#Rocks
23 messages in this thread
The rock saw project sounds novel. What are you slicing? Seen any good fossils
lately?
I've been slicing very hard quartz geodes dug a couple of years ago
from the idaho border. They're so hard that the slowest rate of
advance of the saw overpressures the blade into the rock and bends it
– the controller switches the advance motor on and off, and regulates
it's on speed, so that it has control to the point where it could
probably cut just about anything you could think of. I use an
infrared sensor/emittor pair positioned above the blade and watch
"through" the exit spray where the blade exits the cut in the rock.
You can directly determine the cut rate by the opacity of the spray;
and the advance rules (which I determined by using a tape recorder
and describing what I was doing when I did a few rocks manually –
what I saw, what I thought that meant, what I did to accomodate the
situation, like that) use the standard triangular center-of-gravity
fuzzy evaluation to come up with the on/off + speed command(s) for
the saw. Works extremely well, almost to the point where it's
anti-climactic.
So much for the rock saw. 🙂
Just as summer was ending, Anne and I were on a roll, so to speak,
collecting huge clusters of crystals from near Fort Peck lake. I'd
been breaking large boulders, say about 3 to 5 feet in diameter,
using a sledge, and inside these we had consistantly been finding
crystals from miniscule to over 6 inches long. One rock, however,
had a snail-like fossil in it, covered in
mother-of-prehistoric-pearl, which was about 2 feet across. It sits in
my "Montana Collection" display case now. 🙂
Here's something else. Ever see a smokey quartz crystal? I've got some
large ones in my collection – as long as two inches. That's rpetty
long for smokey quartz, it doesn't seem to want to grow big. Well, I
now have a _four hundred pound_ well formed single crystal in my
collection. Well, actually, it's in the back of my Geo Tracker,
because I haven't found anyone foolish enough to want to help me lift
it out… heh heh heh. I'm patient though, and besides, it's helps
the little tin box get traction in the snow and starts conversations
pretty well, too. <grin> This thing came from the continental divide,
about 500 miles from here, right by Butte (pronounced "Butt" if
you've ever seen the place, "beaut" if you do it the way they _want_
you to)… anyway, the thing is positively massive, and it's no
question museum quality. Shine a light thru it and it looks like
maple syrup.. all the faces are intact, and there are some
multiple-growth crystal "steps" in a cavity in one side.
Sounds like you have a heck of a rock collection Ben. I use to be a
Rock Hound myself in my younger days and had the usual equipment
(Tumblers, saws, etc). Did quite a bit of digging for Star Garnets up
in the Idaho mountains. Never had so much fun getting as dirty and
cold <g>. That Smokey quartz crystal sounds awesome. At least you
won't have to worry about anyone stealing the thing <g>.
Yeah, if they try, they'll probably show up in Anne's emergency room
with a serious hernia. 🙂
I've got every rock I ever collected from the time I was about six,
when I started… takes lots of shelves, but the satisfaction far
outweighs the space. I've dug up around Cour D'lene (sp
questionable) for garnets and for opal both. I'm very luckly in that
the wife shares an interest – so every summer we take off somewhere
for a week or two and dig like crazy. Plus I explore the local area
every weekend, weather permitting.
Wow, a two-foot wide ammonite? Amazing, quite a find. I've always
heard about the nice opalescence on ammonites and baculites (same
thing, roughly, straigtened out, not rolled). And a 400 pound
crystal? What's the diameter across two faces? Do you have any idea
what that would be worth at a Newage crystal convention? 🙂 Last
time I saw a big one, it was a clear quartz about a foot wide, for
$1000. That was before the crest of the price increases…
I went outside and measured the crystal, here's the scoop: The faces
are 9, 11, 9, 9, 12, and 9 inches. The longest side from base to the
crystal to the beginning of the crown is 16 inches. The top faces are
14, 14, 12, 10, 9, and 8 inces in length to the point. The reason I
specifed "the longest side" is because the crystal's base is at about
a 30 degree angle to the direction of crystal growth, so the longest
side is considerably longer than the shortest side.
I don't think I'll be selling it to any new-agers. 🙂 Or anyone else,
for that matter.
Regarding the ammonites, they're not that uncommon around Ft. Peck
lake – if you ever come out here in the summer I'll take you out
where you can pick and choose. Maybe not two feet, but then again,
you never know. That's what makes it fun.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
Do you ever see any ThunderEggs anymore? Don't know the technical name
for them, but their used to be quite a few laying around.
Yes. I have a handful of them I picked up a couple of years ago in the
desert which lays astride the Oregon/Idaho border. The area is
barren, was totally empty of other people when I was there, and
seemed to be reasonably well endowed with thundereggs and various
sizes of other lava bombs. So I think it's a really good bet they're
still easily obtainable. I've cut a few from that locale and they're
lovely.
