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Post by holajonathan on Oct 28, 2021 19:34:58 GMT -5
Rob ( Jugglerguy ) picked me up in SE Michigan at 7:20 a.m. on Wednesday. After a 3-1/2 hour drive, we spent a solid 8 hours hammering, chiseling, digging, and surface collecting the Ohio state gemstone at Nether's Farm in Hopewell, Ohio. We befriended Brad, a flint knapper who had rented a generator and jackhammer. After two days, he left with 500+ pounds of rocks in the floor of his SUV. Rob gave him a Mountain Dew, and he let us pick through his tailings. Rob was also nice enough to lend his rock hammer to a young, alternative-looking couple who were "really into crystals." The young lady proposed to trade me her best "rainbow rock" finds in exchange for the most powerful crystals I discovered. (She assured me that she had been finding TONS of AMAZING rainbow rocks.) I know what you're thinking: what a great idea! But as it turns out, "rainbow rocks" are just another name for gray chert with rust stains. I did find her some powerful crystals, and she graciously brought me rainbow rock after rainbow rock, presenting them to me theatrically, one at a time, never satisfied until I feigned excitement. "You love it don't you," she said more than once. After amassing enough crystals to recharge her aura, she left the woods, but not before spotting a rock that "looked like marijuana." Rob nourished himself from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with Mountain Dew alone, his insatiable hunger for OHIO rocks numbing his hunger pangs. His Michigan t-shirt provoked at least a few crooked smiles, as we were deep into Buckeye country. I powered through with Starbucks frappuchinos and half a bag of Fritos. No one seemed interested in my German army jacket. We stayed at the farm until it got dark, chatting with a guy who was collecting tumbling rough. This guy and the rock-hoarding jack-hammer-knapper had both seen Rob's YouTube videos, confirming that, despite his humility, Rob is kind of a big deal. We grabbed a couple of slices of pizza on the way home. The time flew by as Rob and I chatted about rocks, our families, and life in general. Rob is as kind and gregarious in person as he is on this forum and in his videos. Rob dropped me off at 10:45 p.m.. By midnight I had my tools put away, my muddy clothes in the washing machine, and two slab saws chewing into a couple of colorful chunks of rough. I showed a few of my treasured new rocks to my wife who called them "pretty" and "dirty." I showered off the mud and fell asleep on the couch. Before 8:00 a.m. this morning my slab saws were at it again, and have been slicing and dicing Ohio flint for the past 12 hours. Most of the rocks are so solid that they ring like a bell when the blade first makes contact. You'll have to wait for Rob's YouTube video (on the Michigan Rocks YouTube channel) to see a whole bunch more slabs and to hear his take on the trip. I hope he doesn't mention how he caught be licking muddy rocks at least twice. A preview: We had a great day and left with some nice rocks. But the best part was spending a day outdoors and in good company! What is the disappointment? I could have (and should have) brought back a whole lot more than I did! They simply didn't look very nice when coated in sticky clay. Who would have thought?
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Post by Son Of Beach on Oct 28, 2021 19:42:36 GMT -5
Rob ( Jugglerguy ) picked me up in SE Michigan at 7:20 a.m. on Wednesday. After a 3-1/2 hour drive, we spent a solid 8 hours hammering, chiseling, digging, and surface collecting the Ohio state gemstone at Nether's Farm in Hopewell, Ohio. We befriended a flint knapper who had rented a generator and jackhammer. After two days, he left with 500+ pounds of rocks in the floor of his SUV. Rob gave him a Mountain Dew, and he let us pick through his tailings. Rob was also nice enough to lend his rock hammer to a young, alternative-looking couple who were "really into crystals." The young lady proposed to trade me her best "rainbow rock" finds in exchange for the most powerful crystals I discovered. (She assured me that she had been finding TONS of amazing rainbow rocks.) I know what you're thinking: what a great idea! At least I thought so. But as it turns out, "rainbow rocks" are just another name for gray chert with rust stains. I did find her some powerful crystals, and she graciously brought me rainbow rock after rainbow rock, presenting them to me theatrically, one at a time, never satisfied until I feigned excitement. She had soon amassed enough crystals to recharge her aura, but not before spotting a rock that "looked like marijuana." Rob nourished himself from 6:00 a.m. to around 8:00 p.m. with Mountain Dew alone, his insatiable hunger for OHIO rocks numbing his hunger pangs. His Michigan t-shirt provoked at least a few crooked smiles and forced laughs. No one seemed interested in my German army jacket. I powered through with Starbucks frappuchinos and half a bag of Fritos. The rocks sustained us. We stayed at the farm until it got dark, chatting with some a guy who was searching for some tumbling rough. This guy and the jack-hammer-knapper had both seen Rob's YouTube videos, confirming that, despite his humility, Rob's kind of a big deal. We grabbed a couple of slices of pizza on the way home. The time flew by as we chatted about rocks, our families, and life in general. Rob is as kind and gregarious in person as he is on this forum and in his videos. Rob dropped me off at 10:45 p.m.. By midnight I had my tools put away, my muddy clothes in the washing machine, and two slab saws chewing into a couple of colorful chunks of rock. I showed a few of my treasured new rocks to my wife who called them "pretty." I showered off the mud and fell asleep on the couch. By 8:00 a.m. this morning, my slab saws were at it again, and have been slicing and dicing Ohio flint ever since. You'll have to wait for Rob's ( Jugglerguy ) YouTube video to see a whole bunch of slabs I am cutting. For now, a preview: We had a great day and found some nice rocks. (Too nice to call "flint" or "chert.") Why am I disappointed? Because I could have (and should have) brought back a whole lot more rocks than I did! They simply didn't look that great when covered coated in sticky wet clay. Who would have thought... Sounds like a perfect road trip! I'll be awaiting the video no doubt in a few days....did you uh..make a cameo? Gorgeous finds
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 28, 2021 19:46:12 GMT -5
Sounds like a perfect road trip! I'll be awaiting the video no doubt in a few days....did you uh..make a cameo? Gorgeous finds I will be in the video, for better or worse. The video may not be very long. We were too distracted by the rocks to get a ton of footage. I wanted to stage a few scenes so it looked like we were removing big chunks of bedrock with a single hammer blow. Rob would have none of it.
