jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Nov 30, 2017 12:29:01 GMT -5
Little tiny Mini Sonic hoppers mounted on a Vibrasonic base flat out gets er done. Only 2 days in the vibe. The rocks rotate quickly in the small hoppers. And it is set on about the lowest counterbalance. A few pieces of obsidian media even received a polish ! Got the shine going on Odd thing happened. I did not burnish. I noticed what appeared to be a hard water coating on the rocks. Tried to buff them. Coating would not come off. I left them out in the dew last night. Tried cleaning them with an old cotton t-shirt this morning. Noticed a lot of friction when buffing them on the t-shirt till the coating was removed. Then they buffed effortlessly. As if soaking in our acidic dew cut the coating. Could have been a coating from cheap Borax. iPad closer ups Palm from rockpickerforever, a from 4 pound chunk of fine palm
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timd
starting to shine!
Member since October 2017
Posts: 27
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Post by timd on Nov 30, 2017 15:07:25 GMT -5
Some beauties! Nice job!
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fishnpinball
Cave Dweller
So much to learn, so little time
Member since March 2017
Posts: 1,491
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Post by fishnpinball on Nov 30, 2017 15:47:05 GMT -5
Bunch of wonderful tumbles. I guess I need to figure in a bass fishing trip. (Rockhounding too).
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dakotabirder
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2017
Posts: 77
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Post by dakotabirder on Nov 30, 2017 18:26:57 GMT -5
Gorgeous! Great shine.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 1, 2017 4:57:04 GMT -5
I thought that one looked familiar! You sure got some mileage out of that block. Have you got any of the obsidian in the works?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 1, 2017 5:47:28 GMT -5
I thought that one looked familiar! You sure got some mileage out of that block. Have you got any of the obsidian in the works? I handpicked the best apache tears and started them in the rotary yesterday. I have tumbled pieces of that palm over a long period of time. Finest glassiest piece of palm I have ever seen. No porosity and hard. Would sure like to collect a load of it. One SOFT rock that shaped in 10 days in the rotary that I have never come close to polishing was this heat treatment softened rhyolite. By george there was a piece of it in this first Rio run in Vibraminisonic and it had a fine shine. Started a batch of it. The AO 220 turned it into a mud pack after 24 hours and almost constipated the batch. Should have known, it is a real soft rock. Added water and got it rolling again w/minimal damage. heat treated rhyolite in coarse grind process, wet
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Post by Garage Rocker on Dec 1, 2017 6:18:23 GMT -5
Note to self: add Georgia dew to final burnish. Is that similar to Mountain Dew, James? Think a two liter will last me a while? Haha! Yanking your chain, partner. Whatever you got going with your Vimisonic (you're welcome), you laid a brilliant shine on that set. 48 hours, huh? Not bad at all! Congrats on the modification, looks like fun experiments are forthcoming.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 1, 2017 6:48:58 GMT -5
Note to self: add Georgia dew to final burnish. Is that similar to Mountain Dew, James? Think a two liter will last me a while? Haha! Yanking your chain, partner. Whatever you got going with your Vimisonic (you're welcome), you laid a brilliant shine on that set. 48 hours, huh? Not bad at all! Congrats on the modification, looks like fun experiments are forthcoming. Been getting dewed for 28 years. Getting up and out with the chickens to avoid working in the heat. Quick way to premature aging. Mountain Dew ? They must put a heavy dose of caffeine in that drink. Talk about getting a caffeine buzz. This vibe apparently makes fast work of AO 220 with Mohs 7 rocks. From rotary to near polish in 24 hours is a victory. Cap off with the ole Rock Shed polish for another day and all is done. Running a load of soft rocks. Using 50% small agate media to crack the AO 220. So letting it run 48 hours before moving to polish. I did do a burnish on Mohs 7 rocks by accident using Mohs 6 pumice. Sure did get some clean shiny rocks. Gotta do another before making final conclusion. Acid rain/dew is for real. High altitude conifer trees in Great Smokey National Park dying in past 30 years:
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Post by fernwood on Dec 1, 2017 7:14:39 GMT -5
Nice batches. Love the shine.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 1, 2017 9:16:24 GMT -5
Nice batches. Love the shine. Thanks fernwood. What do you think about Scott's Market Place ? Get many hits there ?
