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Post by snowmom on Aug 2, 2015 6:05:02 GMT -5
I have gathered that most of the members are collectors of one sort or another as well as rock polishers... astounding variety of interests on this forum, so many um, facets of the hobby. I'd love to see some of your favorites from what you collect... would you be good enough to share some of the favorites from your personal collections and discuss them a bit? Thank you!
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 2, 2015 9:36:16 GMT -5
Great idea but um, fossils, minerals, picture jaspers, Fairburn agates, cabs & vintage lapidary equipment are all my favorites. Where do I start ?
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Post by snowmom on Aug 2, 2015 11:49:08 GMT -5
if you could only save one of each from a burning building which ones would you choose? you could post some of each... the forum has no limit on posts or pages of space they take up... judging from a few ever-living threads...
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 2, 2015 12:54:53 GMT -5
Wow that's a tall order. I'll have to think about this.....
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Post by captbob on Aug 2, 2015 13:09:41 GMT -5
4,000 posts for snowmom! Rocks don't burn. They are way down on my save from a burning building list. critters photos family heirlooms guns computers etc. ... I'm going to need a couple hours notice on the house burning down for rocks to start coming out the door. I'm with Don... where to start. Sitting here at my desk I can turn around and look at one of my display cases, as I often do, and there is no way to pick a favorite. Or even a top 5. That's like asking asking a parent with more than one child which they would save if they could only save one. Plus, I'm way too lazy today to do a photo shoot.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,676
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Post by Fossilman on Aug 2, 2015 16:10:59 GMT -5
I'll see what I can find too...................Interested in this subject......
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 2, 2015 17:16:24 GMT -5
Well, if it were a fire, I suppose these would be the first to get out. Next would be this. Then if I had time, my minerals & fossils. They'd be more apt to be destroyed by fire. Oh, and I'd grab the external hard drive for my computer. That's where all of the pics for insurance purposes are stored.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 2, 2015 21:33:44 GMT -5
Being from Commiefornia, I actually was evacuated from my home with ten minutes notice for a fire one time and had too much crap to do too much. Had mainly pets and guns as I recall. Papers were in a fire safe or deposit box. Too many pictures, collections etc to gather them all. Forgot water for the critters and the lovely, generous folks at McDonalds were taking advantage of the fire evacuees and charging by the cup for water *Assholes!* Have sold off a lot of the collections for the Texas move and pared things down a lot since. Got rid of my military rifle and sword collection. Would still have a tough go of it if evacuated though. Home is fairly fire resistant, mainly stone and Hardy board with a steel roof so I might not even go now unless it got real bad....Mel
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Post by tims on Aug 10, 2015 4:15:19 GMT -5
I'll bite:
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Post by snowmom on Aug 10, 2015 6:01:36 GMT -5
Oh, thank you Tims! I had pretty much given up on this thread... that's just beautiful!
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Post by gingerkid on Aug 10, 2015 15:02:12 GMT -5
That's a beauty, tims! Is it triple flow mahogany obsidian? Here's my fave, snowmom. (Pakistan) spessartine garnet, zinnwaldite on Quartz and Plagioclase with beryl close-up shot of beryl with spessartine
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Post by snowmom on Aug 10, 2015 16:18:25 GMT -5
Gingerkid Jan, that is positively unreal! Looks like something from a magical fairy castle, or the Giant's treasure room which is guarded by dragons...
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Post by tims on Aug 11, 2015 13:11:04 GMT -5
Wow gingerkid that is gorgeous. Hard to imagine a prettier natural specimen. It's like a bouquet of perfect roses that will never fade
Oh, and I don't know enough about obsidian to classify it I just love the color and transparency. I can only imagine how precious it must have been to the person who discovered and crafted it.
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Post by bobby1 on Aug 12, 2015 12:41:29 GMT -5
I cut this piece of Glass Buttes Mahogany Obsidian last week and what a surprise" The rough piece is 5" across. The slab. It has a lot going for it. So my favories stuff right now is this material. Bob
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 12, 2015 14:50:47 GMT -5
I thought that I couldn't do it, but after careful consideration, I think this is my favorite cab.... of the moment anyway. cobalto calcite with malachite crystals Africa
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 0:34:44 GMT -5
This little bit of gold represents a huge amount of self induced slave labor. If it was full I still would not do it again. This children's book of my snake photographs ended up costing me $1500 because it did not sell well and my percentage of the sales was less than $3.00. Loved doing it though and it is pretty important to me. Worked stones would have to be my bottle of opals. Lots of hand work and still not finished. Jim
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Post by snowmom on Aug 13, 2015 4:48:41 GMT -5
beautiful opals, Wampidy Jim- fascinating gold... and I had no idea you were a professional photographer... published! Looks as though it would be full of the beauty of snakes... I want to hear more about your book project and how you slaved for the gold... I was thinking of getting a pan and trying to find some here. wondering if that is advisable now... you always make me think.
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Post by snowmom on Aug 13, 2015 4:53:33 GMT -5
bobby1, those are spectacular... I'd have them in a window where I could see the light play on them, maybe over my kitchen sink or with a display and light behind them... somewhere I could admire them often! Rockjunquie... I did know this was one of your favorites. It still doesn't seem like it ought to be a real rock. It always amazes me that these come out of the ground, and are not the product of somebody's imagination. Just wild.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 7:54:55 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments snowmom. The book project happened when I was in my 40s and going to college at night. For four years I took a photography class and a computer or math class every semester. Most of the photography classes I took were on the artsy side of photography but when the book opportunity popped up I had to give it a try. A lady that was in a few of my classes was approached by her cousin Erik, one of the authors, to try and get some photographs at the Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth zoos because he was living in Arizona and did not have access to a large enough verity of snakes. He had other herp friends around the country but none in Texas. The lady approached me and it was game on. Almost all of the photos were going to be taken through glass for safety reasons along with not wanting to disturb the snakes more than necessary. I had to build a twin flash setup (one on each side) and rubber cups for the end of the lenses to prevent light reflection off the glass getting onto the photograph. We made a couple of trips to Houston and I spent countless hours at the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos wandering around the reptile exhibit waiting for one of the snakes to get into a good position for a photograph. Like watching grass grow because snakes do not move much unless they are hungry. If you are ever around Fort Worth go to the zoo because it is one of the best in the country. I signed the papers and sent in my slides which got misplaced and they were not going to print the book until someone stumbled onto my photos. (just a little bragging) I ended up with the cover photo and can't remember exactly but I think 28 inside the book photos. I am looking for more copies if anyone stumbles upon them. As far as the gold goes I would say pans are cheap so play around with it but don't expect to get much more back than the value of the pan "unless you are really lucky". But it is pretty exciting when you see the first color in your pan and it is real gold. There was some discussion on gold ID on here a while back. For me the easiest way to ID is to mash the flake with the flat side of a knife point. If it does not change it is probably gold. My experience was hiking all over the Big Horn Mountains with a sluice box on my back, setting it up in a bunch of different creeks and pouring a bunch of sand through it. The word bunch is very important in both places. One creek that did not have water but positive gold I dug a hole down to bedrock, (3' X 3' X 3') put the dirt/sand into buckets in my van, drove to water then ran the stuff through the sluice. I figured out that the gold was half way down to bed rock. Did I mention that I have bad back problems. The biggest piece of gold I found (not quite a nugget) I picked it up with a pair of tweezers to put it in my bottle and "PING" it was gone. I think that was close to the end of my gold rush days. Jim
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Post by captbob on Aug 13, 2015 8:31:21 GMT -5
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