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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 24, 2016 17:22:16 GMT -5
LOL. 34 Deg yesterday here in "frozen" South Dakota, and was 30 Deg when I got up this morning. Supposed to snow tonight & tomorrow, but only about 3" of that white crap expected by this time tomorrow. You east coast folks take care, and keep that white stuff over there this winter. We don't want it.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 23, 2016 15:14:04 GMT -5
Yup. I got in today with no problems.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 21, 2016 13:51:50 GMT -5
None of the above, (or both). It's a process which with time and experience you will gain certain skills. You will get skilled at determining how long to run each batch in each grit stage. You will get skilled at determining which rocks will take a polish and can be added to a tumble batch, and which to add to your driveway gravel. You will get skilled at determining the hardness of rocks so only rocks of like hardness go into a tumble batch. There are other things you will learn as you go along. And once you've mastered these skills, it becomes just a process. When that happens, you'll find yourself looking at saws, grinders & other equipment so that you can learn new skills.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 20, 2016 10:30:52 GMT -5
Unless things have changed drastically, the Potato Patch wasn't hard to reach in a regular car. For the most part the eggs & geodes there were small but plentiful. It'd be a good side trip for those without 4wd. And the layer containing nodules started about 2' below the surface. Just find an old hole where someone has dug before & start expanding the hole. Always lots of broken eggs laying around those old holes too.
A plus to the potato patch. In the dry washes around that area I've found some very nice orange colored common opal with black dendrites. This material is in small chunks, but it's stable & cuts beautiful cabs.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 19, 2016 23:21:41 GMT -5
Haven't been there since the mid 90's. Take lots of pics & have fun.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 19, 2016 22:42:50 GMT -5
Don't forget Roger Moore either.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 19, 2016 19:42:32 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 18, 2016 10:51:19 GMT -5
Green, white & red. Don't know what the other wires were used for unless someone had it wired to be reversible. It's only a 1/8 HP motor, so don't plan on running anything big with it.
It's also possible that it is a 2 speed motor. A switch would have let it run at high or low speed. I have one of those, and it was a nightmare figuring out the wiring.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 15, 2016 21:39:04 GMT -5
Just from the shape of the chips out of the first stone I'm thinking not sandstone. It is a type of sedimentary, but possibly cemented with silica. More like the wonderstone from the north west, but without the fancy swirls & patterning.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 15, 2016 17:59:32 GMT -5
Not positive on the first one. It's worth getting more of if for no other reason than those blocks would stack well and make a nice border around a flower garden or some such. I'd try polishing a small piece. It might surprise you & be some interesting cabbing material. Just from the pics it looks hard enough to cab.
Second pic is a leaverite, unless you want it for a rock garden. It's what I call a blade buster form of quartz. It will crumble while cutting, and most likely ruin a good blade.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 10, 2016 11:34:06 GMT -5
You will like this after you read to the end
The 2016 Democratic Convention will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia July 25th-28th, 2016. Working in partnership with the Philadelphia Host Committee, the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, their goal is to make this the most engaging, innovative and forward looking convention in history. With the birthplace of American Democracy as a backdrop, the 2016 convention in Philadelphia will highlight shared Democratic values and help put the Democratic nominee on a path to victory. Here is the tentative agenda:
Democrat Convention Schedule
Monday, 25 July 2016
11:30 AM Free lunch, medical marijuana, and bus ride to the Convention. Forms distributed for Food Stamp enrollment. 2:30 PM Group Voter Registration for Undocumented Immigrants. 5:00 PM Opening Flag Burning Ceremony Sponsored by CNN
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
9:00 AM Address on "Being the Real You" Rachel Dolezal, former Head of the Seattle NAACP and Caitlyn Jenner 10:30 PM "How to Bank $200 Million as a public Servant and claim to be broke" Hillary Clinton 2:00 PM "How to have a successful career without ever having a job, and still avoid paying taxes! A Seminar Moderated by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson 5:00 PM Medals of Freedom presentation to Army deserter Bo Berghdal Baltimore Looters
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
