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 Post subject: Early attempts with Fitzroy river agate and wood
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 6:23 pm 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
Some pics of my early days of learning to cab, the subject was agate/chalcedony and petrified wood from the Fitzroy river, about two hours drive from my home. It's not Agate creek quality stuff but I still kinda like it. If only the orange colour went right through instead of just being a skin.

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I have probably collected about two 5-gallon drums of the stuff (when I say that, most of that is petrified wood) but even though it's not particularly striking - except for the vividly coloured stuff that with a few exceptions offers false hope by just being milky white inside - I keep going up and collecting it. Addicted to rockhounding :)

Only got another few years to keep getting it, they have decided that the city of Rockhampton downstream from the site has grown to the point where it needs a bigger water supply and they intend to put the dam right on this crossing.

I'd like to think that somewhere in the area is a little pocket that produces chalcedony that is that brilliant orange-red all the way through. Haven't found it yet.


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 Post subject: Re: Early attempts with Fitzroy river agate and wood
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 7:50 pm 
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Nice!


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 Post subject: Re: Early attempts with Fitzroy river agate and wood
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 8:18 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:52 pm
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Location: N Dakota
very similar to materials I put in the box for you. The dendrite agates are nice, I think there is a couple of those as well. But if you have a fifty gal drum full it will be just more of the same. I have no idea of the status of the shipment, been working and havent really had time to check. Next trip out I will head south to the Badlands and see about some agatised wood, its petrified but prettier. Good area from Medora ND to Baker MT.

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 Post subject: Re: Early attempts with Fitzroy river agate and wood
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:18 pm 
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Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:52 pm
Posts: 1131
Location: Central Queensland, Australia
That's ok Dan, the important bit is that the stuff you sent me comes from the other side of the world to where I live and I can put it in my display case marked as agate from the US - my own little piece of North Dakota :)

I haven't used postal tracking previously because Australia post only tracked within Australia. But when I posted your shipment, they told me that a new system has just been put in place and now the pack and track option allows me to track the progress of whatever I send to the US (and also Canada, New Zealand and Britain I think they said) right to its final destination.

I just looked and it's made it as far as Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland - was kinda hoping it would have actually been on a plane across the Pacific by now but at least I can keep you updated on how it's going.


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 Post subject: Re: Early attempts with Fitzroy river agate and wood
PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:06 am 
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Location: Wylie Texas but in Alaska for a while
When i bought my facet machine i also bougt the cabbing setup which was a motor with an alum bar on it tapped for a thread ans about 10 disks that screwed onto it. I would not use it because he cut it dry. But it included some nice petrified wod including a bright red one. I wil have to get some pictures some day.


But you have some nice pieces.


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 Post subject: Re: Early attempts with Fitzroy river agate and wood
PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:07 pm 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
Cheers everyone.

Couple more bits, I quite like the jelly-like translucency.

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Unpolished bit.
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One of the more interesting bits looks like a winter scene (well, not winter here), like a tree covered with snow.


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