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Post by tims on Jul 27, 2017 0:29:01 GMT -5
Here's the clinker rough I picked up on that outing with the one I cut and rolled circled: PLUS 1 interesting.. Like the way you are approaching the discovery, identification and the working with the material. How hard does it appear to be? You think that the hardness is as variable as the colors and the ability to take a polishing? Not sure I would consider tha pattern a banding? More opinions friends? HAve you googled the Clinker name with forum and see what old info you might learn from other interested people over the years and in different forums?
The average hardness on this i'd guess around 6, won't scratch with a nail. One piece today scratched the chert nodule of a teepee canyon agate, the next piece crumbled. The hardness probably does vary with color and whatever other variables it underwent while it was baking. I was very dubious about rolling it but am adding a handful to my next batch since this piece survived so well.
I checked the site and found a few mentions, very noticeably ingawh 's post on porcelanite from Montana: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/72646/porcelanite-new-tumble-obsession?page=1
She has some really nice material in that thread, and did mention the variable hardness and associated challenges in getting a shine. My stuff comes from predominantly shale areas; that Montana clay looks to cook up much cleaner and with more consistent color. The clinker here is mostly black / red / yellow / gray / brown, and it's rare to find a piece with more than 2 or 3 of those colors in the mix.
Up til now i'd always considered this just an ornamental rock since the rough is colorful but not terribly promising to look at. Here's some yard ornaments that might now meet the saw:
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2017 23:34:49 GMT -5
Clinker with iron / hematite banding. I need to tweak it a bit, was pretty tight until I got silly with the bail:
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2017 23:21:43 GMT -5
Having iron concrections, would that make it magnetic? I don't know. I've never dealt with or seen that material. Hadn't thought of it, but yes it's attracted strongly by a magnet. Nice call sir.
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2017 20:35:26 GMT -5
Learned something new, never heard of natural clinker, great info tims , thanks. They need to give it a cooler name though. Why wait for "them"? Now accepting suggestions
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2017 20:33:12 GMT -5
Here's the clinker rough I picked up on that outing with the one I cut and rolled circled:
There was another little piece too but I don't recognize the rough in my before pic. This is more stuff from that area including an ugly iron concretion I rolled out of curiosity that looks like maybe hematite:
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2017 20:18:20 GMT -5
Cool looking stuff, looks like it has hematite bands. You're certain it's clinker? Yeah, at least as sure as i am about any of my rock IDs Natural clinker from exposed coal deposits that were ignited. Thunder Basin is also full of iron concretions, so it seems plausible that local iron / hematite would bake in. Hard to imagine a natural fire burning 3000 degrees to melt iron but industrial "clinkering temperature" is 2500+ so i guess it can happen. Thunder Basin NG is near the center of the Powder River Basin, which according to the WSGS: "has over 1,500 square miles of clinker rock. This is a layer of reddish rock formed by baking of sediments above burned coal deposits. Historically coal deposits exposed at the surface were ignited by lightening strikes or brush fires and burned naturally underground and near the surface for a period of hundreds of years. Recent age-dating suggests that these beds are between 1.1 Ma to 10 ka in age (Heffern and others, 2007). These clinker beds are up to 180 feet thick." www.wsgs.wyo.gov/energy/coal-prbIf you think my ID is wrong please let me know so i can do some more research. And thanks for pointing out the hematite; i knew it looked metallic but didn't consider it actually could be iron.
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Post by tims on Jul 26, 2017 15:32:59 GMT -5
Cut up some clinker from Thunder Basin NG in Wyoming and threw a handful in with last tumble. The whole batch was mediocre at best but was surprised the clinker survived and actually took a little shine. Pardon the towel lint
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Post by tims on Jul 16, 2017 2:33:48 GMT -5
Pretty shapes and awesome shine on all of em.
Hopefully this is the only hobby where people compliment each other's poo.
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Post by tims on Jul 9, 2017 2:44:39 GMT -5
Just curious what most sensible people do when they run across a pretty boulder: Take a pic and forget it? Hire a mule team to drag it home? I found this big knobby lunker today and could see some exposed spots with nice color and glassy appearance (deer vertebra for size) and ended up knocking off a little knob to toss in the tumbler. It refused to move out of the shade for a good closeup with my tablet camera. If it takes a polish I don't know how i'll keep from going back for the rest, so suggestions are welcome.
