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Post by tims on Sept 7, 2021 22:48:04 GMT -5
Too lazy to set up lights so took outdoor pics with my phone. Wiped these all dry with an old terry towel so there's plenty of pretty white lint.
Jasp-agate another a little piece of Teepee Canyon Turitellas Rainbow (?) obsidian that I need to learn how to cut for sheen Unidentified green stuff, will edit with ID when i find it ... India Moss! We think.
another, weird cut / freehand cab
thanks for looking.
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Post by perkins17 on Sept 7, 2021 23:08:36 GMT -5
Too lazy to set up lights so took outdoor pics with my phone. Wiped these all dry with an old terry towel so there's plenty of pretty white lint.
Jasp-agate
another
a little piece of Teepee Canyon
Turitellas
Rainbow (?) obsidian that I need to learn how to cut for sheen
Unidentified green stuff, will edit with ID when i find it ...
another, weird cut / freehand cab
thanks for looking.
Great job on the cabs! If you think your rag is bad, you should see my tumbling one. At one time it was white... It is sort of a Tannish gray-black now. |
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Post by stephan on Sept 8, 2021 0:46:28 GMT -5
Nice work. The jasp-agates look like Prairie agates. It’s hard to tell with the glare, but your moss agate looks like India moss agate, with maybe two pieces of Maury Mt (the two with some red).
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Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 6:09:07 GMT -5
Nice work. The jasp-agates look like Prairie agates. It’s hard to tell with the glare, but your moss agate looks like India moss agate, with maybe two pieces of Maury Mt (the two with some red). I found the jasp-agate on the western edge of the Black Hills and it's more translucent and colorful than the prairie agate i see around here. Wasn't sure what to call it but figured jasp-agate covered the bases. Thanks for some possible IDs on the moss agate, that was gifted to me by a buddy who buys on ebay and he couldn't recall what it was so it might have come from anywhere. There's actually no red in either of them, that's either reflection or weird glare from the hurried pics, both those were cut from the same slice. Looking at google images of India moss it sure looks like similar material, so i'll go with that until corrected  Thanks Stephan. This is that Black Hills agatey stuff in the rough |
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Post by fernwood on Sept 8, 2021 7:38:34 GMT -5
Nice cabs. That Turritella is amazing.
Just a suggestion. Your photos are so large, it makes them blurry on my laptop. They look much better when someone quotes the original photos.
If you go to edit post, BBC code, you can reduce the percent of display.
I usually change the default 100% To between 40% and 60%. If the original file size was over 200 KB, then I use 60%. If over 1 MB, I use 40%.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Sept 8, 2021 8:57:33 GMT -5
Nice, pretty, shiny stones! That Turritella is kick-a$$!
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Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 13:58:36 GMT -5
fernwood I'll try resizing those, I've just been cropping the pics, dumping them on my domain then linking them. They are obnoxiously huge Thank you.
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Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 13:59:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the encouragement hummingbirdstones I had another large cab of the turitella going but it exploded on like the 600 wheel, not sure what happened. I got a slice of that at a local rock show and we're having another show next week so hoping to get some more, it's neat stuff. |
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Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 14:06:29 GMT -5
Nice work, I love the look of that self collected jasp agate. From what I can see on the obsidian you cut parallel to the layers which should be perfect to show sheen, it may not be rainbow. I'd first read that just off parallel was the way to cut it, but have also heard that just off perpendicular is best, and also 35-45 degrees off perpendicular lol. Hadn't even considered it might not be rainbow, i know zilch about obsidian and assumed if it had the layers it must be some kind of sheen if worked correctly. Thanks for some clarification, that was driving me nuts. |
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Post by stephan on Sept 8, 2021 14:46:10 GMT -5
Nice work, I love the look of that self collected jasp agate. From what I can see on the obsidian you cut parallel to the layers which should be perfect to show sheen, it may not be rainbow. I'd first read that just off parallel was the way to cut it, but have also heard that just off perpendicular is best, and also 35-45 degrees off perpendicular lol. Hadn't even considered it might not be rainbow, i know zilch about obsidian and assumed if it had the layers it must be some kind of sheen if worked correctly. Thanks for some clarification, that was driving me nuts. From what I see in those layers, maybe black and gray banded obsidian that someone thought looked like sheen, though I would’ve guessed silver to be more likely. |
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Post by stephan on Sept 8, 2021 15:04:37 GMT -5
