Discussion: Wet in Washington

Category: Discussion Forum / 5--Rock Hounding

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ModerndayEdison	20. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 7:38 AM EST I agree with what you said about obeying the law and not tearing up the land scape. But I also am the type of guy to actually feel out the physical limits and boundries in everything I do. There are people that are into Treasure Hunding and Prospecting as a hobby as you have suggested and there are people that plan to get rich off of it, or at least suppliment their retirement incomes with it. I am neither of the three, my goal is to just make enough to assemble the start-up capital needed to start a new type of Alternative Energy based Motor Company which I have been putting together. I found that this is how Andrew Carnegie side stepped the lenders in the financial industry when he needed to expand his steel business to support the Westward Expansion of the Northern Pacific Railroad out to California. I figured he had quite a few steel mills to locate and build across the country... so he needed a large amount of working capital to do what he needed to do. I only need one inventor's shop and production facility. Such an operation concentrating on precious metals and Gems on a smaller scale than what Carnegie did, would be ideal to put the needed start-up capital together to do what I am needing to do. That is why I am planning to do what have been preparing to do. I am sitting on a set of working shop drawings for a self sufficient drive system that will run without gasoline or other such fuels, and will be significantly lower in cost than other Alternative Energy based Drive Systems currently on the market today. I am looking at the basis for a new type of Motor Company that will not be limited to the Auto Industry alone. I am needing to do the same thing Andrew Carnegie did, Just on a smaller scale.......in today's economy. Different strokes, for different folks. Post reply 0 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
Sculptor827	21. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 2:10 PM EST Hello all, My daughter and I are new to the web site and watching Kirsten on T.V. I really appreciate the ongoing discussion from our neighbors here in Washington, very interesting, some great info about Washington and surrounding areas, as well as, the other topics. Well, I have been sculpting for 15 years and I use soapstone and alabaster which I buy from local sculptors and rock quarries. But it seems working with stone for so long has brought both my daughter and I to ask some questions about getting into rock-hounding. We live in Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula and wanted to ask if anyone knew of some places here to hike and rock-hound. We will also take the advice of getting some of those Maps and searching on the links suggested above. Has anyone had any luck over here when rock-hounding. Thanks, Ann Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Sculptor827	22. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 2:21 PM EST Sorry, I didn't see your request about start up capital, since I didn't see there was a page two to the discussion. I sure cant help you with any start up capitol for a new Motor Company, but if you are still rock-hounding and know some great places on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, I sure would be interested in that! Thanks, Ann Post reply Do you find this valuable?
washingtoncougar	23. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 6:01 PM EST Welcome Ann, I hope you and your daughter will enjoy rock hounding. There is actually alot of sites on the Olympic Peninsula most are Marine fossils but a few other gems I would highly suggest buying ORE ROCK ON on DVD. My wife and I just recieved ours and are really suprised at all the possible sites that we are with in a short drive of. One of my earlier post has the web address. It in my oppinion is worth the money. Good Luck and Enjoy, Dave Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Sculptor827	24. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 6:39 PM EST Thanks Dave! For your support and info. We will check out the info on that web site and see about that DVD. Today, we also visited quite a few other web sites that have been real helpful too. So onward and upward! Thanks again, Ann Post reply Do you find this valuable?
washingtoncougar	25. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 6:44 PM EST Speaking of Mt. St. Helens, for all those in the area check out this news artical http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/01/24/area_news/10073820.txt I grow up in Missoula, Montana and traveled to Butte often the Berkirly open pit mine there along with all the shafts from the copper mines is horrible. Keep it small don't let in the big mining companies that will tear up the land and then only have to pay a small fine compared to the millions they make for not compling with the law or enverinmental issues. Dave Post reply Do you find this valuable?
