Tommy
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Post by Tommy on May 21, 2024 13:50:18 GMT -5
Thanks for the game Chad this is a fun one from a math perspective which has never been my strongest skill. I don't need the rocks - I'm not currently set up to tumble and they would just sit around long enough to forget where I got them and so in the HIGHLY unlikely even that I won I would pass them along to the next closest. My guess is going to be 27692.5 grams and after the contest I would love to post how I arrived at that outlandish number
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 12, 2024 8:35:48 GMT -5
Happy Mother's Day Tela and all the mom's Here you go. Wait... you didn't expect me to pick them for you did you?
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 10, 2024 9:20:04 GMT -5
Congratulations roQhound on winning the contest with an incredibly beautiful cabochon creation! My jaw dropped when I first saw it posted and in a crowded field of very beautiful stones apparently my jaw wasn't the only one Please send me a PM with your choice of theme for our June contest and I'll pass you your $30 gift certificate, kindly supplied by Chad from Suva Lapidary. Thank you everyone who participated!
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 10, 2024 9:06:19 GMT -5
I can't really venture a guess, but AVG updates often cause problems. Maybe Tommy has an idea? Not really, sorry. I'm still using an OEM copy of w7 that has never had a single update since I installed it in 2014. I can't even run any of the modern checkers but I do have four anti-trackers in my deprecated version of Chrome and an oft-updated HOSTS file. No issues with photos that I have noticed and the Ebay hosted photo shows up for me. Beautiful slab though I've never seen a plume version of Stone Canyon which is typically a brecciated jasper with thin veins of agate if it occurs. If you had posted it for ID with nothing to go on I probably would have said Bloody Basin or maybe even Canadian River which is a Wingate look-alike at times.
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 9, 2024 11:38:41 GMT -5
A big thanks to everyone who posts on this site. I'm fairly new to rockin' & have found soooo much helpful info here. Welcome from Napa!
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 8, 2024 7:52:56 GMT -5
Awwww!? What a sweet girl
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 7, 2024 23:08:25 GMT -5
Just joined the forum to say A HUGE Thank You for all of the amazing tips a guidance on how to use vibratory tumblers. I got one a few weeks ago and was so frustrated with the lack of instruction. Miraculously I found this group and my tumbler is now tumbling! Super grateful for all the generous tips, guidance and encouragement. You all rock. Thanks again Yahoo and welcome!
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 7, 2024 21:56:20 GMT -5
bump... lets see if we can get to 52 votes since there are 52 hours to go
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 7, 2024 9:52:51 GMT -5
Well, you would be correct- it is translucent areas. It's a real thing. If you find yours, just shine a light through it. It inspires me to immediately start calling that other translucent material Gel Silica
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
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Post by Tommy on May 7, 2024 9:01:36 GMT -5
I've got some of that around here somewhere, I'll have to dig it out now. Gel sounds to me like another new gimmicky word to drive the cost up - I've never heard that until right now. I always just described it literally as 'translucent areas'
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 7, 2024 8:47:38 GMT -5
Your headline gave me quite the jolt I'm glad hummingbirdstones is doing good and sorry I that I wasn't paying attention. I've been a bit out of touch with the board myself - I'm on the forum randomly every day but not able to do much reading or posting. After a VERY (scary) slow start to the year it's finally gotten busy in Napa and my average work day is 10-12 hours and day's off are rare. It still doesn't feel as busy as it should be though which doesn't bode well for the summer months.
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 5, 2024 14:46:29 GMT -5
I use a recipe from an old Fanny Farmer cookbook for food processor mayo. I'm gonna try this with my next empty mayo jar. Homemade mayo is the best! Do share please! A photo is OK, you don't have to type it out. I'm just very curious and love looking at old recipes from the days before fats were deceptively villified by 'big sugar'
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on May 5, 2024 12:49:05 GMT -5
Looks like some great rocks hammycamey88 thanks for the update!
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 3, 2024 10:40:45 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I've been a lurker on the forum for awhile now, but I want to try to be more active and meet some fellow rockhounds! I'm currently located on the central California coast, a truly beautiful and fun place to live. I've been here since 2020 and have been interested in rockhounding roughly since I started exploring the coast. I'll be working in Virginia for a few months this year, so I'm excited to see what I can find and learn about while I'm there too! Welcome from Napa!
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on May 2, 2024 21:31:57 GMT -5
Welcome to the Rock Tumbling Hobby Forum cabochon contest where your cabochon making skills, creativity, and material will be put to the challenge. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to enter regardless of cabochon making experience, skill level, or machinery and methods. This contest is about having fun and challenging ourselves to step outside our comfort zones and learn and grow, while dazzling the community with our beautiful rock creations.
