Complete newbie at this but OMG is it addicting! I went rock hounding this past weekend and came across quartz clusters, agate, jasper and a really nice piece of sandstone. Can't wait to get a tumbler and start making my own pendants.
I just started agate hunting a few months ago. It's so addictive I started a RU-vid channel about my journey as a rookie agate hunter! Makes the hobby even more enjoyable!
@@AgateDad I wonder why do rockhounding people never expand from just agate hunting? Like take the crystal collector. In the post month he did garnets, tourmaline, amethyst, selenite, wavelite, hour glass crystals, topaz and much more.
@@eitanengel8259 sometimes people are content in one thing. I prefer finding agates probably 95% of the time, but the other 5% is open to new discoveries and other goodies 😁
I feel just like you. I’ve liked rocks since I was like 1. It’s like I inherited a huge rock collection from my younger self. I’ve always collected rocks on trips. A few months back I looked up “how to find quartz.” Then it started recommending rockhounding to me and it rolled from there.
Thanks for the video. I just came back from Agate Creek Queensland Australia with a bunch. Now I have to learn how to polish them up! 14 hour round trip but already want to do it again!
I read about how to make an industrial tumbler out of a rear axle of a big semi truck with the rims and tires in place. You want to cut an opening in the highest part of the rim to load rocks. The article said a cover is not needed but I always thought if I was going to do one I would have a hinged door sealed with inner tube rubber. The idea is to set up a motor geared down so the tires rotates slowly and all the rocks stay in the lowest part of the tire at all times tumbling over each other. Each tire can hold about 100 lbs of rocks and you have 4 tires going at all times each one with a different grit. Always use same tire for the same grit. You rotate the rocks once a week and you have a 100 lbs of polished tumbled stones each week. I have been wondering if you could use quartz sand as grit for the first stage to do the rough rounding off? I am posting this on all videos about rock hounding to spread the idea, if this is you channel and you do not like that let me know. The fact that the tumbling will all take place in a rubber tire should help keep the noise down. The rocks should never touch the rim. I have suggested to people that they make a sound proof shed just big enough to be practical so the noise will be minimized. Plus the rubber in a tire is thick and should absorb a lot of the noise. Also you should have a small fan on the motor to keep it cool. A high quality motor will be a must as it will run 24 hours a day. I am no expert but with the proper gearing the motor should not be under too much stress. I would sell the tumbled stones. Once tumbled, you grade them by quality and type. Some would be really valuable. I bet you could average $10 usd per pound with just good found material and more if you have high grade material. Definitely not for the weekend rock hound but if you sell stones or want to, what a cheap way to start. You could tumble other people's rocks for a fee or shares too. You could make one with car tires for a smaller scale operation. There has to be a lot of people with a 30 year in the making, 3 ton pile of rocks out behind their house. With this they could see results from all that collecting.
I was thinking the same thing, I've often picked up, marveled, wondered why it looked the way it did (waxy), why it was see through (those that were), questioned whether or not it was actually a rock at times and eventually discarded each of these over the years. May still have one or two around somewhere. Sigh, if only I'd known.
Here in northern Ireland at Carrick Fergus beach there's hundreds of these things. I love walking there I find so much stuff there. Has really pretty sea glass too. Lots of jellyfish
HI, nice info bout agate. I am a Geologist. I want to point to you that one of your agates shown here is of the shape of a Canine tooth. SOme rocks are formed by replacement of existing minerals. Like wood opal. Similarly calciam carbonate of fossil bones and tooths is sometimes replaced by silica atom by atom on a geological time span. Just check whetheer that piece wwhich is third from left at the bottom at 0.04 time of your video is a replaced silicified fossil tooth. Just my guess.
@Owen Digity lol um you obviously dont understand what is meant by the term canine tooth then so be careful when throwing insults like calling someone dumb mmmmkay?
use to go to agate beach as child and look for many weekends. watching with one of two rings on. might not be most glamorously greatest rings or jewelry stuff, but they got their speciality.
I’ve found some beautiful pieces along the banks of the Bouie river near Hattiesburg Mississippi. Growing up I found mostly amber colored. Here I find white, grayish black, white, gray and a salmon color
I have several rocks I thought were White quartz but they kind of look like what you have. Also I have one with orange crystallization on the front and an orange color all the way through but still is mostly milky white.
