rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,334
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 4, 2022 10:54:00 GMT -5
Hi everyone, So I definitely bit off more than I can chew in trying moonstone so early on in my tumbling experiences. I pretty much know where I went wrong (not long enough tumble time, not proper cleaning b/t stages) and will correct for future tumbles, but I wonder if there's any saving my moonstone? It's been through every stage, including polish and my stone is very dull. Can I send it back through the first two stages, shape it better, clean it better and then try polishing again? I see many cracks in the rocks, so not sure they're salvageable. Thanks so much for your wisdom
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2022 10:56:29 GMT -5
Have a picture? You can certainly run them again.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,334
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 4, 2022 11:23:26 GMT -5
I'll have to try and upload. Honestly I'm a little embarrassed by them, but I guess we all start somewhere. At work and will try to upload to this thread when I get home. Thanks!!
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 4, 2022 11:46:18 GMT -5
Hi everyone, So I definitely bit off more than I can chew in trying moonstone so early on in my tumbling experiences. I pretty much know where I went wrong (not long enough tumble time, not proper cleaning b/t stages) and will correct for future tumbles, but I wonder if there's any saving my moonstone? It's been through every stage, including polish and my stone is very dull. Can I send it back through the first two stages, shape it better, clean it better and then try polishing again? I see many cracks in the rocks, so not sure they're salvageable. Thanks so much for your wisdom Depending on the size of the rock and the size of the cracks, you might be better of to use a hammer and Chisel and split them on the crack and then retumble from stage 1. One thing I do love about tumbling rocks is you can always start over if you dont like the end product. You can always split them with a Chisel and run the whole process over again. Best of luck!
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 4, 2022 11:48:47 GMT -5
I'll have to try and upload. Honestly I'm a little embarrassed by them, but I guess we all start somewhere. At work and will try to upload to this thread when I get home. Thanks!! Never be embaressed while learning a new hobby. Only take the lessons you learn and apply them to future batches. Its never a failure if you learn a lesson.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,334
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 4, 2022 11:56:13 GMT -5
Thank you Vance!! I may just try breaking them up. Some are pretty small so maybe I can use those for filler. It's definitely a learning journey and I feel successful in being able to identify where I went wrong so that is a plus
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nursetumbler
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Member since February 2022
Posts: 946
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Post by nursetumbler on Oct 4, 2022 15:27:31 GMT -5
Thank you Vance!! I may just try breaking them up. Some are pretty small so maybe I can use those for filler. It's definitely a learning journey and I feel successful in being able to identify where I went wrong so that is a plus rocknewb101Just out of curiosity how long did you tumble it in each stage? Just because a book says 7-7-7-7 doesn't mean you have to do 7-7-7-7. I have pink quartz I tumbled for months to get it to where I wanted it. I have cheveron amethyst that I started 2 months ago. I've moved a couple pieces on to 120/220 Sunday. I've been watching them every week (they are in a 6# barrel) i have found some that has stress fractures so I wacked them with a heavy object and put them back in. Only you know when they should move on and that's to your liking not a book. Hope this helps and doesn't sound rude because it wasn't meant to be rude.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,334
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 4, 2022 15:38:25 GMT -5
nursetumbler - admittedly nowhere near long enough. I did follow the directions for the tumbler, however I didn't really realize that you could/should go for longer. Now that I've seen my first batch and have done quite a bit more research I know I can (and should) examine, pick out, extend the tumble cycle. I appreciate your comment and don't find it rude at all. I can use any help I can get at this point, but recognize I should have taken longer to research and learn before jumping in. I'm not the most patient person (not a good tumbling trait!) but am learning . Thank you!!
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 4, 2022 15:39:08 GMT -5
Both vance71975 and nursetumbler had good advice (Kelly...it didn't sound rude to me ). The only thing that would prevent you from going back to stage one with your rocks would be if the size of the rocks were too small at this point...and that wouldn't necessarily "prevent" you from doing it...but there might not be anything left of them at the end! ashley was correct about asking for pictures. It's difficult to give accurate advice when there's little frame of reference...plus we're all visual people here. Welcome to the forum from South Dakota by the way!
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Post by fernwood on Oct 4, 2022 16:28:12 GMT -5
Did you have any cushioning material? That can help prevent some types of cracks.
Looking forward to seeing your results.
