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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 18, 2018 13:11:09 GMT -5
I just unloaded a batch of mostly Botswana agates. The rest of the batch is from a box of tumbling material I purchased from <'))))>< Fish that I've been slowly working my way through. Thanks for the nice stuff, <'))))>< Fish! 1.I'm not sure what this is, there was some in another recent batch. It looks like granite, but doesn't have the undercutting issues that granite usually has. 2. The other non-bots. 3. Some sort of tigereye 4. 5. Anyone know what this is? It didn't get very shiny, but it's an interesting shade of green. 6. All the bots. I was sort of disappointed after looking at the pictures. Before photographing, I could see that several of the rocks had fractures. There's not much I could do about those, but when I looked at the pictures, I noticed that there are a lot of those little crescent shaped marks. I'm not sure how to avoid those, but they must be caused by the Lot-O. If anyone has any tips, I'm all ears. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Lots of impact marks on this one. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Some interesting inclusions in this one. Weird. 31. 32. 33. 34. You can really see deep into this one. 35. Looks like a galaxy far, far away. 36.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Feb 18, 2018 13:20:17 GMT -5
Nice tumbles. Because only a few of the bots seemed to have the crescent impact fractures, it doesn't seem to be your tumbling process causing it. These are river washed bots that naturally have a lot of impact fractures as they rolled around in the river. They impact fractures should only be surface deep so tumbling those problem ones further should clear them up.
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lookatthat
Cave Dweller
Whatever there is to be found.
Member since May 2017
Posts: 1,360
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Post by lookatthat on Feb 18, 2018 13:34:20 GMT -5
Your apple-green stone looks like prehnite. (?) I have also seen serpentine like that. I believe the dark green-grey triangular piece in pic #2 is serpentine.
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Post by fernwood on Feb 18, 2018 13:42:14 GMT -5
The yellow/green one reminds me of what is being marketed as yellow turquoise. Contains mangnatite/site, quartz and yellow jasper. A great batch of tumbles for sure.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 18, 2018 13:49:35 GMT -5
Very nice Rob......couple questions if I may..:
How much effort and prep time was spent prior to the tumbling.....?
From 1st stage to polish stage, how much time did the batch take to complete...?
I've only tumbled 1 batch of Bot's so far(seen previously)vibed......the mix was only Bot's and Mexican Lace Agate. I had far more fractured pieces to begin with and only 40% of the bot's ended up show quality......I did some prep cutting and grinding. Just purchased a trim saw for help with prep cutting (Dremel was taking forever).......anyway, I was afraid to really dig into the rough fractures in fear of losing to much volume, ending up with tiny results. I guess dealing with fractures is the same for all of us. Sorry I can't help you with the "crescent" shaped issues....Haven't had those yet. Nice photo's too.
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Post by MsAli on Feb 18, 2018 13:49:39 GMT -5
I think it's just the nature of these guys. At least my experience with them. Great batch though and I think they look terrific #30 is really cool
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 18, 2018 14:00:55 GMT -5
Love those bots. You got some really interesting ones in there. I was really frustrated with the impact marks on mine too but they really don't show up nearly as bad to the human eye. I assumed they were caused in stage one rotary because I still got them when running stage 2-5 in the lot-o with a very gentle 50% ceramic filled load. If the lot-o is not damaging obsidian at 50% ceramic it should not be damaging agates right?
Were these bots from the rock shed or the gem shop?
