transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jun 24, 2014 12:31:51 GMT -5
Still working the peach moonstone I gathered at the beach. Skipped the course grit, spent 3 days in fine grit, cleaned really well, 11 days in prepolish and overnight in borax. This is the result (dry) So far I'm pleased. Still has that natural right off the beach look but definitely has more shine. Had to throw in a bunch of random rocks to fill the barrel, those too came out better than I expected considering the material. Currently in the polish stage and hopefully I don't have the foaming problem again. Tumbler has been going for over 24 hours and no issues yet.
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stephent
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 213
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Post by stephent on Jun 24, 2014 14:05:33 GMT -5
The last batch of "quartz-ish" and jasper stones I did were 8 days in 120/220 with one grit add at 4 days into...a week in pre-polish and a week+ in polish. Skipped the coarse 60/90 entirely too. Bit I ran the nicest stones across that whizzer-rock grinder I built to shape them somewhat before tumbling them. I added some shaped but not polished all the way out cabs (stopped at 600 grit flatlap disks) at the pre-polish stages on too. Foaming is not so bad...it's the end of the barrel bulging from excess pressure that will make the tumbler have fits...or puke the contents out. I have had foaming from using liquid soap in pre-polish and polish stages on softer stones and it only carried grit better. As long as it doesn't bulge the barrel ends...let er rip. Those stones of yours are getting there.
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jun 24, 2014 14:19:30 GMT -5
Yeah I haven't noticed any bulging in the previous 2 stages so hopefully I won't get any in polishing. Read it's more common with obsidian I think it was. Due to breakdown of organic matter. I'm not going to open it at all this time, if it starts to wobble on the rollers I'll just shake it up a bit and hopefully that'll do it. I also added more water and less polish this go around with the hopes that'll keep the foam down. Plan on letting it go for 10 days. Fingers crossed this will be the end and I can start working with them. Been itching to use my new drill press but all my rocks are in the barrel lol
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jul 2, 2014 20:05:48 GMT -5
Ok so I finished up the polishing and the feldpars/ moonstones / conglomerates (?) came out great! However the quartz not so much :/ definitely has a better shine than after prepolish but idk if the polish got stuck in fractures and emphasized them or what but they look much more crackled than they did after prepolish. I went back to the beach that I picked all these up at and grabbed enough for a second batch if I add all the quartz from the first run. I kindof knew what I was looking for this last time so hopefully I picked up more moonstone than quartz but it was overcast the day I went so prob not all of it is moonstone and the rest would be quartz. I'm wondering if I run the quartz from the first batch with everything I picked up for the second batch in 80 grit if it would smooth out the fractures and prevent or at least diminish the polish getting trapped in them. Alot of the fractures are internal radiating to the surface of the stone so maybe it'd just be a waste of grit and what I ended up with this first run is what I will end up with no matter what. Here's some pics let me know what you think. (I was advised to resize my images...plz let me know on that too if they come out ok) thanks K feldspar Another feldspar Peach moonstone Conglomerates (?) Quartz
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Post by braders on Aug 10, 2014 4:27:45 GMT -5
Quartz n crystals will indeed teach patience when tumbling due to the fact of hovering over the bucket for a hour or so each grit run with a tooth brush getting the grit out Sure pays off tho in the end !! I like the peach colors in your photos . Not sure if you were the one I talked to on a post about the crystal cluster found at work and being similar to stuff here ? But iv thrown bad boys like that in for a spin or vib before ha ha come out awsome but woooo no fun cleaning each time !! Ill have to show ya a pic Thanks for sharing your tumble !!
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Aug 10, 2014 19:24:04 GMT -5
Yup that was me. I put some of the quartz back in the tumbler and have been working on my second attempt at tumbling, in the polish stage now. Looks better than my first attempt, but only time will really tell. My next batch will be all milky quartz from another location. I'm going to need a second tumbler pretty soon lol
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Post by braders on Aug 10, 2014 19:41:01 GMT -5
Oh no someone is getting the bug lol .. 2nd batch hu ? Congrats soon it will be 50th and so on !!
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Aug 10, 2014 19:42:08 GMT -5
Haha more like infestation
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