oldschoolrocker
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,578
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Post by oldschoolrocker on Aug 1, 2021 13:59:38 GMT -5
Well long story short, several months ago I found a 9lb hunk of banded calcite under a freeway creek crossing. Decided to try and find some more the other day and only found small pieces. So tried another freeway creek crossing and found more than I bargained for. first I found these two pieces -   Then I stumbled upon a much bigger one I tried digging out. But it just got bigger and bigger the more I dug. Fortunately I had a Sledgehammer and chisel in back of car for just this sort of find. So I knocked off little more manageable pieces. The rock after digging for while-  And the two chunks I took home with me. Still easily 4/5ths of the Boulder is left. May go back for more..   Not sure yet what I'm gonna do with it but think maybe some carving /polishing wit angle grinder. Anyways, thought it was cool find considering these were boulders dumped for erosion control. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 1, 2021 16:37:23 GMT -5
Great! Now that hillside is going to collapse! LOL I can't believe you gave up on the big beast and just knocked chunks off!  (LOL - My back is aching just thinking about that one!) Those are actually really cool. They're definitely big enough to do some really cool projects with those.  |
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oldschoolrocker
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,578
|
Post by oldschoolrocker on Aug 1, 2021 17:00:36 GMT -5
Great! Now that hillside is going to collapse! LOL I can't believe you gave up on the big beast and just knocked chunks off! (LOL - My back is aching just thinking about that one!) Those are actually really cool. They're definitely big enough to do some really cool projects with those. Lol, this one was almost in the creek so should be ok. Yeah I wanted to figure out a way to take the whole thing but it's easily 500 lbs. And 20+ yards of loose unstable boulders to get across before could load it in a vehicle. Hell the 115 lb one was enough trouble for me. But I did find another buried one that's a bit closer to vehicle but after spending an hour swinging the sledgehammer trying to break up the limestone boulders in the way I decided to go back to the big one and take a whack. If nothing else they will make for nice landscape rocks. |
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oldschoolrocker
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,578
|
Post by oldschoolrocker on Aug 3, 2021 7:54:35 GMT -5
So just little update on this. I played around with a cpl chunks of the calcite crystal to see how usable the material is. Theres Lots of fractures In the material and getting an entirely smooth flaw free surface is pretty unattainable. However, can get a pretty good polish quickly and lots of the fractures add colorful flashes in the piece. Overall, I really enjoy playing with the material and if get into some spots with less fractures then I think it will make some really pretty stuff. Here's some pics of pieces I played around with. This is a small rough piece I started with-  And where I ended up-    Probably could have gotten more fractures out but wasn't going for perfection, just overall usability of material. This other piece was from a broken chunk that I cut off some areas and started with a rectangle shape. This was a piece that broke from a swing of the sledgehammer so hoping il cut into some with less fractures-     Overall, pretty happy with the find. Not jewelry quality stuff but should be fun to play around carving with. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 3, 2021 20:06:05 GMT -5
That actually looks WAY cooler than I thought it was going to! (I didn't have any basis for my thoughts...they were just thoughts! LOL) That last picture really shows how stunning this material can be! |
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(LOL - My back is aching just thinking about that one!)