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Post by tims on Jul 9, 2017 2:30:07 GMT -5
Those are great, sweet pieces and glossy shine. I couldn't pick a favorite without staring at them for a winter or 2. Bet the pet wood would slab up nice but you better get through the rest of that bucket first
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Post by tims on Jul 1, 2017 18:54:22 GMT -5
Great batch, neat snails. Thought i found some turitella a couple weeks ago but it's just some wannabe conglomerate ... someday Is that a teepee canyon in the #4 group, bottom center?
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Post by tims on Jun 25, 2017 16:50:59 GMT -5
By "gone sideways" I was picturing something catastrophic, but that project's coming along nicely. Man that digests an agate quick, and surprisingly no chipping. Makes my fingers nervous but that's probably a healthy reaction.
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Post by tims on Jun 22, 2017 14:53:49 GMT -5
That really looks like abnormal wear, hope they make it right for you.
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Post by tims on Jun 22, 2017 14:47:41 GMT -5
Beautiful batch. Can relate to having tumbles pile up, but mine aren't nearly as nice as yours so they're understandably harder to unload. I'd think people would be grabbing up your gems for good $. Nothing wrong with giving them away but lapidary isn't exactly a free hobby.
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Post by tims on Jun 18, 2017 1:21:09 GMT -5
Question: would $25-$35 seem like a reasonable price for these pieces? I posted a pic on facebook and people have been offering to buy them but I have no clue on $. They take a lot of time but they're still novice pieces. Opinions? Figure what costs you have in your stone, then figure the wire costs (which are minimal), then figure your time and what you want to pay yourself per hour. I'm thinking anywhere from 50-85 dollars. I would say since you are new to this and because there is no patina- you should ask for 50ish. Don't even be bashful about asking for it. You deserve to be paid for your time just like anyone else. Do not devalue handmade by going too low. ETA- I think that 2nd wrap was, at the very least, inspired by Tommy . It is always very good form to give credit. Thanks for the price advice. I'm conscientious of my wrapping time but tend to overlook time and expenses spent rock hounding, cutting and tumbling, and the cost of wrapping tools and supplies. Plus setting a low price now will undermine the value when i get better at wrapping and start to use more expensive wire and more labor-intensive cabs. FWIW the 2nd wrap was inspired by a Soumak wrap by Wyatt White on YT though i changed it up quite a bit ... just liked the idea of tying multiple wires on the back then doing the little tabs. If the idea originated from seeing one of Tommy's pieces, which is very possible, then thanks Tommy and i didn't intend to copy you. I will try to do better giving credit for other people's ideas. I know the 4th piece with the bindings on the corners was something i tried after seeing a post by AmyK ... i'd always put the bindings on the flats before that. I indicated in a reply to her post that i preferred her method and intended to try it (http://forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/78489/3) and it is better, so thank you amyk for that idea and i hope you don't mind me trying it. EDIT: i see there was also a piece in AmyK's post with prongs, so maybe that's what got me thinking and why Wyatt's tutorial caught my eye. Again, not an intentional copy and no offense intended.
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Post by tims on Jun 17, 2017 20:11:36 GMT -5
Question: would $25-$35 seem like a reasonable price for these pieces? I posted a pic on facebook and people have been offering to buy them but I have no clue on $. They take a lot of time but they're still novice pieces. Opinions?
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Post by tims on Jun 17, 2017 17:41:26 GMT -5
No epoxy, he's got a solid grip.
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Post by tims on Jun 17, 2017 15:21:55 GMT -5
So pretty. I would love to see the back of the square one, it looks so different. Here's the back; my neighbor thinks this should be the front. Alien rock hugger.
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Post by tims on Jun 17, 2017 15:20:17 GMT -5
Thanks guys, i'll go with banded chert. Hoping to cut and tumble some and see if it takes a polish.
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Post by tims on Jun 17, 2017 4:34:05 GMT -5
Does it flake like a flint? I haven't broken any but the existing pieces have some conchoidal fractures so i'd guess it would. Not sure how to test that without risking fracturing.
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