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Post by Starguy on Sept 2, 2022 14:27:35 GMT -5
tander91Welcome to RTH from Idaho. Quartz is somewhat susceptible to bruising/chipping in rotary tumblers. What kind of tumbler are you running. It sounds like you have a good handle on the situation. Keeping the barrel at least 2/3 full helps. It helps to have a mix of sizes in your batch. The ceramics will help with that. Too many big pieces is a sure recipe for bruising. Once you get them through coarse, you could try adding some plastic pellets for subsequent stages. The pellets should be dedicated to their own stage. Don’t transfer them with the rocks from one stage to the next. I don’t worry about bruising much in stage 1. It’s kind of part of the process for shaping the rocks. If it’s so bad that the fine, (220) stage won’t get rid of the chips, then it becomes an issue. Looking forward to seeing some of your work.
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Post by Starguy on Sept 2, 2022 8:35:02 GMT -5
ashley I run an SiC dressing stick slowly through the blade. Going slow is best and it should be run through several times. It takes off the metal that gets shoved over the diamonds. If that doesn’t improve things, I take the blade off the saw and peen the edge with an old flat bastard cut steel file. I think Highland Park lapidary has a YouTube video on how to do this. I like to take the blade off the saw so no damage is done to the bearings. I hope that helps.
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Post by Starguy on Sept 2, 2022 0:37:39 GMT -5
Hi rockinruth. Welcome from Idaho. Looking forward to seeing some of your finds.
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Post by Starguy on Sept 1, 2022 23:56:09 GMT -5
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Post by Starguy on Sept 1, 2022 23:43:49 GMT -5
hypodactylus I think you might be right about the thunderegg. It feels a little too light to be solid agate. The seller called it a Brazilian geode. I really like Brazilian agates too. They are usually pretty solid. Thanks .
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Post by Starguy on Sept 1, 2022 22:15:51 GMT -5
These arrived today. 16 pounds of Brazilian nodules. They look pretty solid. I’m going to have to study these for awhile as they are about the maximum size the 16” saw will handle. It should be a fun couple of days.
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RSJ
Sept 1, 2022 22:11:09 GMT -5
Post by Starguy on Sept 1, 2022 22:11:09 GMT -5
beefjelloWelcome back. Those are some fantastic looking nodules. They appear very solid and it looks like they should make some cool cabs. Looking forward to the finished product. Thanks for showing.
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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 Starguy on Aug 30, 2022 16:32:35 GMT -5
I have a question: Why is the US Forest Service mining garnets? When I started this post, it was because I thought everyone would appreciate seeing the process. I was a little surprised by some of the responses. If mining Garnet in Emerald Creek was left up to commercial interests, or the public there, would be no garnets left to mine. The US Forest Service has done an admirable job of maintaining the dig site for the long term. Why would you want to turn over mining this resource to commercial interests? Despite this area being mined for decades, you can still go there and find a nice amount of garnets. Ask Rick. This is a cool but LIMITED resource. The government is trying to make it last so the greatest number of US citizens can enjoy it. Sincerely, Brent.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 30, 2022 11:24:38 GMT -5
goldfinder Great find.it hardly looks used. It’s cool that you brought it back to life. Can’t wait to see some slab photos. A guard over the belt/pulley would be a good idea, especially if there are kids around. thanks for showing.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 30, 2022 11:17:22 GMT -5
What a great looking batch. The polish is fantastic. Well done miket.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 29, 2022 12:54:43 GMT -5
Man jasoninsd! Those are all beautiful cabs. That second Holt cyn cab has some serious curves going on. You must have really taken your time on that one. I can see a lot of things that could have gone wrong with that one and yet it turned out amazing. Nicely done.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 29, 2022 12:46:39 GMT -5
penguinrocks A hammer and chisel works ok but it’s unpredictable how rocks will break. It’s also dangerous so wear your ppe. In some cases breaking up rocks causes micro-cracking which can take a long time to tumble out. Have you considered purchasing a new or used tile or lapidary saw? They cut where you want, they don’t damage the rock and they can be used for other work too. I saw up a lot of small to medium agates prior to throwing them in the tumbler. I would tumble any of the rocks you showed.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 29, 2022 12:34:36 GMT -5
Good progress penguinrocksIt looks like you are working on some nice material. Looking forward to seeing some photos of shiny rocks. Welcome to RTH from Idaho.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 29, 2022 12:28:28 GMT -5
gemfellerI’m guessing there are a lot of us that are lucky to be alive after our youths. That gut feel you describe has likely saved a few.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 28, 2022 18:28:52 GMT -5
realrockhoundYour garnets look like they would tumble nicely. If they aren’t from Emerald Creek near Clarkia, Id, they likely won’t exhibit stars.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 28, 2022 18:19:18 GMT -5
Starguy That looks like it was a interesting day Brent! Did you get to keep any garnet? What’s the background history here? Why did they contact you? Prior work for them, or did they know you love rocks lol? Any pictures of you doing the work? I hope you were able to keep a few pieces. It was an interesting three days Ashley. I wasn’t there during the clearing operation. My job was to help identify the garnet bearing gravel layers. There was a foot or two of topsoil/duff, then 4-10 feet of overburden with little to no useable garnets. The overburden contained a gray colored silty layer that was full of garnet sand. In places the contractor would hit pockets of purple sand that was pretty amazing to see. Below the overburden was a 6” to 3’ layer of oxidized, partially cemented gravel, cobbles and small boulders. This was the garnet bearing layer. I didn’t keep much. Most of what I found went into the stockpile or to the FS geologist. I honestly didn’t see any pieces that I got too excited about. gemfeller. Rick. Garnet gulch is the only gulch being actively mined. All other garnet bearing gulches are withdrawn from exploration. It’s been that way as long as I can remember. The Forest Service mines and stockpiles the garnet bearing gravel for the public to dig through. It reduces resource damage and mitigates some serious safety issues. Back when I was digging, it wasn’t uncommon to see people tunneling into the garnet layer without any shoring or any type of ground support. It was almost impossible to enforce the requirement for a vertical face.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 26, 2022 10:59:52 GMT -5
Which creek is that, Brent? They’re mining in Garnet Gulch Rick. This is the second mechanical mining operation in that gulch. It was mined three years ago a little farther downstream.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 25, 2022 20:42:06 GMT -5
I’ve been looking at my favorite out of the batch. It’s shown in the last two photos. It’s a pretty crazy rock. There’s a clear yellowish agate shell with an orange ghost in the middle. The orange ghost shows nice fortification where it hits the surface of the rock.
It’s pretty cool in the hand. It went in the premium box of rocks. It’s a pretty small box considering how long I’ve been doing this.
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Post by Starguy on Aug 25, 2022 20:18:10 GMT -5
The US Forest Service contacted me about helping mine Idaho Garnet. I thought you guys would appreciate a photo or two. The site is pretty brush covered. The photos show upstream and downstream views after clearing. Here’s the equipment used for hauling and digging. Mining the garnet layer. All of the fish were removed from the creek prior to mining. They caught and relocated some salamanders too. The stream was blocked with nets and the water was moved around the mine site with two 4” pipes. Pretty fun work. I saw a few garnets the size of ping-pong balls.
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