Nice work. The jasp-agates look like Prairie agates. It’s hard to tell with the glare, but your moss agate looks like India moss agate, with maybe two pieces of Maury Mt (the two with some red). I found the jasp-agate on the western edge of the Black Hills and it's more translucent and colorful than the prairie agate i see around here. Wasn't sure what to call it but figured jasp-agate covered the bases. Thanks for some possible IDs on the moss agate, that was gifted to me by a buddy who buys on ebay and he couldn't recall what it was so it might have come from anywhere. There's actually no red in either of them, that's either reflection or weird glare from the hurried pics, both those were cut from the same slice. Looking at google images of India moss it sure looks like similar material, so i'll go with that until corrected Thanks Stephan. This is that Black Hills agatey stuff in the rough I'm certainly not an expert on Prairie agates (or anything else from that area), but some of the material that jasoninsd sent me to work also has some semi-translucent areas, as well as the speckles (which I love):  DSC_4898_Prairie agate free-form by Stephan T., on Flickr It sounds like you two might haunt some similar places. For the record, jasp-agate is a pretty loose term that I've seen used in several different ways: 1. Brecciated jasper, where the healing material shows banded or fortified agate 2. Alternating bands of translucent and non-translucent material, like can be seen in some thunderegg cores or Mexican agates 3. Layered jasper with alternating colors Yours definitely fit into that framework. I'd be interested to see if Jason or miket (or someone else can provide a more specific ID. |
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Post by miket on Sept 8, 2021 16:01:09 GMT -5
I'd say Prairie Agate...
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 8, 2021 18:24:49 GMT -5
tims - Those are really some amazing looking cabs! Your polish on those is outstanding! - The Jasp/Agate is like a lot of material I find all over out here. I have a tendency to categorize it as a jasper Prairie Agate (as opposed to a chert Prairie Agate...so NEITHER is agate! LOL). Those cabs are outstanding! - Green and White Moss Agate from India. I'd put money on this being the correct ID on this one. I picked up a couple pieces from the Fairburn rock swap and had to do a lot of asking and some sleuth work to come up with the ID. - Obsidian - It looks like you did a fantastic job on the polish of those! I have some Obsidian that I struggle with finding the right angle to cut them in order to get the sheen to show up the best. I messed up several chunks trying to get the angle right. - Turritella Agates - You did a flat-out, hands-down fantastic freaking job on those! That material is so amazing when it ends up looking like yours...and so depressing when it blows up during the process (or pits appear out of nowhere!). 
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Post by stephan on Sept 8, 2021 18:44:08 GMT -5
tims - Those are really some amazing looking cabs! Your polish on those is outstanding! - The Jasp/Agate is like a lot of material I find all over out here. I have a tendency to categorize it as a jasper Prairie Agate (as opposed to a chert Prairie Agate...so NEITHER is agate! LOL). Those cabs are outstanding! - Green and White Moss Agate from India. I'd put money on this being the correct ID on this one. I picked up a couple pieces from the Fairburn rock swap and had to do a lot of asking and some sleuth work to come up with the ID. - Obsidian - It looks like you did a fantastic job on the polish of those! I have some Obsidian that I struggle with finding the right angle to cut them in order to get the sheen to show up the best. I messed up several chunks trying to get the angle right. - Turritella Agates - You did a flat-out, hands-down fantastic freaking job on those! That material is so amazing when it ends up looking like yours...and so depressing when it blows up during the process (or pits appear out of nowhere!). You know you did a great job polishing if you can’t get a picture without your reflection in it. My double-plus unfavorite for the TA is when one of the snails pops out of the matrix at the last moment. If the whole thing blows up, somehow that feels a little better (or less ungood). |
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Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 23:30:28 GMT -5
tims - Those are really some amazing looking cabs! Your polish on those is outstanding! - The Jasp/Agate is like a lot of material I find all over out here. I have a tendency to categorize it as a jasper Prairie Agate (as opposed to a chert Prairie Agate...so NEITHER is agate! LOL). Those cabs are outstanding! - Green and White Moss Agate from India. I'd put money on this being the correct ID on this one. I picked up a couple pieces from the Fairburn rock swap and had to do a lot of asking and some sleuth work to come up with the ID. - Obsidian - It looks like you did a fantastic job on the polish of those! I have some Obsidian that I struggle with finding the right angle to cut them in order to get the sheen to show up the best. I messed up several chunks trying to get the angle right. - Turritella Agates - You did a flat-out, hands-down fantastic freaking job on those! That material is so amazing when it ends up looking like yours...and so depressing when it blows up during the process (or pits appear out of nowhere!). Prairie agate sounds fine for that rock but the semantics bug me because i found it on a hill  I concur with the India moss ID suggestions too. It sure is pretty, and hard stuff ... made the obsidian feel like warm butter by comparison. I tried and failed tumbling obsidian but it seems to do much better on the wheels. Hate cutting it still because i feed rock manually, and little shards of obsidian on the deck get really bitey. Thanks on the turitella, i had no idea what to expect. The slab i bought had some visible pits and there are a couple pinholes in those cabs, but overall it was ok to work.
