ARTICLES

"RAY MOVES INTO HIS NEW LIBRARY & ROCK MUSEUM"

August 21, 2007

I recently moved my office into my newly constructed office, library, and rock museum, situated on our property. Actually, it has been a three month process of getting all the book display cases made and installed and displays for my personal rock collection. We spent about a month putting all the books in library sections by type. This was really a process. I thought setting up a personal library would be easy. Boy was I wrong. READ THE FULL STORY

"TUMBLE POLISHING STONES"

By Ray Hill

I recall the joy of getting my first rock tumbler when I was 15 years old. It was a three-drum model and I could turn out a batch of beautifully polished stones every other week. I remember that my Step-Dad had built a tall display case, and in it I had display trays with many of my beautiful polished stones. I had the stones arranged by size and by stone type and where the stones were from. I also recall the pleasure I got when my mom would say to visitors to our house "Come look at what my son has made", and show off my treasures. That was a blessing.    READ THE FULL STORY

"SO YOUR CHILD LIKES ROCKS!"

By Ray Hill

Over the past fifteen years that I have operated Great South Gems & Minerals I have had many parents call, write, or email me saying that they have a daughter or son that loves rocks. Welllll, I can relate to that. I understand. I'm still a little boy at heart and like rocks myself.

The question most parents have is "how can I be of help to my daughter or son in encouraging his/her interest in rock collecting?" "Where can I go, or, what can I do to help them enjoy, learn and grow in their interest?"    READ THE FULL STORY

"COLLECTING GOETHITE AND FOSSILS
NEAR PRESTON, GEORGIA"

By Ray Hill

This is actually two great collecting sites that are about a mile from each other. One is on a small county dirt road and the other is a road cut on a small county paved road. This location is about mid-way between the small town of preston, Georgia, and Buena Vista, Georgia.

I visited this site this past weekend, 1/8/2006, with a couple of rock-buddies and we all collected about as much material as each could possibly ever need. I found eight football size geodes and bunches of broken pieces. I found three specimens that had a scallop-type sea shell imprint on the outside.    READ THE FULL STORY

"CRACKING GEODES OPEN (Without Destroying Them!)"

By Ray Hill

Seems I'm always getting calls from folks asking "How can I crack a geode open without breaking it into small pieces?"  Welllll, there are a number of ways, some good and some not so good. Here, I will outline four of he most common ways for you.    READ THE FULL STORY

"RAY'S STONE INLAY WOODWORK PROJECT"

By Ray Hill

Some time around the first of this year (2003) I received a call from a customer that said he wanted some of the stones mentioned in a magazine article so he could do some inlay work in some wood bows he was making on his wood lathe.   READ THE FULL STORY

"HOW TO MAKE A RIKER FRAME - WALL DISPLAY"

By Ray Hill

Here's a neat way to display your Riker Mount frames in a grouping to make a nice wall display.  I recently put 21 of the 8 X 12 Riker frames up in my office to show off part of my collection.  It was easy to make and easy to put up.  You may want to try something like this.     READ THE FULL STORY

"GET RID OF THOSE BUCKETS!"

By Ray Hill

For years now I have been going on field trips and have been hauling buckets full of rocks back to our house. For the first couple of years it wasn't a problem ... you know, a bucket here, one there. But after 10 years of collecting ... wellllll, it does become a problem!     READ THE FULL STORY

"CARDBOARD DRINK-FLAT STORAGE RACKS"

By Ray Hill

Okay, I told you about how Ms. Betty told me to get my act together and "GET RID OF THOSE BUCKETS!".   Well, after I had made my rock fence, I was feelin' pretty proud of myself and thought to myself ... "you know self, you ought to go one step further and get all those piles of rocks down stairs put up somewhere neatly, so you can walk down there."     READ THE FULL STORY

"COLLECTING GEODES, QUARTZ NODULES,
SEPTARIAN NODULES AND AGATE
NEAR PAYSON, ARIZONA"

By Ray Hill

In February, 2002, I had flown out to phoenix, Arizona to attend the wholesale shows in Quartzite and Tucson;  while there I took a day off to go do some rock collecting.  I had gotten three collecting guides prior to my trip there and selected a couple of sites to check out.     READ THE FULL STORY

"GIANT SIZE CLEAR QUARTZ CRYSTALS 
NEAR CARLSBAD, NM!?!?!?"

(Selenite Crystals)

By Ray Hill

I had flown out to El Paso, Texas, about four years ago for the purpose of making contact with some dealers that were from Mexico that were bringing minerals, carvings, arrowheads, and fossils into the US from Mexico.  I spent a week there and it turned out to be a very prosperous trip.     READ THE FULL STORY

"FIELD TRIP to GIRARD, GEORGIA"

(Chert, Agate, Druzy Lined Vugs, Fossils, Indian Artifacts)

By Ray Hill

About 10 years ago I went on a field trip with the Cotton Indian Gem & Minerals Society (Stockbridge, GA) to a site near the small Georgia town of Girard, about 30 miles south of Augusta.  I was very impressed with this site and have been back there several times, some with groups and a few times alone.     READ THE FULL STORY

"COLLECTING QUARTZ CRYSTALS
- MOUNT IDA, ARKANSAS"

By Ray Hill

I had heard of this collecting site as being "The Quartz Crystal Capital of The World", but could not envision what a fantastic place this really is for rockhounds. Turned out, it was better than the images I had imprinted in my beady little brain from all the stories I'd heard about the place.    READ THE FULL STORY