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Post by Bob on Sept 1, 2022 15:22:37 GMT -5
This is the first 20lb batch done with tin oxide, and also the first one done after I started doing a lot of trimming with my refurbed 10" lapidary saw. It came into use over a year ago, but it has taken this long for rocks trimmed on it to work their way through processing. I dislike the resulting flat surfaces. At least one thing learned is the earlier the trimming is done in rough grind, the more these flats get ground away and become less noticeable due to nearby rounded corners. I never trim for desired shape, but only trim to get rid of holes, big dents, thin projections, porous areas, etc. My desire is to have rocks with a close to the random shapes found in nature as possible. Forgot to take a photo of all the rocks in a pile before sorting out. The batch was mostly cherts, with some misc. Using the 20lb barrel for a polish run is a royal pain because so much masking has to be done of the outside of the entire barrel so not a single grain of grit falls off during the polish slurry pour off. To accomplish this I use plastic Saran type wrap from the kitchen around the entire barrel and also over the bolt heads that stick up before pouring. No burnish run has been done. These were taken with my cellphone which has a pretty mediocre camera. This is chert, something I am very fond of and tumble a lot. For scale, there are probably about 10 pieces in this pic that are golf ball size more or less. This is misc. "stream" cherts of various types from the junction area of KS/OK/AR/MO, plus a few pieces of chert from TX. Misc. jasper and agates and misc. That large one is about 4" long.
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Post by Bob on Sept 1, 2022 15:24:34 GMT -5
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Post by Bob on Sept 1, 2022 15:31:13 GMT -5
Here's some pretty pieces of mostly "stream" chert. One has almost a ghostly bluish color. The very dark on on left might be Georgetown "flint" from TX. This is chert petrified wood. 75% of the mass was lost in working this down to get rid of all fractures and imperfections. I have only rarely found this many colors in "stream chert". The white, tan, beige, dark grey, light grey are typical colors, but rarely all in one piece.
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Post by Bob on Sept 1, 2022 15:32:58 GMT -5
These are various misc. materials. Tiger's eye like material. Cerro Pedernal, NM, chalcedony. I've got a lot of this but not much has been finished yet. I don't think there is a single piece that has not required sawing to get rid of porous areas. It's a lot of work to process. Petrified wood. Green tree "agate". Misc. agates including Bahia. Spider woman jasper that doesn't get very shiny. Rocks I used to buy in bulk as filler and may be basanite, rarely shine much. Chrysoprase--mostly lousy. Exotica jasper. Cruddy results. Del Norte agate/jasper I dug out of ground on mountain near there. This isn't fun to tumble as are many flaws that seem to go on forever at times.
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Post by Bob on Sept 1, 2022 15:39:58 GMT -5
Some closeups of some of my favs in this batch. I think this is a piece of jasper I found in the desert near Ludlow, CA but not certain of that. Piece of petrified wood with deep clear chalcedony in areas, found in Rio Puerco valley in NM. Have no idea what this is. Also don't know much about this other than it's really pretty and I like it. It's been touchy to tumble due to imperfections that I finally worked out. It very heavy for its size and there is some pretty, shiny, metallic material along some of the healed fractures. Think I found it in Canada on Fraser River but not certain.
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Post by Starguy on Sept 1, 2022 17:53:37 GMT -5
Nice looking batch Bob. All seem well shaped with an excellent polish. Thanks for showing.
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Post by HankRocks on Sept 1, 2022 18:29:20 GMT -5
Bob Very nice polish and shape on those. Just curious about this follow statement, what grit are you protecting against? Using the 20lb barrel for a polish run is a royal pain because so much masking has to be done of the outside of the entire barrel so not a single grain of grit falls off during the polish slurry pour off. To accomplish this I use plastic Saran type wrap from the kitchen around the entire barrel and also over the bolt heads that stick up before pouring. No burnish run has been done.