Thanks for all the feedback.
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Post by tims on Sept 8, 2021 23:52:24 GMT -5
You know you did a great job polishing if you can’t get a picture without your reflection in it. My double-plus unfavorite for the TA is when one of the snails pops out of the matrix at the last moment. If the whole thing blows up, somehow that feels a little better (or less ungood). I did have a turitella in my first batch that had a small round shell pop out around 8,000 ... at least it didn't wait all the way til polish.
Oh, and i assume Jason hunts all around the Black Hills and that's my usual go-to, either hunt around Teepee Canyon or just pick a road / direction and hunt wherever i happen to end up. He's on the other side of the hills and closer to the fairburn stuff but i think there is much similarity in many of the rocks in and surrounding the hills.
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Post by stephan on Sept 8, 2021 23:57:12 GMT -5
tims - Those are really some amazing looking cabs! Your polish on those is outstanding! - The Jasp/Agate is like a lot of material I find all over out here. I have a tendency to categorize it as a jasper Prairie Agate (as opposed to a chert Prairie Agate...so NEITHER is agate! LOL). Those cabs are outstanding! - Green and White Moss Agate from India. I'd put money on this being the correct ID on this one. I picked up a couple pieces from the Fairburn rock swap and had to do a lot of asking and some sleuth work to come up with the ID. - Obsidian - It looks like you did a fantastic job on the polish of those! I have some Obsidian that I struggle with finding the right angle to cut them in order to get the sheen to show up the best. I messed up several chunks trying to get the angle right. - Turritella Agates - You did a flat-out, hands-down fantastic freaking job on those! That material is so amazing when it ends up looking like yours...and so depressing when it blows up during the process (or pits appear out of nowhere!). Prairie agate sounds fine for that rock but the semantics bug me because i found it on a hill I concur with the India moss ID suggestions too. It sure is pretty, and hard stuff ... made the obsidian feel like warm butter by comparison. I tried and failed tumbling obsidian but it seems to do much better on the wheels. Hate cutting it still because i feed rock manually, and little shards of obsidian on the deck get really bitey. Thanks on the turitella, i had no idea what to expect. The slab i bought had some visible pits and there are a couple pinholes in those cabs, but overall it was ok to work.
Thanks for all the feedback.
That’s only because the swallow dropped it on the hill. 😀 Either that, or it’s a very rare prairie hill agate. |
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Post by stephan on Sept 9, 2021 0:00:41 GMT -5
You know you did a great job polishing if you can’t get a picture without your reflection in it. My double-plus unfavorite for the TA is when one of the snails pops out of the matrix at the last moment. If the whole thing blows up, somehow that feels a little better (or less ungood). I did have a turitella in my first batch that had a small round shell pop out around 8,000 ... at least it didn't wait all the way til polish.
Oh, and i assume Jason hunts all around the Black Hills and that's my usual go-to, either hunt around Teepee Canyon or just pick a road / direction and hunt wherever i happen to end up. He's on the other side of the hills and closer to the fairburn stuff but i think there is much similarity in many of the rocks in and surrounding the hills.
I’ve never been out there, so I wouldn’t know about one one ends of the Black Hills vs the other. What I noticed was that the larger patterns (bands) seemed to be composed of little orbs and speckles all packed together. That’s one of my favorite features of the Prairie agates. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Sept 9, 2021 8:43:32 GMT -5
That is a fantastic batch! The turitella cabs are amazing. I don’t think I’ve seen any with that fine a polish.
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Post by holajonathan on Sept 9, 2021 12:00:19 GMT -5
Looks like you're suffering from the too-shiny-to-photograph curse in a few of those -- a "problem" that should make you proud.
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Thanks Stephan.
