jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Mar 5, 2015 10:27:11 GMT -5
By sawing 1 to 2 inch thick slabs out of large chunks of coral, pendant size chips are hammered off going around the perimeter of the thick slab. The flat sawn surface and slab thickness allows control of the chip size and thickness when struck with a small hammer at about a 45 degree angle. The 45 degree angle is done at a 45 degree angle to the coral tubes. Unfortunately it does not chip well across the polyps. Results of a 7 inch slab and a 5 inch slab: Tumbling time is reduced due to the flat faces and lack of divots. Size is reduced quickly as the rotary chips away the sharp edges. They are tumbled a day without grit to simply break the edges off. Particles left in barrel for smalls and coarse grit added the next day. Coarse grind still takes 1-2 months since flat shape seems slower to tumble. End shape shows little signs of toothed edges.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 5, 2015 10:51:01 GMT -5
What? No video showing the chipping progress?
Those are going to turn out mighty fine, James. Really love the colors in the last pic.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Mar 5, 2015 12:56:07 GMT -5
What? No video showing the chipping progress? Those are going to turn out mighty fine, James. Really love the colors in the last pic. That is an unusual color Jean. It unfortunately is very rare. I am not sure where it occurs in the river. Or what color of clay medium that it occurs in. I heated it, which enriched the color. Coral with that grey-blue border is always a cool color on the inside. Just hard to find. I don't think it has been picked over, just rare.
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bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
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Post by bhiatt on Mar 5, 2015 14:50:23 GMT -5
killer looking. Looks like some Monsanto(GMO)Mango.
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 5, 2015 15:23:38 GMT -5
Going to be awesome buddy!!!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 5, 2015 16:08:44 GMT -5
killer looking. Looks like some Monsanto(GMO)Mango. Dare you to take a bite. The edge is rotted and it would taste bad. Suppose it would be hard on your teeth too. maybe they are petrified mangos, petrified rotten edge mangos-PREM's. Maybe GMOPREM's would describe them. I can't find that color worth a darn. Why do the wild colors want to be rare ??
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 5, 2015 16:09:39 GMT -5
Going to be awesome buddy!!! It would be better if i could sell them for an awesome price Fossilman.
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bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
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Post by bhiatt on Mar 5, 2015 16:54:30 GMT -5
the white/clear color is growing on me. I like them speckles in it.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 5, 2015 20:38:58 GMT -5
the white/clear color is growing on me. I like them speckles in it. I call it spice. Good bit of those dots in coral. Got to be close to see them.
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Post by snowmom on Mar 6, 2015 5:09:47 GMT -5
killer looking. Looks like some Monsanto(GMO)Mango. Dare you to take a bite. The edge is rotted and it would taste bad. Suppose it would be hard on your teeth too. maybe they are petrified mangos, petrified rotten edge mangos-PREM's. Maybe GMOPREM's would describe them. I can't find that color worth a darn. Why do the wild colors want to be rare ?? I couldn't get over the smell when I worked with some of jamesp's coral, it smells just like the ocean. Made me think of shrimp. (o how I love shrimp!) if you could get only wild colors and patterns, then you'd be hunting for the plain white ones.
Those pieces look very consistent in size, bet they tumble a treat. Can't wait to see the results!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 6, 2015 8:11:20 GMT -5
The truck smells like a big pile of sea shells when I get back to Atlanta to unload snowmom. A lot of critters live in the nooks and crannies of the coral. It takes a while for the smell of dying organisms to go away. The coral in south Georgia silicified in clays that washed down and settled from the mountains and piedmont of north Georgia. There is many variations of the clay, swirled and layered. Lots of chemical variations that create the color. There may be several layers of clay in the river bank producing different colored silicifications within an arms reach. The white coral is found in white clay, probably aluminum rich kaolin. Kaolin is rich in aluminum silicates and oxides from felspar. It seems to be the hardest scnitt on earth. It is first to polish in the tumbler, and makes the thinnest, sharpest chips. When heated, it looses it's translucence and turns dull gray. So heating makes it unattractive. The yellow and orange coral can change to some flashy colors when heated, iron probably the cause, iron compounds are heat sensitive. The sand and small pebbles in the river are crystalline quartz that also washed down from Appalachia with the clay. It is simple geologically. Not many geological fireworks like glaciers, tectonic activity, meteor impacts, lava flows. Just a 20-30 foot tall river bank starring you in the face with ancient deposits of silt on top of a layer of coral that is sitting on top of limestone bedrock. The limestone bedrock is a deposit from settlement of a much deeper, older, longer lived ocean. The river exposes it in some shoals. The clay and coral layer is 2-6 feet thick, then 15-20 feet of sand on top of that. So the top soil is sandy in the area. Unlike your neighborhood, little disturbances. There is even a layer of silicified muck and algae 1-4 inches thick laying on top of the coral. I suppose it settled on the coral after a climate change killed off the coral.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 6, 2015 10:14:59 GMT -5
If you could get only wild colors and patterns, then you'd be hunting for the plain white ones. Isn't that the truth! Why is it that we crave things that are rare or hard to find? Those last ones are certainly beautiful.
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megalotis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2009
Posts: 226
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Post by megalotis on Mar 6, 2015 10:20:42 GMT -5
Such NICE material to work with! You are blessed!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 6, 2015 10:25:19 GMT -5
If you could get only wild colors and patterns, then you'd be hunting for the plain white ones. Isn't that the truth! Why is it that we crave things that are rare or hard to find? Those last ones are certainly beautiful.
human nature a strange beast. Gotta be the need for a challenge. Mom used to say I was challenged (a kind way of calling someone demented). Demented-always liked that word. There was a rock music radio show that used to come on the radio Sunday nights called 'The Doctor Demento Show'. Ever hear of that one ? In the mid 70's
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 6, 2015 10:28:04 GMT -5
Such NICE material to work with! You are blessed! Thanks megalotis. It is about the only rock I work with since it is fairly close by. It likes me and I like it.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 6, 2015 10:30:42 GMT -5
You have no idea, James! Of course I've heard of it, it was out of LA back then. Don't know if he still has them, but my dad taped that show every Sunday night on his reel-to-reel tape player.
Fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!
Just one of the many little ditties stuck in my head all these years from that show!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 6, 2015 10:54:53 GMT -5
You have no idea, James! Of course I've heard of it, it was out of LA back then. Don't know if he still has them, but my dad taped that show every Sunday night on his reel-to-reel tape player. Fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum! Just one of the many little ditties stuck in my head all these years from that show! The demento heads will rise again !! Permanently damaged by perversity. I kinda guessed it was broadcast from that direction. Used to have crazy dreams after listening to that show. I remember falling asleep one night and last thing I remembered was the time on the clock. Woke up 5 minutes later soaking wet.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 6, 2015 13:43:59 GMT -5
Didja have pizza for supper? That's one food that will give me nightmares, don't know why... And then listen to Dr. D, that would be asking for it, lol.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 6, 2015 14:57:34 GMT -5
Didja have pizza for supper? That's one food that will give me nightmares, don't know why... And then listen to Dr. D, that would be asking for it, lol. At that I was partying down in the hood. No telling Jean.
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Post by snowmom on Mar 6, 2015 15:00:50 GMT -5
HAHA, Dr Demento is an old friend! My spouse was devoted to him, mourned him when he passed away. my dad was a faithful listener, too, and I think my son has cassette tapes he made of some of the shows... "she has freckles on her, but she is nice" "shaving cream"," I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" ... what an odd flashback to be thinking of these things now.
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