oldnavy72	26. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 7:18 PM EST OK, no fair hijacking my thread to get your financing!!! kidding - hope someone reading may find it in their heart, or wallet, to kick in. The one thing I did want to say was thanks for all the great tips and advice. I have found more value out the advice in this thread than I did in 2 days of looking in the main forums. People are not willing to share their "trade secrets." And my wife and I will be of the category - "Retiring and going to go Hounding to Supplement our Retirement" or maybe even finance our retirement. I respect those who would like to just collect samples for their personal viewing or to pass along ot the heirs. Me, I'm going to be in it strictly for the money. Which leads me to my next question. So now I have dug up my raw specimens and have divided them into two pile - flea market and polish for resale at greater value. Where will I find someone to do the polishing in the area I am traveling? Phone book? Look for lapidary? Remember the hypothetical is that we are living out of a motor home and driving around the country. And then where do you find someone to buy after it's polished? Ask the person who polished it? I know these are basic and may sound boring but I'm writing a book, OK!? ha Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	27. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 8:10 PM EST "Thanks Dave! For your support and info. We will check out the info on that web site and see about that DVD. Today, we also visited quite a few other web sites that have been real helpful too. So onward and upward! Thanks again, Ann " HI Ann, I was looking through the DVD Dave was talking about and I found that there is actually quite alot of rock hounding near you. Mostly fossils but there is some Amethyst, quartz, petrified wood and jasper. The fossil are mostly marine type crtters. There are some pictures of crab fossils which are pretty cool. A lot of the fossil are in beds at sea level but there are some areas inland as well. The DVD is pretty neat for sure. Doesn't really help much here for detail, but you might want to consider getting the DVD. But there is places to collect fossils right in your neighborhood. Hope this helps. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
ModerndayEdison	28. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 8:31 PM EST First of all.....I welcome public support on my website to help out with the start-up of the new motor company I am putting together.....but I am no longer relying on that avenue soully to generate fund forthat purpose. That is why I plan to get into Treasure Hunting or Micro-Salvaging. I believe it was the Gem and Precious Metals episodes that caught my eye as an avid recycling opportunist as a way to generate the needed capital over a period of time. Afterward I did some research on the subject and learned the information about Andrew Carnegie which supported this assertion. This is why I plan to get back into the Treasure Hunting a bit more seriously than I have in the past, becouse now it has become more than just a past time interest. Working the Keepers. Lapidaries out of the Phone Book are one option. But allot of times you can get refferals from the places you find your stones, I am sure this is how the crew for Cash and Treasure does it since the people that work their finds are often near by in a town near the place they found their stones, it is later that they travel across the country to get a second opinion as to the value of their finds after they have been worked. Again, I would only have a hand full or two of stones worked or facetted at any one time or place. Rough stones that have not been cut yet are less likely to get stolen in a motorhome burglery or mugging and aren't worth as much to a thief as a raw uncut Gem Stone. Gold on the other hand is a different story. When traveling the country in a motorhome you want to hide the stuff and hide it well, but not so well that you can't get to it if you need it. It would be in your best interest to keep your Gold Nuggets away and seperate from your stones, possibly in a small safe installed in the bottom of the closet in the motorhome. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
ModerndayEdison	29. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 8:45 PM EST ".......aren't worth as much to a thief as a facetted Gem Stone." Sorry about that. Oh and Ann, the one doing the rock sculpting. I know these other guys are helping you find places near to you to find rock.....but later when you can afford to take the trip, it might be worth your time to head to some of the locations around the country to hunt down your own Jade.....it is bound to be cheaper than buying the stuff and you can choose the pieces you want for sculting projects since you will be the one pulling it from the ground.....it's just a suggestion. I believe they have information of where Jade can be found in the U.S. here on the site but I don't have the information handy. I just thought I would throw it out there for you so you could check into it if you wanted. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	30. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 8:46 PM EST Hey oldnavy, That could be kind of tough to find someone to polish your sellers. I guess it depends on what type of material you plan to have polished, if it is to be cabbed, tumbled, faceted etc. Cabbing and faceting are instant if you will while tumbling is a 6 or so week process. The tumblers I would send to a family member (you get them setup for tumbling) and let them tumble them for you. Sometimes tumbling is the best way to clean you the material enough to see if there is anything worthy of taking it further as cabbing or faceting. As for cabbing and faceting, if you are in a prime gem area there will probably be easy to find one. Especially at a fee dig area. They will be there. Now if you are out and about somewhere you might check the yellow pages. But I would also check the local jewelers. They may purchase stones from local faceter/polishers and they may be able to give you a name. If you have your trip planned well enough in advanced do an internet search for rock and gem clubs, maybe there will be one close to where you are digging and you may find a contact through them. I don't know of any faceting/polishing sweat shops in the US as there are abroad where one can get there stones faceted for as cheap a $1 or so per carat. Frankly, you may want look into a flat lap machine and a few laps and maybe a small grinder you can take with you. You can get these machine in compact sizes. It will give you something to do when the weather is to crummy, or it is just to darn hot or cold to get out and go digging or rock hunting. Just a thought Don't know if this helped any or not but just some thoughts for you. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
