hummingbirdstones2
fully equipped rock polisher
Vince A., 1958-2023
Member since August 2018
Posts: 1,461
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Jan 30, 2023 20:54:15 GMT -5
Martin is a good guy. His dad actually discovered some of the really good lace deposits in Mexico, and he's always been an honest guy to buy from.
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Post by Bob on Jan 30, 2023 21:24:25 GMT -5
His pile of dirty jasper didn't catch my eye much. Until that is I dipped a few pieces in the water bucket in the rays of the 4pm sunlight!
He looked like a Spaniard. My first thought was he and Javier Bardem would look just right in a bar scene in a movie together.
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Post by Bob on Feb 1, 2023 11:23:01 GMT -5
Bob did you get the green obsidian from the guys at the west end of the PowWow near the highway, next to Kevin the Stellar Oil guy? We saw the obsidian, ended up getting some of the snakeskin serpentine they had. They also sell at our club show in Buckeye. I can't remember whether it was there or Desert Gardens, but it was sort of in the middle from a Mexican from Jalisco. Rockoonz, or anyone else, do you have any experience with this green obsidian? I almost can't believe how heavy it is--seemed twice as heavy as other types of obsidian that I have. I put those 3 lemon-size pieces in a 12lb barrel last night, and normally would tumble obs with other obs with plenty of cushioning smalls, but I was scared to put any other obs type in there with this super heavy stuff. It was so heavy I'm wondering if it isn't just obs. It was like picking up a piece of jasper.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 1, 2023 12:12:59 GMT -5
Bob I have Burns Oregon green which I haven't done anything with, but I don't think I have any Green from Mexico. You can scratch test to compare hardness with Agate, jasper, and other known obsidian. It should scratch using a jasper or agate piece with a little effort. If you have the ability to make up a specific gravity test you can check density as well. If hardness is close to the same there's no reason you can't tumble with other obsidian, and running your barrel a little fuller seems better with obsidian as you want to avoid collisions that lead to the obsidian fracturing deeply into the rock, glass will do that. If something like copper or other metal causes the coloring I suppose it could have a little more density, but I doubt it would have a huge effect on tumbling, people use wooden and plastic fillers that are way lighter and they manage to stay distributed in the barrel.
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Post by Bob on Feb 1, 2023 13:08:59 GMT -5
Thanks. I realize now that I had a Mohs 7 hardness pick within reach and should have scratched them but forgot. I've found obs is pretty darn soft in the past and scratches deeply if checked. When they come out in a week I will test. The first week is mostly to clean them up anyway and see if I need to do any trim saw work. I can't wait to see the green clean surfaces! Green is my fav rock color so I am excited about this material.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 1, 2023 13:22:32 GMT -5
Bob green is my fave color too, the deep forest green-ish of the Mexican green is a lot more attractive to me than the more opaque almost military OD green of the Burns.
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Post by Bob on Feb 1, 2023 13:31:33 GMT -5
Neat. I have quite a few pretty green rocks of several different types in process, more than ever before. When they get done, I will have to post a photo of them all together. I purchased several large pieces (orange size) of Larsonite last year which are still in rough grind. I keep trimming to get rid of voids that come up, over and over, and so they are much smaller and more pieces now, but some of them I can tell will eventually come out very pretty. Such a nice shade of green on those too. Never had worked it before.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 1, 2023 15:36:59 GMT -5
I might start slicing the snakeskin serpentine we got today, we will possibly try tumbling scraps as it seems pretty silicified for serpentine. Heck it generally all goes in the tumbler at least for stage one, except for stuff that gases off like marble.
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Post by drocknut on Feb 1, 2023 19:32:51 GMT -5
Laguna is the one. Thanks! Martin is super nice guy. The jasper was dug by his father 45 years ago and was lost in their yard until recently. You're welcome. I agree Martin is a super nice guy (and he gives good hugs, just fyi).
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Post by Bob on Feb 3, 2023 12:49:11 GMT -5
I wish to heck I had kept the vendor map for the Pow Wow but I discarded it after getting home. In case anyone can direct me, let me explain who I'm trying to find. If you go from the central building in the middle of the place, he was on the south side of that, possibly a bit to the west of the middle of the south side and 2-3 booths from the building. His booth faced east.
