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Post by holajonathan on Aug 1, 2021 18:09:54 GMT -5
More tumbles from the past 6 months. From all around the world as indicated. My favorites: 5a/b, 7, 10a 1. Condor agate -- Argentina  2. Dendritic River Agate -- Madagascar  3. Cheetah agate -- Brazil  4. Cheetah agate -- Brazil. Pet cat -- SE Michigan. Unlike Javier, this guy doesn't like rocks very much. But he is too lazy to resist.  5a. Peach skin agate -- Morocco  5b.  6. Bahia agate -- Brazil  7. Montana Moss Agate  8. Arizona Pet Wood  10a. Montana agate. So shiny it's hard to pick up. No rocks take a better shine.  10b.  11a. Condor agate -- Argentina. Distinct banding throughout, but hard to photograph since the bands in each section (e.g., from 6:00 to 9:00 positions) have a different angle than neighboring sections of banding, if that makes sense. Weird rocks. I wonder how they were formed.  11b.  |
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Post by perkins17 on Aug 19, 2021 15:48:01 GMT -5
More tumbles from the past 6 months. From all around the world as indicated. My favorites: 5a/b, 7, 10a 1. Condor agate -- Argentina 2. Dendritic River Agate -- Madagascar 3. Cheetah agate -- Brazil 4. Cheetah agate -- Brazil. Pet cat -- SE Michigan. Unlike Javier, this guy doesn't like rocks very much. But he is too lazy to resist. 5a. Peach skin agate -- Morocco 5b. 6. Bahia agate -- Brazil 7. Montana Moss Agate 8. Arizona Pet Wood 10a. Montana agate. So shiny it's hard to pick up. No rocks take a better shine. 10b. 11a. Condor agate -- Argentina. Distinct banding throughout, but hard to photograph since the bands in each section (e.g., from 6:00 to 9:00 positions) have a different angle than neighboring sections of banding, if that makes sense. Weird rocks. I wonder how they were formed. 11b. Great job! I really like the Montana moss agate! |
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Uriah
starting to shine!
Member since August 2021
Posts: 38
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Post by Uriah on Aug 19, 2021 17:43:59 GMT -5
#7 It's like a painted snow scene. I love it.
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Post by stephan on Aug 19, 2021 18:11:32 GMT -5
Boy, those dendritic river agates sure do resemble Montana moss.... Some very nice tumbles. I'm not sure I've seen cheetah agate before. It's pretty cool stuff.
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 19, 2021 20:21:12 GMT -5
Dang Jonathan! I wanted to pick out a "favorite" out of the bunch...but I kept scrolling up and down the group of pictures...and I like them ALL! Pretty cool that #11 has different angles on the fortifications!
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 19, 2021 22:05:43 GMT -5
Boy, those dendritic river agates sure do resemble Montana moss.... Some very nice tumbles. I'm not sure I've seen cheetah agate before. It's pretty cool stuff. The cheetah agate is "scrap" from an apatite mine in brazil. I say scrap because they used to consider it matrix, until someone realized there's a bigger market for something named cheetah agate (good marketing) than there is for apatite. Then again, a few high grade pieces of apatite are worth more than a drum full of cheetah agate. The cheetah agate is a great rock to tumble (and to cab). It is hard, but not too hard (maybe mohs 6-6.5ish?), has very few cracks, and has practically no holes or soft spots except druzy vugs. Best of all, it takes an out-of-this-world polish with little effort. Only Bahia agates are as easy to polish to a wet shine. Shines up as good as a Montana agate, but the Genie wheels don't scream about it like they do when grinding and polishing the ultra-hard Montanas. And when you get lucky, you find some apatite in the cheetah agate, stuff that wasn't high grade enough to chisel out and sell as apatite. But it's a pretty cool contrast, nonetheless. |
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 19, 2021 22:16:05 GMT -5
Boy, those dendritic river agates sure do resemble Montana moss.... Some very nice tumbles. I'm not sure I've seen cheetah agate before. It's pretty cool stuff. Putting aside my patriotic preference for Montana agates, the Madagascar dendritic agates are better lapidary material in a lot of ways. They tend to be larger than Montanas and much more solid. You can cut huge, often fracture free slabs from them. Every huge Montana agate I have ever cut has been a time-consuming and heart-breaking affair. |
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 19, 2021 22:36:27 GMT -5
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lunker
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2021
Posts: 430
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Post by lunker on Aug 21, 2021 22:54:10 GMT -5
Beautiful shiny rocks. Those Montana waterline agates can create some awesome scenes.
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Post by holajonathan on Aug 22, 2021 10:46:29 GMT -5
Beautiful shiny rocks. Those Montana waterline agates can create some awesome scenes. They are amazing. Next time I am going to try cutting parallel to the bands to get full face cuts with the dendrites. I cut that one parallel to the bands only to discover that a few of the solid white opalized bands broke in half when I tried to cab it. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 22, 2021 20:18:06 GMT -5
Those Madagascar Dendritic Agate nodules are huge! I've had two, but they were no where near that size...and yes, I know rocks come in different sizes! LOL
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eccman
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2021
Posts: 93 
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Post by eccman on Aug 23, 2021 15:19:35 GMT -5
The Montana agates are sweet
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