chassroc
Cave Dweller 
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Mar 6, 2005 10:35:43 GMT -5
The discussion of tumbling emeralds got me thinking about my stash of Sapphires from Montana. I have about 80carats of small and fractured stones that cannot be faceted. I wonder if anyone has thoughts about tumbling these?  I cannot imagine what to use for filler in a three pound barrel?  ?? This is what the cuttable stones look like before:  This is what they look like after cutting and setting(in the hands of a competent jeweler:  tks csroc |
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Post by creativeminded on Mar 6, 2005 10:55:09 GMT -5
I have many of those as wellI haven't tumbled any, I have just had them faceted. I think you could toss them in with just about any rock, they have a Moh's hardness of 9.
Tami
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Post by Tweetiepy on Mar 6, 2005 11:20:30 GMT -5
Those are AMAZING!!!  Incredible job on the setting - they perfect together. Did you purchase those or did you find them? |
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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 Mar 6, 2005 11:23:22 GMT -5
Sapphires are so beautiful all by themselves...so many colors.....right ouy of the ground or faceted...
...ain't nature grand.!!!!!
Pho
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 6, 2005 11:55:02 GMT -5
Nice stones- I have a small vial of those also and I have wanted to do something with it- I keep thinking of tossing it in the course stage and letting it do the work of the grit! After a couple dozen runs it would probably be ready to move on! Doesn't someone here use sapphire gravel as a course grind?
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Mar 6, 2005 11:56:31 GMT -5
Tweety,
Got these outselves(with some help from the people at Gem Mtn. They supply sapphire bearing gravel plus a sluice and screen. You pay by the bucket; they help you discover what to look for and then you look for the big one! For about half the price of a day at diney you can have some adult fun!
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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 Mar 6, 2005 12:18:18 GMT -5
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momma
starting to spend too much on rocks
YUMMY
Member since December 2004
Posts: 183
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Post by momma on Mar 6, 2005 12:41:37 GMT -5
Where in Montana did you find them. Everywhere I have gone I have Not been very successfull. All I find is Amethyst.OOPS Fluorite i mean. Ha Ha
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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 Mar 6, 2005 13:04:34 GMT -5
Momma..go to Philipsburg..that is where the Sapphire Gallery is located and just a few miles out of Philipsburg is the Gem Mountian. Beautiful country up around that area too...
Some nice creeks you can do a little rockhounding in...
If you have time and are in that area..go down to Wisdon Mt. go out to Ruby Creek...there is a reason it's names Ruby Creek and had nuttin to do with women names either...
Pho
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 6, 2005 13:22:43 GMT -5
That is where my sister got my sapphires from (a creek in philpsburg) They went on a geology trip when she was at UofW Larime- One of the guys found a sapphire the size of a half dollar (clear and nearly flawless) She came away with about a 1/2 pound of small ones and gave em out as Christmas presents!
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Post by Cher on Mar 6, 2005 14:29:34 GMT -5
Wow those are so cool. Just makes me sick that the few times I've been out to Montana, I never got a chance to go looking for any. Everyone thought I was nuts to want to go and dig for them. Beautiful setting too, that is gorgeous.
Cher
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Mar 7, 2005 9:20:14 GMT -5
If you ever go there you have to spend an hour or two in the town of phillipsburg, nice people and nice rock/jewelry store. The (now closed) open (to tourists) pit copper mine in Butte is staggering in its size. I think the smelter smockstack in Anaconda is the largest something or other. If you are adventurous, you have to make the drive East, over the Skalkaho Pass and down the mountain side, definitely not for the faint of heart. I drove up from the other side and was praying noone would be coming down(which would have forced me from the middle of the road to the outside and the sheer drop). Oh yeah, and it's a dirt road on that side!
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Post by docone31 on Mar 7, 2005 9:45:06 GMT -5
Why cannot those stones be faceted? If they are grains of sand, I can understand, but a faceter can go really small.
That pendant is really well done. I like the colour blend. Simplicity stands out forever.
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Post by Cher on Mar 7, 2005 9:57:20 GMT -5
Nope! Not on your life. I had enough of those kind of roads when my brother lived in Colorado so he knows better than to take me on them now. He lives in the Bitterroot Valley, at least for awhile anyway. I guess they are wanting to sell their place then that will no longer be an option for a place to visit. It just kills me, all the times I've been there when I wasn't into rockhounding.
You should put a pic up with a dime or penny for scale on the gems you have. I thought all sapphires were blue, didn't know they came in different colors.
Cher
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Mar 7, 2005 10:02:11 GMT -5
Doesn't someone here use sapphire gravel as a course grind?
I use sapphire gravel for fill and take it all the way through the polish stage. Even if I don't find any sapphires, the gravel polished up produces lots of tiny stones I can use in my walking sticks.
I have two 3# batches in prepolish now with sapphire gravel in them. Guess I'll find out if I have any sapphires when the loads get out of polish. Out of 40# lbs. of sapphire gravel I ordered a couple of years ago, I have found a few gems.
Of course, I still have probably 30 lbs. of gravel left to go thru! Maybe I will find the BIG one further down in the bag.
Chassroc, that is a beautiful pin!!
llana
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stefan
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Member since January 2005
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Post by stefan on Mar 7, 2005 11:01:33 GMT -5
Thanks Llana- I knew someone here was doing that- I mean in therory the sapphire should work RIGHT?
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Post by rockyraccoon on Mar 8, 2005 4:09:14 GMT -5
chas those are pretty even not finished. that piece of jewelry is fantastic! you had that made from the ones you found?
kim
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Mar 8, 2005 9:21:06 GMT -5
Llana,
Do you find that sapphires are hidden in the gravel that can only be revealed as a gravel coating is eroded?
csroc
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Mar 8, 2005 10:00:15 GMT -5
chas those are pretty even not finished. that piece of jewelry is fantastic! you had that made from the ones you found?
Kim,
Tks for the compliment and yes we had it made from the stones we found. I am not a faceter myself. We selected ten or so of the nicest sapphires we found and had them heat treated and faceted. The purist in me might have preferred not to have them heat treated, but believe me, it really brings out the color of the stones. It makes a difference...Now the first time I was at Gem Mtn I was very skeptical...There are newbees and old hands there and as you talk to the old hands they flash their rings and earings and jewelry at you and tell you when they got this one or that one and how big the original stone was and its current size and I took it all with a grain of salt, until I got Sapphire Fever too! As soon as you find a stone, you can't wait to get the next one and the next bigger one and the next bluer one or the nice green or yellow or red. I could definitely move to Montana or New Mexico, or Utah or Colorado; I guess you get the picture. I want to be where the rocks are!
We are now planning to go back to Montana (We live in Massachusetts) this Spring or Summer, go back to Gem Mtn, Yellowstone, Helena, Phillipsburg, Missoula. I'm much more of a rock hound than I was a couple or years ago, so who knows, Maybe I'll try my hand at digging my own gravel too.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 8, 2005 13:33:32 GMT -5
Chass ever get up to New Hampshire- Ruggles Mine! Rockhound paradise (not tumbling stuff) but Mica and Tourmaline, Beryl (I have a few with some Green in em) Garnetsgalore; maybe some Uranium, Marble, and quartz! A real cool place if you get out that way!
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