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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 17:37:24 GMT -5
More tumbles from the past 6 months. Bahia agates and a few Botswana agates. My favorites: 4a, 5b, 10. 1a. 1b. 2. 3. 4a. 4b. 5a. 5b. 6a. 6b. 7a. 7b. 8a. 8b. 9. 10. 11. 12a. 12b. 13a. 13b.
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Post by stephan on Aug 1, 2021 17:54:52 GMT -5
Some very cool ones. Hard to pick any faves. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are contenders, though. The tubes in 12b are trip!
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catskillrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,270
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Post by catskillrocks on Aug 1, 2021 19:03:27 GMT -5
Another awesome batch of tumbles.
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Post by Pat on Aug 1, 2021 19:07:13 GMT -5
Though I like all, 12a is surreal!! Thanks.
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 1, 2021 20:31:53 GMT -5
#2 - I like the way the edge stayed on that one! #4a - I like that orb in the lower left...it looks like its looking into a small cave! #5a/b - Love the orbs on this one!!! #7a/b - It really looks like paintbrush strokes on this one! #8b - Looks like another awesome eyeball! #12a - Love the angle of the fortifications on that one! #13a/b - Definitely my favorite out of this batch of photos! I bet the other half of this one has the potential to make a great looking cab!
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 20:32:52 GMT -5
Though I like all, 12a is surreal!! Thanks. I almost didn't include that one since contrasting colors and abstract patterns / textures are what catch my eye the most. But it was fresh out of the tumbler, so I snapped a photo before it got stuck in the Botswana agates box. It certainly has a dreamy quality about it, or as you put it -- surreal.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 20:46:59 GMT -5
#2 - I like the way the edge stayed on that one! #4a - I like that orb in the lower left...it looks like its looking into a small cave! #5a/b - Love the orbs on this one!!! #7a/b - It really looks like paintbrush strokes on this one! #8b - Looks like another awesome eyeball! #12a - Love the angle of the fortifications on that one! #13a/b - Definitely my favorite out of this batch of photos! I bet the other half of this one has the potential to make a great looking cab! Re #2 -- On the next slice of that same rock I rounded the edges off and it does not look nearly as nice. The rugged, crater-filled skin provides needed contrast to the soft colors inside. Re #12a -- I did a lot of grinding on that little pink one to get the bands to display like that. I basically peeled back the layers with the grinder, which I find a lot more interesting than having a small flat side with all the fortification banding, and a large flat top and bottom with no banding. I do this with a lot of rocks but it works especially well with Botswana agates because the good banding is often only visible on one of the smaller faces of the rock, especially with the smaller bots. With grinding, you can spread the banding out over an entire, larger face. You might be able to play with this idea by cutting thick Botswana slablettes somewhat parallel to the banding and grinding a real high dome into the cabs. Would work best with a finely banded rock.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 20:51:28 GMT -5
jasoninsd The rounded off edges slice. Photos are right before it went into AO 500 in the Lot-O, so not yet polished. But kind of boring without the rough skin.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 20:54:53 GMT -5
Some very cool ones. Hard to pick any faves. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are contenders, though. The tubes in 12b are trip! I like the tubes too, and it is rare that they are all so solid. They often have holes in the center and don't look nearly as nice.
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 1, 2021 21:20:22 GMT -5
I think it's fascinating that #2 could look so amazing with the remainder of the rind on it (the "live" edge kind of)...and then look so "normal" in those pictures of that second slice without the edge on it! Visually fascinating.
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Post by stephan on Aug 1, 2021 21:30:40 GMT -5
Some very cool ones. Hard to pick any faves. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are contenders, though. The tubes in 12b are trip! I like the tubes too, and it is rare that they are all so solid. They often have holes in the center and don't look nearly as nice. They look like little veins
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 21:32:40 GMT -5
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 21:37:23 GMT -5
jasoninsd Live edge is the right idea. It's the difference between this: And this:
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 1, 2021 21:58:05 GMT -5
I freaking love that second table! That table probably cost more than my first house! LOL
What do you use to grind down the surfaces of the Bots?
