Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 16, 2022 17:11:57 GMT -5
Very cool Tommy. That's a heck of a boulder you found. I have a favorite story about that PB Hill camp too. I was up on the ridge behind the camp and found a small piece of float that was truly incredible multi-colored moss agate. Followed the ridge a bit onto a canyon and found it full of big frothy nodules. I cracked one open and the entire center was made of that moss, enough that I finished filling my pack. Headed down the canyon towards camp and at that choice time I was struck with the most horrible case of food poisoning (store bought sub sandwich) that I've had in my life. Got so sick and delirious that I barely made it down that hanging canyon to camp and in fact could barely remember hiking back. The long drive home to Ojai afterward was pure Hell! Went back a few months later, parked in the same exact spot, but danged if I could even find that canyon again. So sad as that was really nice moss as good as any I've seen from Mexico or other places. Sold off the last slabs and rough a couple of years ago and was sorry to see it go as I never got around to cutting a cab. Oh well.
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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 Apr 16, 2022 9:34:32 GMT -5
Tommy, Just got an e-mail from my old Cadys collecting buddy and the green plume came from not far from the fluorite mine plume site in the north Cadys. If you know where Pepto Bismol \Hill is ( the campground with the hill of pink ash) it would be south of there.
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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 Apr 13, 2022 6:48:26 GMT -5
Hey Tommy, My old Cadys gang is very closed mouth about where they have been collecting lately due to the fact every time we used to make a find and talk about it, friggin commercial collectors went in and pillaged the site. Shoot a couple of places we found they even made new illegal roads into the sites. We always collected way back in the north Cadys when I was going with them but I agree, other guys I know have been pulling new plume types out of the southern areas. First time I've see this particular type though.
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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 Apr 11, 2022 17:30:24 GMT -5
Definitely a brecciated jasp-agate in the pastelite group. Similar material occurs at many locations.
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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 Apr 10, 2022 13:05:47 GMT -5
Howdy Folks, Not my finds but a collecting buddy of mine just returned from a trip to the Cady Mtns in California and sent me this pic of a new green plume agate they collected. Very unlike any plume I've ever collected there and I thought you all might like to take a look at it. Very neat stuff. Cadys Green Plume 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 Apr 9, 2022 17:07:41 GMT -5
Hate to sound like a cranky old geezer but I'm with Rockoonz. I've had a number of saws, the last one I bought is a Covington 10" and quite frankly, it is one of the main reasons I don't slab anymore. It's almost like the folks who designed the saw don't even cut rocks. First off, it's super difficult to change belts or blades. Tiny inconvenient screws on the table. Table design lets all your oil go all over the place. Clutch system is cranky to use, vice is small, and worst of all, the freaking motor overheats on every hot day here in Texas so you definitely have to have shorter cutting sessions and let it cool down. Used to have a used Beacon Star that cost a couple of hundred bucks and it was twice the saw. Until the motor finally croaked it was cutting larger slabs, faster, rarely broke down, and it was super easy to change belts, or blades etc.
In my humble opinion, I'd definitely go with a used saw. Larger saws are super expensive, as are the blades, and larger saw blades are much easier to dish or wreck in other ways, especially when cutting petrified wood which to me is often one of the toughest materials to cut and can be a real blade breaker. Quite frankly, I'd not expect to make a good deal of profit, if any,cutting and selling pet wood slabs if you buy a new saw. I can sure tell you I spent way way more money on equipment that I could ever get out of it. For fun as a hobby is one thing, for profit another. Just my two cents.
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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 Apr 6, 2022 17:42:58 GMT -5
If I had to guess, I'd say Randsburg, CA. That rough, black, oxidized manganese exterior looks very like material from that location. I have a hunk of rough sitting on my desktop right now as a paperweight.
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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 Apr 6, 2022 9:18:03 GMT -5
OK, that last Teepee 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 Apr 6, 2022 9:16:33 GMT -5
Man, I do believe that is one of the most highly silicated sagenites I've ever seen. Always frustrating to cut into sagenite and find lots of tiny pits where the acicular structures hit the cab surface. Your shine looks incredible.
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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 Apr 6, 2022 9:13:20 GMT -5
Wowser that is an interesting material. Love the way the dendritic looking structures grow out of the top of the flames. Very different from anything I've seen before.