ModerndayEdison	31. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 9:17 PM EST Good sound advice, and I agree. The small portable equipment you mentioned can be found on-line, but it can be expensive, that is why I recommend collecting in the rough and having some facetted or otherwise worked as needed to cover living expenses while on the road. But if someone wanted to get into working their own finds, it could indeed be done. Selling the worked keepers. Jewelers that write written apraisals will often give a fair price for the stones apraised if you want to sell them. That would be my first choice. Second would be a jewelry manufacturer, You might get a slightly less price here but they do buy cut and raw uncut Gem material. Third.... a pawn shop, but keep in mind that a pawn shop is in business to buy low and sell high. Meaning they will know exactly what your stones are worth but they will only want to give you 40% to 50% of your stone's actual value so they can make a profit on the deal. It is best to know that before going into a pawn shop. Last but not least.......is Ebay, cut stones will go for a higher price on Ebay if they have a certified written appraisal to accompany the stones in question. (This would be my last option due to the time and effort that is required listing the objects for sale or to be auctioned on Ebay's website, and there are allot of other people on there attempting to do the same thing.) It's allot easier to sell them directly to a Jeweler after your Gems have been facetted or otherwise worked than haggle with pawn brokers. That is what I have found in my past experience. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	32. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 9:37 PM EST when I commented about buying equipment, I was thinking more about cabbing related machines and not faceting. Like the flat lap, and grinder. Faceting machines can be quite expensive. However, if you are into finding gems for faceting, the payback would be fairly quick $45 per faceted stone. I think that seems to be the going rate as per C&T show and I know at least some of the fee dig sites. Unless it is a very hard stone, garnet, ruby/sapphire, then the price goes up a bit. The other option is to gather enough rough to make it worth while sending them abroad for faceting then selling the faceted stones here. Many of the stones you see here in the US were faceted out of country. But we are talking pounds and pounds of roughs. But a lot of those stones are out of country roughs. Some of the value in gem stones found in the US is that they are very rare and are good quality. That has a true value in the market. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
ModerndayEdison	33. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 9:54 PM EST Yep.........Again, I agree Pvjjh. It sounds like you have been doing your homework on the subject just as I have been. I come into it as a student of industry watching what big industry has been doing for the past 10 or 15 years. To me, as a Machinist.....a Diamond is just a rock used to dress a grinding wheel.....but I know there are allot of women out there who would beg to differ with that opinion. I figured, if I can machine a part to specifications outlined on a blueprint, there isn't any reason I couldn't get into lapidary work and facett my own stones, but I have found it is much more exiting to use the explosives and find the stuff than it it is to sit and cut them......and potentially more lucrative. It might still be worth getting into it though once I have gotten back into the rock hounding and accumilated a nice collection of keepers again. I will keep it in mind as an option in the future. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
ModerndayEdison	34. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 10:10 PM EST Not that I encourage anyone to mess with explosives. That sort of thing is best left up to the licensed professionals. But I have been known to blow a stump or two out of the ground in my day......I had a bit of a wild streak in my early Twenties while working as a machine shop trainee for a government defense contractor. You would be surprised what your can whip up from house hold chemicals that most people don't know about... some of the mixures I have uncovered in my "research" work quite well. While others I have been too afraid to even try because of their volitile nature and sensitivity to physical agetation or shock. But this is a Treasure Hunting site, and I think it is best not to go any further with the above subject matter for safety reasons. I hope the information I have provided as to my knowledge and past experience in the field has helped. Just email me if you have any further questions. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	35. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 10:16 PM EST "when I commented about buying equipment, I was thinking more about cabbing related machines and not faceting. Like the flat lap, and grinder. Faceting machines can be quite expensive. However, if you are into finding gems for faceting, the payback would be fairly quick $45 per faceted stone. I think that seems to be the going rate as per C&T show and I know at least some of the fee dig sites. Unless it is a very hard stone, garnet, ruby/sapphire, then the price goes up a bit. The other option is to gather enough rough to make it worth while sending them abroad for faceting then selling the faceted stones here. Many of the stones you see here in the US were faceted out of country. But we are talking pounds and pounds of roughs. But a lot of those stones are out of country roughs. Some of the value in gem stones found in the US is that they are very rare and are good quality. That has a true value in the market. " Oldnavy, I guess I should explain a bit more. Buying the basic equipment means that you are not hunting material that would need to be slabbed or otherwise cut with a saw. A 6" trim saw is one thing - I didn't mention this - it is small, but if you are finding geodes and need a slab saw you may need to find a local rock shop and have them slabbed so you can see what you get and/or decide if you want to cab something or not. The rock shop will make cuts for a fee and they also may allow one to trim and rough up stones for cabbing. Rock shops are of course another place you may be able to sell some of your wears just don't know what kind of price they may give you for your stones. You may even try a rock shop to sell the less disirables. They may want them for tumbling material etc. ModerndayEdison, I had to chuckle about your diamond comment. My wife is so pleased if I buy her a 1/3 or 1/2 carat diamond whereas I buy diamond in 5, 10, 15 up to 25 carat lots at a time. Am I stingy or what. lol Post reply Do you find this valuable?
