rockbiter
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 60
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Post by rockbiter on Nov 18, 2019 0:22:25 GMT -5
Got a bunch of snakeskin agate this weekend by Rome. Wondering if anyone has any tips on tumbling it. A lot of it is spiky rather than looking like snakeskin. Will it still tumble well or is it better for natural specimens? Does anyone know a good way to clean it without tumbling? A lot of it has a crusty dirty layer on one side (on top of the white rind). Trying some muriatic right now. They fizzed when I put them in but then mostly stopped and the crust is still there.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Nov 18, 2019 0:53:27 GMT -5
What an interesting looking rock. Have never seen anything like that before.
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rockbiter
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 60
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Post by rockbiter on Nov 18, 2019 1:20:39 GMT -5
What an interesting looking rock. Have never seen anything like that before. They're really cool! They come from Eastern Oregon near Rome. The inside is milky agate, usually whitish but sometimes a little pink. Most people tumble some of the white rind off which leaves interesting white patterns on polished agate. The material is known for the snakeskin look some of it has but maybe it should be called "Hedgehog Agate" when it's all spiky.
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Nov 18, 2019 2:36:15 GMT -5
Very cool! Those are spikier than what I'm used to. I also like the weathered Brain at the top of the second picture.
You can tumble them a little or a lot for different contrasts between polished peaks & rough valleys.
Clean them up by tumbling them for a short time with no grit. Maybe add some detergent. Lynn
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Post by RocksInNJ on Nov 18, 2019 2:40:05 GMT -5
Would love to see them if you do decide to tumble them.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2019 3:11:04 GMT -5
You might want to save unbroken larger and more contorted pieces untumbled (just scrubbed to clean). If you sell, those'll fetch more $ unpolished. Pieces with chips can indeed be tumbled as rockbiter mentioned.
Soak the pieces you want to preserve as specimens in very warm water + dish soap. Then scrub with a coarse scrub brush. Never tried muriatic acid, but it might help loosen caliche, but you usually don't have to worry about removing every trace of that (unless it is a very special piece that is worth spending some time on using a dental pick). If you could figure out how to cage them so they wouldn't fly all over the place, taking them to a DIY carwash and using a pressure sprayer might help, too. I'd still do the soak in water first.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 18, 2019 6:56:43 GMT -5
Tumble the crust off like zarguy mentioned. Quartz sand as coarse grit helps clean the soft coating. Don't use strong mix of muriatic. It will dissolve deep and remove silicified white limestone that fills the crevices between the harder agate. What a great material to tumble. It is a hard stone like Montana agate and polishes easy with high luster.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 18, 2019 7:35:06 GMT -5
Found photos. Back in Oct. 2015. Fine big skins from quartz. wish I had a 100 pounds of this rock. Envious of your wheel barrow load. Before tumble Mid way in rotary with lots of pea gravel/smalls to get into divots, used clay slurry Then to vibe with over 50% pea gravel/smalls media for high polish Celebrated finish with grilled okra The muriatic will eat the white fill desired for the markings Florida coral with silicified lime coating being removed in a tumbler using no grit www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/albums/72157634669474396
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rockbiter
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 60
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Post by rockbiter on Nov 18, 2019 11:34:57 GMT -5
Wow jamesp those came out great! I don't have a lot of the stuff with the snakeskin pattern. Hoping the spiky stuff still looks cool tumbled. Reason I was trying the acid is that I'm afraid even tumbling without grit would damage the spiky pieces, since the white layer on them is thin. Only one way to find out I suppose. After seeing yours, I might have to go back next weekend and look for more of the snakeskin texture. I scouted another spot I think will be worth digging. The groundhogs aren't going to be happy though. Can't believe it is mid November and still dry enough to be out in the desert, but as long as weather holds out and my partner and child are out of town, I might as well take advantage. Nights are pretty freaking cold out there for camping though.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Nov 18, 2019 12:43:39 GMT -5
Wow jamesp those came out great! I don't have a lot of the stuff with the snakeskin pattern. Hoping the spiky stuff still looks cool tumbled. Reason I was trying the acid is that I'm afraid even tumbling without grit would damage the spiky pieces, since the white layer on them is thin. Only one way to find out I suppose. After seeing yours, I might have to go back next weekend and look for more of the snakeskin texture. I scouted another spot I think will be worth digging. The groundhogs aren't going to be happy though. Can't believe it is mid November and still dry enough to be out in the desert, but as long as weather holds out and my partner and child are out of town, I might as well take advantage. Nights are pretty freaking cold out there for camping though. The snakeskin tits will laugh at being tumbled. You won't damage that hard agate. If concerned just fill the barrel a bit fuller to 75-80%. Even running without abrasives you should have a thick beige/white slurry in 24/48 hours and have to clean out the 'mud' removed. Rotary tumblers rule when it comes to cleaning a 'skin' like that off uniformly. I'd stay away from the muriatic. The fun part is adding your coarse silicon carbide and watching the patterns become exposed. In other words check the batch every couple of days to make sure the patterns are worn to a level you like. If you coarse tumble too long you will have plain grey smooth agate tumbles with no patterns. I remember vividly the snakeskin pictured above stayed in coarse grit one week, fast tumble and gets no better. I actually tumbled them to long because the 7 to 10 day SiC 220 run needed to break not down for AO 500 removed to much of the patterns. You'll have fun tumbling those. They shine up fast and look wet when done. Can't wait to see the spiked material tumbled. The small ones make perfect media after being tumbled smooth and it lasts a long time as media being so hard.