He sold only jade and a few jade-related artifacts. He was a slim older guy, maybe in his 70s. It was the first time I had seen jade from so many sources in one spot. He had pieces from BC, China, Guatemala, Myanmar (which he called Burma), and one other place. I think a bit of Pink Floyd playing in the background. He and I visited quite a bit because he found it very interesting that I married a Chinese woman and knew of the jade market in a city he goes to each year in China called Suzhou. I got the impression he travels personally to all those places to get his jade, which is really something.
Does anyone know of this vendor? I would like to reach out to him.
His booth was quite small, just a few tables with maybe a little trailer or shack in the middle of that back. There was no table across the front. There was only a central isle with tables and some small display cases on each side as you entered. Beside him to the south, was a much younger guy with a much larger layout that also had a of jade in it.
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Post by Bob on Feb 5, 2023 18:19:59 GMT -5
If I was a betting man, I would say it is solid. Almost everything I have found has been very solid. Well Mark, all except the big one and some flat pieces that need to be sawn first have come through rough grind. I have thrown away more than ever from a collection trip before, over 75%. Most pieces are porous, even those that in the field didn't look so to me. That's the way it goes. But a lot of the super dark red ones look good which is what I like the most anyway. I only got 2-3 pieces that are actually Brenda agates and barely, but that's okay as I was just interested in good tumbling material. Have you found out yet if those flat pieces I gave to you from that last walk in the creek bed are decent? I have a few but have not yet sawn them to find out if they are solid inside. There is a dark layer that doesn't look too promising.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 5, 2023 18:47:58 GMT -5
I wish to heck I had kept the vendor map for the Pow Wow but I discarded it after getting home. In case anyone can direct me, let me explain who I'm trying to find. If you go from the central building in the middle of the place, he was on the south side of that, possibly a bit to the west of the middle of the south side and 2-3 booths from the building. His booth faced east. He sold only jade and a few jade-related artifacts. He was a slim older guy, maybe in his 70s. It was the first time I had seen jade from so many sources in one spot. He had pieces from BC, China, Guatemala, Myanmar (which he called Burma), and one other place. I think a bit of Pink Floyd playing in the background. He and I visited quite a bit because he found it very interesting that I married a Chinese woman and knew of the jade market in a city he goes to each year in China called Suzhou. I got the impression he travels personally to all those places to get his jade, which is really something. Does anyone know of this vendor? I would like to reach out to him. His booth was quite small, just a few tables with maybe a little trailer or shack in the middle of that back. There was no table across the front. There was only a central isle with tables and some small display cases on each side as you entered. Beside him to the south, was a much younger guy with a much larger layout that also had a of jade in it. The vendor list is here: xpopress.com/show/vendors/58/qia-powwow-gem-mineral-showThe show layout is here: www.qiaarizona.org/PowWowVendor.htmlPerhaps you can find him that way.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,563
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Post by Mark K on Feb 5, 2023 22:20:34 GMT -5
If I was a betting man, I would say it is solid. Almost everything I have found has been very solid. Well Mark, all except the big one and some flat pieces that need to be sawn first have come through rough grind. I have thrown away more than ever from a collection trip before, over 75%. Most pieces are porous, even those that in the field didn't look so to me. That's the way it goes. But a lot of the super dark red ones look good which is what I like the most anyway. I only got 2-3 pieces that are actually Brenda agates and barely, but that's okay as I was just interested in good tumbling material. Have you found out yet if those flat pieces I gave to you from that last walk in the creek bed are decent? I have a few but have not yet sawn them to find out if they are solid inside. There is a dark layer that doesn't look too promising. So far all of those flat ones have been junk. Some of the agate was good, some not so good and some was terrible. The bigger ones have a lot of crappy spots in them. Some have good spots with mostly bad. That is why I wanted to find the really good spot but next time I will find it. I figured out my mistakes. (yes, plural)
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Post by Bob on Feb 6, 2023 10:27:25 GMT -5
Thank you so much hummingbirdstones!
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Post by Bob on Feb 6, 2023 17:30:19 GMT -5
"...That is why I wanted to find the really good spot but next time I will find it..."
