NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 13, 2021 16:15:42 GMT -5
And now, time for something extremely ordinary! Many here at RTH know that I don't purchase rocks. At this stage in life I am learning only and don't want to spend my hard earned money to ruin high quality material just yet. But I do tumble rocks too .. so here goes.
I finally found a place along the expansive banks of the Colorado where I could walk for days and pick up plenty of rocks when I just feel like some relaxation from the grind. There are no Fairburns in my neighborhood and I don't have any Botswana Crazy Lace Agate either. But this is the kind of stuff I find (and pick up) for fun. There is some Jasper in there but not much.
This is actually 2 loads from the MT-4 tumbler combined.
Group photo:
Here are the larger ones:
I kind of like the patterns in the Chert (mostly) material. Plus the rocks are hard enough (in general) to take a polish. Every once in a while I pick up something really cool. Not today though, as these rocks are pretty typical.
Here is what the bigger ones look like when sitting on a lighter background.
Here is a medium sized group:
Here is some smalls:
Sometimes the smalls can have amazing colors or variation which I almost never find in larges. Again there are some Jaspers in here.
I didn't strategically face any of these 'good side up' like I may have in the past. Just pushed them in to piles, really.
I also had some cabs riding along with the load of all sorts really:
Some day those will show up in my wire wrap posts. Until then, these will go to sit in a larger pile of cabs.
I don't often post my tumbles because on a whole my results are not really finished product. They are rough and represent what I could call the "dark ages" of my tumbling career. Lately however I've decided to raise my standards. So I will try to tumble pits and cracks out of the rock now. Some of these rocks better represent the latest "adolescent age" of my tumbling career.
But I am trying to get better. And I am more picky about what moves on now. And I will improve.
Some day when I come across some good material then I will be ready for it and maybe those tumbles will be my new personal best.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Post by greig on Jan 13, 2021 16:23:26 GMT -5
You must be very satisfied. So cool to collect and polish your own rocks. Good job
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jan 13, 2021 17:08:07 GMT -5
Some really nice rocks in that mix and great variety of colors. Bonus points for self collecting.
Chuck
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 13, 2021 19:02:44 GMT -5
Jeepers Bill! I think those are some amazing rocks...they're amazing due to the fact that they are "ordinary" in a sense, but you put an extraordinary polish on them. I think perfect tumbles come from "perfect" rough...and you're working with what you've got. I really do like a lot of those rocks...and some of those cabs are spectacular! And for the record, I don't know if I'll ever tumble a Fairburn! LOL - I've only face polished one and that was because miket sent it to me! All of mine are in their "raw" state as of yet.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,332
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Post by quartz on Jan 13, 2021 23:40:50 GMT -5
Self collected, nicely polished, and great variety; a show worthy of a self pat on the back. Thanks.
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Post by HankRocks on Jan 14, 2021 6:16:39 GMT -5
Very nice batch.
Gotta luv them River Rocks!. Awful nice of Nature to do so much stage 1 grinding for you.
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Post by orrum on Jan 14, 2021 7:00:59 GMT -5
Look pretty nice to me!!!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 14, 2021 9:04:12 GMT -5
Awesome batch of tumbles, Bill! You got a fine shine on those stones and that purple cab is amazing!
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Brian on Jan 14, 2021 9:51:40 GMT -5
That is a beautiful batch of rocks! I love the variety in the colors and patterns.
If I could find rocks like that nearby, I don’t think I would ever have a reason to buy any!
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,197
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Post by quartzilla on Jan 14, 2021 11:13:18 GMT -5
Good stuff! I have a few CO River rocks in third stage right now. One is a real doozy.
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chapslv
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2020
Posts: 56
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Post by chapslv on Jan 14, 2021 11:56:17 GMT -5
Wow, amazing rocks!
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rockhoundmn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2020
Posts: 75
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Post by rockhoundmn on Jan 14, 2021 15:45:20 GMT -5
I LOVE these!
So rarely do I see "ordinary" rocks with pits, fractures etc, polished to completion. I also am learning and polishing only self-collected rocks so far and happen to like a lot of the natural blemishes.
