jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 19, 2019 9:28:08 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!! Those chalcedony rich formations like snakeskin and botryoidal formations are brutally hard pure silica. I see your ripped polish. Harvesting okra is also brutal. You have to pick it about every 2 days or it may stop producing. It is prickly, and loves the hottest, most humid days of the south. My neighbor grew about a 1/4 acre for years. He was short and asked my tall self to harvest the tall fruit for myself to keep his plants producing well. It got to be a hated task.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,680
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 19, 2019 10:33:15 GMT -5
I have cut it, than tumbled it.... It's sure a plain jane material though....
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2019 11:39:22 GMT -5
I took the snakeskin out of the acid. Good news is it didn't take off the white rind. Good that the white rind wasn't damaged. I've used vinegar to loosen caliche deposits on agate, but took several days soaking + manually flaking off what remained. So, it seems muriatic does similar with a shorter soak time. For remaining light coatings that are too thin to flake off, a scrub brush with Comet or Ajax cleanser often does the job. I considered a wire brush, but gave up when saw that they leave traces of metal on the rough surfaces. If anything remains after that on specimen-worthy pieces, its better to just leave those, as collectors want the textured rind intact. You did a good job on that one!
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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 15:36:32 GMT -5
I took the snakeskin out of the acid. Good news is it didn't take off the white rind. Good that the white rind wasn't damaged. I've used vinegar to loosen caliche deposits on agate, but took several days soaking + manually flaking off what remained. So, it seems muriatic does similar with a shorter soak time. For remaining light coatings that are too thin to flake off, a scrub brush with Comet or Ajax cleanser often does the job. I considered a wire brush, but gave up when saw that they leave traces of metal on the rough surfaces. If anything remains after that on specimen-worthy pieces, its better to just leave those, as collectors want the textured rind intact. You did a good job on that one! Thanks, I am pretty happy with it and will try some abrasive cleanser to finish off the caliche. Glad you used that term. I had to look it up. The stuff I notice it being especially bad on is green petrified wood from Hampton Butte. Always has the bottom side heavily encrusted. You would think the acid would make short work of calcium carbonate, but it must have enough else holding it together that the acid only softens it. Or I need to get some new acid. It is getting to the point where it stains agate yellow if I leave it in very long.
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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 15:40:24 GMT -5
I have cut it, than tumbled it.... It's sure a plain jane material though.... All about the outer texture, for sure. Pretty boring agate in the middle. I think cutting it is a mistake.
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