bwolfe1
off to a rocking start
Learning the Hard way
Member since December 2011
Posts: 19
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Post by bwolfe1 on Feb 26, 2012 7:45:16 GMT -5
Wondering if anyone has any advice on tumbling Quartz?
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Post by connrock on Feb 26, 2012 9:31:12 GMT -5
Some quarts can give you problems and a lot of it depends on the material itself. If the quartz is fairly fracture free to begin with or if it's loaded with fractures and cracks can make a big difference in how it reacts in the tumbler and also how well it ends up after polishing it.
Typically when people say "quartz" we think it may be clear,rose,smokey,white or even amethyst but sometimes when someone says "quartz" they may have some other type of it in it's huge family.
So,,,,what type of quartz do you have,,,photos help us a LOT to help you?
connrock
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bwolfe1
off to a rocking start
Learning the Hard way
Member since December 2011
Posts: 19
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Post by bwolfe1 on Feb 28, 2012 10:01:23 GMT -5
Here are some pics of what I'm calling Quartz. Attachments:
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Post by krazydiamond on Feb 28, 2012 17:53:33 GMT -5
that looks like it should polish up just fine! another thing you can do with quartz (especially crystals) is to soak them in some Oxallic acid to get the rust stains out.
good luck!
KD
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 28, 2012 20:21:03 GMT -5
you should have no problems tumbling those at all. good luck
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chromenut
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2009
Posts: 1,971
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Post by chromenut on Feb 28, 2012 21:40:27 GMT -5
My only issue was accidentally mixing some marble in with them, it broke up the pieces into smaller ones, didn't do any like dings and such, just bounced around a bit and the marble ended up looking eaten up, but the quartz still tumbled pretty well. I do more with them on my flat lap than my tumbler now.
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Post by connrock on Feb 29, 2012 8:08:52 GMT -5
Looking at your photo I don't think your quartz will need any special care during the rough stage but would suggest using plastic pellets throughout the rest of the process.
connrock
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bwolfe1
off to a rocking start
Learning the Hard way
Member since December 2011
Posts: 19
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Post by bwolfe1 on Mar 13, 2012 10:04:07 GMT -5
Thanks everyone
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