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Post by tims on Feb 15, 2017 18:43:42 GMT -5
Hey Tims, where are you located at ? You must be near to be hunting Indian Creek. I'm in Newcastle WY, 125 miles from the Indian Creek area in Buffalo Gap, just west of Scenic SD. Are you in the Rapid City area?
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Post by tims on Feb 15, 2017 17:24:59 GMT -5
I'd suspect that the infinity sign is just on the surface. It looks like that may be the place where another nodule broke away from the piece you found. If you're very careful, you might be able to put a shine on it. Mike / Fossilman could better tell you if you have baculite in matrix. I have a piece of that black matrix sitting here on my desk that's loaded with small clam shells. It also came from Indian Creek. After another look it doesn't look like baculite; it's curved and there seems to be some nacre outside of the tubular area I thought was baculite:
Too chilly for work so took some pics of other stuff from the trip:
Banded stuff:
Lacy stuff and a clear / white nodule with strange coral-ish exterior:
Thought this was wood, but clean i'm not sure:
Misc. stuff
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Post by tims on Feb 15, 2017 14:40:26 GMT -5
Looks to be a water worn prairie agate. There may be some banding inside, but I doubt that the eyes on the outside really indicate what may be inside. Cut it if you want, but if it were me I'd just face polish the infinity sign and use it for a display piece. I've seen some very nice Fairburns that have come from the Indian Creek area. Also some killer marine fossils. It's a place well worth exploring whenever you get the chance. Might try polishing the back side and see what it does with the eye on that side; i'm guessing the pattern either projects through the rock or is just on the surface which might remove it if i polish it. Worth a try though if it would make it pop. I was surprised to find a couple fossils there, looked like baculite in a very hard black matrix. A handful of what looks like lace agate, similar to stuff i've seen at the Rock Shed. Got a few nodules that exhibit some banding that might look nice with a polish. More nodules with nice color and translucence that will be fun to slab. This weather is driving me nuts, it's nice enough to get outside but not for getting wet at all.
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Post by tims on Feb 15, 2017 1:37:33 GMT -5
Will cut as soon as i get saw weather. It's been pretty nice here but it's usually winter for another couple of months so i hate to turn on the outside water and drag out hoses yet ... will post pics if it's pretty inside. Thanks for the input.
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Post by tims on Feb 15, 2017 1:34:10 GMT -5
whole lot of awesome.
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Post by tims on Feb 13, 2017 21:19:09 GMT -5
Honestly didn't even register the slab in the background until 2nd viewing ... those cabs really draw attention.
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Post by tims on Feb 13, 2017 21:12:43 GMT -5
Cool batch, great shine. Love the coral starbursts, and the fortification agate, and the striated one with the white undercut. What's the pure white one?
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Post by tims on Feb 13, 2017 19:32:00 GMT -5
Looks like the design is manmade. I'd leave it alone and keep it as an artifact. I don't know anything about artifacts, but it is neat. I don't think it's painted or carved, it just looks like the natural coloration of the stone. I don't believe it's an artifact.
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Post by tims on Feb 13, 2017 17:13:56 GMT -5
Went fairburn hunting Saturday with no obvious great finds, though I collected a bunch of pretty smalls for the tumbler and some colorful nodules to investigate with the saw. This one stood out because of the infinity sign and eyes ... the back seems to have corresponding eyes which makes me think the pattern might extend through the rock. Could this be indicative of internal banding? I like the piece as a specimen but if there's banding in it i'd be happy to chop it up for a better look. Opinions?
Back:
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Post by tims on Feb 13, 2017 16:22:31 GMT -5
Picked this up over the weekend and thought it was appropriate for single's awareness day tomorrow:
If you've got a heart of stone let's see it!
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Post by tims on Feb 13, 2017 14:11:45 GMT -5
The brown stuff resembles chert, which isn't particularly showy but it's hard (mohs 7ish) and should take a shine. I'm not great with identification but some of the stuff on the right may be softer material, which is why it shaped so much faster. Running batches with material of mixed hardness might be part of your problem. It may also be very difficult to get a polish on softer rock even if it's run with similar material. For instance the apache tear which is a type of obsidian ... there are plenty of threads detailing the difficulties even veteran tumblers have when working with that material.
Take everything i say with a grain of salt, i've only been tumbling a few months and still haven't completed a batch. Keep at it and keep track of your methods and results, that way when you nail it you'll have a blueprint of your success so you can do it again.
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Post by tims on Feb 10, 2017 23:22:10 GMT -5
wow.
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Post by tims on Feb 10, 2017 20:30:41 GMT -5
My chalcopyrite is so crumbly i hate to even move it around .. can't imagine cutting it. Hope to see some pics.
and Welcome.
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Post by tims on Feb 10, 2017 20:25:26 GMT -5
Masterful shaping to make those fortifications jump out and beautiful polish all around. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by tims on Feb 9, 2017 13:30:07 GMT -5
What would happen if you dipped the pads in liquid nitrogen and smacked em? Surely you have a couple bottles sitting around ...
Seriously though i wonder if those pads would shatter if frozen hard enough.
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Post by tims on Feb 9, 2017 12:51:01 GMT -5
I wish i knew what i was doing besides collecting equipment to try different things ...
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Post by tims on Feb 8, 2017 21:28:22 GMT -5
Beautiful lunker there. Hope to see what you have planned for it.
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Post by tims on Jan 30, 2017 9:31:12 GMT -5
Are those pads rubber, or resin?
I'm assuming the backing will wear off, which if they're completely impregnated with diamond would seem similar to rolling smalls covered in grit, as long as the surface diamond doesn't all detach. And assuming they mix well and don't float or conglomerate or something. Glad to see this experiment got the green light.
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Post by tims on Jan 28, 2017 22:31:42 GMT -5
Those are cool. Wonder if the hole bored into #2 was pre-petrification?
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Post by tims on Jan 21, 2017 22:40:14 GMT -5
Jugglerguy It's from a spot in the Black Hills about 30 miles away. I'd been picking them on-site a few times, then late last fall figured it might be worth grabbing a couple buckets of dirt to practice panning with. Was surprised that the 2 buckets turned into a good half bucket of gravel, it just looked like dirt. Panned most of it but had this set aside for cabin fever picking.
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