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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 29, 2021 19:01:21 GMT -5
Well, I felt like Gomer Pyle today! LOL I was doing a clean out on the rotary this afternoon and had a bit of a surprise. I have a mix of Crazy Lace Agates, Prairie Agates, and Bubble Gum Agates in there right now. The Crazy Lace Agates are some leftovers which still haven't made it past stage one. The Bubble Gum and Prairie Agates have been added out of the five gallon buckets I have just to fill out the load a little more. Most of the time, Bubble Gum Agates don't show any banding on their surface before they've been ground down. This bad boy was in with the mix of Bubble Gum Agates that had been added. It's actually a Fairburn Agate! There were NO fortifications showing on the exterior prior to tumbling it. A Fairburn Agate was in my tumbler!!! LOL I pulled it from the tumbler batch as I had never intended to tumble any Fairburns. However, had it not gone in the tumbler, I would've never known it was a Fairburn Agate! Pics were taken wet. Since it's already been tumbled to this point, I will likely put it into the vibe and finish tumbling it when the others are ready. I don't want to grind it down any further than it already is. (Did I mention a Fairburn Agate was in my tumbler!!! LOL)
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on Jan 29, 2021 19:32:00 GMT -5
Well Golllly! Nice surprise, to bad Cracker Jacks didn’t have cool stuff like this in them!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 29, 2021 19:33:13 GMT -5
Nice surprise! Sure is a purty one.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 29, 2021 19:39:56 GMT -5
Well Golllly! Nice surprise, to bad Cracker Jacks didn’t have cool stuff like this in them! Thanks Quartz! When I pulled it out, I really didn't believe what I was seeing at first. Of course, I had to say "golllly" in my head just like him! LOL I was ALWAYS hoping I'd get the temporary tattoos as the surprise in the Cracker Jacks box! LOL Nice surprise! Sure is a purty one. Thanks Robin! Now I can't tumble the rest of what's in the five-gallon buckets fast enough! LOL
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jan 29, 2021 20:04:53 GMT -5
Well that sure is a nice surprise! And a pretty one at that!
I was just about the mention that you will need to start tumbling all of your other bubble gum agates, but it looks like you already had that thought! Maybe it's time to think about a bigger tumbler!
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Post by RickB on Jan 29, 2021 20:12:24 GMT -5
Great find Jason. Like you say, your work has just begun as now you will have to tumble all of those five gallon buckets in search of more Fairburn agates. You just know there's others in there.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 29, 2021 20:29:03 GMT -5
Well that sure is a nice surprise! And a pretty one at that! I was just about the mention that you will need to start tumbling all of your other bubble gum agates, but it looks like you already had that thought! Maybe it's time to think about a bigger tumbler! Thanks Brian! I've got bubble gums anywhere from 3-4" down to 1/2". I was separating them last week and this one was in the smaller bucket...I'm still just shaking my head about it. LOL I've got a Mobel B which has been working overtime and a 3 pound rotary I got for Christmas which I haven't used yet...it might be time to put than one to work as well! Great find Jason. Like you say, your work has just begun as now you will have to tumble all of those five gallon buckets in search of more Fairburn agates. You just know there's others in there. Thanks Rick! I'm convinced there's still some others in the 21 tons of river rock we got last year. I've found three of them in that so far. There's still a good 4-5 tons we haven't even perused through yet.
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Post by RickB on Jan 29, 2021 20:33:18 GMT -5
You need a cement truck to tumble those rocks with.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 30, 2021 0:58:21 GMT -5
You need a cement truck to tumble those rocks with. Awhile back my father-in-law called me up and asked me if I wanted to tumble any of the really big prairie agates I'd been finding. I told him probably not as I really kind of liked them in their natural state, but inquired as to why he was asking. He told me he had a portable cement mixer tucked away in the barn and we could just toss a bunch of them in there and let 'em go. I told him I'd keep it in mind, just in case...
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Post by stephan on Jan 30, 2021 1:55:59 GMT -5
Nicely spotted. Good on you for keeping a sharp eye peeled.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 30, 2021 2:10:26 GMT -5
Nicely spotted. Good on you for keeping a sharp eye peeled. Thanks Stephan! I might need to start wearing my reading glasses a lot more than I thought I needed to do so! LOL
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Post by miket on Jan 30, 2021 8:21:51 GMT -5
Wait a minute...is that a Fairburn? That's awesome, Merry Christmas to you!!! Very cool Jason!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 30, 2021 10:21:27 GMT -5
Wait a minute...is that a Fairburn? That's awesome, Merry Christmas to you!!! Very cool Jason! Thanks Mike! On one hand I was ecstatic...on the other hand, not so much. This one almost makes me sick to my stomach. I had NO clue this was a Fairburn as it gave no indication...so that begs the question of "how many have I looked at out in the wild", leaving them there as I had NO clue what was lurking on the interior!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 30, 2021 10:35:14 GMT -5
PYLE!!!!!!!! That's a little beauty!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 30, 2021 10:39:41 GMT -5
PYLE!!!!!!!! That's a little beauty! Thank you so much! I tend to have the stance that I would likely never tumble a Fairburn as I just like them in their natural state. However, since this one has been started already, I'm bit excited to put it through the vibe and finish out the process. There's a couple "knicks" in the rock, one of them really close to the fortification pattern, so I don't want to grind it down any further to get past the knicks...so it wont' be a "perfect" tumbled rock...but I'll love it all the same!
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