Awesome fire agate vug with druzy/quartz crystals

[Steve1236]

I just got done with most of the cleaning on this specimen and I thought I'd share.

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Another nice find!

 

[ArfieBoy]

It's a beauty for sure!

 

[Noah_D]

Nice find! How do you clean a specimen with so many tiny crystals and crevices without damaging it? We don't have rocks like that around here.

 

[Steve1236]

I spray them off good when I get home, then I soak them in bleach and soap water overnight to kill any dead desert lichen, which this stuff has it in every nook and cranny and deep in the quartz crystals clusters so I usually have to go heavy on the bleach, then I pressure wash them good, then I soak them in warm water for a day to leach out any bleach left in the agates, after that I soak them in super iron out (powder kind only) for anywhere from 12 to 48 hours, I check them every now and again to see if they are clean to my liking, then I pressure wash them again and scrub them with a brush, toothbrush for the more delicate ones, after that I soak them for twice the amount of time in fresh water, usually in the tub, changing the water every now and again or a slow leak works to. That cleaning method seems to work well on quartz but I wouldn't recommend it for any other minerals.

 

[Steve1236]

Here's a couple more of the druzy/quartz crystal fire agate specimens I just finished cleaning and I thought I'd share, I'm a little shaky when taking photos so they aren't to clear.

 

[Steve1236]

I just bought a cheap 4 watts 40$ sw uv light and apparently my fire agate chalcedony is partly fluorescent, pretty cool..

 

[DDancer]

Nice Steve. Sometimes that stuff has an after glow for a moment after exposure to UV.

 

[fuss]

Your collection of chalcedony now has a new dimension to it with the addition of that UV light, now you need to find some of the other amazing fluorescent minerals in your area.

I have a bucket of the same material, supposedly trace Uranium is responsible for the fluorescence.

 

[Steve1236]

That's awesome, what wattage is your short wave, please tell me it's more than 4 watts cause mine sucks lol, Heres a couple more, ignore the writing, it's for a listing and sorry about the blurriness, its hard to hold the light right next to the rock and then shoot a photo, I'm to shaky..

 

[fuss]

I used a cheap 4 watt SW lamp as well. Trick is keeping everything steady for longer exposures, so I use a tripod to help with that as well as remote shutter release.

 

[Steve1236]

You've got a good set up, I'm having to hold the light near the stone and try to take a picture with the other hand using my phone and for some reason I can't really get my phone to focus in the dark plus I'm shaky a bit when trying to do it lol, it is what it is...great pic you shot by the way fuss.