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 946
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Post by nursetumbler on Oct 4, 2022 17:19:22 GMT -5
nursetumbler - admittedly nowhere near long enough. I did follow the directions for the tumbler, however I didn't really realize that you could/should go for longer. Now that I've seen my first batch and have done quite a bit more research I know I can (and should) examine, pick out, extend the tumble cycle. I appreciate your comment and don't find it rude at all. I can use any help I can get at this point, but recognize I should have taken longer to research and learn before jumping in. I'm not the most patient person (not a good tumbling trait!) but am learning . Thank you!! rocknewb101Take Ron Popeil's advice, "set it and forget it" Put your tumbler(s) where you do cross it's path every day. 😉 You can do this. Before you know it it's been 6 months 🤪 and you have pretty rocks. jasoninsd am I mistaken that moonstone is basically Labradorite without the dog? If so arent the cracks normal? If I am correct rocknewb101 then that rough is naturally cracky. I received wonderful advice from member Tommy (I think it was Tommy) that suggested I try jaspers as its a forgiving medium. I thought I would start with orchid calcite. Boy talk about a "don't do as a newbie" rough. 🤣
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 946
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Post by nursetumbler on Oct 4, 2022 17:32:49 GMT -5
rocknewb101I forgot to welcome you from Michigan, next week it could be somewhere else, who knows lol. Kelly
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Post by pauls on Oct 4, 2022 18:19:00 GMT -5
Moonstone is Feldspar and thus has very strong cleavage planes, meaning that whatever you do to it , it wants to split along those planes. Even worse is the fact that the reason Moonstone is actually a thing is that it is a mixture of different Feldspars in layers so it wants to split along those different types of Feldspar as well. I have tumbled it successfully and surprisingly (to me) it went pretty well, All I was hoping for was to clean the stones up, and maybe get a bit of a polish so I could see inside them to pick out stones for cabbing and faceting, for a bunch of cracked and falling apart rough I ended up with some nice stones.
I used a lot of smalls to cushion everything and filled the tumbler (vibe) right up, The smalls I used were lots of rabbit poo sized round (dodecahedron) crystals of Garnet. I usually don't let anything with a crack past first stage but this was just a clean up job so I ignored it, gave it minimum time in each stage and it worked. I think the takeaway here is to use lots of cushioning media and it will work.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 4, 2022 18:41:50 GMT -5
nursetumbler - admittedly nowhere near long enough. I did follow the directions for the tumbler, however I didn't really realize that you could/should go for longer. Now that I've seen my first batch and have done quite a bit more research I know I can (and should) examine, pick out, extend the tumble cycle. I appreciate your comment and don't find it rude at all. I can use any help I can get at this point, but recognize I should have taken longer to research and learn before jumping in. I'm not the most patient person (not a good tumbling trait!) but am learning . Thank you!! rocknewb101 Take Ron Popeil's advice, "set it and forget it" Put your tumbler(s) where you do cross it's path every day. 😉 You can do this. Before you know it it's been 6 months 🤪 and you have pretty rocks. jasoninsd am I mistaken that moonstone is basically Labradorite without the dog? If so arent the cracks normal? If I am correct rocknewb101 then that rough is naturally cracky. I received wonderful advice from member Tommy (I think it was Tommy ) that suggested I try jaspers as its a forgiving medium. I thought I would start with orchid calcite. Boy talk about a "don't do as a newbie" rough. 🤣 I believe you are correct on that Kelly...but that's with extremely limited knowledge! The cracks are very normal. I've only worked a couple pieces of Labradorite. Pauls post (above post) has some great info...
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,334
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 5, 2022 7:21:04 GMT -5
Did you have any cushioning material? That can help prevent some types of cracks. Looking forward to seeing your results. Yes - I use small/large ceramic media to fill in the spaces. most of what I've read recommends ceramic over plastic, but maybe that depends on what you are tumbling?
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,334
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Post by rocknewb101 on Oct 5, 2022 8:05:02 GMT -5
rocknewb101 Take Ron Popeil's advice, "set it and forget it" Put your tumbler(s) where you do cross it's path every day. 😉 You can do this. Before you know it it's been 6 months 🤪 and you have pretty rocks. jasoninsd am I mistaken that moonstone is basically Labradorite without the dog? If so arent the cracks normal? If I am correct rocknewb101 then that rough is naturally cracky. I received wonderful advice from member Tommy (I think it was Tommy ) that suggested I try jaspers as its a forgiving medium. I thought I would start with orchid calcite. Boy talk about a "don't do as a newbie" rough. 🤣 Thank you! I have definitely 'backed up" and am practicing with some easier rocks. I have some green opal too that I understand is not for beginners so it will sit until I have more confidence in what I'm doing.
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