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 22:32:01 GMT -5
jasoninsd When I'm feeling patient, the left hand arbor of my Genie which has a thin 60 grit plated wheel, an 80 grit sintered wheel that grinds more like a 120, and the original 220 grit plated wheel which will seemingly last forever. The bots are chippy so I will use just the 220 wheel sometimes even though it's slow. The hard wheels leave sharp edges or flat surfaces so I use them only if I'm going to put the rocks back in the rotary for one more week. If I want to move the rocks on to the Lot-O after grinding, I finish the grinding with soft wheels (the right hand arbor of the Genie). I just bought a 120 soft wheel which is kind of cool since it grinds pretty fast but doesn't make sharp edges. When I'm feeling impatient or want to take a lot off a rock, I use an 8" grinder with a 36 grit sintered wheel. You could just about pull some gemstones out of this wheel. I shouldn't have bought a 36 grit wheel. Too chippy. But as expensive as it was, I have to figure out a way to make it work. So I've been trying to wear it down so it grinds more like a 60 grit. Easier said that one. I press hard on the wheel with big hard rocks, and I haven't seemed to flatten down the diamonds much. The other wheel on the 8" grinder is an 80 grit sintered which behaves like a 120 grit.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 22:37:41 GMT -5
jasoninsd I've got a big white oak on the ground if you want to come over to Michigan and mill it. 160 years old if I counted the rings correctly. Started growing just before the civil war. When not cutting rocks, I like cutting trees. Dead ones, of course. To heat my house and barn in the winter.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 22:43:07 GMT -5
The yellow line shows the depth of a 36" chainsaw bar buried into the log, just to give you some perspective. When it fell my wife says it shoot the house about 150 yards away.
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 1, 2021 22:54:10 GMT -5
I was thinking that White Oak was big...but I didn't realize nearly 6' across! I bet that did shake the house! Did you take the time to count the rings? Thanks for posting the information on the grinding. I've been wondering how to go about it with some of the tumbles that I've been stumped on. I've been trying to use my 10" saw or my 7" trim saw to get rid of problem areas. I knew it would take too long on the slat cabber to try and grind them. I can imagine that 36 grit WOULD take them down in short order, but the chipping would be a massive issue. I'm thinking running some Prairie Agates over that 36 grit oughta bring those diamonds down...they're some of the hardest material I've run across!
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 23:16:02 GMT -5
I was thinking that White Oak was big...but I didn't realize nearly 6' across! I bet that did shake the house! Did you take the time to count the rings? Thanks for posting the information on the grinding. I've been wondering how to go about it with some of the tumbles that I've been stumped on. I've been trying to use my 10" saw or my 7" trim saw to get rid of problem areas. I knew it would take too long on the slat cabber to try and grind them. I can imagine that 36 grit WOULD take them down in short order, but the chipping would be a massive issue. I'm thinking running some Prairie Agates over that 36 grit oughta bring those diamonds down...they're some of the hardest material I've run across! Of course I counted the rings. It would be a lot bigger except it was a forest grown tree for most of its life. Oaks grow very slowly in the forest since they have to fight for sunlight until they get big enough to dominate the canopy. There were entire decades where that tree only added 1-2" to the diameter of its trunk. A really good year might have added 3/4". The tree was 5' diameter at breast height, which is how the pros measure trees. 8-9' diameter stump at the ground. I've got a photo somewhere of me lying down on it. I think the prairie agates are chert nodules, and chert seems to be fairly pure silica and very hard. That is why you don't get true banding in prairie agates, and also why they take such a high shine. I have an easier time getting chert to a very high shine than most agates.
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 2, 2021 13:00:06 GMT -5
I was thinking that White Oak was big...but I didn't realize nearly 6' across! I bet that did shake the house! Did you take the time to count the rings? Thanks for posting the information on the grinding. I've been wondering how to go about it with some of the tumbles that I've been stumped on. I've been trying to use my 10" saw or my 7" trim saw to get rid of problem areas. I knew it would take too long on the slat cabber to try and grind them. I can imagine that 36 grit WOULD take them down in short order, but the chipping would be a massive issue. I'm thinking running some Prairie Agates over that 36 grit oughta bring those diamonds down...they're some of the hardest material I've run across! Of course I counted the rings. It would be a lot bigger except it was a forest grown tree for most of its life. Oaks grow very slowly in the forest since they have to fight for sunlight until they get big enough to dominate the canopy. There were entire decades where that tree only added 1-2" to the diameter of its trunk. A really good year might have added 3/4". The tree was 5' diameter at breast height, which is how the pros measure trees. 8-9' diameter stump at the ground. I've got a photo somewhere of me lying down on it. I think the prairie agates are chert nodules, and chert seems to be fairly pure silica and very hard. That is why you don't get true banding in prairie agates, and also why they take such a high shine. I have an easier time getting chert to a very high shine than most agates. Thank you for the explanation on the Prairie Agates. I know some are considered Jasper, while others are chert. I've never read that being the reason the banding wasn't throughout. I've often wondered and could never find an explanation.
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