ModerndayEdison	36. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 10:30 PM EST I wouldn't say stingy.....just a savy investor. Cut Diamonds and Gems often retain their value better than precious metals such as Gold and Silver. They don't call them "Jew"els for nothing you know. What your doing is a financially wise practice in an unstable economy, diamonds are better than stocks if you want to retain your capital. Diamonds don't go up like stocks t make a profit... but they don't go down as much as stocks do either, which makes them a sound investment. You are justified in your actions. Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
oldnavy72	37. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 10:49 PM EST I am telling you this is the hottest thread on this space and thank you for keeping it alive. The information is incredible. Here's kind of what I am thinking of doing [explanation at the 50,000 foot level). From what I have gathered so far, there is one kind of gem or another at each of the four corners of the US and a lot places in between. When we are ready to do this on a full time basis, we would go to the area where the season suited us for digging, or in more plain English, the climate would dictate where we would be, thus we could literally travel all over the US, sight-see and dig and enjoy. And as we collected our treasures I was thinking of establishing a relationship with various polishers, facetors and tumblers, as well as jewelers so that we could revisit them, knowing that we had a relationship established and would be less likely to be taken advantage of (<--- yepp I ended it in a preposition). I am thinking seriously of about 5 more years of work and then taking off on this adventure. That we the house can be up for sale and we'll be on the road and buy a reliable used motor home to start and then use our "hard earned cash" to upgrade the motor home as time goes on and miles add up. I am thinking what it would be like today if I had done this after my Navy career instead of working in corporate America for another 25 years. Heck, this summer I will have been out of the Navy the same amount of time as I was in it, which equals the sum total of my entire adult life. Flabbergasting. I want to use this thread to collect ideas and tips from all you good folks and build a "how to" guide. I don't think there's any reason to fear for others taking away from my "livelihood" and the issues may be as Dave mentioned, keeping corporate mining from ruining the fun. BTW, there was a good episode last night on sapphires over in Idaho. It was pretty complete. Doug Post reply Do you find this valuable?
pvjjh	38. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 10:50 PM EST "I wouldn't say stingy.....just a savy investor. Cut Diamonds and Gems often retain their value better than precious metals such as Gold and Silver. They don't call them "Jew"els for nothing you know. What your doing is a financially wise practice in an unstable economy, diamonds are better than stocks if you want to retain your capital. Diamonds don't go up like stocks t make a profit... but they don't go down as much as stocks do either, which makes them a sound investment. You are justified in your actions." Well I thought you might get the gist of my post. I buy the diamond for faceting. Just like you look at diamond as a tool in machining. When one purchases diamond dust down to 100,000 mesh, her one piece 1/3 carat diamond looks pretty good. lol And hers costs a lot more than mine. I sure wish I could afford to purchase diamonds. I think they will hold their value much better than the metals and stocks as you mentioned. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
oldnavy72	39. RE: Wet in Washington Jan 24 2008, 10:51 PM EST "I am with you Dave. Rockhounding for fun and collecting your own specimens. I have found the magazine;" Rock and Gem" of great help in finding good collection sites." That's a great tip. Any other mags you would recommend or nt recommend? Post reply Do you find this valuable?

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Discussion: Wet in Washington

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