vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 10, 2017 19:06:30 GMT -5
WOOOOOOOOOw......those rocks are amazing!!!!!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 9, 2017 18:58:37 GMT -5
Thanks, OSUguy. By the way, my wife is from Columbus and is a huge Buckeye fan!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 9, 2017 7:25:10 GMT -5
We did a clean out of our new 3lb Lortone 33B barrels last night after one week in coarse grit. I was a little surprised to find about 1/4" of havey, thick "silt" in the bottom of the barrels after removing the liquid slurry and rocks. This seems excessive to me, and something I have not encountered with my Nat Geo 1lb tumbler barrels. Is this normal, or should I be concerned that I have done something wrong?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 8, 2017 19:57:03 GMT -5
After two weeks in coarse grit, I (and my daughter) are happy with the results for this batch. All large pits and crevices are now smoothed out and when these rocks are wet, they shine very nice. So.....we did a really good clean out and added fresh water, medium grit and just enough plastic pellets to make sure the tumbler was 3/4 full (per instructions I got). Crossing our fingers that we are on the right path. I am still shocked that these beautiful looking rocks are all just rocks that she collected from her school playground and from around our house. LOVE THIS HOBBY! 20170208_190930 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 17:15:37 GMT -5
We have some of the milky white looking ones already tumbling and after 1 week, they appear to be good specimens!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 17:08:02 GMT -5
You've got one heck of a workshop going there. You would laugh if you saw where our two tumblers are!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 16:43:39 GMT -5
We do not live far from the James River, and our neighborhood has quite a few creeks running through it, so my wife, daughter and I decided to go hiking around the woods and creeks and look for rocks. Since none of us are geologists, we have NO clue what we are picking up, so we simply pick up rocks that seem interesting to us. Here are today's finds. No clue what they are! 20170205_161919 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 11:39:39 GMT -5
Vera got me thinking....the James River is basically in my back yard and there is a County Park really close Robious Landing Park. Perhaps this would be a good place to hound?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 11:32:42 GMT -5
Those gneiss are very nice looking. Good job! Railroad spurs, here I come!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 11:25:58 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Vera. I have been to the Moorefield mine a few times, but not in many years. Unfortunately, both the Moorefield and Lucky Lake are closed this time of year. I am also an old relic hunter, and have trudged through Caroline, Ladysmith and Fredericksburg in years past looking for stuff with a metal detector. I remember walking around the North Anna River, and of course the Matta, the Po and the Ni. However, I got out of relic hunting because I do not trespass, and it became increasingly difficult to find land where I had permission to hunt. But, you are saying there are public boat ramps and such where it would not be trespassing? I need to check that out.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 11:07:18 GMT -5
I know what to say...the pictures are blurry and that's why I guessed wrong. I just thought in the first pic the white places on the break surface looked like some of my pieces I have. But it is darker green than my pieces. That is a fast way to back out of a problem. Maybe Haha.....the bigger problem is that I am a very impatient person when it comes to this new hobby. Combine that with the patience of an 8 year old, and BOOM....it is already in the tumbler with other local rocks. Let's hope it doesn't disappear!!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 10:57:20 GMT -5
Maybe this site will help you varockshop.com, on the banner there is a link "Rockhound Info" then field collecting. It has links to a bunch of counties in Virginia. Gatorgirlrocks.com also has state by state information on rockhounding. Jake Thanks for this. varockshop.com is where I found the info on the old granite quarries. Just not a ton of info out there. I'll keep digging.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 5, 2017 10:56:24 GMT -5
Granite quarries are not the best place to find tumbling stones. Felspar, quartz, not much else. Felspar is tricky to tumble. The quarry may have gneiss, it tumbles well. Unfortunately railroad tracks are private property, they often have fine gravels from local quarries broken up perfectly for a tumbler. Maybe you can find abandoned railroad tracks say in a park or industrial area. This is a great idea. My office is in an industrial park and there are a couple of old railroad spurs there that I could check out. Thanks!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 4, 2017 19:24:51 GMT -5
Well, it is now a park within the City limits of Richmond, so I would need to find out exactly where on the 103 acre park site the old quarry actually stood, but it's nice to know other stones, even possibly semi-precious stones might be around. Thank you!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 4, 2017 16:37:58 GMT -5
I have been Googling trying to find additional sites where I can take my daughter to find rocks for our new hobby. In doing so, I discovered that there are quite a few now defunct granite quarries not far from our home. One of which is now part of a local park. While I doubt that granite would be good for tumbling, I was wondering if there are other specimens of rocks/stones/minerals that typically accompany granite that might be good for tumbling?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 3, 2017 17:02:35 GMT -5
OK. Thank you guys!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 2, 2017 18:03:24 GMT -5
OK, I know this may be a stupid question.....but I noticed that my new Lortone 33B tumbler (3 lb drums) rotates much slower than my original Nat Geo (1lb drum) tumbler. Is this due to drum size?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 2, 2017 7:33:59 GMT -5
Thanks for all of your kind words and for sharing in our happiness. As an added bonus, our new Lortone 33B arrived yesterday, so we now have 3 tumblers tumbling!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 1, 2017 19:33:23 GMT -5
I know these rocks probably have no financial value, but all of them were picked up by my daughter either at her school playground or around our house. After 1 week in coarse grit, I am vry impresed with the results, and better yet, she is too. We have decided to put them back in Stage 1 for another week. I love this new hobby! 20170201_190233 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Feb 1, 2017 7:19:44 GMT -5
What's the hardness? Guessing flourite. If it is, it's difficult to get a good shine. I remember in a previous post, you mentioned running a nail across the stone to see if it scratches it to determine hardness. Being a NOOB at all of this I bet I can scratch just about any rock with a nail if I press hard enough, so is there a preferred method to it?
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