elementary
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Post by elementary on Jul 6, 2012 10:39:32 GMT -5
Craig,
Much thanks for this and the kind words regarding the database...!
Please note that the VGMS website does not have the updated links installed yet so those links right now still require a login. Once their information is updated, it will run smoothly as it does on this board. It should be updated this week.
(PS - PM me your phone again...)
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jul 5, 2012 13:53:47 GMT -5
sheltie - check the creating cabochons section.
At the top you will see the 'home' post for all Agate Indexes. You will find all current links there.
Thank you,
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jul 5, 2012 13:52:12 GMT -5
Jean,
Thanks for posting your warning - and thanks for posting your follow up. Just to let you know the process the files follow in their creation and posting: The files are created using Pages for Mac. I then convert them into PDF files. I download the files into Media Fire (formerly used File4Share), retrieve the file share link, then post those links here.
Occasionally the file share sites themselves change or have problems - the File4Share site - back in March - changed so that you had to be a member to download files (which I hated - as did everyone else cause my downloads plummeted). They also on occasion went 'down' during maintenance windows. I have only been on Media Fire since June 9th but have had no problems with it, and have found the system extremely easy to use. Maybe they experienced a problem for a while and rectified it. Using other people's systems leaves you at the mercy of their viability. Even though I do these indexes, I should not be considered tech savvy by any means.
I'm glad you finally got through.
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jul 2, 2012 20:22:30 GMT -5
6/2? Have I gone back in time? Like Groundhog's Month? Cause I truly do NOT want to relive the last three weeks of teaching this year!!!!
I'll keep this short - love the Palm!!!
Also - what's the info on the Wampilicious agates - are they nodules or pieces of larger chunks of agate? Also - wondering where from WY they might be?
Yeah - always thinking about the Index...I know....
Great job as always!
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jul 2, 2012 17:51:01 GMT -5
Went out with a friend last Tuesday to Kramer Junction. This place has been hunted for 50 years or more but you can still dig and find things. We were hunting a hole that gave us some purple agate a few years ago. We first went to the old Kee Kay claim site to catch our bearings. The whole hill and surrounding scrub-covered ground is littered with thousands of pounds of agate - palm, moss, plume, sagenite is what you want to find. Most is garbage. My friend Ron and I wandered over the agate littered terrain and climbed the white ash-colored hill. We kicked about the patina covered rocks while side-stepping the numerous pits. (Photos pending for this). I roamed across the pock-marked landscape and came across a hole that was relatively recent. It had gone down to the layer of opalite that sits about 3 feet down. A green mass of the opalite was protruding from the side of the digging that showed some neat moss: I started digging which caught Ron's eye. I pointed to another mass of caliche covered orange material and Ron set to work on the other side of the ditch. The chips and small pieces that came out first heightened our interest: After pulling out the first piece, I came across the backside. I pried two more pieces out that have promise: One a green opalite with orange stingers: And another the backside of the first piece: A closer look at the interesting looking window in the middle: There are many pits here, and the opalite can be green (as here) or orange, or, as you can see, cranberry in hue: Here's my haul: After this I followed my memory to where the purple agate hides. We've only found it in one hole in this entire area. It makes me wonder what else hides out here. The hitch is that the purple only exists on the outside of the seam. I've been here three times, and I pulled out the thickest pieces of all trips this time. I'm wondering if the purple gets better deeper down. Anyway, Ron and I redug the pit, and soon we had pulled out enough for the day. The temperature was moving up to 90 and we still had a visit to Diamond Pacific in Barstow planned. Here's the haul and some photos: You can see the remnants of rootlets running through some of the photos. Now we gotta slab and see how much purple is workable. Thanks for looking... Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jul 1, 2012 17:34:27 GMT -5
Wow! That is awesome!
I love the symmetry - excellent job for something that is rarely seen!
