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Post by adam on Jul 9, 2015 17:35:09 GMT -5
Lol, time is never gained back, that's true. Good work though. I don't have carpenter blood in me. Maybe tumbling and hounding, though. And eventually sawing?
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Post by adam on Jul 9, 2015 17:31:00 GMT -5
Done splendid with that batch, what are you planning to tumble next, FLrockhound? A variety? Hook up with some pics, man. lol
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Post by adam on Jul 9, 2015 17:17:36 GMT -5
I didn't alter the color of the specimens, Pat, these we all dug from the ground or retrieved from shale creek beds. I played with saturation and brightness on photobucket because I have a webcam and the colors are all without the saturation and near gray. I tried to duplicate sunlight so the colors come out. Your welcome.
I lived in Lexington for almost 3 years, my mother's boyfriend cared for the horses at Keeneland! He still does, maybe. He was doing it for 20 years plus. Maybe on the hill literally means "on the hill"? lol Farther south you go, bigger the Appalachian Mountains get.
It's pouring cats and dogs here!
Another angle.
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Post by adam on Jul 9, 2015 11:27:15 GMT -5
I live by many house farms and cattle farms and fields of tall corn and short, green as emerald soybeans. The creeks today are rushing and gushing. Dark, cloudy skies and expecting rain. So many farms and fields of wildflowers it is pretty when the sun is out and the skies are nearly endless blue.
Unfortunately so many properties have put up NO TRESPASSING signs, so you know they don't want rockhounds or the like going on the property at all. When you dig for minerals you should go by yourself and be prepared, or go with a partner who knows what they are doing. I messed up once by rockhounding with a youngster. Can't trust rockhounding with kids.
I'll be in college this August. I never have been ziplining or vertical rock climbing.
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Post by adam on Jul 9, 2015 9:17:13 GMT -5
Beautiful material and great craftsmanship, Barclay, continue the good work.
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Post by adam on Jul 9, 2015 9:12:11 GMT -5
Mark K, I got on Bing and seen that it took about 200 miles to get from Clarksville to Rockcastle County, Kentucky. I suppose the colors are the same varied stuff throughout all the surrounding counties. I've found calcite in a few agate geodes and I'll have to take some more pics sometime soon. Good way to stay busy.
If any of you like I love to make deals, I'm real cheap, I've only made $45 recently from a few months of tumbled material. Shipping is outrageous for big boxes though, I admit. Always sacrifices.
This is all I have left prepared. Trust me on this, though, I'll add more as soon as possible.
Quartz variety is like smoky citrine colors but the big point has been weathered and is clear.
Imperial red botryoidal chalcedony with nearly flat matrix!
Kentucky agate is a pretty general term, but I like to break down the vagueness. I would say this is banded jasper with iron red lining and a light brown coat, also can see quartz crystals along the right side.
This is like a light tan/beige color Kentucky agate with thin green streaks too fine for a webcam to take a picture with. I cracked this one open, kinda lucky it broke in half.
This is a weathered quartz cluster, biggest cluster I've found by itself. Probably a lot bigger in some areas round here! Plus you can find light amethyst geodes a county west!
Happy hunting and grinding and tumbling!
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 17:57:55 GMT -5
So much plates I'm amazed. The colors are vivid and splendid, much variation. Mind=blown. Epic pics.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 17:52:30 GMT -5
I see why they would be agate, cool and thanks for the info. Great pieces, really.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 17:41:04 GMT -5
I like the moss and plume effects to the material. Where did you get these jaspers? I don't know of all the regional types.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 17:37:03 GMT -5
Red Kentucky fractured jasper, has a layer of white along one plane. Weird, but neat. It would be nice if there was no fractures but I can't change that lol
Citrine nodule half
Green Kentucky Agate, possibly due to Nickel?
This is the backside of the one from earlier post.
Botryoidal chalcedony, from mustard yellow to spots of pink-red, can't be seen in photo I'm afraid.
A smoky quartz vug with layers of chalcedony/agate, not sure which?
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 17:13:06 GMT -5
The only thing I see that might be improved is having aluminum sheet above the plywood? Everything looks great and that poly will do good. I guess you were expecting the wood would get scratched already? Awesome design. I never tried my hand at wood work since 11th grade, not too long ago.
Edit: Didn't notice the slit in the wood for the saw blade. Everything looks fine.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 16:47:21 GMT -5
I would like to share some of what I have collected over the last year and a half. I'm blessed to live in a mineral rich area. And I'm blessed for internet to post here on this wonderful site. If you're interested, message me? I will upload more as I can. Let's get rocking, shall we?
Kentucky Agate and quartz geode halves, has iron stains as most quartz has here. The agate has red outline and inner light blue botryoidal. At least a foot across. Green and maroon banded Kentucky jasper(agate?). Two sides have the baby puke green and on the third side is this darker color? I wonder what causes that?
This is a nice sanguine red color Kentucky jasper.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 14:39:13 GMT -5
That's really pretty material you've got, good luck with it. Kinda waxy surface like polished carnelian, nice.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 14:27:18 GMT -5
It's always good to go out into nature and find your own specimens, but not all areas have a wide range/availability of minerals. Quartz crystals in Kentucky doesn't get huge, no bigger than a thumb I'd say.
I once left some chalcedony, agate and the like in my mom's car for maybe 4-6 months. I got them out and compared them to the other local specimens. Definitely the stones from the car were significantly lighter. So I would leave crystals in a place where little natural light is available. Boxes are fine. I don't leave all my specimens in boxes, many are left outside and on a dining table and on shelves.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 14:14:56 GMT -5
They are pretty neat, almost like fire agate in a way. I love anything botryoidal.
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Post by adam on Jul 8, 2015 12:28:35 GMT -5
That's beyond beautiful and magnificent, more like extraordinary. I bet everyone would like to have an amethyst or smoky that large.
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Post by adam on Jul 7, 2015 18:10:23 GMT -5
Flawless beauties.
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Post by adam on Jul 5, 2015 12:23:00 GMT -5
That first cab has nice cream and smoky color and blends splendidly. The second has gray blue, white and smoky motif, very different and attractive. The final agate is like a soft sherbet ice cream, awesome.
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Post by adam on Jul 5, 2015 12:16:35 GMT -5
I am new to tumbling too, but now I mostly tumble agates and chalcedony of all colors. They hold up well in the tumbler. The quartz I tumble never has that final glassy polish. Also the polish likes to get into the crevices between the quartz crystals, and they're hard to clean. Does your area have the chalcedony, lilacmoth? They can turn out with a high gloss and sheen.
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Post by adam on Jul 3, 2015 18:56:00 GMT -5
There is a small field guide called "Rocks, Gems, and Minerals" from St. Martin's Press, really good for beginners and amateurs.
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