Removing the rind off of a 30 pound silicified cor

[jamesp]

Thanks Beef.Wished i had the selection of Arizona.Drove a jet ski on Lake Mojave and found real nice agate/jasper pebbles on the shores.Walked for miles in Mojave desert and saw the same.Stayed in Laughlin.Wow,what an area.Oh yea-apaachee tears around some hill in west Arizona-like a 10 mile circle of them.Apparently spewed out of a volcanoe.Amazing

[johnjsgems]

And we envy your coral. I know of a paleozoic coral reef in the SE corner of CA but it isn't agatized enough for lapidary work. I would love to be able to collect agatized coral.

[jamesp]

There are some strange theories on how that clay covered/occured on top of this coral.Florida is mostly sand.One is that big meteor from the west hit and created the gulf of Mexico throwing materials that became clay or were clay and covered the reef,killing it.Who knows.I know that many of these corals have perfect 1/2 to 3/4 inch holes drilled straight thru them.Drilled by a coral eating clam.Clams like this exist today.About 20 percent have these holes.The holes are perfect in roundness.Fossilized scars-imagine that.See photo

[jamesp]

I am pointing to the terminus of a killer clam boring.The right half shows the full hole but oval due to slanted approach.Often the clam holes fill w/a different mineral or leave a thumb inside the opening.

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[johnjsgems]

Thanks for sharing. Who but crazy rock hounds would find rocks and holes in rocks interesting? I love the worm woods too. First I've heard of the attack of the killer clams though. Wouldn't there be a lot of clay in Georgia? Seems like a lot of bricks used on old buildings.

[jamesp]

South Georgia is covered in a lot of ancient ocean sand.It is called the coastal plain.North is clay.The dividing line is the fall line?.The waves used to break on that line.And that ocean used to go up some valleys further north than the fall line causing more confusion.This particular coral stops about 50 miles into Georgia,but reaches 300 miles into Florida.Here in Atlanta it's all about red clay.Greasy clay full of unwashable iron.And apparently makes the best dams of any soil in the world,if you are willing to roll over it till it stops compressing.Many clays in south Georgia are white/blue.Which makes light yellow and grey/blue coral heads.Other clays,other colors of coral.Like 4 feet away.We have bent 5 foot wrecking bars prying lesser pieces of coral than this one out of that clay-easily(using a pipe extension).Like pry bar grade steel.

[Deleted]

James, I got my exotic east coast stones today. I will be working on them soon. Look for pics of the process in creations!

[jamesp]

Exotic eh?Hope you enjoy those exotic jewels

[johnjsgems]

Exotic is in the eye of the beholder. Here in CA we have Lavic Siding which is a long time collecting area for some pretty nice jasper. When I was a field trip leader where we used to live I couldn't get enough people interested in going there anymore. Everybody said they had too much Lavic jasper already. Some friends went to Madras Oregon show and said a lot of people saw their CA license plates and asked if they brought any Lavic jasper. They didn't but wished they had. Exotic to the Northwest people with their abundance of beautiful rock. Just Lavic jasper here.

[jamesp]

Good point John.Nature is generous.We get bored with our sorroundings.New pastures are captivating.My first real trip out west to serious rock hunt was to Texas last year.After almost 2 weeks i found Falcon Resovoir and it's wild assortment af agates jaspers and petrifications.Wow.Went home and got rest and went back for 10 days.Heading back Jan.
Help me with gas in the rotary-any remedies?Tumbling my coral.Never has done this much cap popping pressure before.Borax bleach newspaper soda steaks-any ideas?

[johnjsgems]

I've heard of it sometimes with beach rocks when there is contamination with organic matter. The old standard for gas was to put a couple of Tums in the barrel. If it is organics you might try a borax or other wash cycle before you run the coarse grit just to get everything clean.

[jamesp]

Lots of these corals serve as under water plant anchors.A strong pressure washer will often not remove these plants.Wash cycle makes sense-i see users of Borax all over this forum and never asked why. Looks like the opposite of Tums is creating a vacumn in the tumbler-3 cups vinegar per 15 pounds rock.Baking soda seemed to increase the pressure.The overnite vinegar soak instantly created a negative pressure when i cranked up this morning-a victory!
Earlier today you posted # 5000 wow

[johnjsgems]

What do I win?

[jamesp]

It depends on your behavoir.Consult with St. NIck

[johnjsgems]

Forget it then.

[jamesp]

Ha!