jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Aug 26, 2013 18:37:05 GMT -5
Very rare to have botyroidal cavities in such a solid milky material. 18 inch saw was maxed out on this coral head. Water in the cavities may have done too much damage. The very middle is a bit pithy. A shame it wasn't submerged where the freeze couldn't get to it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 19:49:54 GMT -5
effin' aye right!
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 26, 2013 19:52:41 GMT -5
They get big $$$ for those botryoidal corals. They are so cool!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Aug 26, 2013 20:43:38 GMT -5
They usually have thin walls. This one is heavy duty. May keep cutting the front away and the fractures may end. It yours if you want it Scott.
|
|
quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,339
|
Post by quartz on Aug 26, 2013 21:28:13 GMT -5
One nice piece. Does the coral generally make good spheres, or is it pretty much variable. With those cavities, that would look great.
|
|
|
Post by Pat on Aug 26, 2013 22:04:17 GMT -5
.......... nevertheless, it is a beautiful piece.
|
|
|
Post by pghram on Aug 27, 2013 13:24:55 GMT -5
I would face polish that & keep it as a specimen. Very nice.
Rich
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Aug 27, 2013 17:33:37 GMT -5
It is a big coral head. I cut it in half so it's twin is here. Yes Larry. It is also favored by knapers since they can make long spearheads w/out hitting a fracture. Making it a good candidate for spheres also. Thanks Pat. Check out the effects of the heat treatment Pat A cool face polished specimen for sure Rich. Got a strong shelf i hope :> It is of a rare milk color that phantoms when cooked. Meaning the outside layer turns clear and the inside goes cloudy. Hate to butcher it but it would make great cab sized tumbles and cabs. Heated to phantom:
|
|
|
Post by helens on Aug 31, 2013 16:18:35 GMT -5
Are you going to cook it first? The white won't change, but the top might turn blood red and the brown rims to black. Then you'd have an even more interesting specimen.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Aug 31, 2013 17:00:29 GMT -5
To appreciate the phantoms you would need to get it close to final size like an almost finished cab or a tumbled rock ready for 220 or 500 and then cook it.Look at the 3 pics above. That milky material turns clear on the outside and the center stays cloudy. So it needs to be broken down to tumbles or cut in rough cabs . Then cook to insert phantom. And then finish to a polish. No black in that one Helen. It is from Withlacoochee and behaves completely different. I must tell you that the 3 tumbles are that chunk heated. i had broke up the center cut slab. The red stayed about the same and the outside turned clear-weird.
So it's value would really be in chopping it up to small pieces.
|
|
|
Post by helens on Sept 1, 2013 0:48:49 GMT -5
Well, you cut it in 1/2... so you have a saw... can you thin slice a few pieces? Agates can turtle or rainbow... I haven't seen any sliced coral to know if it would do the same thing, but if it phantoms, it seems possible, and you might find something amazing. If not, the slabs are still great to cab from. Here's what a turtle looks like: I have a Iris one that's not very good, and since I never uploaded the pix, I'd have to dig through about 5000+ pix on my computer to find it (didn't label and I can't remember the file name it might be in), the guy who has several outstanding ones is Parfive. Example of rainbow iris agate (the trick is THIN slicing or you won't see it): www.statesymbolsusa.org/Tennessee/TN_stoneAgate.htmlIt's rare... but can appear in almost any clear/milky agate, so while not likely, you won't know til you cut a slice about 1/8" thick.
|
|
bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
|
Post by bhiatt on Sept 1, 2013 1:41:08 GMT -5
The Botyroidal Beast.
|
|
|
Post by helens on Sept 1, 2013 2:32:04 GMT -5
Yep. It's pretty neat to see them look so dimensional inside a thin flat slab.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Sept 1, 2013 5:10:41 GMT -5
I see the turtle effect in Braziian agates. And tumbled botyroidal pieces. That is various degrees of refraction? A molecular thing eh? That rainbow is out of control. Obviously a prismatic thing with the refraction. This botyroidal coatings i find in the river gravel turtles. From the inside of coral psuedomorphs... Some botyroids with inclusions, some phantom like Someone here can tell why those agates form with that light bending ability. It is similar to a curved piece of glass.
|
|
|
Post by helens on Sept 1, 2013 15:39:05 GMT -5
|
|