jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 21, 2014 2:30:15 GMT -5
Running 12 RPM, no filler, AO 46, 15 pounds, ave 1 inch pieces, clean water, 7/8 full barrel. Looks like it has worn down similar to agate after 3 weeks in coarse, in the first 24 hours. May take 4 days. Maybe 6. Then will run in AO 220 with thick slurry and plastic pellets,7/8 full.
Then maybe the vibe. Have no idea on filler for fluorite in the vibe. Any suggestions?
I think this stuff could be rounded with quartz sand. The AO 46 will be used to finish off the rest of the fluorite. I know it will still be sharp. Maybe another 10 pounds. That will give me 25 pounds to practice finishing in the vibe. Will remove and replace using the same AO 46 slurry till the entire 25 pounds is rounded off.
Will dial the Viking vibe down to mildest vibration setting to get a rolling action.
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Post by Toad on Nov 21, 2014 3:38:08 GMT -5
Always wanted to try fluorite, be interested to see how your batch goes.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 21, 2014 4:05:42 GMT -5
Always wanted to try fluorite, be interested to see how your batch goes. Will see Toad. at least get it rounded. And see what the finish requires. May not happen, but got to try.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 21, 2014 5:58:07 GMT -5
good luck. I failed miserably on a batch of fluorite. I even used the rock sheds instructions of corncob and A/O during polish. It would be nice to see someone on here succeed at it to know its possible.
Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 21, 2014 9:04:59 GMT -5
good luck. I failed miserably on a batch of fluorite. I even used the rock sheds instructions of corncob and A/O during polish. It would be nice to see someone on here succeed at it to know its possible. Chuck Is the Lot-O adjustable to a gentle vibration ? Hoping this Viking is. Maybe that will help. I saw the corn cob thread. And dry method. I have seen it polished from China.
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Post by connrock on Nov 21, 2014 9:47:30 GMT -5
I hope this works for you cuz fluorite is one soft material.
The L-O-T doesn't have any vibration adjustments.The only way I know of to slow down the action is to fill the barrel over the top of the rocks with water. connrock
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Post by pghram on Nov 21, 2014 10:50:01 GMT -5
I'll be watching this w/ great interest. I have never tried it but always wanted to.
Rich
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 21, 2014 10:54:56 GMT -5
The vibration in the loto can be adjusted by moving the wooden dowel location under the springs. they glue it down from the factory to keep newbies from tweaking but it does mention the adjustment in the instruction manual. Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 21, 2014 14:13:38 GMT -5
The vibration in the loto can be adjusted by moving the wooden dowel location under the springs. they glue it down from the factory to keep newbies from tweaking but it does mention the adjustment in the instruction manual. Chuck Very cool. If you expose your secrets some one will defeat you in the tumbling contest That machine looks simple and straightforward. but different in design.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 21, 2014 14:33:54 GMT -5
I give out just enough information to keep them guessing, lol
Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 21, 2014 16:48:16 GMT -5
I give out just enough information to keep them guessing, lol Chuck Looked like quite a few were nipping at your heals. I would say you have shared plenty of info.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 21, 2014 16:56:22 GMT -5
I'll be watching this w/ great interest. I have never tried it but always wanted to. Rich After 48 hours I had to add about 3-4 pounds to top off the barrel from where it started. it holds 16 pounds of agate, but that fluorite seems dense. It wears very quickly. Looked it up, agate is 2.6, fluorite is 3.1-3.5, 3.5 if metals are in it. I bought two 11 pound boxes. Best to buy in volume, like a MFRB full. Most of it scraps from some king of carving operation. Great color, but it had been culled. Some broken cabs and carved crystal shapes were in the batch. Seller said it was from Madagascar.
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Post by connrock on Nov 22, 2014 8:52:03 GMT -5
I know about moving that dowel but you have to be careful when you move it or you may break springs if the vibrations become too violent.Trying to keep the dowel where you want it may also be a problem as the dowel gets "worn" so a new one may be better then trying to use the same on. There's not much I haven't done with a L-O-T but I can always learn,,,can't always remember but I think I can still learn! LOL connrock
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Post by connrock on Nov 22, 2014 9:01:20 GMT -5
Yes I would imagine your vibe would eat up fluorite pretty fast. How long is it before you have a thick slurry? If you keep adding 3-4 lbs every 48 hrs,,,you'll have to buy more! LOL
Years ago I bought what was advertized as Montana Agate tumbling rough.When I got it the pieces were no bigger then the tip of my pinky,,,it was ALL scraps!Some small pieces of broken slabs and cabs too!I used it for filler in the rough stages of other hard rocks and eventually ran it through to polish,,,,,what was left of it anyway! LOL No WWW back then,,,only advertizements in magazines! Good luck with the fluorite James! connrock
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 8:39:45 GMT -5
