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Post by Starguy on Jan 20, 2014 12:55:16 GMT -5
This is most of my collection of Idaho star garnet. Most of the material is from the west fork of trail 281. The west fork of trail 281 yielded the highest quality star garnet ever found in Idaho. 95% of the stones exhibit a star! with a huge percentage showing a 6-Ray star. This is a 3 pound margarine container nearly full of tumbled garnet. Needless to say, it weighs a little more than 3 lbs. This thing represents 7 years of tumbling. Garnet is difficult to tumble. Each week I would open the tumbler and pick out the stones that were ready for the fine grit. I would split the stones with cracks and sometimes grind the pits on the grinding wheel. I wore out a Lortone LS-3 tumbler on this project. Crystals are pretty unusual at the site. When you do find crystals, most of them a fractured. I split all of the fractured garnets, but I always kept the crystals that didn't show any cracks. These are all 12sided dodecahedrons. Here are some of the pieces I saved for cabbing. The tumbled pieces can be cabbed as well, but it is easier to orient the star if you still have a crystal face to work with.
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Post by Pat on Jan 20, 2014 13:32:06 GMT -5
Do you ever cab your star garnets?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2014 13:37:47 GMT -5
Amazing. And you can even see stars in some of your pics!
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Post by Starguy on Jan 20, 2014 13:42:34 GMT -5
Do you ever cab your star garnets? Hi Pat. Here'a photo of one of my nicer cabs. It's a little over 20 carats. Thanks for looking!
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Post by Pat on Jan 20, 2014 13:48:18 GMT -5
Wow! Thanks for showing. I have a few pieces of small, raw Idaho star garnets, but haven't tried to cab them yet. Those are outstanding!
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halitedigger
starting to spend too much on rocks
Lost in the Mojave, Sierras or Itoigawa
Member since September 2013
Posts: 104
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Post by halitedigger on Jan 20, 2014 13:57:38 GMT -5
7 years. That's commitment. Congratulations on some awesome gems.
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europast
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
Posts: 118
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Post by europast on Jan 20, 2014 14:22:33 GMT -5
Very impressive!
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Post by Starguy on Jan 20, 2014 14:50:27 GMT -5
7 years. That's commitment. Congratulations on some awesome gems. 7 years seems like a long time. At $5/gram they're worth a little over $27,000. I haven't had any trouble selling 4 ray cabs at $5/carat, and 6 rays at $10/ carat. Larger stones go for even more per carat.
Everything in the photos is a little over 12 lbs.
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Post by drocknut on Jan 20, 2014 16:01:13 GMT -5
Wow! Those are all beautiful. I have a small (definitely small compared to your pile) of garnets that I dug in the forest service Emerald Creek garnet digging area a few years ago. I still don't know if any of them have stars but they are not near as big as some of yours.
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Post by Starguy on Jan 20, 2014 16:28:29 GMT -5
drocknut
If your garnets are from emerald creek, they will have stars. All of the ones in the pictures are from there. I dug them in the 80s and early 90s. The hardest part is finding pieces that are solid enough to cut.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Jan 20, 2014 16:28:40 GMT -5
I love garnets. But never ever collected jewels like that. Those crystals make me slobber. They are fun stones to find.Those stars are awesome.
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MrCoffee
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2005
Posts: 634
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Post by MrCoffee on Jan 20, 2014 18:22:19 GMT -5
I wore out a Lortone LS-3 tumbler on this project. You mean, a Lortone 3A? But still, you got way more out of this than you paid for that little tumbler. Wish I could do the same. Nice!
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aimeesrockworks
spending too much on rocks
I really do look like my avatar... it kinda freaks me out.
Member since December 2010
Posts: 458
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Post by aimeesrockworks on Jan 20, 2014 19:48:07 GMT -5
Gorgeous! Gotta plan a road trip methinks.
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Post by Starguy on Jan 20, 2014 22:53:54 GMT -5
Wow! Those are all beautiful. I have a small (definitely small compared to your pile) of garnets that I dug in the forest service Emerald Creek garnet digging area a few years ago. I still don't know if any of them have stars but they are not near as big as some of yours. When I was mining them, you actually dug your own. Now days the Forest Service digs the gravel and stockpiles it for people to dig through. They have sluices with running water at the site which makes it a little less backbreaking. Digging your own like in the old days allowed experienced diggers to have an advantage over greenhorns. I also dry screened with a 1/2" mesh screen, then washed with a 1/4" screen. That partly accounts for the larger size you are seeing. Now the Forest Service provides only 1/4" screens so the average size is smaller. You also can't go through as much dirt in a day with the 1/4" screens. I liked the old days, but people used to tunnel into the hillside. I never heard of anybody having a tunnel collapse but it became an issue for the Forest Service. I think that washing gravel in the creek was also an issue. I once talked to an old timer who dug there long ago. He said they used one inch screens. They must have been finding some whoppers. I had a guy offer to sell me 300 pounds of rough garnet from that site. I had to pass because he was asking $100,000.
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kaldorlon
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2013
Posts: 413
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Post by kaldorlon on Jan 21, 2014 8:40:48 GMT -5
Impressive! My GF's favorite gem is garnet (bonus is it is her birthstone)...!
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alan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 111
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Post by alan on Jan 21, 2014 9:55:24 GMT -5
I've been out to the site a few times, but only since 2009... I have a few solid crystals, but nothing like yours!
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alan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 111
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Post by alan on Jan 21, 2014 10:59:50 GMT -5
Anyone ever attempt a sphere with star garnet?
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Post by drocknut on Jan 21, 2014 11:41:43 GMT -5
Ah the good old days. I do admit it is easier with them providing equipment and a sluice although it's rough finding a spot at the sluice some days. I also don't like that they would not allow dogs there. I can understand it somewhat but that made it hard for me since I had to walk down and back on that hill hike to check on her every hour or so.
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Post by pghram on Jan 21, 2014 15:50:13 GMT -5
Those are very beautiful, mega cool!
Rich
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Post by Toad on Jan 21, 2014 16:42:12 GMT -5
Never had luck tumbling garnet, but then i didn't have the volume you found either. Thanks for the pics - awesome stones.
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