timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on May 4, 2012 11:48:14 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I am just finishing up my first batch of stones and I had a question re:burnishing. I've seen a couple of different recommendations out there, one is to burnish with borax before and after stage 4, another to burnish after stage 4 with ivory flakes (would dishwashing detergent work?) so stage 5 with just soap and tumbling media. I'm not sure what the purpose of burnishing is, isn't the soap softer than the rock, what exactly is it doing? Also, how much per pound of rock? I've got borax but no ivory flakes.
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Post by johnjsgems on May 4, 2012 14:14:44 GMT -5
Back when I tumbled, I used powdered Tide before and after polish. I never measured but would guess a tablespoon or so per 3 lb. drum and more water than normal (over the rocks). It is basically a wash cycle and will clean the rocks, drum, and media. Borax would work the same. I never used Ivory flakes. Liquid dishwasher detergent would likely work as it is non-sudsing.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on May 4, 2012 20:29:07 GMT -5
We have found that a week long soap burnish using cheap laundry soap and plenty of cushioning , mixed up to be like a thin pancake batter serves to gloss up our rocks quite noticeably. This done after polish. We tumble quartz mtls., with pet wood responding the best.
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on May 5, 2012 11:35:21 GMT -5
thanks for the feedback. I have a load just out of the last stage that looks pretty shiny, I'm going to take some before and after pics and see how they turn out after the burnish.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on May 26, 2012 22:42:49 GMT -5
Hey Tim, just wondering how things are coming!
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on Jan 4, 2013 13:52:51 GMT -5
this batch was "meh" some parts were good, others weren't. I had too great a variety of hardness I think. The agates turned out super nice. some of the quartz, not so much. This first batch is sitting in a bag waiting remediation. Current project is a load of all similar material, some funky green quartzy stuff I think is epidosite.
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