Looking for uncut geodes for the kids for Christmas. Doesn’t have to be the greatest quality, these are little kids with hammers.
Yes, I’ve looked at ebay, but seeing that I am unfamiliar with the subject, wondered if any 'Dopers had a good source.
Thanks.
I found several sources when I Googled “geode buy”. Some are opened, some are unopened. You do know that nobody will guarantee that an unopened geode has anything interesting inside, right?
I don’t know if the sources I found are good, but they’re interesting.
Can’t really help with buying geode’s. But I’d highly recommend against the hammer approach. I would recommend finding a rock store (or rock hound) that could cut it. You’d regret smashing one open and finding it would have been a really cool one had it been cut.
Thanks guys. I also had googled, but I was trying to pick someones brain who has done this themselves. On the hammer versus cut answer. We have plenty of power tools, and I’m sure after wrecking the first dozen or so with a hammer, we’d probably wise up. Hence the low quality comment. I think I am looking more for bulk, say 20-30 stones, smaller is fine, more the fun of discovery, than museum quality geodes.
http://www.physlink.com/estore/cart/BYOGeodes.cfm has about 10 for $10. It says they are from Mexico.
Page Not Found :: Nature Watch | Nature Craft Projects & Educational Products That Teach Children About Nature has 25 for $35.
What a GREAT gift idea dahfisheroo. I just placed an order! Thanks
I saw a guy use a chisel and hammer to open small ones up into neat halves…
Yes, I’d thought it’d be cool. I’m also ordering some old roman coins for them to clean and identify, they’re pretty cheap on ebay for a bag of them. Ah, the fun of kids and Christmas-------Buying stuff for you yourself to play with.
Hey, I’ve actually done this, using geodes I picked up near Hot Springs, AR (they were Mexican, though). I ditto the hammer thing; you just end up ruining them that way, because the outer crust is really hard and tends to shater rather than cleave. Also, those dollar geodes from mexico are not always pretty on the inside. However, they are great fun for the kids!
The Geode Gallery has lots of unopened geodes for sale. The site also has a lot of useful information, including how to open geodes and examples of many of the minerals you might find inside.
On second thought, it looks like they’re filling back orders only at this point for the standard geodes, though you still might want to check out the larger, more expensive Mexican cocoanut geodes.