I’ve never found a fossil as complete(I know it’s not complete, but it’s not tiny and stuck in another rock) as this horn coral piece. Picture #4 is what I usually find. Lol The pictures remaining are of a rock I found today that I decided to cut open. The outside of it was really crunchy and had an interesting texture. The inside was very pretty!
So I cut them open. The big rock is a weird one, I definitely didn’t expect the world’s tiniest agate in it(I’m exaggerating) but I wonder if I’d find anything interesting if I cut it another way, or into a slab. It’s a big rock and my saw is not equipped for it, so it’s a struggle to cut.
I can’t believe I found this today. Years of rockhound behind me and I’ve never found these kind of rocks, but this year? I’ve found a bunch. This one is taking #1 as my favourites and the weirdest.
Does anyone know what causes these patterns. Are they particular minerals or fossil debris? Trying to learn. It’s very hard, cherty for sure. The second picture is the rock dry.
It didn’t really work. It’s really hard, definitely chalcedony. But I’m not sure if all those little things are fortifications or cross section of some fossil(s) or something I don’t know.
I finally got my saw running this year and I’m going to cut this one. I found it locally (SK Canada) and I tried to include mostly pictures of the detail I’m seeing(that has me curious) on the outside of the rock, the last 4 pictures are of the rock dry and of the full sides(not closeup). Anyone have any guesses? I’m not surrounded by banded agates, I’ve only found a few small ones, so I’m not expecting that. It would be nice… but it’s unlikely.
I’m just cutting two of them for now, and I thought I’d take you along for the experience. There are 3 pictures of both rocks. I’ve never cut Malawi agates before, what do you think I’ll find? Any predictions?
It’s not exactly massive lol But I am assuming that any agate I find here would be from the same deposit as Lake Superior agates. Is that right?
I went years, rockhounding locally and very often, and until this year, I’d never found a single legit banded agate. Now this year I’ve found 4-5. Is Lake Superior the right tag/flair?
So the first 4 rocks are stone A, the next 4 pictures are stone B . Are they the same type of stone, just different colours? I’m not 100% sure on what either of them actually is, there are differing opinions. But they are hard, can’t scratch them with my metal file, probably chalcedony with some type of inclusions? But really, I can’t even tell if they’re the same at this point. Thanks in advance for any assistance! ✌🏼
I know this particular fossil type isn’t especially rare or unusual, but it’s SOOO pretty, and I think it’s mostly silicified, it has little crystal vugs all over it.
The first 5 pictures are before tumbling, the rest are after. I almost didn’t pick this rock up, it was… committed to its place in the ditch(aka yucky). It tumbled really well though, just a couple bugs, no pits, no texture and super shiny(the pictures might not be highlighting the shine)
Prairie agate? 🤷🏻♀️
After 3 long years of exhaustive searches, I found the one banded agate that exists in the gravel pit on my in-laws property. I have found moss, I’ve found plume, I’ve found banded chert and I’ve found chalcedony galore. I have single handedly, stone by stone, filled a 20X4 foot rock garden under my fruit trees and I’ve not found ONE decently banded agate…. Until today.
I can say, with certainty, that I earned this. (I know it’s small and a little janky, but it counts!)
About a year ago, maybe more, I asked a question about a rock I found. I was told that the red/orange stringy type appearance was just quartz with iron staining and that if I put it in the tumbler I would have a really shiny white rock when it was done(that the staining was only surface and would tumble away). I only recently decided to throw one in (I find a lot of this stuff) and was very happily surprised to find it tumbled very well, almost perfectly, And with really hard rocks like chert and agate.
My purpose in sharing this is just to inform people that if you find stuff like this, it will tumble very nicely. I’m not saying this to insult the original user, I think he was speaking with experience from his/her own rocks and the material he/she finds looks very much like what I find. I love the wisdom others share on this subreddit, I appreciate it more than I can find words for. Happy tumbling!
Are the details in these pieces of chalcedony considered moss? I’m not sure what/how to even describe those little clusters of tiny circles/polka dots and I seem to find a lot of rocks with it, so I need words… because I don’t have them. 😭
Is this fossils, orbicular, oolitic or none of the above? I can’t scratch it with a steel file.
Here’s a few fossily bits that I found, there should be 3 pictures of each rock.
And then promptly lost touch with reality and didn’t see that she is now SELLING this beautiful material!! I just really want to shout this out because wow. They have a genuine love of rocks, rockhounding and rock cutting and I would love to see her help set up a lapidary club! I’m sorry I’m so late u/cupcaeks !!!
I’m probably going to move this one on to stage 2, but I’m curious what other tumblers would do. I’m definitely going to put it in the ultrasonic for a while, but I’m thinking that the remaining texture and vugs are part of what makes this rock cool. What do you guys think? (I know I included a lot of pictures of one rock 😂, but I’m a sucker for the details.)
Is it just me, or is this rock beautiful? Does anyone know how this is formed? Is there a specific mineral or process? I do find these features in a lot of rocks I find locally and I’m not sure why or if these rocks are common everywhere. It’s dry in the last 4 pictures.