elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Mar 18, 2013 22:15:45 GMT -5
There used to be a lot of whale bone along the beach at the mouth of the Ventura River, but I know a few people who have hit that spot several times over the last few years. They racked up 100 pounds or more of the whale bone. It's getting harder to find.
Kanan Road is good if you know where to look.
The park just off the grade coming down from Thousand Oaks has some chalcedony, but the best access was gated off as private property 10 years or so ago.
If you are willing to drive out to Santa Barbara and Lake Cachuma, then you might want to head up Figueroa Mountain up to Soapstone Hill at its peak. There is brecciated jasper in the streambed on the other side of the road from the Hill. You can find this site in Mitchell's Gem Trails. You just need to get a pass for the US Forest for the day. Supposedly there is also agate somewhere up there, but my source is 55 years old and the road info is woefully out of date.
There are also fossil sites spread around Ventura. If you drive the 33 above Ojai 33 or so miles, just before the road turns away from the Sespe River, you can go down into the river bed and collect Oyster fossils, turritella, sand dollars, and occasional marine mammal backbones in the riverbed. But I don't have exact milage.
I have an old magazine that provides milages. I'll see if I can find it for some specific fossil sites.
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 Mar 7, 2013 23:49:14 GMT -5
Brian,
I'm glad you're enjoying the material. Sorry the nodule didn't pan out completely. That pitting is a problem with those guys. If you find a fully agatized one, it's time to celebrate. I hope one of the others comes out better.
The psychedelic Jasper came out a little less swirly than I had hoped it would. You can never tell on the outside how the inside is going to be.
As for the seam, how did you cut it? It doesn't look like you cut off the face, but rather took off the top like slicing off crust from a bread. It looks great.
I'm hoping to head back out there on spring break. If I do, I'll toss a couple more things aside for you.
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 Mar 7, 2013 23:35:25 GMT -5
I really like how you presented this material with both the rough and cab!
Excellent photography for a neat set of cabochons.
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 Mar 5, 2013 22:26:29 GMT -5
The VGMS show this year had a wonderful variety of dealers. We had jade and fossil, spheres, and wood. We also had Spencer Idaho Opal as well. I didn't buy anything from them. I had a budget and I blew it on a couple books and some agate. Here's what I picked up: The Helenite I mentioned in my other post: A Sweet Potato Thunderegg: Some loose gemstones for sandsifting at my daughter's birthday party. (I couldn't stop buying the tourmaline....I think I bought 14 small baggies and half were filled with those gems.) I also got a bunch of Bahia agate - cut but not polished: And finally I bought something I'd never seen before - I don't know if I overpaid, but it was something different and beautiful. I love the shape of the replaced crystals. Finally, I was speaking with dealer who works with Moroccan Geodes. He found out I was a teacher, and after the show closed, he handed me these two pieces to take to my classroom. Class guy and great to talk to. I felt bad for him as he and several other dealers stayed at the fairgrounds in RVs but they were running Cart races or sprint races or some such small vehicle competitions and the engines were roaring until ten o'clock. Here's the pieces he gave me. Thanks for looking, Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Mar 5, 2013 21:43:54 GMT -5
Thanks all for the kind comments. I do really need to get a better fitting liner for the cases, but I like the black (and it's cheap.)
Jo, One of my favorite parts of this hobby is coming across great people who are easy to talk to, and when dealing, aren't trying to take your last penny. The dealers Tom and Steven Wolfe fit that description. I didn't even know about this material and a mutual friend working the booth pointed it out, showed how beautiful it was, then turned it over to show the $6 price tag. I bought my daughter a green heart on top of the material for my wife.
Mel, Taking down that stripping is a pain in the arse. It hasn't changed a bit. But the whole show is worth it. Last year the 50th Girl Scout jamboree was held at the larger facilities and we got a ton of them to come over to the show. This year a lot of them returned. We sold out of over 670 dollar grab bags before the end of Sunday. Our spinning wheel is pretty desolate now as well. And we're cohosting the California Federation show at the end of May/beginning of June. Phew!
As for cutting the t-eggs, the owners are pretty knowledgeable but their focus in on money and not specimen preservation. Sometimes they don't know exactly what they have and sometimes they are just looking at moving the product. I cringe when I see beautiful nodules slabbed. With the sweet potato, I believe they only cut one to show the star pattern, but it loses so much of its beauty that way. Still, cutting up agate more than necessary makes me shiver. I reminds me of people who pulled the handpainted flower illustrations out of books from the late 1800's because they were more valuable separated from the book than kept in it. Now many of those untouched books have spiked because so many have been defaced.
Chuck, No about the 50 states. That would be killer, but I'm missing too many back east, and does Hawaii even have agate? I had to cut down from what I originally brought because I didn't want to have it too crowded, so a couple pieces had to go.
