Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 14, 2021 7:12:00 GMT -5
Wow, what a difficult question. Favorites change so much as one encounters new materials. 1. Gotta go with Parfive, any northern Mexico fortification agate esp Laguna 2. West Texas Plume Agate 3. Hornitos Jasper both poppy and brecciated, cause I mined them for so many years. I like Morgan Hill too but the fractures.... 4. Botswana agate 5. Petrified wood, especially south Texas shrinkwood..fossil plus agate, what's not to like 6. Dino bone...see above 7. Dryhead Agate. Digging it in the middle of a Montana thunderstorm was an awesome and unforgettable experience. 8. Baker Ranch T-eggs. Beautiful ,matrix takes a good polish and again I got to dig them back when it was just a tiny hand dug pit. 9. Stone canyon Jasper and it's many varieties. Got to dig Stone Canyon, Creston, Big Sandy Creek, and Varrian Ranch. So much fun and such beautiful material. 10. Ammmy Sage agate and Bruneau Jasper the old good stuff. Never got to dig these two bucket list western materials and always wanted to. 11. Devils Toenails. Fast to grind and takes a good polish. Makes cool fossil cabs.
Hate favorites: Again so many, not because they are not beautiful but because they can be a pain in the ass.
1. Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper 2. Porterville nephrite jade. Always have to get a damn magnetite spot in the finest green areas. 3. Moss/ PLume agate. Always the dang pit or soft spot just where you don't want it. 4. Condor agate and Queenies. Nodules under so much internal stress. Too many fractures when first sawed. 5. Dino bone. Pits and fractures
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 11, 2021 17:32:17 GMT -5
Roger Clark , in his first book stated Fairburns have been found in situ in host rock in the black hills. The matrix of Fairburns has often been referred to as jasper but to me, chert matrix, like TeePees and Dryheads, makes more sense as chert arises from sedimentary formations whereas jasper is more in igneous deposits. It was proposed that TeePees, also being from Minnelusa Limestone, are actually just a variety of Fairburn that is in situ. If you look at the pics in Clark's book, boy some of the Fairburns do bear a strong resemblance the Tee Pees.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 11, 2021 9:41:52 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Went into my library and came up with a little info on sedimentary agates like Dryheads, Fairburns, and TeePees. Clark says Tee Pees and Fairburns are from different formations but from what I've read they do evolve from similar environments. Some authors state both TeePees and Fairburns come from the Minnelusa Limestone Formation. The TeePees have a tan colored chert matrix surrounding the agate and chert usually develops as nodules in limestone. Clark states Fairburns eroded from a sedimentary matrix. This would still seem to be limestone or dolomite as nodules and veins of agate often occur in such environments. When I dug Dryheads, years ago, the nodules definitely occurred in a hard, dark brown, high silica limestone. Authors say this is the Embar Limestone Formation but is contemporary to the Minnelusa. Hard stuff . Had to go through about four feet of it before reaching the nodule bed. The matrix surrounding the agate in Dryheads is usually a dark brown chert. There were though, some off types of Dryhaeds that had a lighter colored matrix and often those showed colors different from the usual oranges and reds of regular Dryheads. So, it seems to me that what we have here are three very similar environments all yielding very similar fortification agates that differ only in color variations most likely due the the particular mineral salts in the silica that filled the voids in each locale. Each of those varieties does have pretty distinctive color variations though. Pretty easy to tell them apart once you've seen a bunch of them.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 11, 2021 8:52:00 GMT -5
That first plume agate is really nice!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 10, 2021 17:35:12 GMT -5
miket: I always found that odd about teepees. Like dryheads, which I dug years ago, they are agates formed in sedimentary environments but where teepees have all that matrix, dryheads tend to have a lot of agate and less matrix. Makes me wonder about how Fairburns looked when they were still in matrix. Were they like dryheads or like teepees?
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 10, 2021 17:30:02 GMT -5
Great cuts and excellent variety of types. Got to say I like that little full round cross section but that little poppy pebble is super cool too.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 10, 2021 12:49:34 GMT -5
Janos agates are really pretty but the matrix, wow, way too much matrix! Reminds me of some of the European T-eggs that have lots of waste and only a small lens shaped center of agate. The T'eggs from the opal egg beds over near Ft Irwin were like that too. I remember cracking a ton of them and finding four or five inches of matrix and a small plain center on each. At Quartzite years ago they only sold Janos that had been cobbed down to remove a lot of the matrix. Considering it was still pretty expensive at about $4 per pound, I thought that was a very fair way to market it...Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 9, 2021 17:53:10 GMT -5
I used to work with a Harris's Hawk. Fascinating critters. Only hawk I know of that hunts in packs. Have interesting social behavior too. Since they live in places where perches are often scarce, they will "stack" where they sit on each other back to get higher and give them a better view of the countryside. Lower status birds also give up perch positions to those of higher status. One we had was a nervous bird and hard to work with but certainly beautiful to look at. First bird of prey to send me for the bandages and betadine. Had him smack me right in the face with his talons my first day at work.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 9, 2021 13:42:24 GMT -5
Very clever. I've noticed how continuous rim diamond impregnated blades work well as a side grinder but always figured it would eventually mess up the blade. That being said, blades of that size are readily available and not that expensive so that's a darn cool idea for making complex shapes.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 7, 2021 16:20:12 GMT -5
