Collecting Cool Rocks! Minerals, Crystals, Fossils, Geodes, etc.

[CluckNDoodle]

Wow, great thread! Recently I have been studying fossils and petrified wood and stuff a lot! It is so fascinating! I'm fairly sure @Chicken Chiquita likes this kind of stuff too?

Oh, and a few months ago I went to a sort of deserts place with some cousins. One cracked a random rock on the road and found it to be like hard, smooth, shiny glass on the inside! We experimented more and found almost all the rocks on that stretch of road were the same, except for a great variety of colors! We thought they were geodes at first, but now I think they were...oh, I can't remember what they are called. It started with an "A".

Welcome!

What did it look like? Black? Possibly obsidian? Obsidian is volcanic glass. I have a few pieces I can photograph to confirm for you. If it started with an A, possibly agate? Did it have banding?

 

[PioneerChicks]

Welcome! View attachment 2469339 What did it look like? Black? Possibly obsidian? Obsidian is volcanic glass. I have a few pieces I can photograph to confirm for you. If it started with an A, possibly agate? Did it have banding?

It might be agate, that sounds familiar, but maybe not. I have seen obsidian and can confirm it is not that. I'll go take a quick picture...

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I should have thrown this piece in the tumbler but I was feeling creative (or impatient) and used my flat lap. Now I'm afraid I'll lose this awesome pattern if I tumble it. Mozambique agate, so cool. I may have to risk losing all my fingernails and just finish doing it by hand. lol

View attachment 2468828

I stepped away from the Mozambique Agate to protect my fingers and I started working on a piece of phosphosiderite (failed miserably, looks like a piece of glittery purple chalk, lol), and then I spent some time on a piece of Blue Botswana Agate! It's by far my favorite piece of the day!

 

[PioneerChicks]

Sorry for the poor pictures. This orange rock was more colorful on the outside than most, which is why I kept it.


This darker rock was found in the same area, but I think it's a different type.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

View attachment 2469355
Sorry for the poor pictures. This orange rock was more colorful on the outside than most, which is why I kept it.


This darker rock was found in the same area, but I think it's a different type.View attachment 2469357

Oooh pretty orange! Possible a Carnelian Agate nodule! I'm not sure about the second one. Very nice finds! I love agates of all kinds. They polish beautifully!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

View attachment 2469355
Sorry for the poor pictures. This orange rock was more colorful on the outside than most, which is why I kept it.


This darker rock was found in the same area, but I think it's a different type.View attachment 2469357

What general area were you in when you found it? Sometimes you can look up locations and narrow it down quite a lot by what is commonly found in the area.

 

[PioneerChicks]

Oooh pretty orange! Possible a Carnelian Agate nodule! I'm not sure about the second one. Very nice finds! I love agates of all kinds. They polish beautifully!

What general area were you in when you found it? Sometimes you can look up locations and narrow it down quite a lot by what is commonly found in the area.

Awesome! Come to think of it, we found this agates in two places only a couple weeks apart. One was at City Of Rocks and one was at Deadwood Reservoir, both in Idaho.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Awesome! Come to think of it, we found this agates in two places only a couple weeks apart. One was at City Of Rocks and one was at Deadwood Reservoir, both in Idaho.

I looked up Idaho gemstones and I'm regretting it! SO MANY PRETTY ROCKS THERE! lol
There does appear to be an agate called Orange Crack Agate in Idaho, I've never heard of that one but it could also be that. There are many varieties of agate there! *swoon*

 

[janiedoe]

Can I ask you all some questions and gather advice on rock tumblers?
First I confess that I read reviews and obsess over the bad ones. I am aware that people are more likely to post a review when they have a bad experience as opposed to a good one.
I am still looking at Harbor Freight but I've noticed that there have been several bad reviews posted the last few weeks for both the double and single tumblers.
I've also read that the motor isn't strong enough for the double tumbler option but @CluckNDoodle said that isn't that the one you use?
Maybe they are making the product cheaper? Or maybe they had an increase in sales for the holidays? I'm still leaning towards this one due to availability and low cost.
I've looked at Lortone and Thumler. They are expensive for a beginner option and seem to be out of stock everywhere. I could buy used from Ebay but I wouldn't have any kind of warranty. However the price would be just a little more than a harbor freight tumbler. ($66 for a single barrel Lortone & $90 for Thumler AR1)
There is a site called WireJewelry that has their own but it looks like a generic & pricey ($103 & $115) Chicago from Harbor Freight & there are no reviews on their site. Amazon has some bad reviews for this model too but they may have been returns.
Amazon has one Nationla Geographic at $99.99 that gets pretty good reviews but again, there are a few negatives (4%) and I had sworn off getting anything electronic from Amazon because of a couple of bad experiences. (returned & nonworking merchandise sold as new.)
I want a safe, dependable tumbler that will last a few years and not require too much maintenance. I am Not mechanically inclined. (I can work a screw driver & spray WD40)
Also, I'm concerned about fire risk. And noise. I would run a tumbler in the shop that backs up to my chicken coop. I don't want to endanger or stress my chickens.
Any & all advice is very much appreciated!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Can I ask you all some questions and gather advice on rock tumblers?
First I confess that I read reviews and obsess over the bad ones. I am aware that people are more likely to post a review when they have a bad experience as opposed to a good one.
I am still looking at Harbor Freight but I've noticed that there have been several bad reviews posted the last few weeks for both the double and single tumblers.
I've also read that the motor isn't strong enough for the double tumbler option but @CluckNDoodle said that isn't that the one you use?
Maybe they are making the product cheaper? Or maybe they had an increase in sales for the holidays? I'm still leaning towards this one due to availability and low cost.
I've looked at Lortone and Thumler. They are expensive for a beginner option and seem to be out of stock everywhere. I could buy used from Ebay but I wouldn't have any kind of warranty. However the price would be just a little more than a harbor freight tumbler. ($66 for a single barrel Lortone & $90 for Thumler AR1)
There is a site called WireJewelry that has their own but it looks like a generic & pricey ($103 & $115) Chicago from Harbor Freight & there are no reviews on their site. Amazon has some bad reviews for this model too but they may have been returns.
Amazon has one Nationla Geographic at $99.99 that gets pretty good reviews but again, there are a few negatives (4%) and I had sworn off getting anything electronic from Amazon because of a couple of bad experiences. (returned & nonworking merchandise sold as new.)
I want a safe, dependable tumbler that will last a few years and not require too much maintenance. I am Not mechanically inclined. (I can work a screw driver & spray WD40)
Also, I'm concerned about fire risk. And noise. I would run a tumbler in the shop that backs up to my chicken coop. I don't want to endanger or stress my chickens.
Any & all advice is very much appreciated!

Ok, my thoughts are that you can technically end up with lemons even when you get nice brands. My double barrel Harbor Freight is pretty new but is definitely running without issue at the moment. I bought it not anticipating a long life though.
I had a National Geographic tumbler, the yellow one, it worked great but I hated it because it was so hard to open. My friend has the black National Geographic tumbler and has had it for years, has not babied it at all (she actually turned it off and forgot about it with rocks still inside for months and when she found it recently, cleaned it out and turned it back on and it's running without issue).
There are a TON of people happy with their Lortones so if you can get a decent looking one for the same price as Harbor Freight, I say why not, but also you have a store where you can exchange na broken Harbor Freight model, just a thought.
The vibratory tumbler that I plan on getting once it's back in stock is the Mini Sonic, it doesn't have a motor that you would need to tinker with and maintain, but it's expensive.