Imperfections never looked so good.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,422
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 16, 2021 12:27:54 GMT -5
I went to Yuma Arizona over Christmas and picked up a hand-full of rocks along the Colorado river while I was there. They are rolling and should be out of polish in a month.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 16, 2021 13:33:30 GMT -5
You must be very satisfied. So cool to collect and polish your own rocks. Good job Thank you! I appreciate the compliment very much. I am happy to post this lot, yes. I consider it an improvement over most past efforts at least.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 16, 2021 13:35:41 GMT -5
Some really nice rocks in that mix and great variety of colors. Bonus points for self collecting. Chuck Very nice of you to say so, Chuck! I absolutely love collecting. I am looking for a reason to make tomorrow another collecting day. I have found that for me it is half the fun. I just seem to like foraging for rocks. Who knew? I certainly didn't until now.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 16, 2021 13:46:03 GMT -5
Jeepers Bill! I think those are some amazing rocks...they're amazing due to the fact that they are "ordinary" in a sense, but you put an extraordinary polish on them. I think perfect tumbles come from "perfect" rough...and you're working with what you've got. I really do like a lot of those rocks...and some of those cabs are spectacular! And for the record, I don't know if I'll ever tumble a Fairburn! LOL - I've only face polished one and that was because miket sent it to me! All of mine are in their "raw" state as of yet. Thanks man! You know that one thing I like about these river rocks is that nature has shaped a good many of them some times. Like for a few it is almost like Stage 1 is done for me by the river. Plus some of my best smalls come from the river. Lots of little Agates some times.
I really don't know what I would do with the Fairburns if I did have some. But I might probably throw some int he tumbler just to see what comes out.
That has kind of been my attitude the whole time up until now, really. I just keep throwing rocks of different types and stuff in to the tumbler to see what comes out! It is VERY interesting to see when I pull something cool out of the barrel. I just love checking the progress of the polish stage. I am always out there stopping the tumbler and spot checking a few by hand to see how good they are or how much longer they need to go.
Tumbling is a lot of fun for me, and I don't see myself stopping any time soon. Some of my good tumbles have even turned in to pendants. Its always exciting doing clean ups each week. To see what can move on and such!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 16, 2021 13:49:17 GMT -5
Self collected, nicely polished, and great variety; a show worthy of a self pat on the back. Thanks. Thank you for saying so, Larry! It always keeps me going to make more when I get positive words of encouragement like this.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 16, 2021 13:52:29 GMT -5
Very nice batch. Gotta luv them River Rocks!. Awful nice of Nature to do so much stage 1 grinding for you. Thank you for the nice compliment! I was writing just that to Jason (above). A fair deal of these have been through Stage 1.
But it is a rough Stage 1 for them. Often chipping, cracks, and deformities have damaged some of the neatest examples. The harder ones however seem to fair better. I could honestly say that I've moved some rocks to Stage 2 after only one week of Stage 1 though.
I can only imagine how rough most of these river rocks were to begin with.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 16, 2021 13:54:10 GMT -5
Jeepers Bill! I think those are some amazing rocks...they're amazing due to the fact that they are "ordinary" in a sense, but you put an extraordinary polish on them. I think perfect tumbles come from "perfect" rough...and you're working with what you've got. I really do like a lot of those rocks...and some of those cabs are spectacular! And for the record, I don't know if I'll ever tumble a Fairburn! LOL - I've only face polished one and that was because miket sent it to me! All of mine are in their "raw" state as of yet. Thanks man! You know that one thing I like about these river rocks is that nature has shaped a good many of them some times. Like for a few it is almost like Stage 1 is done for me by the river. Plus some of my best smalls come from the river. Lots of little Agates some times.
I really don't know what I would do with the Fairburns if I did have some. But I might probably throw some int he tumbler just to see what comes out.
That has kind of been my attitude the whole time up until now, really. I just keep throwing rocks of different types and stuff in to the tumbler to see what comes out! It is VERY interesting to see when I pull something cool out of the barrel. I just love checking the progress of the polish stage. I am always out there stopping the tumbler and spot checking a few by hand to see how good they are or how much longer they need to go.
Tumbling is a lot of fun for me, and I don't see myself stopping any time soon. Some of my good tumbles have even turned in to pendants. Its always exciting doing clean ups each week. To see what can move on and such!
I think in the next batch I tumble, I'm going to pick through the 21 tons of landscaping river rock we have, just to see what comes out of some of it. There's a ton (pun intended) of rocks out there that I think would look "divine with a shine". For me, the Fairburns are too few and far in-between, with regards to finding them, to cut or tumble any of them...it's another case (for me at least) that some rocks should just be left in their "natural state". Although I love seeing the tumbled, face polished, and cabs other people make out of their Fairburns! LOL
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 16, 2021 13:54:42 GMT -5
Awesome batch of tumbles, Bill! You got a fine shine on those stones and that purple cab is amazing! Thank you Robin! I really appreciate the part about the shine. I know that I can do better because I see the experts posting their results here in the forums all of the time. Right now this is the best I can do and am happy with the time it took to get to this level of shine.
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