We were down in San Diego County using the Schoenstedt. Something made it scream so we kicked the dirt, nothing. Swing over this 1/4" pebble, screeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!. Pick it up, pebble, flick it away and it stuck to the digging bar (not kidding).
I've never seen that. It looks like a dark colored stone. That one got pocketed.
Wasn't there someone on the other board that was struck by a meteor, maybe you found it.:-)
They are called lodestones.
I use to have a couple many many years ago when I was a rockhound.
Dave, sounds like magnetite.
Got a pic of it?? 🙂
If you take a picture of it, you should put it on a white sheet of paper and add filings to show the magnetic field.
Happens all the time in CT....lots of Iron in CT rocks...
Joe
I've found a lot of magnetic rocks (particularly in Placer County northeast of Sacramento) that make the Schoenstedt sing on 3 but these things make it scream on 1 and they stick to steel digging tools. That is unique in my experience.
we hit pockets of what i have heard called 'iron slag' here in the N GA mountains. it can render a pin finder almost useless on some jobs. pretty rare but i have seen it.
That would be something if they were meteorites! :clap:
Magnetic meteorites might explain the thin-ness of the hair on top of my head.
The worst I've found was in El Dorado County East of Folsom Lake. We had run a traverse along some dirt trails setting large spikes as TP's. The job went on for years and when I had to go back to some of those areas, the lath were all gone but there were only certain places the spikes would have been (at bends of the road with view in each direction). I even had notes that told me what side of the trails they were set on and there was a dang magnetic rock about every foot or two which made the locator just about useless. It was supposed to have been a world-class golf course community but now I think it's a protected plant preserve.
Slag and ores would certainly give a reading, but I didn't know there were any naturally occurring rocks that had enough magnetism to support their own weight.
Crushed slag
Local steel mill has their own scrap metal recycling business for the intake and a sub contractor to deal with the crushed slag from the mill. It is supposed to be de-magnetized in the process before it winds up on a county road or driveway.
http://www.asms.com.au/asms/common/what-is-slag.html
> Magnetic meteorites might explain the thin-ness of the hair on top of my head.
Don't rule out new super powers, Dave. It isn't always bites from radioactive spiders. Hyper-magnetic meteorites are in the mix also.
As a kid, would drag a horseshoe down the white sand county road in front of our house and collect them. They made great ammo for the slingshot.
Magnetic rocks, are about as usefull to a surveyor, as a flat tire, and coffee in the keyboard.
N
I've found a few out in fields in southeast Nebraska. They can give a pretty strong pull with the Schonstedt leading you to think you've found the monument. I remember breaking one up one time and throwing the pieces in the hole with the monument.
I got too close to a big one one time and got yanked to the ground. The only way could get free was to cut the steel keyring out of my pocket.
just kidding
HA!
Very good.