Post by peachfront on Jul 2, 2011 19:58:49 GMT -5
I finally got my first batch of tumbled stones cleaned up. The tumbler lid didn't quite last as long
as I wanted it to, and I'm going to hand polish some of the stones. But here are some stones
that I either gave up on (too pitted, too fractured, etc. to be worth further work) or
they're actually complete to my liking and ready to be used for jewelry or other design projects.
I find Bloodstone/Fancy Jasper hard to photograph. Sometimes cameras seem to have red/green
color blindness. But I think you can see some of the nice bloodstone patterns here.
One of my favorite stones from the batch is the Brazilian Agate disc. It has great shadowing but
my camera is giving out on me, so I gave up before I got a decent photo. I think you can see that
most of them got a nice shine though.
I got some Savannah River Agate/Chert and some Utah Pigeon Blood Agate in some swaps. I put
one stone of each material in the tumbler for a test. They both polished up great
with no fuss, but the camera didn't do justice to the nice shine on the orange and purple
Chert. You can probably tell that the Pigeon Blood came out nice and glossy though.
I got a lot of the "Snuffy" slabettes in some swaps, and I have picked out some for re-shaping.
These two painterly stones, with the soft orange and the brilliant mustard yellow, will be
drilled to make accent beads/pendants. Anyone know the names of these Jasp-Agates?
I love these guys with the snow scenes in them. Name?
Petrified palmwood, again from the Snuffy slabettes. I suppose Texas material, but this stone
is also one of the few found in Louisiana. A mix of colorful Mexican Crazy Lace from my own
stock and, yet again, from Snuffy.
If my camera wasn't giving me fits, I'd photograph these translucent stones over a lightbox. Some
lovely patterns here.
What I learned:
1. Vibes are too noisy for me. Back in the day, my neighbor complained about our Lot O, even though it was
on three inches of foam over a 50 pound block of concrete. The cheap "vibe" was just as noisy, maybe not
the first day, but it got noisier and noisier. I'm switching to rotaries. I'm tired of wondering
when the neighbors are going to call the noise police!
2. A 3 pound barrel for rough grinding and a 6 pound barrel for polishing is ridiculous. It took
forever for me to collect enough stone to do one polishing cycle.
3. In the ideal world, yes, we would never tumble any imperfect, pitty, fractured stones. In this, the
real world, whoever posted the tip to soak the stones in white vinegar and water until I had a chance to clean
them with a toothbrush...you are a heroine to me! This is the trick. It reduced the amount of
polish "crud" trapped in the pores just a tremendous amount.
as I wanted it to, and I'm going to hand polish some of the stones. But here are some stones
that I either gave up on (too pitted, too fractured, etc. to be worth further work) or
they're actually complete to my liking and ready to be used for jewelry or other design projects.
I find Bloodstone/Fancy Jasper hard to photograph. Sometimes cameras seem to have red/green
color blindness. But I think you can see some of the nice bloodstone patterns here.
One of my favorite stones from the batch is the Brazilian Agate disc. It has great shadowing but
my camera is giving out on me, so I gave up before I got a decent photo. I think you can see that
most of them got a nice shine though.
I got some Savannah River Agate/Chert and some Utah Pigeon Blood Agate in some swaps. I put
one stone of each material in the tumbler for a test. They both polished up great
with no fuss, but the camera didn't do justice to the nice shine on the orange and purple
Chert. You can probably tell that the Pigeon Blood came out nice and glossy though.
I got a lot of the "Snuffy" slabettes in some swaps, and I have picked out some for re-shaping.
These two painterly stones, with the soft orange and the brilliant mustard yellow, will be
drilled to make accent beads/pendants. Anyone know the names of these Jasp-Agates?
I love these guys with the snow scenes in them. Name?
Petrified palmwood, again from the Snuffy slabettes. I suppose Texas material, but this stone
is also one of the few found in Louisiana. A mix of colorful Mexican Crazy Lace from my own
stock and, yet again, from Snuffy.
If my camera wasn't giving me fits, I'd photograph these translucent stones over a lightbox. Some
lovely patterns here.
What I learned:
1. Vibes are too noisy for me. Back in the day, my neighbor complained about our Lot O, even though it was
on three inches of foam over a 50 pound block of concrete. The cheap "vibe" was just as noisy, maybe not
the first day, but it got noisier and noisier. I'm switching to rotaries. I'm tired of wondering
when the neighbors are going to call the noise police!
2. A 3 pound barrel for rough grinding and a 6 pound barrel for polishing is ridiculous. It took
forever for me to collect enough stone to do one polishing cycle.
3. In the ideal world, yes, we would never tumble any imperfect, pitty, fractured stones. In this, the
real world, whoever posted the tip to soak the stones in white vinegar and water until I had a chance to clean
them with a toothbrush...you are a heroine to me! This is the trick. It reduced the amount of
polish "crud" trapped in the pores just a tremendous amount.