May 2024 - RTH Cabochon Contest Contest Theme: Small Cabs, chosen by our February winner agatewhisperer. Contestants are asked to create a small cabochon of any material, no larger than 10mm x 15mm. Prize:Again this month, the contest prize is provided by Chad from Suva Lapidary in the form of at $30 gift certificate. As always the winner can choose a free teeshirt or mug of their choice. ordered from the designs on display in the RTH Store, or we can use a custom design of their creation. Contest Format:The chosen contest theme serves as the primary criteria for voting. The voting period will occur for approximately seven days around the start of the following month. The winner of the contest will have the opportunity to choose the theme of the contest occurring two months after the contest they won (ie: Nov winner chooses Jan theme). At the beginning of the voting period, a voting poll will be added to this thread and all contest submission posts and responses will be hidden from view in order to help insure a level playing field. All original content will be replaced in the thread at the close of voting. Contest Period:The contest period starts when the new contest thread is posted, and concludes at the end of the last day of the month PST or PDT time. Voting Period:Voting occurs for approximately the first 7-10 days of the month depending on when the voting is launched. Entry Requirements:Participants are asked to follow the contest theme in the creation of a hand-shaped, jewelry-ready cabochon or set of cabochons. For the purposes of contest consistency, a cabochon should have a visible dome on top and a flat backside. Variations on dome heights and girdle styles are permitted and ultimately it's up to the voters to decide if the contest criteria has been met. Entry cabochons must be made entirely by the member, within the contest month and feel free to let us know about the piece including how you shaped and polished it, and what challenges it presented. Please identify the material if you know what it is or let us know if you don't. Alternative materials are allowed as long as they are in keeping with the theme (ie: "agate" theme = agate material), and the material is such that it requires lapidary skills to transform it into a cabochon. Cabochons may have a hole(s) drilled but nothing attached to it. Photo Requirements:Three photos minimum are required including one non-backlit, non-glamorized or filter manipulated photo showing the cabochon directly from the front (if posting more than one front photo please indicate which one you want used). Also include a photo taken at as close to 90 degrees angle as possible showing the side of the cabochon so we can see the shape of the dome and girdle if it exists. The third required photo is of the preform or slab you started from. If you do not have all three of the required photos post what you have and let us know. Photography Notes:For size perspective it is helpful to include a photo alongside an object such as a coin or fingers. Until the conclusion of the voting period please do not post on any area of the forum, photos of your contest entry that has been turned into jewelry which includes the stone after it has been set, wrapped, or had any kind of bail attached. Back-lit photos, unless specifically required by the theme, are only permitted as extra photos to illuminate interesting features that do not photograph very well. For a level playing field please include non-back lit front and side photos for use as your front featured photo requirement.Members are welcome to enter work-in-progress photos as a place holder for their pending entry. Final photos may be added up until the point where the entry posts are hidden from view in preparation for the voting period. If final photos are not posted the piece will not be able to be included in the voting. We don't want the competition to turn into a photo contest but also recognize that it is in your best interest to make sure your front and side photos are as focused, bright, and colorful as possible because these two photos will be cropped and presented in the voting collage. Highly zoomed-in photos are not as desirable as photos well-focused on the stone, allowing enough background top and bottom for cropping to a square 300px X 300px. Voting Criteria:Please judge each entry based on the following while keeping in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the difficulty levels of material vary as do photography skills and equipment. An exceptional example of creativity and skill might not always be flashy and bright, and we owe it to every participant to do our best not to allow it to become a photography contest. 1) How well was the challenge of the contest theme met? 2) How well did the shape of the stone meet the general contest requirements? 3) General appearance, beauty, artistic creativity. 4) Photography - is there a direct and focused front shot and a direct and focused side shot for voting purposes? If a tie vote occurs, a new voting poll will be launched for the period of one day and will include only the stones that were tied for the lead. Community participation and Conflict Resolution:In the interest of preserving contest civility and fairness, please do not post negative comments regarding another member's entry. As always on the forum, polite and respectful dialog and encouragement is welcome in the form of 'likes' and comments. Offering advice or direction about an entry, including whether or not it met the contest theme, is only welcome if the contestant has requested it. In the event of theme-related questions, the person who chose the theme has the final say. If questions arise regarding if an entry meets the general contest requirements, or the member-chosen theme requirements, these can be directed privately to staff members directly or through the use of the 'report post' feature. Thank you to everyone who participates by entering and or commenting and encouraging others. We sincerely appreciate all the comments and feedback we get and want to continue to improve the contest as we go so keep 'em coming!
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Tommy
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Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 1, 2024 9:35:21 GMT -5
I didn't realize in the past that too close of cropping of the entry pics was an issue. I hope I did better this time! What I do in creating the collage thumbnails is I follow the image URLs that were posted and take the largest originals and open them in Photoshop. I then crop the image square leaving as little space as I can around the stone before resizing it to 300x300 pixels. I've found the best photos for this process are already square-ish enough to allow me to create a square thumbnail.
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Tommy
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Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 1, 2024 9:25:54 GMT -5
Note to iamchris - sorry - I just read your hold-the-bus post in the contest so that obviously didn't end up well :/ (for everyone) The best way to make sure your entry gets in if you're working on a piece but running late and worrying if you'll meet the deadline, post a placeholder image(s) showing your work in progress piece. This way when I go in collecting photos I'll know there is another one coming and I can shoot you a note checking on progress before I launch the voting. Note - I can't promise that there will always be a little delay between the contest close date/time and the posting the voting poll, it's always my goal for there to not be a gap but it does occur.
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on May 1, 2024 8:52:05 GMT -5
Contest is officially closed! Thank you agatewhisperer for a great theme and everyone for partipating and turning it into a fantastic display of eye candy. I can hardly wait to see the group collage and which piece of art emerges as the winner ... but I'm away from my computer until tomorrow night so I guess we all have to wait
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Apr 29, 2024 9:19:39 GMT -5
The shine on the indian paint is amazing but I think I like the plasma the best. I've always had a soft spot for plasma ... (pun intended)
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,686
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Post by Tommy on Apr 23, 2024 19:29:36 GMT -5
Happy birthday Tom!
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