rrod
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 72
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Post by rrod on Jan 23, 2021 22:27:46 GMT -5
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 766
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Post by lordsorril on Jan 24, 2021 11:13:21 GMT -5
The only rocks I consider garbage are the ones that never improve in tumble: All three of those look decent. The one in the second photo looks like Quartz/Chert...should tumble nicely...similar stone pictured below.
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Post by rmf on Jan 24, 2021 11:28:22 GMT -5
Luke Skywalker said, "may the Quartz be with you."
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danielsan52
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2021
Posts: 22
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Post by danielsan52 on Jan 25, 2021 13:26:13 GMT -5
The top one looks like quarts to me also.
The second looks looks similar to polished calcite.
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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 25, 2021 13:37:03 GMT -5
My rock identifying abilities are on par with yours, I’m afraid. I would also go with quartz on the first one or two.
I recently picked up a few rock and mineral books to help with identification. Depending on the age of your kids, there are several highly rated books geared towards kids. Mine have had a great time looking through the books and trying to identify rocks. The only problem I have had is that most books tend to focus more on minerals and are lighter on rocks IDs, but my kids still love looking at all the crystals.
My poison ivy identifying skills are excellent. Whenever I get poison ivy, I can go in the backyard and identify the culprit so I can tell my kids which plants to avoid.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 26, 2021 10:58:35 GMT -5
Quartz and sugar agate(Quartz content)..
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Post by greig on Jan 26, 2021 11:43:47 GMT -5
Poison ivy doesn't need leaves to affect you. I have gotten it turkey hunting in the spring when the ivy patch was just little stems. I have also gotten it bad from digging in the roots. I kill it with Roundup but the dead roots remain toxic for years.
As for your rocks, it is difficult to ID from a picture without knowing other characteristics. Hardness and streak are easy to determine and help narrow the possibilities. That said, my vote is quartz and the brown one looks like it has an iron stain. The stain can be removed with Super Iron Out, if you want to better see the rock underneath. If you don't have SIO, a few days in vinegar can help and won't affect quartz. CLR kinda works too, but is expensive for this task. However, if it is calcite, then it will be affected by the acid.
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rrod
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 72
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Post by rrod on Jan 26, 2021 18:03:15 GMT -5
Thanks all for the weigh-in! Seems that sugar agate is another term for quartzite, which in turn is different from quartz? There's a YouTube channel where the narrator is fond of saying "Scientists are bad at naming things…" Seems to hold true! Poison ivy doesn't need leaves to affect you. I have gotten it turkey hunting in the spring when the ivy patch was just little stems. I have also gotten it bad from digging in the roots. I kill it with Roundup but the dead roots remain toxic for years. As for your rocks, it is difficult to ID from a picture without knowing other characteristics. Hardness and streak are easy to determine and help narrow the possibilities. That said, my vote is quartz and the brown one looks like it has an iron stain. The stain can be removed with Super Iron Out, if you want to better see the rock underneath. If you don't have SIO, a few days in vinegar can help and won't affect quartz. CLR kinda works too, but is expensive for this task. However, if it is calcite, then it will be affected by the acid. I have some hardness picks and a streak plate I haven't tried yet, so you gave me a reason! No idea if I'm doing things right, but the first two rocks come up below 8 and above 7. The brown rock seemed to have a scratch at 7, but was hard to tell. I was even shakier on the streak plate usage, but I couldn't get any of them to make a colored powder.
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rrod
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 72
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Post by rrod on Jun 14, 2021 21:40:35 GMT -5
Rock #3 all done finally, with 1337 before/after:
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jun 15, 2021 9:27:20 GMT -5
Wow, whatever it is, it took a great shine!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 15, 2021 18:42:36 GMT -5
That really did take a spectacular shine! Way to go!
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Post by Bob on Jul 2, 2021 15:37:45 GMT -5
The first one looks like quartzite for sure. The other one looks like a lot of rocks I pick up in Oklahoma, and I think (by magnifying the fractures) it too might be mostly quartzite. The color of quartzite is due to various minerals that seep into it. I've learned it can be almost any color and a mix of colors.
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