sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Oct 18, 2012 14:26:03 GMT -5
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riverrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2010
Posts: 1,395
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Post by riverrock on Oct 18, 2012 16:23:16 GMT -5
So are you going to tumble them?
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Post by Bikerrandy on Oct 18, 2012 18:07:47 GMT -5
Yes, are you gonna? Those are cool
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rockingthenorth
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2012
Posts: 1,637
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Post by rockingthenorth on Oct 18, 2012 19:27:04 GMT -5
Pretty
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Oct 19, 2012 14:34:13 GMT -5
Didn't I mention that my picture taking skills weren't all that great? These have already been tumbled and look much better in person than the pictures show.
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Post by deb193redux on Oct 19, 2012 14:36:12 GMT -5
The pics look fine in terms of focus and detail. Are you concerned about color?
Unless you like a very rustic look, I would recommend much much longer in the rough grind.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Oct 19, 2012 16:28:17 GMT -5
The pics look fine in terms of focus and detail. Are you concerned about color? Unless you like a very rustic look, I would recommend much much longer in the rough grind. I don't mind rustic, prefer it to a really smooth, rounded agate. However, I'll try a longer grind to see the results. How long and which grit do you recommend I use longer?
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Post by Bikerrandy on Oct 19, 2012 18:05:21 GMT -5
I would do 60/90 grit for a week, and check them again. If they aren't smooth, run them for another week with fresh 60/90. Do this again and again until you get the desired results, then each stage after that will be a week to 10 days. The final stage (polish) you can run forever, they'll keep getting more shiny by the day (usually). Use cushion (plastic pellets or floor tile spacers work great) Use fresh cushion for the polish stage so that there's no cross-contamination. Also, a separate bowl for the polish stage labeled "polish only" is a must if you wanna see a perfect shine.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Oct 19, 2012 18:29:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give it a try. I will say, however, that those agates we have collected that were already tumbled by the ocean and the sand, etc., look very shiny and polished when done for the "normal" four week course of grits and polish. It's only the irregularly shaped ones that have flaws such as some white left in some cracks or pits and some matrix still attached. I can handle that as the only place they are going is in a bowl in my house, not to a customer or in a trade. Still, I'll give it a shot to see if I like the results. If if changes the original shape too much I'll probably keep on keeping on, though.
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Post by Toad on Oct 19, 2012 21:49:36 GMT -5
It all depends on what you like. But for me, those would go in 60/90 for at least a month - recharging every week. Most of them for at least 2 months...
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Dora
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2012
Posts: 252
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Post by Dora on Oct 20, 2012 16:33:50 GMT -5
My favorite ones are the first one and the last one, very nice. Some shapes are hard to tumble, when I get stones with irregular shapes I grind/shape them a little using the dremel, and then tumble them. In this way I get more control over the way they will look and it speeds the whole process too. The photos are well taken.
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