Suwanee River corals heat treatment 25 pound load

[jamesp]

I was impressed w/new colors from the Suwanee.The baby corals will make another bunch of colorsThe last two photos are from a new vein on the Withlacoochee River.The Suwanee River corals have finer rinds with very jagged patterns.They have a high percentage of silicification and are tough and dense.A bit more grainy and less glassy.
www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157632431427529/

[Fossilman]

I'm tellin' ya' my friend,this ol' boy might be a knockin' on your door to go a rock hunting!!!

[bhiatt]

Those are great. Looks like apple cobbler. You are the king of coral.

[jamesp]

KING OF CORAL says thanks too funny

[carloscinco]

Those turned out real nice. Do the coral patterns change much through the treatment?

[jamesp]

It usually makes the patterns stand out more.But sometimes hides them Carlos.This Suwanee stuff is 50 miles south of all those(too many) posts on coral so far-the Withlacochee coral{auto-correct: MOV files not allowed}e towards Tampa,Zephyr Hills,Lake Parker and it's way different inland,then way different as you move over to salt water around Tampa.And a couple of rivers in between that may be a mix,like the Santa Fe River.First thoughts is that Suwanee stuff has more cab appeal due to it's smaller size,patterns and color changes.But is very remote unless i can find veins loser to public boat ramps.Some years you can not hunt at all because of too much rain.The giant phosphate pit north of the Suwanee where coral exists is apparently sucking the water table down-according to locals-i think it's your Texas and our Georgia drought....I wish i could get into that phosphate mine-it is a monster.Like kaolin mines in middle Georgia
www.google.com/search?q=kaolin+mines&hl=en&tbo=u&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4TSNF_enUS455US455&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZKDnULmuBoSk9ATikIDADw&sqi=2&ved=0CE4QsAQ&biw=1299&bih=594

[helens]

James gave me some tips about where to find some Florida agatized coral.. and we are planning to go try next weekend. Looking at his posts is just killing me... he makes it look so easy, but I know it's not. You have to have an idea of where to look, because driving around stopping at random spots around Tampa didn't get us any coral (LOL!)!

I can't wait to try this, cannot disappoint James after giving us all those directions!!! If we get lucky and find some, I'll post pix for sure. Thank you James for the great tips:)!!!

[helens]

James... this is a premature question... but you said 600 degrees for heat treating. How do you do it?

I have a kiln, so I can raise the temp to 600 degrees as fast or slow as I want. Do you just put the coral in by themselves, raise it to 600 degrees super slowly? How slowly?

Should I pack it in sand or something first? Soak the rocks first, or dry? Any moisture or very dry?

How long do they stay at 600 degrees?

A few months ago, I decided to test heat treat a couple of small sample rocks... I wasn't sure of the temp, so I just ramped it up to 1050 degrees to go with the glass... and they ALL exploded into shrapnel... eep! It could be because I pulled them out of the kiln at 1050 to look at them, and the fast cooldown hitting air temp did it... not sure (glass doesn't do this, I pull 1050 degree glass out to look at it all the time). I immediately stuck them in an insulating kiln blanket, but they kept cracking as they cooled. This was not agatized coral, but a variety of small not very colorful agate and jasper pieces just to test.

I think maybe I ramped it up too fast and too high, and the fast cooldown was bad too, so I would try it again much slower next time. But are there some tip/tricks you could share about the best way to do this:)? Thanks James!!

[jamesp]

Here is an old quote Helen:
Re: 1rst time w/oven
« Message sent on Nov 29, 2012, 4:24am »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Carlos The conv.oven you describe is exactly what i use.
And i see all kind of recipes.i chose the simple and quicker.
About 100 deg per hour up to 600 hold for 4-6 hours,turn off and let cool(about 6-8 hours!)
Jasper and moss from Rio may be more like 350-450 cause it turned brown with the hotter coral recipe just like most of my wife's cooking


Read more: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?action=pmview&view=2&id=372593#ixzz2HC2Q8tKd

Sorry about the man/pig comment on my dear wife's cooking:>

That recipe is a fast cook for thinner pieces less than 1 inch thick.I use a resturaunt grade 1/4 size counter top conv. oven and it is done right in the kitchen keeping the house warm.Your glass furnace would be the cat's meow.I can get two rectangular stainless 11 x 11 x 4 inch deep (cake pans?) in my little oven.Layer sand then rocks sand then rocks etcetc.The sand is just filler between the rocks and to stabilize temp changes.I get as many rocks in there as possible,about 13 pounds per pan.With sand each pan must weigh 25 pounds!
I probably do 100 degree increases every 2 hours and hold at 600 for 4-6 hours.Slower is better to avoid fractures-yes it will fracture if you go too fast in ramp up or ramp down.Cool down amazes me as it takes a long time.Coral is very user freindly.I always turn oven off after 4-6 hours at 600.If i leave the door closed it will take 2 days!!! to cool.So i crack the door open with a spoon for 4 hours and then pull the pans out and let them air dry in the kitchen.After about6 hours of air dry you might be able to get your fingers in the sand.Best to let it cool at least 12 hours after cutting off oven at 600.
And start off has a moisture concern.Coral has a lot of moisture in it.The first heat cycle should be 200 F for atleast 2 hours,4 would be better.I set my pans under an incandescnt light to dry for a day or so -or- i heat at 200 for 3-4 hours to make sure all is dry. Let me send this before i loose it

[jamesp]

But that's basically it in a nut shell.I am not very experienced with the south type coral near you.It is not the grey type i spoke about earlier.But it is a great heating material.I did put some yellow moss agate in with the coral and it turned browm and crumbled.Probably 350-400 would be about right for it.Your oven has a much more acurate thermometer,may differ from my 300C/572F kitchen oven...Some say 650 for coral.I have cooked it in sand under a camp fire and made it look like a 1000 F glass marble dropped in ice water.Very fractured.Too hot and too hot too fast.And have had sucess doing the camp fire method.Too much time and energy invested in the coral too take any chances damaging it,so i use the oven.A lot of coral does not change.It is a complicated subject-has to do w/chemial make up.Iron has the most effect on color if i had to guess.I can tell what some coral is going to do.But most of it fools me,especially the purples and coral color.So i heat a chip off a big chunk and test first.
Glass furnace,you were destined to be a rock cooker.Like i said,my old timer buddy sold his rock shop and had 40 fifty five gallon drums full of heat treated coral heads out back.All collected around Tampa.
The load cooling down here in the kitchen is thin tumble chips.One pan is the inside of a 30 pound coral head.I did a thread on that 30 pound coral.It started out butterscotch and changed to killer yellow/ orange-orange at the outside rind.So i chipped the center(left over center) to about 10 pounds of tumble size and am predicting yellow w/some light orange toward the rind.It was a lot of work making small chip out of it.Also reduced a yellow/orange 4 pound head to 1-2 inch chips.Those should turn reddish brown mostly red i hope.Then a burgundyish/grey center head to chips hoping for purple/oral range.And last,was a strange orange brown freak.I have no idea what it will do,probably purple brown.These came from honey holes.Most under water and unfindable:> I will post photos of course by days end.Hope i helped.It is a simple process Helen.You just need to find some coral.

[gingerkid]

Hi, Helen! Did you get an opportunity to get out and search for some coral??

[helens]

KEWL!!! For some reason, my eye just skips over the 'fossil' section if I'm not looking for it!

Not yet, we're planning to go this Sat:). James is already out on his river, he said he was going to make a trip to Florida near Georgia. I've got to do my agate exploding experiment tonite:).