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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 Apr 4, 2022 13:11:35 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Just a few more I like. Upper left examples are dart points from Pope Valley, all surface finds along the creek and shows how long the area has been inhabited. The dug stuff there is much more recent. Three points on the right are from an old abandoned subdivision near Silver Lake Oregon. Found in blowouts in dunes and the largest example is a classic Silver Lake/Christmas Lake dart point. The broke arrowhead oddly enough, looks just like some of the points from Yuma, AZ. Super thin and beautiful knapping. Center left point is a slightly wind blasted fluted paleo point I found while hiking way the heck and beyond SE of Bristlecone Pines in Calif. Super wind blasted white point is a crude paleo point or knife found on an old gravel bar at Owens Lake, CA. Area all gone now due to reclamation efforts. Buddy and I found a pocket full of these and some were even made of a picture jasper very like that new Sahara jasper. Always wanted to go back and look for the source. Never did. Points lower right all from Modoc area, streambed finds. neat points 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 Apr 4, 2022 12:57:28 GMT -5
Wow, first off, those huge fox squirrels are gorgeous. Ours are just the old reddish smaller type. I had no idea they came in colors.
Hank. Oddly we have zero examples of the log oval paper skin pecans here on the ranch. The wild type are hard shelled and difficult to work with but super tasty. The other type we have are round, half the size of golf balls, and easy to shell. Not as tasty as the wild type buy yummy enough to make me eat them till I have a bellyache *L*. I've often wondered if those round nuts have somehow hybridized with the local Texas walnuts. Never seen round pecans before I came here and the nuts do have a bit of a hint of walnut flavor to 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 Apr 3, 2022 20:47:23 GMT -5
Very cool! I love visiting Llano. If you didn't try Coopers BBQ, it's an eating place you don't want to miss.
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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 Apr 3, 2022 20:10:46 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Poking through my collection again and decided I'd post a few more. These are three I really like, the first two on left because of their beauty and construction. They are Miwok from a dig on a private Ranch in Pope Valley, CA when I was in college. Gal I knew had a father with a huge ranch with mounds all over it. The large point is of deep chocolate brown obsidian and both are wickedly serrate on the edges as were many of the points at this location. This tribe was fairly warlike I'd guess, and excellent knappers. The broke on the right I found in a walnut orchard near Borax Lake and is a Borax Lake point. These are extremely rare and date way back, some into paleo times. Complete they form a perfect Xmas tree shape ad this one complete would have been a better than three inch dart point. Again, the quality of the knapping is excellent and damn the plow that broke this one up. Place had just been plowed and I could not find the other piece. fav artifacts 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 Apr 2, 2022 22:27:22 GMT -5
All are nice but #2+3, wow!
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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 Apr 2, 2022 22:21:04 GMT -5
Very unique and clever. I think it's pretty dang neat!
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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 Apr 1, 2022 21:11:15 GMT -5
Awesome finds James! That wood is very colorful and a nice selection of artifacts too. You know, I've never even looked for nutting stones and we have native pecan groves all over the ranch. One of the best campsites is right smack in the middle of a pecan grove. Dang nuts are so hard I often pick up a rock to crack them myself as the meats are much more flavorful than the wild hybrid papershells that are here. I am crazy for pecans. Love'em! I'm really going to have to pay attention to stuff other than flaked items when on my walks. You really do have a fine eye for artifacts.
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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 29, 2022 20:34:57 GMT -5
Wow, great cab Brian! And I can't see any fractures either, which is unusual for that scarce agate.
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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 29, 2022 15:08:47 GMT -5
James: the big tan lance point is in the middle of the pic of the Modoc area group I posted on Feb 23. Kind of similar to a Scott's Bluff. Material must have been imported as most Modoc artifacts are obsidian. Closest jasper, agate and pet wood seems to be from NE of where this was found.
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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 28, 2022 21:34:00 GMT -5
Man, that is one big heavy looking projectile point! Does look like a good candidate for a heavy lance tip. Was in a cafe in SE Oregon one time and a fellow had a leather bag full of lance tips that were large and heavy. Found them in a small cave full of woodrat nests. Each was still bound to a short hardwood shaft about a foot long and conical at the end away from the point. The theory being that the fore ends were socketed into a heavy lance pole. When the point was thrust into a big game animal, the fore end pulled out of the large pole and the stone point stayed in the prey and worked around to bleed the critter. The hunter then placed a new fore shaft with point into the lance pole and was ready to make another thrust into the target. Kind of like a repeating lance that could be used repetitively without losing the longer heavier pole in the animal. One can easily imagine such a weapon being used on big critters, even mammoths, ground sloths or ancient bison. One of the hafted points he had in the bag looked very like the tan lance point I posted in my Modoc artifact pic a while ago and the Modoc area is not far from SE Oregon.
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