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on Sept 1, 2022 18:50:33 GMT -5
All of these are really beautiful Bob - you know I love my chert! I love that multicolored striped one! And the pet wood chert - I have some that look similar. How do you ID pet wood chert? I am just not good at IDing pet wood.
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on Sept 1, 2022 21:06:57 GMT -5
Love the grey toned material Bob. Great job on these!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2022 23:26:45 GMT -5
BobAwesome batch Bob! I love chert!
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Post by Bob on Sept 2, 2022 10:43:19 GMT -5
Bob Very nice polish and shape on those. Just curious about this follow statement, what grit are you protecting against? Using the 20lb barrel for a polish run is a royal pain because so much masking has to be done of the outside of the entire barrel so not a single grain of grit falls off during the polish slurry pour off. To accomplish this I use plastic Saran type wrap from the kitchen around the entire barrel and also over the bolt heads that stick up before pouring. No burnish run has been done.
Hankrocks, the outside of the Lortone steel barrels collect over time dried slurry in various places. You can't just wipe it off with a wet towel and get it all. I will try to remember to take a photo for you the next time I have one sitting on the bench with the end cap off. So if the barrel is tilted to pour off slurry, there is the risk of some dried slurry from the past falling off into the pouroff container. For silicon carbide slurry, I'm pouring off into cardboard boxes that I let dry and then discard, so no concern. But when doing a polish run, I'm pouring off the slurry into a clean plastic container I use only to receive polish slurry. Then I let it settle and pour off the clear water on top and recycle the polish after drying it. About once per year I blast off and super clean these barrels and their lid attachment brackets with a garden hose or at the car wash. But within a week or two they are dirty again.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,548
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Post by jamesp on Sept 2, 2022 11:04:10 GMT -5
Well done Bob. I see their reflection in Georgia
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Post by Bob on Sept 2, 2022 14:10:45 GMT -5
All of these are really beautiful Bob - you know I love my chert! I love that multicolored striped one! And the pet wood chert - I have some that look similar. How do you ID pet wood chert? I am just not good at IDing pet wood. ericabelle, when I would be exploring streams and find chert, the patterns would puzzle me at times. Concentric rings, centers, various patterns that reminded me of pet wood. But at the time I did't know that so many types of minerals and rocks could petrify or mineralize wood. One day in eastern Oklahoma a couple of years ago, I found a piece of chert that weighed over 100lbs and looked just like a petrified stump, complete with the beginnings of large roots and the trunk. Another guy was with me. Then we started looking around, and found perhaps 10+ of them. They were all banged up, broken, and kind of ugly. Then we noticed various parts laying around in a gravel bar. It sure looked to us that there was obviously chert pet wood. Then I studied in literature and found out it's not uncommon. The next time I'm getting ready to rough grind a piece of it I will try to remember to get you a photo of what it looks like in the rough state in the field. Most pieces are pretty ugly and fractured up and I throw them back on the ground. I'm often unable to tell if the layers are from pet wood or just sedimentary layers or rings that formed in the chert nodule that formed in matrix material. If there is a cylindrical pattern with rings and what looks like the center of the tree in it I assume more or less that it just has to be petrified wood. If anyone thinks I've erred in any of the above please let me know. From the literature: Petrifaction = a type of fossilization in which minerals have replaced all the organic tissues while preserving the original three-dimensional structure. All petrified organisms are thus fossils, but only some fossils are petrified. We use the term silicified often instead of that the organic material was petrified with quartz. Chert is merely subcategory of the mineral quartz. So perhaps there are many descriptors of petrified wood we could use. For instance, maybe there is amethyst petrified wood for all I know.
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Post by Bob on Sept 7, 2022 10:50:44 GMT -5
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Post by Son Of Beach on Sept 7, 2022 13:47:52 GMT -5
Good looking tumbles, that blue and gold chert is takes the prize, quite the find
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,063
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Post by dshanpnw on Sept 7, 2022 18:11:43 GMT -5
Very nice batch of rocks. The stories about the rocks make them even more exciting. Thanks for sharing.
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