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rockbiter
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 60
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Post by rockbiter on Nov 18, 2019 15:55:10 GMT -5
Wow jamesp those came out great! I don't have a lot of the stuff with the snakeskin pattern. Hoping the spiky stuff still looks cool tumbled. Reason I was trying the acid is that I'm afraid even tumbling without grit would damage the spiky pieces, since the white layer on them is thin. Only one way to find out I suppose. After seeing yours, I might have to go back next weekend and look for more of the snakeskin texture. I scouted another spot I think will be worth digging. The groundhogs aren't going to be happy though. Can't believe it is mid November and still dry enough to be out in the desert, but as long as weather holds out and my partner and child are out of town, I might as well take advantage. Nights are pretty freaking cold out there for camping though. The snakeskin tits will laugh at being tumbled. You won't damage that hard agate. If concerned just fill the barrel a bit fuller to 75-80%. Even running without abrasives you should have a thick beige/white slurry in 24/48 hours and have to clean out the 'mud' removed. Rotary tumblers rule when it comes to cleaning a 'skin' like that off uniformly. I'd stay away from the muriatic. The fun part is adding your coarse silicon carbide and watching the patterns become exposed. In other words check the batch every couple of days to make sure the patterns are worn to a level you like. If you coarse tumble too long you will have plain grey smooth agate tumbles with no patterns. I remember vividly the snakeskin pictured above stayed in coarse grit one week, fast tumble and gets no better. I actually tumbled them to long because the 7 to 10 day SiC 220 run needed to break not down for AO 500 removed to much of the patterns. You'll have fun tumbling those. They shine up fast and look wet when done. Can't wait to see the spiked material tumbled. The small ones make perfect media after being tumbled smooth and it lasts a long time as media being so hard. I meant to say that I'm worried about tumble cleaning anything I want just cleaned up as raw specimens, not sure if that was clear. I have some that I would rather not tumble since the raw texture is so cool. Maybe my pressure washer would work but I'm worried I need a jewelry sand blaster. I think tumbling with a bunch of sand might do the trick though. Worth a shot. And I have some nice fine sand to try it with. Might try the vibe since that would be gentler and might get in the crevices better. And I can keep an eye on it easier.
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Post by HankRocks on Nov 18, 2019 17:29:38 GMT -5
Celebrated finish with grilled okra You should know better than to post pictures of grilled Okra after the first freeze when I have to wait until next summer before my Okra will be available for such a culinary treat!!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Nov 18, 2019 17:42:09 GMT -5
Celebrated finish with grilled okra You should know better than to post pictures of grilled Okra after the first freeze when I have to wait until next summer before my Okra will be available for such a culinary treat!! As much as I complain about living in New Jersey, times like these make me very thankful. Lol I’ll just kick back and enjoy my cheesesteak or Hoagie.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on Nov 18, 2019 23:16:52 GMT -5
Okra won't grow worth a darn here, that picture almost made me buy a plane ticket to anywhere it grows well. I was introduced to it and enjoyed it a lot while in the service.
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Post by Pat on Nov 19, 2019 0:43:58 GMT -5
Long ago a friend canned okra. New to me. She gave us a jar. It was slimy!!! Eek! I tossed it; figured it had gone bad.
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rockbiter
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 60
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Post by rockbiter on Nov 19, 2019 1:17:46 GMT -5
Only had okra once I think. It was good! The slimy southern food I really fell in love with, however, was boiled peanuts. I took the snakeskin out of the acid. Good news is it didn't take off the white rind. Bad news is it also didn't clean up the crust. The crust did soften enough to scrape off with a dental pick. What do you think of it "cleaned up"? Reminds me of something...
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Post by MsAli on Nov 19, 2019 6:39:57 GMT -5
Scrolling down and the last picture, I literally just cracked up!
Those are really cool-thank you for sharing
Only way to eat Okra is fried
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Nov 19, 2019 7:19:16 GMT -5
Scrolling down and the last picture, I literally just cracked up! Those are really cool-thank you for sharing Only way to eat Okra is fried Gives new meaning to the word p Rick. Yes, fried is the ultimate Alison. Caramelized to a medium brown, double yum. Texas got an okra hold on quartz. Please try it fried or baked Pat. The slime gets baked to a delicious caramelized coating. By the way okra slime helps to thicken gumbo broth. Sorry to wet your whistle HankRocks. RocksInNJ don't know what he is missing. rockbiter you have 18,000 pounds of those things. You better tumble a few of them. Okra is a big crop and desired staple of Egypt. Loves brutally hot weather and crap for soil.
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Post by fernwood on Nov 19, 2019 7:24:37 GMT -5
Just a thought. Hoping the experts at removing crusts will chime in.
Would a tumble with water and glass beads remove the crust? I received a 40 lb box of sugar size glass beads in a package deal. They worked great for removing the crust on Apache Tears. I used about 2/3 cup of the beads in a 3lb. rotary barrel. Filled with water to just below surface of rocks. Let it run for 3 days. Bonus was that the glass beads did not scratch the Tears.
The biggest problem I see with the snakeskin is that some beads might become embedded between the spikes. A dental pick should remove them.
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Post by HankRocks on Nov 19, 2019 8:04:48 GMT -5
I tumbled these with Pea Gravel through the whole process. They are Round Mt(Arizona) Chalcedony with a botryoidal-ish surface. And yes I used a Dental Pick to clean out some of the impacted gravel. DSC_0115 by Findrocks, on Flickr DSC_0127 by Findrocks, on Flickr and.... MsAli - Fried is the only way that I will not eat Okra, that's more to do with avoiding fried food. Pat - I pickle my Garden Okra with a few Jalapeno slices and 5 or 6 cloves of Garlic, really nice. jamesp Was reading a book my son gave me for my birthday, "The Whole Okra" that one grower picked 640 pounds in a week from 1/2 acre!! When all other garden plants have given up in the hot summer, Okra is just getting started!!
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