chassroc
Cave Dweller 
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
|
Post by chassroc on Aug 3, 2005 12:58:49 GMT -5
I got these in Montana, Ruby Lake/Reservoir area. Found some on my own and a friendly local gave up some of hers.  In the next picture I zoomed in on one rough rock and you can see the little garnets within:  The last picture includes some garnets we got from either Sapphire bearing gravel puchased at Spokane Bar mine in Helena or gravel purchased from a local resident between Dillon and Yellowstone:  We are having a couple of Garnets faceted; they are better and bigger than the stones shown here. |
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Aug 3, 2005 13:03:34 GMT -5
Those are really neat
Will you be tumbling the stones with the tiny garnets?
|
|
|
|
Post by Tweetiepy on Aug 3, 2005 13:25:09 GMT -5
Those garnets are cool! can we see the faceted ones too?
|
|
Tonya
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 304
|
Post by Tonya on Aug 3, 2005 13:34:25 GMT -5
Nice bunch of garnets. Do garnets tumble well?
3rd pic down on upper center, that big rock with the black on it. Does it have a lot of black and is kinda heavy. I ask cause, I got a gemstone mix awhile back and I have a rock that looks like that and been trying to figure out what it is.
Thanks
|
|
|
|
Post by Cher on Aug 3, 2005 14:23:00 GMT -5
Can't wait to see the ones you're having faceted, are they going to be rings or pendant?
|
|
|
|
Post by krazydiamond on Aug 3, 2005 14:35:50 GMT -5
haha, that close up look like petrified raisin bread.
cool rocks.
KD
|
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Aug 3, 2005 15:51:15 GMT -5
Tonya, some Garnets tumble well, others like seam garnets don't.
If you plan on tumbling some, try to get yourself some that are out of the matrix (Meaning red in the rough).
|
|
textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
|
Post by textiger on Aug 3, 2005 16:27:42 GMT -5
One of the things I like most about this hobby is the hidden treasure. Who would think that beneath that crusty brown stuff are shiny garnets waiting to be discovered? Of course, half the time I feel like keeping some of the rocks rough because they're so neat that way, too.
|
|
|
|
Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 3, 2005 18:50:54 GMT -5
This is a specimen rock of garnet we got on a saphire hunting vacation. Not a great photo, but obviosly one of those you want to keep whole.  cookie |
|
|
|
Post by puppie96 on Aug 3, 2005 22:36:54 GMT -5
Now I am jealous because we didn't make it to Ruby Reservoir!
I've got some pretty cool pieces of garnet in schist/quartz that I picked up in SD last year. This year another piece flopped up in the gravel parking lot across the street from Shawn, he picked it up, didn't know where it came from, and gave it to me. It was probably collected in the same place I got mine. It is studded with tiny almandine garnets. I should post a photo if I have enough energy.
I've had all great results tumbling garnet.
|
|
chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
|
Post by chassroc on Aug 4, 2005 12:46:22 GMT -5
My wife wants to tumble the garnet...We have not gotten the faceted garnets back yet...We sent them out with a nice pail blue sapphire to be faceted. The original stones were about a carat each and after faceting will probably a third to a fifth of that size! We have not decided what to do with them yet but setting in rings is very likely
csroc
|
|
|
|
Post by creativeminded on Aug 5, 2005 22:08:53 GMT -5
I have some sapphires that I had faceted that I would love to set, but I don't know what size of setting to get, I have been looking at some of the snap in setting that I have seen over the internet.
Tami
|
|
rumbletumble
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2005
Posts: 308
|
Post by rumbletumble on Aug 6, 2005 9:18:42 GMT -5
All these pics are helping me understand more about looking and seeing what is actually in a rock. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Sal
|
|
chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
|
Post by chassroc on Aug 6, 2005 14:01:06 GMT -5
Cookie,
Where did you hunt for Sapphires?
I kept most of mine whole...I agree with Alice...I tried tumbling a couple and the garnets and the rock matrix seem to wear equally...
csroc
|
|
|
|
Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 6, 2005 18:48:47 GMT -5
In North Carolina, at a saphire mine in Franklin. It was the closest to authentic we could find. A front end loader scooped up dirt from the mine and deposited it on the ground where you could sluice to your hearts content for $15 a day. We brought home several hundred carats of saphire and rubies (low quality, mostly), and I've yet to run them full cycle. In the end, I am going to need linde A or a diamond polish to finish them. Some day...
cookie
|
|