Looks like a gas pocket nodule. Rocks like basalt and andesite often have odd shaped voids where hot gas formed pockets during formation of the stone. Later, silica from silica laden ash that overlays those deposits percolates down into the pockets forming agate nodules that can later weather out. The plume agate beds around Marfa and Woodward rch etc are full of those nodules. At Woodward there were a couple of canyons where you could see half nodules still in the host rock. The Mexican agate nodules from Chihuahua form in a similar manner in voids in andesite. Most nodules are kind of almond shaped ( called amygdaloidal) but since the pockets have many odd shapes so do the nodules formed within.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 7, 2021 9:14:56 GMT -5
No regrets Jason. I seldom slab or cab anymore as all my ancient machinery is about shot. And my rock working equipment is in bad shape too *L* . I'm actually cleaning out my rock shop to make room for other stuff. I just came to the conclusion that even with diamond equipment, rock work just a takes up too much time. One quickly discovers that one has enough rock that it would take three hundred years to cut it all. One of my favorite things is seeing what's inside a rock after it's cut.If some winds up with other folks and they cut it and post pics, I get to see what's inside and enjoy it without all the personal saw time so you're actually dong me a favor....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 6, 2021 17:55:53 GMT -5
Jason. I've cut a lot of George West region wood and have only stumbled upon one tiny example similar to yours and mine does not have such good definition of the vascular bundles. Similar color though. Unfortunately I missed a good crosscut of the structures on mine too. I liked it so much I salvaged every little piece and cut these three cabs. I'm not exactly a great cabber but the material does take a nice polish. Here's a pic....Mel fern by lonerider652000, on Flickr
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 5, 2021 17:32:46 GMT -5
Jason, Looks like that one is some type of fern or palm root and those are vascular bundles you've cut across. That George West region was a tropical forest. Lots of odd ferns, palms, palm root, snakewood and other weird woods found now days only in Central or South America. When I first saw those pictures I was thinking the orbs were fungus or rot spots in the wood but those bundles seem to have very symmetrical and similar organized bundle arrangements. You just never know what will show up when you cut wood from that region. You got you a great find there....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 5, 2021 17:17:33 GMT -5
Awesome set! I Only time I've ever seen moss similar to the first one was many years ago from near Ludlow, CA ro maybe the Marfa region. My favorite cab is the awesome Casas Grandes in the #3 pic. Most the other types, with the exception of those Needle Peak type green moss examples, including the last green one show up in agate from the Rio grande gravel.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 3, 2021 22:09:56 GMT -5
Lookatthat. There were literally icicles on everything, even our unheated barn but as you've said, I'm sure the house has heat-loss issues. Thing is, this is south Texas where the friggin house is supposed to have heat-loss issues cause it's supposed to be friggin hot here. That's how come the house has ten foot regular ceilings and about a twenty foot high cathedral ceilings in the living room. It's built to disperse heat here, where really cold days are rare. This winter blast set records no one dreamed of. Yeah we might get a day or so when we need a heavy jacket, might get a little ice or a little snow just for effect but seven days of that is ridiculous this far south. The game ranches here lost literally thousands of exotics that had been thriving for forty years. We had dead axis and blackbuck all over the ranch I burned our little pile of"cold weather fun fire firewood" in a day and a half which is about the longest we ever have to burn a fire and that's usually because the heat pump sometimes breaks down in cold weather. Usually we still have power. Learned my lesson and now I have a monster firewood pile and will lay in more *L*. I used to love shooting black powder but I ain't no Jeremiah Jackson.
You know, for awhile in college I was studying weather and climate cause I wanted to be a weatherman in the Air Force. Back then, about 50 years ago, the prediction by my professor ( who was an expert) was not global warming. The prediction then was in forty or fifty years we were going to go back into a little ice age. That would be just about now. Man oh man I hope he was wrong!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 2, 2021 22:41:09 GMT -5
Yep, as a guy who hates cold and the ugly white c**p. I was not happy to see seven days of that garbage. It stops being pretty after you take a couple of falls on the ice trying to cut dead oak trees for firewood cause you are down to burning expensive lumber from the barn to stay warm, Insult to injury, all the trees I could cut for firewood were covered in an inch of ice. I had to crack the ice off every piece I cut with my friggin rock hammer and prop it in front of the fireplace to dry out before burning. Managed to keep temps in front of the fire in low 50's but had to tend the fire 24/7 because we have a heatalater and since the fan was electric, could not close the front or it would not generate enough heat. Had to sleep in shifts, tote buckets of water for the toilets and washing etc. All of it an experience I'd not like to ever repeat. I believe that's the longest I've ever gone without a shower even when considering long rockhounding trips to the desert. I'm now building a humongous wood pile so I NEVER HAVE TO CUT WOOD IN THE FRIGGIN SNOW AGAIN! I really don't know how you northerners live in that stuff.
PS: About two days into this Hell I was wanting to take Al Gore and John Kerry, stand them in front of my house, squirt them with water and use their frozen carcasses for lawn ornaments. Maybe with a sign that said " Support global warming"
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Brokes
Mar 2, 2021 22:24:27 GMT -5
Post by Sabre52 on Mar 2, 2021 22:24:27 GMT -5
*LOL*
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 2, 2021 22:19:57 GMT -5
Sure looks like he has some fancy agates as river rocks. And, neither my diamond blades or burrs seem to ever cut agate that fast. For me it was always many worn out diamond tools and total frustration just to try and make a dang bead or drill a cab. That guy has great talent but must have some fine diamond tools too.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 2, 2021 18:43:17 GMT -5
Wow those are fantastic! Make my pitiful attempts look.....well pitiful *L*.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 2, 2021 18:39:58 GMT -5
The frustrating broken blade finds from the ranch. find bottoms, and tips but never two that match *L*...Mel brokes by lonerider652000, on Flickr
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