Hey - great video! One thing though, I've been watching a lot of geologist channels on RU-vid, one channel is JTV and they often mention the mohs scale and scratch testing; I'm pretty sure I remember them saying glass was a 5.5 on the mohs scale 🤔
Great info! Thank you very much. Question: At the beginning you aligned the agates from right to left with regards to the "quality" of the agate, and at the end you said that the translucent material in the last agate didn't have any lines in it. Do you mean visible lines, because an agate should have concentric lines to qualify as being one.
agate is a rock, and rocks are general classification of mineral composition and crystal structure of minerals. It’s not an exact science, and this is a rock hounding classification more than a scientific one. Moss agate for example doesn’t always have banding, but is considered agate. I hope this helps with your question.
Microcrystalline, most of those are microcrystalline and the translucent ones of mono colour are chalcedony . For the stone to be called agate it must have bands, must have bands .
Moss agate doesn’t have bands and it is referred to as agate, just saying. Chalcedony is commonly referred to as agate because most beginners have a tough time getting that scientific.
I came here trying to figure out what an agate I found was and it looks identical to the one you talked about tumbling on the beach! Top left one. Would it be worth getting a tumbler and tumbling it? Thanks
I have a big agate. Purple color . Unfortunately I don't know how to make money out of it. I have also fond estimate 18kg white Ang purple agate in one piece. I just use it as a footrest 😎😂😂
No no no! You must hold the Agate up to the light whether it be the Sun or a lamp or any sort of light if it is a Agate you will be able to see through the stone. In opaque manner. Some are smooth some are rough all will be opaque, and show various colors as well as quartz only quartz is less opaque
What about moss agate? Moss agate isn’t banded. Anyhow, I made the video for the beginner, Most people don’t know what chalchedony is. To most, agate is an easier understanding of many forms of Chalcedony. It’s kind of like calling diorite granite. To a geologist it matters, to someone installing countertops it doesn’t. Classifying rocks is kind of an art as they are so varied and agate is an acceptable classification of the rocks I showed in the video.
I found a 65 lb. carnelian agate that i am not sure what to do with. I postd a yutube video Large Giant Carnelian Agate!!! any sugestions wold be apreciate.
+Erianna Jackson its not meant to be an entertaining video, just an intructional video for the beginner rock hounds out there. However, I did just purchase a mac set up for video editing. My new videos should get much better in their entertainment factor as I figure out the programs.
Huh...I think I found three agates whole cleaning up my front yard. These were originaly just picked randomly with a bunch of other rocks that my grandma picked way back in the day when she was working on her garden. Its preety fascinating and finally I now know what these are. I have two white ones and one that looked like an ordinary stone until you shine it at a light. Thank you for the information :)
Lame... Poor agates. Keep at 'er! Lustre isn't that important in agates. The microcrystalline structure makes lustre unimportant. In agate, value is found in line density, metallic influsions, and size.
Just a note: a conchoidal fracture is not a "random" one, instead it is a typical behaviour of cryptocrystalline materials, which upon fracturing form concave shapes
Identified an agate in a box of vintage rock samples I bought because of this video. Thanks Now to figure out if this uranium ore is going to kill me or not...
@@HowtoAlaska 10-4 I'm treating it like covid and wearing a mask lol hopefully isotopes are scared of N95 masks and Mason jars. But joking aside, I completely didn't expect to get Rockzilla in a mixed box of rock samples.
I was wondering we have a cabin by moose lake Minnesota and is known as the agate capitol although I have never found one. Odviously the north shore is a good place but in landlocked areas where would you look
I would look on roadsides, areas that have just been dug up(like a construction site), creek beds/gravel bars during low water, and gravel pits. Most of those areas you'll have to get the land owner permission. Good luck hunting!
It’s pretty much impossible to identify rocks with certainty through a picture. It doesn’t show many of the traits that are needed to identify them properly.
I have 2 very similar pieces I found that I think are agates. One in Willow one in Homer. Both pale in color and waxy luster. The only difference is one looks like a very fine glitter was thrown in while forming. Are they the same rock?
I found a piece that has this waxy luster that u are talking about and its gray/light pink and the edges are translucent. Im not a 100% sure if its agate but this video helps a lot!
