/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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What kind of name is that !!fMAN7X9hJxW Fri Feb 15 06:51:16 2013 No.398474 [Reply] [Original]

Minerals: Where the hell do I find and/or buy them reasonably priced?

I'm looking to make a copper wire ornament for my friend's upcoming birthday and want a nice chunk of olivine and obsidian (separate is fine too) to work as the centerpiece(s). I've tried Googling but despite a few hours of this, can't seem to find any websites selling anything other than cheap Czech glass or $100+ "samples".

Where does /diy/ go to get their rocks?

As a side note, anyone pointers/manuals for someone new to wireworking?

Anonymous Fri Feb 15 07:01:15 2013 No.398481

As a rockhound I go out and collect my own samples but I'm lucky enough to live in a rural country full of hills and valleys.

Equipment I carry:
>Leather shoulder bag
>Medium and Small rock-picks (A hammer that is sheer one side and a pick on the other)
>Selection of cold steel chisels
>Handful of baggies and a roll of masking tape
>Felt tip pen
>Electronic dosimeter

You can find much more than you think!

What kind of name is that !!fMAN7X9hJxW Fri Feb 15 07:03:30 2013 No.398483

>>398481
The problem with that plan, and yes, I would entertain it otherwise, is that I don't have a tumbler, don't know where to borrow/rent one and I live in Northern Texas, which is half the US away from the only two deposits of olivine in the states (that I know of).

Also want to add, cabochons would be fine as well.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 07:05:44 2013 No.398485 >>398483 It's pretty easy to make a tumbler, you essentially just need a motor that drives a roller, then you place a sealed jar or some-such on top. The "difficult" part is the grinding medium.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 07:34:44 2013 No.398492 >>398474 I don't know about Texas, but here superstitious people believe that nice looking polished rocks have magical powers. As a result, (some) shops targeting those people have all kinds of minerals.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 07:39:29 2013 No.398494 >>398492 This. Metaphysical stores usually have a selection. Be warned that they might be overpriced, though.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 07:43:01 2013 No.398496 Here's a site with some not-terribly priced olivine. I dunno if they have obsidian, though. http://mamasminerals.com/categories/Minerals-%26-Rocks/Minerals-%26-Clusters/?sort=alphaasc

What kind of name is that !!fMAN7X9hJxW Fri Feb 15 07:45:44 2013 No.398498

>>398485
Worst case scenario, I have access to a stationary circle grinder.

>>398492
>>398494
Yeah, I found some of those in my area, but they are grossly overpriced unless it's low quality, but shiny, quartz.

Olivine is used mainly as flux sand for metal manufacturing or something, not sure why it's not more common.

>>398496
They only have one sample and it's more purple than green.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 07:50:45 2013 No.398500 ebay has a section for rocks and minerals. I didn't browse it much, but you could try there. They definitely had obsidian, at least.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 10:37:00 2013 No.398548 >>398498 Of course it'll be purple, olivine oxidizes like a bitch. Nice oily rainbow effect in some causes though. So if you want it to stay green, keep it in a vacuum.

Anonymous Fri Feb 15 11:03:14 2013 No.398557

>>398481
DW and I (actually more her than me, I just dig the exercise). We have found quite a few, but no holy grails yet. Things like thunder eggs, large agates, crystals are more elusive. We go on road trips to various areas, but the problem is that guide books direct you to areas, but they have also directed thousand of others too and the areas get picked pretty clean.

Still, its a lot of fun and a great excuse to get off the couch and out into the countryside.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 11:18:15 2013 No.398573 Go home Hank, you're drunk.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 15 12:10:45 2013 No.398592 You can get loads of cheap obsidian in Mexico. I have several nice carved statues made from the same that I got for less than $20 each, about a pound of material each.

>>	What kind of name is that !!fMAN7X9hJxW Sat Feb 16 05:41:16 2013 No.399227 >>398592 I was hoping for something online.

>>	YurNigga Sat Feb 16 05:48:54 2013 No.399229 >>399227 I got your back bro let me get that link for you

>>	YurNigga Sat Feb 16 05:52:54 2013 No.399231 >>399229 http://www.riogrande.com/default.aspx bam all sorts of awesome shit. might have what you need might not. fuck you. <3 yurnigga

>>	What kind of name is that !!fMAN7X9hJxW Sat Feb 16 10:05:09 2013 No.399312 >>399231 Is it really worth registering and giving them my address just to view prices?

>>	Anonymous Sat Feb 16 11:15:39 2013 No.399343 >>398573 THEY ARENT ROCKS THEY'RE MINERALS.

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