Yes I would imagine your vibe would eat up fluorite pretty fast. How long is it before you have a thick slurry? If you keep adding 3-4 lbs every 48 hrs,,,you'll have to buy more! LOL Years ago I bought what was advertized as Montana Agate tumbling rough.When I got it the pieces were no bigger then the tip of my pinky,,,it was ALL scraps!Some small pieces of broken slabs and cabs too!I used it for filler in the rough stages of other hard rocks and eventually ran it through to polish,,,,,what was left of it anyway! LOL No WWW back then,,,only advertizements in magazines! Good luck with the fluorite James! connrock I believe it was Lapidary Magazine that had ads for rough that was so common. Like 40 years ago, and some rough was about the same price as it is today. I remember ordering Brazilian carnelian, apache tears, amazonstone felspar and moss agate. Ran them all in a 3 pound rotary. My 'kid' tumbler ha. But it was nice material. I still have some of the apache tears, and did better on them than attempts on obsidian today.LOL. I remember Montana agate being very popular back then. It was probably one of the most pursued agates in the early days of lapidary. And high grade Montana commanded high prices. It is the true 'vintage' agate. Along w/plumes and mosses. So now I have a pile of well rounded obsidian and will have of fluorite. Ton of some what failed attempts at polishing obsidian in the rotary. And the best run of obsidian was done w/35% small glass filler. Learned not to think that obsidian is an easy animal. again LOL Have given in to using the vibe to finish these soft stones dang it. And being a filler man, dang it. Yes, the slurry got thick quick with the fluorite. but it is still rounding so fast that I am leaving it thick. anyone can round the stuff. Rubber hits the road when trying to polish it. I will say, this first load in the vibe has opened my eyes. The glass filler mixed w/the very hard coral is getting a polish. So a soft and a hard material mixed, and the glass is looking pretty darn good in the polish dept. never could pull that off in the rotary. So, maybe the obsidian will polish with the glass filler in the vibe being they are so close in hardness. I will say that the coral polished in 18 hours and the glass was still in need of improvement. Saying that the glass is slower, apparently. Using glass filler w/the fluorite may not work. i think the glass may be too darn hard relative to the fluorite, even in the more tolerant vibe. So I am at a loss on polishing fluorite. If I had fluorite smalls i would use them for filler w/the fluorite-opinion ? Or crushed calcite @ Mohs 3 for filler with the fluorite....Maybe marble chips which is basically dense calcium carbonate. Chomping at the bit to go unload the vibe this morning. It is at 48 hours on AO 14,000. it was ready yesterday at 18 hours. When I say ready, I mean the polish surpassed any polish I ever had from the rotaries in several years. I have come close, but the stones ran for two whole weeks in AO 14,000. That is a long time and a lot of wear on machinery and a lot of electricity cost. and pretty big doses of polish. Will do some photos of the coral and the glass filler today. And reload the vibe w/some better coral than this practice load. Including larger pieces.
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Post by orrum on Nov 23, 2014 9:09:02 GMT -5
James don't forget to burnish with borax in your vibe, it does make a difference to me.
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Post by connrock on Nov 23, 2014 11:56:50 GMT -5
I still love Montana Agate but the good stuff costs too much!There was a woman on another site I belong to who told me if I sent her $20.00 she would send me some premium quality Montana Agate,,,,with red in it.I sent there the 20 bucks and we exchanged emails several times but to this day I haven't seen any agates and I can't even remember her name now!Do ya think I got stiffed??? LOL
Filler for fluorite,,,,you need something that's about the same specific gravity as the fluorite yet as soft or softer.You have bamboo,,,,how hard is it?Maybe you can cut up pieces of it to use as filler?Or maybe cut strips of fairly thick leather? You may do better with the marble as long as it's softer then the fluorite? Sea shells? Thinkin' out loud here! LOL
Good luck,,, connrock
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 15:33:26 GMT -5
James don't forget to burnish with borax in your vibe, it does make a difference to me. I see a slight film. It rubs off with a good bit of elbow grease. after several pounds it got old Orrum. Des the burnish save me that labor ?
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 23, 2014 16:02:04 GMT -5
I still love Montana Agate but the good stuff costs too much!There was a woman on another site I belong to who told me if I sent her $20.00 she would send me some premium quality Montana Agate,,,,with red in it.I sent there the 20 bucks and we exchanged emails several times but to this day I haven't seen any agates and I can't even remember her name now!Do ya think I got stiffed??? LOL Filler for fluorite,,,,you need something that's about the same specific gravity as the fluorite yet as soft or softer.You have bamboo,,,,how hard is it?Maybe you can cut up pieces of it to use as filler?Or maybe cut strips of fairly thick leather? You may do better with the marble as long as it's softer then the fluorite? Sea shells? Thinkin' out loud here! LOL Good luck,,, connrock Thinking along the exact same lines. Calcite 2.7 Marble 2.4-2.7 Fluorite 3.1, with metals to 3.5 ! I could tell the MFRB of fluorite was heavy when the wife bought it back from the mailbox LOL. She was raising cain ha. Just looked at the fluorite. It may be heavily frosted, but it looks a heck of a lot better than the rough. I think SiC would devour it like sharks. I am going to remove it to soon to leave material for the AO 220 to eat away at it. The thick slurry does not seem to slow the fast wear very much at all. Slurry looks like a poison, thinking that slurry is not good for man nor beast. Anything that has 'fluor' seems poisonous. I believe it kills things. The greens blues and purples are off the weird chart. Tomorrow I will dump whole goulash into pan and sort those that are finished rounding and add the balance of the rough. plenty of fractures. And cleavage glare. Looks like rose quartz on steroids. I will say it does not seem to have the dense frost areas on the edges like that obsidian. Let's see what the finer grits say about that. Looked up the subject of fluorite poisoning. that is a can of worms. Toothpaste and drinking water receive fluorine. There is a lot of controversy on the subject. never mind.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Nov 23, 2014 16:07:13 GMT -5
At the end of a polish run with agate/jasper in my 4-lb Mini-Sonic I add water to about 1/3 the load height and let it run for half an hour or so. Then I drain it, add the same amount of new water with a gurgle of Mr. Clean and a tbsp. or 2 of household sudsy ammonia. After running another half hour I drain the load and flush with hot water. The stones always come out sparkling with no film. I don't think fluorite is reactive with ammonia.
Fluorite is notorious for its perfect octahedral cleavage. I'm surprised you were able to tumble it gently enough in the rotary to avoid breaking it into tiny pieces -- good job!
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