Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 25, 2017 7:39:23 GMT -5
I couldn't even guess how many types of media I've tried in my polish stage with varying degrees of success, but nothing ever worked better than a bunch of tiny already polished agate and jasper in around the 1/4 inch range. They really create good surface to surface contact and carry the polish slurry well, they cushion the load, and they never break down on the tumble as they are hard as what you are polishing.....Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 24, 2017 22:28:45 GMT -5
Similar Franciscan melange found around Creston near Paso Robles and near Coalinga too. Real pretty slab!....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 24, 2017 22:24:25 GMT -5
Tried to heat treat agate in my wife's stove one time and one time only. Was told to bury the slabs in sand and go through the heating procedure you've described. Agate blew up and blew sand all over the wife's stove. Same thing with casting lead balls on her stove top. Think I can still see the scars from the holes she chewed in my ass *L*. Alls I ken say it it weren't worth it. No way!....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 21, 2017 23:20:18 GMT -5
Kind of a tough topic for me as both my little sister and my wife's little sister had frightening encounters with pervs when they were very young. I seriously believe those bad folks should be removed from society permanently or at the very least, permanently neutered. That being said, there are varying degrees of that kind of behavior ( ie forcible assault/rape vs unwanted touching or kissing of an adult etc) and such behavior affects a young child perhaps more than an adult who may be stronger and handle it better. The facts of the incident must be considered before judgement/punishment with special negative points for hypocrisy as in the Al Franken case or the Roy Moore case, "if he is proven guilty". God I hate holier than thou POS's that talk all goody goody and wind up being fuggin degenerates. There must be a special Hell for those scumbags
The rule of law must be considered too, and folks are innocent until they confess or are prove guilty. I think we also have to keep in mind that society these days is particularly narcissistic ala Jerry Springer guests and there are a whole bunch of disturbed individuals who will tell untruths in public for the temporary 15 minutes of fame, monetary gain, and talk show circuits such lies promote. I really hate seeing folks tried in the court of public opinion, especially in these politically polarized times full of paid political liars, dirty trickers, crazies, and hacks. I guess I prefer "just the facts jack" with lots of corroboration and would like to see folks punished after they are proven guilty by those facts. It troubles me that we see so much mob behavior these days in absence of any real evidence and I really question unproven testimonials from the distant past as such testimony invites piling on by more folks with stories than cannot be proven or dis proven after so many years have passed. How can you investigate and prove a positive or negative from thirty or forty years ago anyway? Why was such a nasty incident not reported when it occurred and could be properly investigated? After all, both our sisters reported their incidents right away.....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 20, 2017 18:38:19 GMT -5
Wow I'd always read chalcedony deposition was either in relatively hot water, geothermal environs, even in sedimentary deposits ( hot springs) or cold water siliceous oozes ( marine sedimentary deposits) but in all my years of cutting, I've always thought some forms were harder than others because of lack of inclusions. The purer chalcedony forms simply being harder because they lacked earthy inclusions of various types ( ie jasp/agate or moss agate being softer than something like a Brazilian agate). Had not considered the cold vs hot deposition thing.
Your example is pretty much a ringer for my "Rare North Carolina Plume". Looks like a mossy chert to me. I should add however, that there are a ton of those mossy yellow type agates in the Rio Grande gravels of Texas too. When cabbed, they look very similar to what you have too. Definitely not a West Texas Plume as those have very well defined plumes.
The banded form you've pictured looks to me like a section of Laguna Lace Agate which is a vein deposit in limestone as regular Lagunas are nodular but without seeing the entire slab I could be wrong.....Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 19, 2017 7:42:55 GMT -5
Wow! Wonderful replacement of all the internal structures. Awesome specimen!....Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 17, 2017 17:35:49 GMT -5
I remember when the Lions Den poppy first showed up at gem shows. They were selling it by the gram. Supper expensive but probably some of the nicest Morgan Hill I've ever seen and less fractured than a lot of it...Mel
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 16, 2017 23:20:21 GMT -5
Back when I was in my "ute", I heard one of the Llagas Creek ranchers near where the freeway is now, got so sick of folks trespassing to work the poppy deposit on the creek that he dozered out the deposit exposure and ground it all up to use as road bed material. Think houses got built over a lot of it too...Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 16, 2017 23:14:43 GMT -5
My creek just has flint/chert and fossils. That sure looks like Franciscan stuff. You in Commiefornia?...Mel
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Sabre52
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Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 16, 2017 23:11:20 GMT -5
Very cool indeed! Love the Prairies ad the BG's...Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 16, 2017 18:10:35 GMT -5
Henry, So far as I know, Morgan Hill is just used as a general category for poppy jasper found in the Llagas Creek and Uvas Creek drainages. Several sites and claims have been found over the years and all on private property. Guadalupe Poppy came from still another location which I think is now county land and closed off. That being said the Franciscan Formation chert which yields the poppy jasper occurs in the coast ranges all up the coast from just north of Santa Barbara Ca to Washington state. For example, Big Sandy Creek in Indian Valley, CA has poppy jasper and Stone Canyon like breccia. In addition there are Jurassic chert deposits near Hornitos in the Mt. Williams Range foothills of the Sierra that yield good poppy jasper. Lots of northern CA sites too...Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 16, 2017 15:11:06 GMT -5
To me it looks like Llagas creek, Morgan Hill material. I've got to admit though that, since Coyote Creek is a different drainage, I don't really remember having seen any poppy specifically from Coyote Creek. I've only seen good looking Stone Canyon like brecciated jasper from there....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 15, 2017 14:41:04 GMT -5
Yep, awesome specimen. If I did anything to it, I'd just cut across the end to show internal structure and polish it like that. That would definitely enhance it's value. Maybe you have a friend nearby with a good saw to make you a smooth cut for a display piece....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 14, 2017 21:18:32 GMT -5
Tempskya is found at several US locations so would be a very good bet for the type of fern. Fish dropped a good'un in that box for ya, that's for sure. Awesome and valuable specimen....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 14, 2017 16:24:03 GMT -5
Looks like pet fern to me. Fern has those eyes with the C-shaped structures mixed in with vascular bundles. Nice example of that C shaped structure just off center in the last pic. Rare find!....Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 13, 2017 21:34:21 GMT -5
Lots of agate and pet wood along the oilfield roads NW of George West Texas which is an easy trip NW of Rockport. Draw a triangle from Three Rivers to Simmons City to George West. Any gravel road in that triangle can be good. And yep, Rio Grande gravel is a common landscape rock all over central Texas....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 11, 2017 17:01:23 GMT -5
Wow, fantastic shine on all of those. Think the flint is my favorite but man you got a great finish on that leopardskin which is not always easy to do. Great batch of eye candy!.....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 9, 2017 18:10:29 GMT -5
Good grief, a bearded hillbilly dancing with a raccoon *L*. I don't think I want to see what happens between the two of them after a couple more shots of moonshine but someone oughta call the Humane Society. Dang!....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 4, 2017 17:02:33 GMT -5
Did a web search and the Paul Bunyan Plume is said to be under claim now, the tailings removed and the vein exposed....Mel
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 4, 2017 16:01:53 GMT -5
Yeah, what Robin said, I have a bit of it and, for me, it is a booger to polish past a dull shine. Don't know why as it seems hard enough. Even Washington jadeite jade I had took a better shine....Mel
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