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Post by MsAli on Oct 28, 2021 19:46:48 GMT -5
Cannot wait to see more of what you two got! One of my I have to go to places! Walt manofglass sent me some years ago and I've been a fan ever since
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Post by rockpickerforever on Oct 28, 2021 19:51:55 GMT -5
I had wondered why you were disappointed? Sounds like a great day, great finds and interesting people you met. Then I came to your answer, lol. I guess if you need to err on the amount of rocks you bring home, make sure to err on the "bigly" side.
Thanks for posting part of your trip, will watch for the rest of it.
Edit to add - Oh, and I am jealous that you got to meet Rob!
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 28, 2021 19:58:32 GMT -5
Lucky you! You got to hang out with Rob and you got some great rocks. I love your description of the alternative girl. LOL! I've met a few of them myself.
Sounds like a REALLY disappointing trip. Look- you're still at it. They don't even cut themselves. LOL!
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Oct 28, 2021 20:36:01 GMT -5
I was there a few years ago, but I was on 2 wheels so my visit was short & my collection was only a few fist size pieces.
I enjoyed your write up & by the pictures you found some amazing pieces. Like everyone else, I too am excited to see Rob's video.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,813
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 28, 2021 21:17:57 GMT -5
Sounds like a great trip. I want to see a picture of that "rock that looked like marijuana."
Looks like you got some great cutters.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,507
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Post by Brian on Oct 28, 2021 21:29:21 GMT -5
Now I’m disappointed that more of us couldn’t have come along. Sounds like a great trip and I can’t wait to see more of the rocks you did bring home. Those teasers are absolutely incredible!
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 28, 2021 22:01:30 GMT -5
Now I’m disappointed that more of us couldn’t have come along. Sounds like a great trip and I can’t wait to see more of the rocks you did bring home. Those teasers are absolutely incredible! I spent most of the day hammering and chiseling. We had access to a deep layer of a newly dug pit after Mr. Jackhammer called it a day. Lots of reds and oranges with chalcedony veins. My last photo is from that layer, although that piece was removed with the jackhammer. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossibly to get anything loose from this layer with hand tools, so other than getting a good workout, there wasn't much to show for hours of swinging the hammer. It was hard to give up because there was very nice rock sitting right it front of us. But even a 12 pound sledge hammer and steel wedges did almost nothing to break anything loose. About an hour before we left, I started roaming the forest looking for stray rocks, intent on bringing home some big cutters. I'm no rock expert, but I've bought enough cutting rough to have a pretty good idea which rocks are promising, even when they've got a little clay mud stuck to them. I grabbed almost anything that looked somewhat solid and had color or clear chalcedony. The rock in the second photo is one of those grabs. The knappers probably tossed it because it had a bunch of vugs, but for cabbing I can work around vugs or incorporate them in the design. If I had just looked for large knapper reject pieces the whole day I probably could have gotten at least 300-400 pounds, half of which would have ended up being nice material. We left with about 140 pounds total and divided it up back at my house. Rob wanted mostly tumbling rough, and I wanted mostly cutters. I am confident we both got some nice rocks, and the experience really was the best part. But if I had known what I know now, I would have picked up another 100 pounds for gifts or trade. I will probably end up gifting or trading some slabs, but I definitely didn't get more rough than I can cut in a week or so.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 28, 2021 22:17:58 GMT -5
I had wondered why you were disappointed? Sounds like a great day, great finds and interesting people you met. Then I came to your answer, lol. I guess if you need to err on the amount of rocks you bring home, make sure to err on the "bigly" side. Thanks for posting part of your trip, will watch for the rest of it. Edit to add - Oh, and I am jealous that you got to meet Rob! Rob is very disciplined in not acquiring more rocks that he wants or needs. He doesn't want to clutter up his house with a bunch of rough. I respect that. In general, I do not share Rob's approach. I've got a garage, barn, and basement where I can stash rocks, and I'd rather die with a bunch of rocks than a bunch of money. But I think that yesterday his attitude wore off on me. More importantly, the rocks really didn't look that great before cleaning and cutting. What I though was gray chert in many rocks was actually translucent blue chalcedony -- a pretty important difference. Finally, meeting Rob was the highlight of the trip. Although he did record a little bit of video, that seemed like an afterthought. He was definitely there for the rocks, and not just to make a video. The only thing I had wrong about Rob is his height. I somehow had the impression from his videos that he is very tall. My guess would have been 6'4" or 6'5." I'm a hair over 6' tall, and we pretty much saw eye to eye, although he is a bit taller.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 28, 2021 22:18:55 GMT -5