Lowell
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elementary
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Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 29, 2012 20:08:05 GMT -5
2012 American Agate/Jasper Index Vol 2: Northwest - Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington added
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jun 29, 2012 19:52:06 GMT -5
Volume 2 of the 2012 Agate Index is closed for now - pending virus investigation. Vol 2: The Northwest with Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington has been made available! To download- hit the link and follow directions. 80 MB: 322 pages: over 280 pages of color photographs: Indexes for Locations, Names, and Contributors. Due to its size, download time will be much greater for this series, but ultimately there will be less volumes to download. Table of contents Fossil Material 6 Thundereggs 69 Nodular Agates 135 Dendritic Material 156 Moss Material 162 Plume Material 176 Orbicular Material 198 Agate - Miscellaneous 210 Jasper - Picture and Scenic 234 Jasper - Miscellaneous 277 Other Quartz Material 293 Peripheral Material 302 Contributors 308 Contributor Index 310 Location Index 312 Name Index 316 Additional Publications 319 Final Word 320 Appreciations 321 Contributors: Daniel Bontempo (KS) Jim Brace-Thompson (CA) Michael Brown (OR) Lowell Foster (CA) Dan Heuer (NM) Jason Hinkle (OR) www.oregonthundereggs.com/Mel Hixson (TX) Steve Holmes (UT) sites.google.com/site/echostones/Teyet Kepling (IL) Martin Kramer (CA) Glenn Miller (OR) Brian Pendleton (WA) www.brianpen.com/Rocks/index.htmEric Perkins (AZ) redskygems.com/Charles Price (WA) www.gametrails.com/David Rix - Eibonvale (London) www.thundereggs.co.uk/blog: thundereggs.wordpress.com/Bob Rush (CA) bobscabshop.goshopper.net/Brian Sellers (AZ) Ventura Gem and Mineral Society (CA) www.vgms.org/Ron Wise (CA) Gerald Woodside (WA) Robert Young (CA) Yurila (OR) and Donnie’s Rocky Treasures (FL) www.donniesrockytreasures.com/Sheri Donovan - Rock Wrapsody (AZ) www.rockwrapsody.com/Geoffrey Hubbs - Geoffrey’s Cabochons (CA) www.etsy.com/shop/geoffreyscabochonsIdaho Rock Shop (ID) www.idahorockshop.com/Christopher Lesso (CA) bakersfield.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=63&subAreaID=&query=christopher+anthony&catAbb=sssEd Orekar - Stones in Motion (CA) stonesinmotion.com/Steven Speer - Sticks in Stones Lapidary (OR) www.sticks-in-stones.com/index.htmlStones That Rock (AZ) www.stonesthatrock.net/Stoneviews (AZ) stoneviews.com/StoreFront.bokTom Wolfe Minerals (CA) tomwolfeminerals.com/Also - all the Artists in Agate Portfolios have been converted to the new download system for those interested: For those who have not seen these: The idea for the Artists of Agate series of portfolios originated with the work being done on the Agate/Jasper Index. There are so many wonderful artisans and photographers who offered their work to the Index. Unfortunately there were many more photos these people shared than I could have used. Producing a portfolio of their work for free downloading seemed to be a way of publishing more of their incredible shots without the limitations of the database’s goal. It also permitted the publication of images of international material that falls outside the Database’s boundaries.
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jun 22, 2012 23:23:31 GMT -5
This is awesome material! I'm blown away and don't think I've seen any of this agate before. It's great to have a chance to see rarer items.
Thanks much!
Oh, just to be certain, is the yellow sagenite and quartz stalagtite from a nodule deposit?
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jun 21, 2012 22:38:33 GMT -5
Zarguy - and all else - regarding the Siam Siding.
All the material that I posted was found by the field trip guide for our club - and this material was found just 18 months ago. The stuff is still out there. You just need to dig and be persistent. I haven't been out there myself - it's just outside my easy one day drive. BTW He and I are heading out for a two day hunt next Monday and Tuesday but not going to Siam (it's my post school end get away from the world and disappear into the wilderness vision quest journey...) Hunt mornings and hang out at Diamond Pacific in the early afternoon... (My wife thinks I'm crazy...) Trip's Goal: Purple agate...and hill wandering...
