cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 879
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Post by cardiobill on May 25, 2013 19:15:21 GMT -5
They shaped up nicely. I'm sure they will shine up just as nice. Good luck Bill
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 4, 2013 16:15:58 GMT -5
Its been pretty slow in the rock tumbling section so I thought I could post a competition update. We have now ran all of our material through 500/1000/polish and burnish and now we still have plenty of time left to go back and grind any flaws and re-run any that are not perfect again. here's the ones we are calling keepers so far .... and these ones all have been marked for flaws to be ground off (rules state a grinding wheeel may be used to remove defects) Thanks for looking Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jun 4, 2013 16:19:25 GMT -5
Those are looking really good. That's some pretty rock.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 4, 2013 16:28:08 GMT -5
Thanks Rob. It sure didn't look like it had much potential when we got it. Its neat to go back in this thread to see the first picture of the rough.
Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
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Post by jamesp on Jun 4, 2013 17:05:25 GMT -5
That looks like petrified sediment?It is beautiful.Rock that break like that are bothersome for tumbling.When they have inward cavities that have a rough texture.The coral breaks like glass or an optical lense till i heat treat it.Then it breaks jagged and concave inward with not smooth surface.I would consider that a long tumble.I have learned that precision breaks are the key to good tumbles.A badly broken rock will often never tumble well.I will reduce my coral on site this time into 1-2 inch thick chips 4-8inches around.Like lenses.Of couse i have massive supply in the field.But i am still really picky about reducing.And will practice on junk before doing the real Mccoy. Alot of poorly colored coral is not porous and chips like glass.Unfortunately the grainy stuff is the material with color thru absorbtion between the grains.It breaks like granite and not conoidal.
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Post by orrum on Jun 4, 2013 22:02:55 GMT -5
Way cool Chuck, I be watching. This is a good thread to see how you tumble also!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jun 4, 2013 22:05:26 GMT -5
Very cool to see progress, I hope to have a batch of my own to show next week after a LNG dry spell!
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Jun 6, 2013 8:11:07 GMT -5
I really appreciate these from-rough-to-finished progress postings. I helps us all learn and appreciate. Kind of like having the fun of seeing the rocks come to life, without all the time and effort, ha. That is the real magic of tumbling I think -- the transformation. That is why I often just hand polish one face on some specimens, so others can appreciate where it started.
Hopefully these kind of posts will increase from everyone here. Thanks Chuck and good luck! - Mark
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Post by orrum on Jun 26, 2013 11:21:22 GMT -5
Hey Chuck how we doing? Have you narrowed down the final ones for entry submission?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 26, 2013 11:49:28 GMT -5
Orrum - I think I have the ones we will submit narrowed down but due to this being a "competition" I think I will wait till after the august deadline to show them here. I feel sorry for the judges of a contest like this. I cant imagine trying to judge thirty different sets of the same kind of rock. The hard part now is that after babying these rocks for 12 weeks we have to send away the best ones and will not be getting them back.
I thought it was a lot of fun and while it was a tough rock for fractures and flaws it takes an easy shine due to the mohs hardness. Win, lose or last place it was fun and I plan to do it again next year!
Thanks for following the thread! Chuck
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