[Rockhounds] Virgin Valley Nevada Collecting

[Ted Kowalski]

Clyde:
There is no web picture of the pick that I know of (at least close up). Mr.
Wilson of the Royal Peacock was having a local make the pick for years.
Recently, the composition of the pick was changed to incorporate a
fiberglass handle instead of wood. The handle is nice, but the balance and
weight of the picks were changed as well; owners of the old style picks
(wooden handle) are keeping them fixed as they swing better and penetrate
deeper.

The pick head is slightly better steel than most picks and features long
thin pick tines. The thin tines penetrate much better, even here in Virginia
clay it is a much better pick for clay digging. If you look at the sharp tip
of an Estwing rock pick, that is approximately the thickness and sharpness
of the tines; tapering into a tine that is roughly 1/2" square where it
joins the head. The new picks have tines that are still 1/2" wide but taper
into a taller profile near the head. You can improve the feel of the new
picks by adding a little weight to the head and keeping the tines sharp.
These are the full size picks, the small hand size picks are not as
dramatically better than the Estwing hand picks.

Mr Wilson told me last year that the guy he has making the picks was saying
he was retiring (like Mr. Wilson) so as in many things in VV, do what you
can this year as who knows what the future holds.

Ted Kowalski
Fredericksburg, VA USA

-----Original Message-----
From: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
[mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of Clyde Phillips
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 6:50 AM
To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors'
Subject: RE: [Rockhounds] Virgin Valley Nevada Collecting


Thanks for all the comments, I feel quite grounded as far as the worst
scenarios of collecting. However, I think weather permitting, we should have
fun collecting there and other places for non-opal stuff.

I am curious though.  Does anyone know of a website with a picture of the
"Virgin Valley pick" that Tim mentioned.

While I don't think the rewards from collecting are the material anyway, if
it were we would already be rich from the emeralds and sapphires of North
Carolina and the beryls and tourmalines from Maine. We did see things and
meet people that made the experience of collecting quite enviable to the
listeners of our stories later.

Clyde 

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