Luminin
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 400
|
Post by Luminin on Sept 7, 2017 7:06:27 GMT -5
A couple of days ago I pulled my first batch out of stage 1 to check on them after 6 days. They looked a lot better than I expected. The Tiger Eye has a long way to go, but the Lapis and Amethyst looked decent. I'm going to pull the Lapis back out tomorrow or Saturday and substitute plastic pellets until the Amethyst and Tiger Eye catch up. Thoughts, comments and suggestions appreciated! ~Luminin
|
|
|
Post by gmitch067 on Sept 7, 2017 7:29:46 GMT -5
Looks great Luminin! You are on the right track. My first (and only) attempt at Lapis did not go well. Your load of 6-days came out better than my 1-month completed and polished batch! (oh that hurt...). Now that I look at your post ... The same goes for the Amethysts... (oh that also hurt... Oh well...). The quality of your rocks is a lot nicer than the ones I was working with too.
Keep us updated... and thank you for posting such well laid-out photos!
|
|
Luminin
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 400
|
Post by Luminin on Sept 7, 2017 8:20:09 GMT -5
Thanks gmitch067! All of this batch came from Amazon. A seller called Fantasia Materials, which I discovered this morning is local! I'm hoping to stop there and have a look around. They brag on having 400,000 pounds of material there, should keep me VERY busy if they let me dig through it lol I'll take your experience with Lapis as a sign to keep a close eye on it. The Amethyst is very small for the most part and based on how it looked, I don't expect it to turn out nice and smooth. I almost expect It to turn to dust.
|
|
|
Post by orrum on Sept 7, 2017 8:24:10 GMT -5
Gettin there for sure. Waiting to see the finished Lapis!
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 7, 2017 8:35:33 GMT -5
uh... yes and no.
Yes, your rocks are coming right along. Off to a good start!
No, do not add plastic pellets to the barrel to replace the volume of the lapis you take out.
Plastic pellets are used to cushion a load from damage as you move to finer grits and to polish. They will hinder the coarse grind stage and slow the shaping of the rocks to a crawl. Just add more rough rocks to replace those that need to be removed and set aside while others catch up.
Keep with just rocks until you have enough rocks ready to move on to the 2nd grit stage. Add more lapis if ya have it. That may be ready to move on as well by the time the tiger eye is ready. Then you can pick and choose you best lapis pieces to move to medium grit.
Again, good start.
|
|
Luminin
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 400
|
Post by Luminin on Sept 7, 2017 9:45:25 GMT -5
captbob Oh, good info! Thanks for telling me about that, it would have been a frustrating and time consuming lesson! I was contemplating pulling the Lapis out, but each still had a few spots that seemed soft or rougher than the rest. Same with the Amethyst, but it also still had a few edges. The Tiger Eye had hardly rounded and I'm thinking another week or two will be needed. Thankfully I purchased a Lortone 33B from Amazon that will be delivered tomorrow, which will give me quite a bit more wiggle room and will expedite everything. I'm debating running one Lortone barrel as step one along with my Nat Geo tumbler to speed my prepping rough. I figure that's what takes the longest, so two tackling it will help. The rough is really starting to pile up and I have no plan on stopping!
|
|
ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
|
Post by ChicagoDave on Sept 7, 2017 11:10:49 GMT -5
The tiger eye might need another month or two. It all depends on how smooth and rounded you want it to be. Don't pay attention to how long it takes. Pull out only the rocks you are 100% happy with and load the tumbler up with more rough. Before you know it, there will be a nice pile ready for stage 2.
|
|
Luminin
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 400
|
Post by Luminin on Sept 7, 2017 13:23:14 GMT -5
ChicagoDave Your not the first to suggest that method to me. Repeated wisdom isn't something to ignore! Guess I'll go through what I have, sort it by hardness and queue it up!
|
|