8:30 AM Invitation-only Autograph Session Souvenir photographs of Hillary and Chelsea dodging Sniper Fire in Bosnia 9:00 AM Tribute to All of the 57 States Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi 9:30 AM General vote on praising Baltimore rioters, and on using the terminology "Alternative Shoppers" instead of "Looters" 11:00 AM The White House "Semantics Committee" Meeting General vote on re-branding "Muslim Terrorism" as "Random Acts of Islamic Over-Exuberance" 1:00 PM "Liberal Bias in Media – How we can make it work for you" Tutorial sponsored by CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, the Washington Post and the New York Times with Guest Speaker, Brian Williams 3:00 PM Tribute Film to the Brave Freedom Fighters still incarcerated at GITMO Michael Moore 5:00 PM Personal Finance Seminar - "Businesses Don't Create Jobs" Hillary Clinton
Thursday, 28 July 2016
9:00 AM Group Condemnation of Bitter Gun Owners. 9:30 AM Ceremonial "We Surrender" Waving of the White Flag to Afghanistan, Russia, and ISIS. 10:00 AM Short film, "Setting Up Your Own Illegal Email Server While Serving in A Cabinet Post and How to Pretend It's No Big Deal" Hosted by Hillary Clinton 11:00 AM Announcement of VP Nominee Chris Stevens, with a quick rebuttal and withdrawal when Hillary realizes he's someone she got killed in Benghazi 11:30 AM Official Nomination of Hillary Bill Maher and Chris Matthews
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 9, 2016 19:41:01 GMT -5
115 - 120 degrees on the cold (winding) end of the machines. Not surre what the temps were on the hot end, but the guys worked 1/2 hour on, 1/2 hour break for an 8 hour shift. That has to be the most miserable job I've ever done. We had to wear goggles & dust masks. The fiberglass dust would settle in the little space between goggles & mask, making your eyes swell shut. Always fun driving down the freeway in the evening, with slits for eyes to see the traffic around you.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 7, 2016 13:46:50 GMT -5
If your emerald is going to be a specimen stone in rough form, try cleaning it in a weak acid first. Common white vinegar should work.
As John said, emerald is much harder than opal. DO NOT tumble the two together. Also, much opal is prone to fracturing. Tumbling may reduce your opal to a small pile of chips. If you must tumble it, Get a large chunk of common opal to break up into smaller pieces. Use these pieces as filler in your tumbler. Never mix harder stones with opal to tumble. Also, being a softer stone, you may be able to skip the rough grind stage & start your batch with 220 grit.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 6, 2016 20:48:41 GMT -5
Dang Tom, that puppy cleaned up real nice. See if you can get hold of sdgoldpanner. Bob is a member on here, but doesn't visit often. Just leave him a PM. He lives in Rapid City, & is always up for a good rock hunt. Especially Fairburns. Tell him east river Don told you to contact him. He'll know who you're talking about.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 5, 2016 12:41:37 GMT -5
Hey girl, Happy Birthday. Great to see you back. Hope you'll hang around this time.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 4, 2016 22:42:14 GMT -5
Was the mud in your tumbler red ? If so, hematite. If not, how close are you to Kentucky ? Could be one of the Kentucky type agates too.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 3, 2016 23:50:22 GMT -5
It's a buyers market right now Dave. Almost every day they have people coming to the shop with buckets & boxes of rocks to sell. When's the last time you heard of someone buying a 5 Gal. bucket full of Montana moss agates for $5.00 ? People are hurting in this economy, and are practically giving away choice cutting material, just to make a few bucks. This is in addition to the ton oor so of material Bob brings back every time he returns home from his trucking job. He has his own secret collecting sites in almost all of the lower 48 states. GPS locations are stored on his computer. Once we get rid of Obama & the economy starts to turn around, they'll be well stocked with choice cutting material to sell.
Did I mention that Bob located a new location for Biggs jasper ? Only he knows where the new deposit is located. He left a couple chunks with me, which I'll be cutting as soon as it warms up.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 1, 2016 22:47:56 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 1, 2016 22:15:45 GMT -5
My buddy Bob is trying to get out of the trucking business after way too many long hours, weeks & months on the road. He has gone into a partnership with another guy and opened a rock shop on the outskirts of Billings, Montana. There are a few others on the forum who have met Bob, and I think they would all join me in vouching for his honesty.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 1, 2016 21:14:53 GMT -5
I finally got to meet up with my trucker / rockhound buddy Bob today. He gave this to me as a Christmas present. Location, somewhere on the Wyoming / Colorado border. He ain't telling the location until he can finish cleaning out the pocket of crystals.
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