Sounds like a great trip. I want to see a picture of that "rock that looked like marijuana." Looks like you got some great cutters. I saw it. It didn't look like the stuff we smoked when I was her age.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 28, 2021 22:20:29 GMT -5
Now I’m disappointed that more of us couldn’t have come along. Sounds like a great trip and I can’t wait to see more of the rocks you did bring home. Those teasers are absolutely incredible! Are you in Western PA? I'll go again and meet you there. Having gotten the feel for the place, we could really clean up in 4-5 hours. And if you want a hardcore experience, I'll bring a generator if you can get a jackhammer. Or dynamite. Two guys with a jackhammer could pull 500+ pounds of the really nice material (similar to my third photo) in a day.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 28, 2021 22:47:25 GMT -5
Wow, what a great write up of our trip, Jonathan. I had a really great time too. For those of you who haven't met Jonathan in person (I assume that's almost everyone), he talks as much as he types. I like that. our 3.5 hour trip in each direction flew by because the two of us chatted the whole time. I kind of hated leaving his place, because it seemed like we still had more about life to discuss. I'm not going to be home until tomorrow, so I haven't even had a chance to rinse of my rocks. My wife Nancy and I were at a beach today looking for lightning stones and found a few. It was another good day.
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stuckinohio
starting to shine!
Member since September 2021
Posts: 31
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Post by stuckinohio on Oct 29, 2021 0:44:24 GMT -5
Thanks for this awesome account of your adventure! I’m a new rockhound from Columbus and spent the last year traveling up to Rob’s neck of the woods to hound, kayak, and hike. I’ve enjoyed his videos immensely and am incredibly bummed I missed seeing you guys- I was there on Monday! If I’d have seen Rob I would’ve asked him to autograph a piece of flint!
If you have time, would you be able to share some tips on how you slab and cab flint with druzies? I picked up a whole bunch when I was there Monday and have been staring at these beautiful chunks trying to figure out how the heck to slice and work these pointy fellas while keeping the druzy bits intact. Any advice is appreciated!
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Post by fernwood on Oct 29, 2021 5:45:24 GMT -5
Great trip report. Rob is becoming a celebrity for his videos. And, you spent the day with him.
Looking forward to seeing more slabs.
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Post by orrum on Oct 29, 2021 7:19:29 GMT -5
Great trip! Cook them and you will get some blue and green!
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,507
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Post by Brian on Oct 29, 2021 7:42:32 GMT -5
Now I’m disappointed that more of us couldn’t have come along. Sounds like a great trip and I can’t wait to see more of the rocks you did bring home. Those teasers are absolutely incredible! Are you in Western PA? I'll go again and meet you there. Having gotten the feel for the place, we could really clean up in 4-5 hours. And if you want a hardcore experience, I'll bring a generator if you can get a jackhammer. Or dynamite. Two guys with a jackhammer could pull 500+ pounds of the really nice material (similar to my third photo) in a day. That would be awesome. I’m in the southeastern corner of PA so it would be a bit more of a trek though.
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oldschoolrocker
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,548
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Post by oldschoolrocker on Oct 29, 2021 8:27:55 GMT -5
Great trip report and looks like u got some great stuff! I was there this past summer and as we got there the farm caretaker (farm hand?) Was just exiting the woods in their backhoe with several 5 gallon buckets full of material. Once we got into the woods we were the only ones the entire time. It was apparent that the gentleman had been collecting knapping material and left numerous piles of great cabbing material for us to go thru. Also had a nice freshly dug pit that we spent a good bit of time poking around in. I learned quickly that my efforts of digging out material was much harder than anticipated. Fortunately, there was so much great material left by knappers that it wasn't really necessary. At least I will have better game plan for next time I'm able to get back up there. I love the place and wish I was a mere 3-4 hr drive from there! I'd quickly be up to my eyeballs in flint! Thanks for sharing!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 29, 2021 9:21:21 GMT -5
Excellent trip report, holajonathan and thanks for the picture previews! Sounds like you found some great material and from your pictures, it looks like it, too.
Looking forward to seeing Rob's mini-video. I love the descriptions of the jackhammer guy and and "alternative" girl.
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