Mark, might be able to help you next time too. I had so much fun that I'm thinking about doing it again. But instead of taking 3 full days to look at almost every single thing in the PowWow and Desert Gardens first, I'm going to do it differently. Now that I know the drill and what's where, I'm going to go to only 1 booth in the PowWow, then to Desert Gardens and expect to have bought everything I want by lunchtime on day 1. Then will be ready to go into the field. Also hope to see Tucson a little bit before flying out from Phoenix again.
I just realized that there is no way to both be at Quartzite on the first day again, and also see the Tucson show at all unless one is the in area a couple of weeks and I don't want to do that...so maybe forget about Tucson. At least that's what it looks like to me because the PowWow started if memory serves on Jan 17 and I've been told Tucson starts on Feb 1.
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Post by Bob on Feb 9, 2023 13:07:17 GMT -5
Thanks. I realize now that I had a Mohs 7 hardness pick within reach and should have scratched them but forgot. I've found obs is pretty darn soft in the past and scratches deeply if checked. When they come out in a week I will test. The first week is mostly to clean them up anyway and see if I need to do any trim saw work. I can't wait to see the green clean surfaces! Green is my fav rock color so I am excited about this material. Well, here they are after a week in 60. They feel heavy for obsidian. I wonder if they are sort of a transition material between jasper and obs. The surface, even the best parts, seem to have tiny pits which I suppose are air bubbles. Next I'll do some trimming and then put back in. These are certainly different than anything I've done before.
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Post by Bob on Feb 20, 2023 12:09:45 GMT -5
Well Mark, all except the big one and some flat pieces that need to be sawn first have come through rough grind. I have thrown away more than ever from a collection trip before, over 75%. Most pieces are porous, even those that in the field didn't look so to me. That's the way it goes. But a lot of the super dark red ones look good which is what I like the most anyway. I only got 2-3 pieces that are actually Brenda agates and barely, but that's okay as I was just interested in good tumbling material. Have you found out yet if those flat pieces I gave to you from that last walk in the creek bed are decent? I have a few but have not yet sawn them to find out if they are solid inside. There is a dark layer that doesn't look too promising. So far all of those flat ones have been junk. Some of the agate was good, some not so good and some was terrible. The bigger ones have a lot of crappy spots in them. Some have good spots with mostly bad. That is why I wanted to find the really good spot but next time I will find it. I figured out my mistakes. (yes, plural) Hadn't started my saw in months. Trimmed a bunch of it last night, and sawed through that big one. Man, some pieces are hard! That big one had a big porous area right in the middle of it, but may have good stuff around it. Of the flat pieces that I kept, some of them look ok in the middle. Will put them in rough grind to find out. There is a lot wider variety of shades of red and patterned to unpatterned than I realized from when we picked it up off the ground. Unfortunately, the pieces that I think you would called true Brenda agates look pretty porous.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,563
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Post by Mark K on Feb 20, 2023 15:42:58 GMT -5
Yeah, I am only finding a few good ones. Lots of what we found is not as good as some of the other spots but I guess I will just keep trying and find the good ones as I go. I guess if all of it was top lot the market would be flooded with it.
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Post by Bob on Feb 21, 2023 15:11:04 GMT -5
Yeah, I am only finding a few good ones. Lots of what we found is not as good as some of the other spots but I guess I will just keep trying and find the good ones as I go. I guess if all of it was top lot the market would be flooded with it. I'm certainly not unhappy with it at all. All that was kept is going in the 40lb barrel in about a week. I can't remember where in either MI or WI you live. In May Walter and I will be doing some things on the S shore of Lake Sup. If interested PM me for more info.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,563
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Post by Mark K on Feb 21, 2023 18:27:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I am only finding a few good ones. Lots of what we found is not as good as some of the other spots but I guess I will just keep trying and find the good ones as I go. I guess if all of it was top lot the market would be flooded with it. I'm certainly not unhappy with it at all. All that was kept is going in the 40lb barrel in about a week. I can't remember where in either MI or WI you live. In May Walter and I will be doing some things on the S shore of Lake Sup. If interested PM me for more info. I am in Faribault. That is about 1/2 way between IA and the Cities.
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