dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Sept 12, 2017 7:40:59 GMT -5
My son and I are very new to this, just starting to look for agates and other goodies this summer, on the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands here in South Dakota. We bought one Lortone rotary tumbler in June...then another bigger one in July...and have had a few batches go all the way through the process. I've been a little disappointed with what we've tumbled. The shine just wasn't very brilliant, not even after burnishing with ivory soap for a while. Read something about using distilled water, not just tap water, so I tried it with the latest batch. What a difference! Not changing anything else, they came out of the polish phase brilliant, without any burnishing. I had no idea just water choice could make a difference. Here's the latest batch (all stuff from the Grasslands here).
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Post by fantastic5 on Sept 12, 2017 7:42:59 GMT -5
You nailed the shine on that batch for sure! Distilled water...hmmmm...need to try that
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 12, 2017 9:07:54 GMT -5
Glad you got good results. Nice stuff there.
Tried the distilled once and made little difference for me. Extending from one to three weeks in the rotary however really made a difference. Got a vibe now so no longer an issue.
I see some bubble gum agate in your mix. Cool rock, one of my faves. Your are lucky to be able to find those near you.
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Post by coloradocliff on Sept 12, 2017 9:24:29 GMT -5
Good looking prairies there. Did get the shine done well. I like to scrub the finished stones with a hand brush if hot soapy water to open the small imperfections and claymore rock mud away. I also like to soak after that and change the water daily to get the rocks even cleaner. Might try the distilled water but haven yet.Have vibes. Thanks for the neat post. Prairies are fun.
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Post by grumpybill on Sept 12, 2017 11:44:25 GMT -5
The only difference I've noticed with distilled water (well...water from the de-hum-i-drier in my basement) is that I no longer get a lot of foam.
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dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Sept 12, 2017 12:20:45 GMT -5
The problem with ours is that it's so incredibly hard. I can see why it would leave a residue...something burnishing seems to remove. But still not as bright as what I'm getting with the same methods and distilled water.
Small sample size, given I'm new at this. As a scientist I guess I shouldn't read too much into it, but the difference has been so amazing since we switched.
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