 3 lbs. Started at 5$. I won the bag at $6. Then the auctioneer asked if I wanted all 3 bags at that price. YES! So, I walked away with, among other things, 9 pounds of these gorgeous agates for only $18. Steal! The bags themselves had this written on them: Agates and Petrified wood collected 80 years ago from Agate Lake in Oregon. Recipe: - 45/70 for 2 weeks
- 220 for 1 week
- prepolish for 1 week
- titanium polish for 1 week
These are the best batch of stones I've ever done. They GLEAM. I use James as my benchmark and I think these come close to his rocks. I credit it to the fact that I kept them in coarse for 2 weeks even though they were already well shaped.     Now a tip...I was having trouble getting good closeups. Always blurry! A photographer told me that I needed a solid black or white background. That helped immensely! I also use sunlight instead of a flash and get better results. You can actually see reflections of the window in the rocks. Although the foreground in the pix below is blurry (those rocks are a little too close), the rest came out super nice. Still learning...   Anybody know where Agate Lake is in Oregon? I think we should all meet there one day!  |
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Post by Cher on Feb 26, 2005 14:08:45 GMT -5
Beautiful, you have some really gorgeous stones in there.
Terrific shine ... definitely a job well done!! I see several that
I wish were on my wrapping table. *smile*
Cher
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Post by Tweetiepy on Feb 26, 2005 16:11:10 GMT -5
Yummy! they look like M&Ms - the shrek ones, mind you, but still they look yummy!  |
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joanna
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2004
Posts: 385
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Post by joanna on Feb 26, 2005 16:55:00 GMT -5
Funny, I was thinking of candy also when I seen the pictures. They turned out super! What a great deal you got on them too.
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Post by krazydiamond on Feb 26, 2005 17:11:30 GMT -5
8-)nice shine! great deal on the rough too! need to throw a coin in or something for scale reference, i'm guessing they are average 3/4" rounds?
Don't know where Agate Lake is, but sounds like a nice place to go rockhounding!
great batch, Skipper!
KD
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Tellfamily
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2004
Posts: 476
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Post by Tellfamily on Feb 26, 2005 19:16:48 GMT -5
Good find & Good shine.
They came out looking like they need to go into a showcase.
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Feb 26, 2005 20:00:53 GMT -5
I would say you came darn close to your bench mark! AWESOME and the shine- WOW Nice job!
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Skipper
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 258
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Post by Skipper on Feb 26, 2005 22:26:12 GMT -5
3/4 to 1 inch is a good guess. Never a quarter lying around for scale when you need one. Used em all getting shopping carts at the store.
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Post by cookie3rocks on Feb 26, 2005 23:16:28 GMT -5
OOOOWWW and AAAHHH material there. Tastey indeed. And that was a fairly short run for such a great shine. Maybe starting in 45/70 instead of 60/90 or 80 made the difference. What was your pre polish, 600?.
Awesome, just breath taking.
cookie
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Banjocreek
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2003
Posts: 1,115
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Post by Banjocreek on Feb 27, 2005 0:05:36 GMT -5
Super job on those.
Amazing how round they got in that rough cycle.
They look like jelly beans only more of a gloss than any jelly bean I ever sean seen.
I'll have to suggest that the Titanium Oxide is about the best polish around by far. You sure showed what it can do.
Great work skipper!
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Blue Tigereye
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2005
Posts: 118
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Post by Blue Tigereye on Feb 27, 2005 0:52:59 GMT -5
Awesome job on those!!
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phoenix1647
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 186
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Post by phoenix1647 on Feb 27, 2005 9:37:50 GMT -5
I don't see any rocks in that batch that i'd throw out !!!
Pho
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Feb 27, 2005 10:11:31 GMT -5
WOW, Skipper, those are nice. Great shine!
Never heard of Agate Lake, but it sure turns out some nice rocks!!
llana
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Post by creativeminded on Feb 27, 2005 10:15:41 GMT -5
Great shine and may I say congratulations on the big find.
Tami
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69beeper
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 377
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Post by 69beeper on Feb 27, 2005 13:24:25 GMT -5
Wow, nice looking rock you have there! EXCELLENT shine!!
Jimmy
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billyd
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2004
Posts: 157
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Post by billyd on Feb 28, 2005 12:57:55 GMT -5
what a shine on some ace agates, Hope the one's i send you on my holiday turn out like that for you.
billyd
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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 28, 2005 16:18:19 GMT -5
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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 Feb 28, 2005 16:32:11 GMT -5
Great Shine and shape for this yummy eyecandy
Thanks for the pics Skipper
Jack
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