Brian, Yeah, I lucked into an estate sale for $1 a pound. I call it my once in a life time sale. Myself and two others split about 400 pounds of the material. Most had little color, but some pieces look to have promise.
Thanks again all for looking,
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 Mar 5, 2013 0:52:34 GMT -5
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 23, 2013 20:03:52 GMT -5
Thanks Don.
The lighting on these shots works really well! I'll look over the others and see which might need another go around.
Love seeing so many Fairburns in one place.
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 Feb 23, 2013 14:13:53 GMT -5
I'm updating some of my photos for the Northern Agate Index being thrown together. Thought I'd drop the two sets of shots here for those who are interested. All were purchased. The Bear Canyon came from one specific dealer, and I can't seem to stop buying his samples... (oh - and if you have a good Union Road Agate - take a shot of it and post it here if you have time. I'd like a couple more samples for the Index.) Bear Canyon Agate - Pryor Mountains, Montana from cute little specimens To slightly larger pieces: And one decent fortification example: And the two Union Road Agates. They are smaller and show fractures, but I don't see these much around my neck of the woods: Thanks for looking! 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 Feb 20, 2013 10:12:26 GMT -5
And so my email apparently sent out a bunch of emails while I was asleep to everyone on my contact list.....
So I changed my password and deleted my entire contact list so I (hopefully) my account doesn't send out a bunch more of these.
For people convicted of setting these things up, can't we take off their fingers....
(It's always something....)
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 Feb 19, 2013 19:36:59 GMT -5
Really like that last one!
Crazy material
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 19, 2013 19:35:52 GMT -5
Even a butt-ugly broken owl clock is right twice a day....
oh...no hands....
Seriously, what a great way to save great stone from a fate worse than death. Excellent salvage!
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 Feb 18, 2013 17:43:00 GMT -5
bump to acquire images
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 18, 2013 15:50:49 GMT -5
I really like that!
But it looks like your eggs are poached rather than hardboiled....
(And I hate the new photobucket layout as well. The last format worked fine for me. Grrr)
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 Feb 18, 2013 15:45:13 GMT -5
Love it and your imagination! I had never thought about using rhodochrosite like that....Hmmm.
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 Feb 17, 2013 10:59:50 GMT -5
Hey Don!
Love the continual parade of Fairburns.
I'm putting the Northern Section of the Index together and wondered if you have any other Fairburn stones that you could pair with specific locations (if you don't mind me poaching your photos for the next volume...)
Oh, and your display case has me green with envy. It's almost exactly what I picture for my house, and you've set it up well.
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Feb 17, 2013 10:56:04 GMT -5
Thanks Mel for the clarification. My daughter saw what I did and said it looked like blue lips. Jan, The show is Mar 2 and 3 and I'll have photos after the set up, along with shots of some of my friends' cases. (and then there's another show in April and the state show we're hosting in June - so people will be sick of my displays by summer! ) Thanks for asking, Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Feb 17, 2013 10:47:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the nice comments everyone.
Jan,
These are tossed by the dealer because the stones are either broken into odd shapes and can't be slabbed and cabbed, or are too small to cut and face polish. To mess with them wouldn't be financially viable. Unfortunately, he's found a new cabbing source (he ships to China) and they can work with much smaller stones, so his unused material is not as nice as it used to be. My friend the collector receives these to put into kid grab bags or to use as trading material. He doesn't do much lapidary work himself. He tends to purchase his display pieces. When he saw how I like to contour polish material he thought this stuff would intrigue me, and it has. About 5 days after he gave me my first bucket of material, I brought him and his wife four of the best pieces from the batch contour polished as a gift. Soon after I donated a 'rock box' which is essentially a $1.99 bead box from Michael's Hobby, with 17 polished specimens for their club's silent auction. I get a bucket almost every time I see them now, and I am humbled by their generosity.
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 Feb 17, 2013 1:05:05 GMT -5
Great stones!
I really like your photography. Great lighting.
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 Feb 15, 2013 17:39:53 GMT -5
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Feb 15, 2013 17:20:02 GMT -5
Well, three of these locations you probably know. 'Starry Night' comes from the Corn Field which is actually a small flatland area in the Hauser Beds where there are thousands upon thousands of tiny nodules that look like corn kernels. Some, though, are larger and hold surprises. These are slated to go into my display case. Dryhead Laker: Laguna ? - From Mel a couple years ago. Not sure what else it might be. It came from a bucket of Mexican material. The curvy twisting rim makes it hard to get a good shot. Finally Van Gogh's "Starry Night". I contour polished around the whole half nodule and this scene surprised me as the outer husk of the nodule sloughed off: -Yeah yeah - not an exact match, but it's what I see. Take the test yourself and let me know what comes to your mind.... Hope you enjoyed this. Lowell
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