My next trip out - I'll let people know about, if interested. It's just HOT right now, so Siam would be a little brutal. I'll get basic directions there, but its 4x4 with much sand, if I remember the stories right...and not a place to go alone (and I go a lot of places alone...- but not there - too far out and too many variables to get you stranded...)
Anyway I'll let people know the next hunt after that.
Looking forward to seeing your finished products, Bluesky (which for some reason I've been reading as BlueSki (BlueSkee) which sounds like sad Russian Songs... (Man, I need that vision quest..)
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 21, 2012 22:03:33 GMT -5
Always admire your shine, and love the material.
(and love what you choose for showing scale...)
Lowell
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elementary
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Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 18, 2012 21:19:05 GMT -5
Those are awesome looking!
I don't think I've ever seen that material before, and it's gorgeous!
Do you hunt there often?
Great stuff!
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 18, 2012 0:10:13 GMT -5
You're welcome!
Regarding the Last Chance Canyon material you're not too hot on...turn the slab verticle and think to yourself....red lightning cabs... Left to right red lines may not be dramatic, but think up 'n down and storms...
(All rocks, like people, need to be given a chance...especially from Last Chance...) ....booo hisssss.....
I'm going now,
Lowell
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elementary
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Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 18, 2012 0:00:16 GMT -5
Here we go. I posted these a while back: These are Siam Siding pieces. Hope that helps, Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jun 17, 2012 23:56:33 GMT -5
Your last rock looks like Chapinite - it's a brecciated jasper that's found in three locations.
Siam Siding off the old 66
Fort Irwin
Castle Butte.
Yours could be Siam Siding. Oh, and it's a beautiful piece!
Let me hunt some photos.
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 17, 2012 18:57:41 GMT -5
Diamond Pacific was at our club's Museum yesterday doing machine demonstrations. One of the items was a massive drop down saw that was set up to cut material. I brought a few pieces (my t eggs were horribly disappointing, so none are shown) and here's the best of the cuts. Kramer dendritic material Guadalupe Poppy Jasper (given to me at the event) Northern Cady Fluorite Mine Plume Jasper (Mel's find) (This piece is crumbly and chalky. I got 4 slabs and I hoping they don't fall apart.) Southern Cady Pisgah Crater Road (Slab received as gift from other member) Southern Cady Pisgah Crater Road Red Moss (There used to be a large hillside covered with big 50 lb chunks of this material. Now you need to dig.) Happy Father's Day! Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 17, 2012 12:16:59 GMT -5
Fossilman,
You could be right. I ain't in no way a fossil guy. I just remembered vaguely from that conversation 3 months ago that it started with a B.
Thanks for the heads up... Maybe I should change the title to "Long Pointy Beautiful Dead Thing I Can't Afford..."
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jun 16, 2012 22:40:26 GMT -5
Last March we had an opal dealer from Australia at our annual show. He came wandering over to talk to one of our members, who's a fossil guy, with this plastic bin under his arm. When he opened it up, very carefully, its contents caught my eye. I asked if I could take a couple photos. He had opalized specimens of baculite and shellfish. I just shot a couple as the prices (you can see one listed) made me feel very cautious about shifting the pieces too much to catch the light. Enjoy: Snail: Baculite: I may never own one of these, but at least I can say I had one in my hand....for maybe 5 seconds.... Enjoy, Lowell
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elementary
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Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jun 10, 2012 1:08:03 GMT -5
Note: All files have been converted to a new file share system for ease of downloading.
No sign ups necessary for use.
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Jun 9, 2012 22:13:53 GMT -5
For those who may not have tried downloading the Agate Index since the sign in requirement on 4 Shared was started, I am testing a new file share site (Media Fire) and the test run went well and shows no login required.
I have only downloaded the 2012 Southwest Index here: Link shut down due to virus concern.
If you haven't downloaded it yet, this seems so much easier than the former method. You click the link, hit the download, and it comes up. Very simple.
I will update my main information page on the cab section later, after I verify how well this experiment works.
Meanwhile I have sent Mel the Agate Index - Northwest volume which runs 270 pages. It should be out real soon.
Thanks for your patience,
Lowell
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