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Post by fernwood on Dec 1, 2017 21:36:35 GMT -5
Nice batches. Love the shine. Thanks fernwood. What do you think about Scott's Market Place ? Get many hits there ? Not really. They recently changed many things and the free store only allows for 10 items. I went with that option for now, but needing to find time to re-establish what is listed. Prices for more than 10 items are now a little ridiculous. Flat rate per month, sales or no sales, based on the last email I read from them. Prior to the change, I was able to sell about $100.00 worth per month. The biggest drawback then was no presence on search engines. I did the searches for my items, and was buried on pages 5-10 on Google and 4 others. Know Google is biased toward certain hosting sites. All of my sales were from friends or via my Facebook page. At the time, was looking for a free store hosting site that promoted local sales. Some sales were referrals from local friends to other friends who wanted an internet purchase option for items made by locals. So, would not recommend Scott's for sales.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Dec 1, 2017 22:39:19 GMT -5
Them are some good looking rocks. Mission accomplished.
Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 2, 2017 0:38:15 GMT -5
Them are some good looking rocks. Mission accomplished. Chuck Using the AO 220 for a catch weight was a help. It cleans up the rotary scars and acts a lot like AO 500 in breaking to polish. In a load of soft rocks the AO 220 made a lot of mud in a day's time. Apparently it removed plenty of material off the rocks. It even makes a lot of mud in 24 hours with Mohs 7 rocks.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 2, 2017 1:11:33 GMT -5
Thanks fernwood. What do you think about Scott's Market Place ? Get many hits there ? Not really. They recently changed many things and the free store only allows for 10 items. I went with that option for now, but needing to find time to re-establish what is listed. Prices for more than 10 items are now a little ridiculous. Flat rate per month, sales or no sales, based on the last email I read from them. Prior to the change, I was able to sell about $100.00 worth per month. The biggest drawback then was no presence on search engines. I did the searches for my items, and was buried on pages 5-10 on Google and 4 others. Know Google is biased toward certain hosting sites. All of my sales were from friends or via my Facebook page. At the time, was looking for a free store hosting site that promoted local sales. Some sales were referrals from local friends to other friends who wanted an internet purchase option for items made by locals. So, would not recommend Scott's for sales. I detest selling on Houzz. The clients are too white carpet for my rusty fire pits. They complain a lot even though rust is the advertised patina. And Houzz takes their side and tries to bully me into paying shipping for a return. No supplier loyalty whatsoever. But, the plus side is huge search engine presence. So I raise the prices on Houzz so the white carpet's don't buy often. To get the search engine presence. Etsy treats me well. Listed with Bonanza for the same reason as listing with Houzz. Can't beat the big Google bias.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 2, 2017 1:12:34 GMT -5
Thanks fernwood. What do you think about Scott's Market Place ? Get many hits there ? Not really. They recently changed many things and the free store only allows for 10 items. I went with that option for now, but needing to find time to re-establish what is listed. Prices for more than 10 items are now a little ridiculous. Flat rate per month, sales or no sales, based on the last email I read from them. Prior to the change, I was able to sell about $100.00 worth per month. The biggest drawback then was no presence on search engines. I did the searches for my items, and was buried on pages 5-10 on Google and 4 others. Know Google is biased toward certain hosting sites. All of my sales were from friends or via my Facebook page. At the time, was looking for a free store hosting site that promoted local sales. Some sales were referrals from local friends to other friends who wanted an internet purchase option for items made by locals. So, would not recommend Scott's for sales. I detest selling on Houzz. The clients are too white carpet for my rusty fire pits. They complain a lot even though rust is the advertised patina. And Houzz takes their side and tries to bully me into paying shipping for a return. No supplier loyalty whatsoever. But, the plus side is huge search engine presence. So I raise the prices on Houzz so the white carpet's don't buy often. To get the search engine presence. Etsy treats me well. Listed with Bonanza for the same reason as listing with Houzz. Can't beat the big Google bias. Free to list on these sites, why not.
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Post by fernwood on Dec 2, 2017 7:51:04 GMT -5
Correction. Was told I would need to eliminate some items from the store. Just checked and everything is still listed. Hmmmmm...
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Dec 2, 2017 8:19:43 GMT -5
Correction. Was told I would need to eliminate some items from the store. Just checked and everything is still listed. Hmmmmm... Houzz is particular about their listings. All changes must go thru Houzz rep. they don't let you contact or engage with the customers. all communication has to be thru a Houzz representative. a back and forth conversation with the client takes forever. Frustrating for seller, frustrating for client. Stifling.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Dec 3, 2017 12:48:03 GMT -5
Nice looking rocks James. Good pics too.
Don't use borax anymore. If it dries in cracks or what not it's too hard to get out.
Had a film something like that once on a finished batch. Had the rocks sitting in our tap water for a few days. Think it was lime in my case.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2017 17:32:30 GMT -5
nicE!
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