I took a polaroid of the crystal, scanned it, bumped the contrast
around (it was pretty bright out… the car interiour was a bit
washed out) and sharpened it once… then made a GIF. Stuck it in DL6
of AmigaVendor, if you'd like to see the thing. The car gives it
scale very well.
Absolutely unbelievable! My wife said she'd like to have something
like it in our living room. 🙂 It is certainly the largest I've
ever seen. I'm sure it would fetch tens of thousands of dollars. Can
I re-upload the image to the geology section of the Science Forum? Or
for that matter, would you like to allow the picture to be
re-distributed and re-printed in geology newsletters around the
country? I'm sure I could arrange that, by passing a few notes to
people on the Internet rocks-and-fossils mailing list… You'll be
famous. 🙂 Shall we christen it with a historical name, like "the
Williams crystal"?
People will accuse you of creating it in PhotoShop. 🙂
Hah! That's pretty funny! _MY_ wife says she wants it in the living room!
<shaking head> Guess I'll do it – two ladies of such caliber can't be wrong, I
suppose 🙂 'Course, I still have to get it out of the car…
Here's what I thought I'd do – polish a 6 inch disk on the base of the
crystal pretty clear, then mount it on an oak base with a 100-150
watt floodlight pointed into the polished area from the oak base to
light up the specimen; then cover the crystal itself with a
five-sided cube of plexiglass – or maybe just leave it out where it
can be fondled, I dunno… after all, it'd take a lot of feelies to
mar up a quartz xtal, they're pretty darned hard. COuld make some
fingerprints, tho… I plan to acid-wash it to remove some of the
calcifications on the surface, it should have a really brilliant
finish after that.
You can reupload the image if you like, though I have no urge
whatsoever to "become famous", nor to have the image published in any
journals. If you do upload it, make sure you note it's not for sale,
that'll help keep the annoyance value down.
As for creating it in PhotoShop, why would I do that when I could do a
better job in WinImages? <hee hee!>
I looked at your GIF. It is amazing what dithering on 1280×800 can
do to make up for only four colors. 🙂 That is a truly freaking
awsome rock. Three guys or four to get it in the truck?
We've been saying that about dithering for years. 🙂
Re the rock, actually, it only took two people – myself and the one
other relatively large person. Works out to about 200 lbs deadlift
each, which is reasonable for big guys. Lifting it was ok. Moving it
the 10 or so inches sideways to get the center of gravity into the
Geo was much more difficult – we did it bit by bit, with considerable
marring to the Geo's rear bumper/lip finish (not that I cared in the
least… I _was_ going to get that thing in the vehicle!). Took about
5 seconds to lift and maybe thirty to "walk" into the back of the
Geo. We were sweating and moaning to beat the band, but got it done.
Seeing that my decorating tastes run along the axis of Spartan,
minimalist and Wrightian, and that my wife's partial to flowery
fabrics and (shudder) spindled lathework, I was heartened to hear
that she's like some very unique natural objects in the living room!
After an acid wash, I'd say don't cover it up, just find a tiny stand
to brace it in place, and find a tiny bright halogen for inner
illumination – just enough to make it glow in ordinary evening room
light.
I thought you'd enjoy the irony of the PhotoShop accusation. As for
your growing fame, all I've done is post a message in the Science
forum, referring them to the library in Amiga Vendor. I'm sure Steve
won't mind the additional traffic from geologists.
I think a nice oak base – to raise it up to waist height, say – would be nice.
A wire stand would require it to stay by the floor, unless I had a welder make
me some wrought iron… hmmm… Don't halogens have a more limited lifespan
than a "normal" tungsten bulb? And a halogen is more of a point source, while
this thing would (I guess) benefit more from a diffused source, like a flood,
as large as it is?
We'll see if the Geology types wander over. 🙂
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
Halogen should last longer.
I haven't seen the GIF yet, but it sounds WONDERFUL.
Huh. Well, Halogen it'll be, then – I'm much lazier about changing
bulbs than I am cheap about buying them. 🙂
Now I'm curious about this rock too. I scanned the file but couldn't
find it. Could you give the exact file name (again perhaps)?
Sure: crystl.gif, DL6 of AmigaVendor.
I used the file search and couldn't find the file. I tried file
extension 'gif' and your CI$ address, searched AmigaVendor, the other
forums and only found some of your other upload gifs.
It's definitely there. Go to LIB 6 in AmigaVendor, and type 'BRO'
(without the quotes). It will be the first file that shows up.
For some reason I couldn't find it using AP, could you give me the file name.
-ash
Kyfho
FILE: cyrstl.gif LIBRAY: DL6 FORUM: AmigaVend