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    Hello! Welcome to
    Kids Corner.

    Kid's Day at Prospector's Corner

    Page 2

    Prospector's
    Corner
    Pages

    | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |

    Kids Corner:
    1 | 2 |

    Our first young visitors

    "Could these be future geologists?"


    Check out our
    Rockhound Store
     


     
    Equipment, Supplies
    And Information for the
    Amateur, Novice and Expert.

    The Geode was cut and the boys were excited. Now time to make it even better with a great polish job.

    I use 8 inch diamond wheels for my grinding and polishing. The 80 and 220 grit diamond are the hard Galaxy wheels. For the 280, 600, and 1200 grit diamond, I use the soft Nova wheels. For the final finish I use a leather pad with polishing compound.

    Once again I instructed the boys on safety. My main point this time was, that if the piece you are polishing is too small to hold safely, it should be mounted on a dop stick. For this, a pot is used for melting wax. This wax is then applied to a dop stick and the piece so, during polishing, the hands or fingers do not contact the moving wheel.

    This is my dop pot
    Checking out my dop pot
    Click here to enlarge
    Which wheel to use first
    checking for saw marks
    Click here to enlarge

    The first step was to look at the surface of the geode and see what kind of saw marks, if any, were present. There weren't any heavy saw marks, just minor, so I decided to start with the 220 grit wheel. This would provide a smooth surface to build a good polish on. Once that step is finished there isn't much difference to notice but it is very important to the final outcome.

    Starting up the wheels.
    Getting the motor started
    Click here to enlarge
    Getting the water going
    Adjusting the water flow
    Click here to enlarge

    Now we needed to get coolant to the stone. Without it the geode would ruin an expensive diamond wheel.The boys listened closely as I explained the five step process to polishing the geode.

    We went through the 220 and 280 grit wheels and now we were going to the 600 wheel. This is where I told Daerek and Josh they would see a major difference. They were both eager for me to finish with the 600 wheel so they could see it begin to shine.

    Listening and Learning
    The perfect Students
    Click here to enlarge
    Getting there.
    Almost there
    Click here to enlarge

    The boys watched intently as I finished with the 600, dried the geode and they got to look at the surface which was starting to look like glass. Next we would go to the final stone, the 1200 grit. Once finished with that I went right to the leather buffing wheel. I gave them a quick look but told them I wanted to dry it throughly with an air gun. This was to insure that no water was left in the crystal cavity.

    Wow, this is neat!
    Looking at the finish
    Click here to enlarge
    Final Polish.
    What's it going to look like?
    Click here to enlarge

    The geode was now dried and I wanted them to get the most out of their first look so I took it out in the sun and handed it to them. There it was, a beautiful mirror-like finish, highlighting the shades of pink agate banding leading to the center cavity of sparkling miniature quartz crystals..

    Drying the geode
    Looks dry to me.
    Click here to enlarge
    Seeing it finished.
    The finished geode
    Click here to enlarge

    I could see Josh looking at that geode and could read his mind. Just about the time I had the thought, he asked if he might get one also. I told him to pick one out and we would cut and polish it as we did for Daerek. He brought one to me about the same size, one and a half inches in diameter. I noticed it wasn't very heavy and that it had a crack running almost all the way through it. I explained that the light weight could either mean that it was hollow or that it contained a chalky material. I pulled it apart at the crack and sure enough, it was filled with a powdery white substance. I suggested to him that he find another that was heavier but around the same size. The next one he picked out was a good candidate.

    I think this is a good one?
    A likely candidate.
    Click here to enlarge
    Is this better?
    I picked a good one this time
    Click here to enlarge

    We went through the process again and the same anticipation was visible as they watched. This one turned out to be quite different from Daerek's, but also nice.It was solid white and black agate with a touch of red banding around the outer perimeter.

    Here it is!
    Showing Josh his polished geode.
    Click here to enlarge
    Josh's little gem.
    Josh holding his finished geode
    Click here to enlarge

    Wait a minute. What is this? Someone else just walked over from their truck. It was Amanda, Daerek's six year old sister. She was carrying her doll which she thought was more interesting than a bunch of rocks. That is until she saw how excited Daerek and Josh were. She just had to see what was going on. I can't say for sure what she was thinking but I do know that she liked what she saw. She arrived just in time to see Josh's geode being cut and polished.

    Amanda appears
    I want to see too!
    Click here to enlarge
    Let me see?
    Looking at The Big Luna
    Click here to enlarge

    The grand finale was yet to come. I had, on their arrival, promised that I would show them the inside of our "Big Luna". This was the first thing the boys spotted and I had told them they could only see inside after Daerek's geode had been cut and polished. The "Big Luna" is a 62# geode that I found by accident on one of our trips to the Baker Ranch. As I lifted off the cap everyone exclaimed their amazement with words like 'wow' and 'way cool'. The boys put their hands inside to check out the size of the cavity which was lined with orchid colored, sparkling druse quartz.

    Josh checking it out
    Its big enough to get Josh's hand in.
    Click here to enlarge
    Wow, that's BIG!
    Checking out the inside of Big Luna
    Click here to enlarge

    With that, Kid's Day at RockRoost was over and it appeared that everyone had a great time including this old Prospector.

    They're both great!
    Great Geodes!.
    Click here to enlarge
    SEE!
    Happy with the results
    Click here to enlarge

    Note: by the time we saw Daerek's Dad a few days later we were asked if Amanda could have her own geode. We were happy to oblige so that all three youngsters had their own little gem.


    I update frequently with new articles. Information contained in these is from reliable sources and personal experiences with a little humor thrown into the mix from time to time.
    So come back and visit often and see what's new and exciting!

    NEW Rockhounds Store
    Equipment, Supplies And Information for the Amateur, Novice and Expert.

    RockRoost Rockhounding Trips:
    Agate 2006
    Baker Lode Mine, New Mexico
    Deming, New Mexico
    Oregon Sunstones
    The Big Luna
    Total Wreck Mine
    Virgin Valley, NV Opals
    Washington Camp

    Kids Corner:
    Kids Day at Rockroost Page 1
    Kids Day at Rockroost Page 2

    Prospector Ron's Articles:
    What Breed of Dog is a Rockhound

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