Chuck
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rodeodan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 213
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Post by rodeodan on Feb 18, 2018 15:04:47 GMT -5
I get those crescent fractures when i turmble larger stones without enough smalls to act as filler.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 18, 2018 15:07:44 GMT -5
Very nice Rob......couple questions if I may..: How much effort and prep time was spent prior to the tumbling.....? From 1st stage to polish stage, how much time did the batch take to complete...? I've only tumbled 1 batch of Bot's so far(seen previously)vibed......the mix was only Bot's and Mexican Lace Agate. I had far more fractured pieces to begin with and only 40% of the bot's ended up show quality......I did some prep cutting and grinding. Just purchased a trim saw for help with prep cutting (Dremel was taking forever).......anyway, I was afraid to really dig into the rough fractures in fear of losing to much volume, ending up with tiny results. I guess dealing with fractures is the same for all of us. Sorry I can't help you with the "crescent" shaped issues....Haven't had those yet. Nice photo's too. It's hard to say how long they tumbled. I'd say 2-3 months in the rough stage in the rotary tumbler. I check my rocks weekly and remove any that are ready for the next stage, so each rock is in for it's own amount of time. The rocks don't all get done at the same time. I didn't do any grinding from the beginning, but I touched up a few along the way. There were a couple that didn't show any banding so I cut them in half. Sometimes that showed banding, other times, the inside was sort of plain too. On some others, I round away a particularly deep hole or surface fracture. These were too small to really break any along fractures, so that didn't happen. In the Lot-O, they went 9 days. I did three days in polish just because they were really nice rocks and I ran it an extra day. They ran two days each in 220, 500, and 1000.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 18, 2018 15:09:01 GMT -5
Love those bots. You got some really interesting ones in there. I was really frustrated with the impact marks on mine too but they really don't show up nearly as bad to the human eye. I assumed they were caused in stage one rotary because I still got them when running stage 2-5 in the lot-o with a very gentle 50% ceramic filled load. If the lot-o is not damaging obsidian at 50% ceramic it should not be damaging agates right? Were these bots from the rock shed or the gem shop? Chuck I got these from the Gem Shop. I'd buy more if they had them, but last time I checked, they were sold out. Correction: These came from rocktumbler.com.
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<'))))>< Fish
Cave Dweller
Gone Fishing
Member since April 2005
Posts: 1,841
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Post by <'))))>< Fish on Feb 18, 2018 15:16:18 GMT -5
the yellow one is marble from victorville, california
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 18, 2018 15:41:06 GMT -5
Very nice Rob......couple questions if I may..: How much effort and prep time was spent prior to the tumbling.....? From 1st stage to polish stage, how much time did the batch take to complete...? I've only tumbled 1 batch of Bot's so far(seen previously)vibed......the mix was only Bot's and Mexican Lace Agate. I had far more fractured pieces to begin with and only 40% of the bot's ended up show quality......I did some prep cutting and grinding. Just purchased a trim saw for help with prep cutting (Dremel was taking forever).......anyway, I was afraid to really dig into the rough fractures in fear of losing to much volume, ending up with tiny results. I guess dealing with fractures is the same for all of us. Sorry I can't help you with the "crescent" shaped issues....Haven't had those yet. Nice photo's too. It's hard to say how long they tumbled. I'd say 2-3 months in the rough stage in the rotary tumbler. I check my rocks weekly and remove any that are ready for the next stage, so each rock is in for it's own amount of time. The rocks don't all get done at the same time. I didn't do any grinding from the beginning, but I touched up a few along the way. There were a couple that didn't show any banding so I cut them in half. Sometimes that showed banding, other times, the inside was sort of plain too. On some others, I round away a particularly deep hole or surface fracture. These were too small to really break any along fractures, so that didn't happen. In the Lot-O, they went 9 days. I did three days in polish just because they were really nice rocks and I ran it an extra day. They ran two days each in 220, 500, and 1000. Thanks for the info.....
Your results are truly the path I'd like to follow. I'm still experimenting using the typical dual 4" barrel rotaries and basic TV-5 type shaker........quantity is not my goal, but quality is. After I recover from the trim saw purchase, I'll be looking into the Lot-O vibe........like the idea of reducing the media cycles and the speed at which good results appear. I can live with the longer rotary cycles......as you can probably tell, I'm gaining patience, but being Italian has it's shortcomings.......lol
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Post by mohs on Feb 18, 2018 15:45:12 GMT -5
hey rob do you tumble in beer? this poor bot is hung way over ya got rock tumble mystery on your hands but that is a fine roll! Ed
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 18, 2018 16:28:14 GMT -5
the yellow one is marble from victorville, california Thanks!
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 18, 2018 16:34:14 GMT -5
It's hard to say how long they tumbled. I'd say 2-3 months in the rough stage in the rotary tumbler. I check my rocks weekly and remove any that are ready for the next stage, so each rock is in for it's own amount of time. The rocks don't all get done at the same time. I didn't do any grinding from the beginning, but I touched up a few along the way. There were a couple that didn't show any banding so I cut them in half. Sometimes that showed banding, other times, the inside was sort of plain too. On some others, I round away a particularly deep hole or surface fracture. These were too small to really break any along fractures, so that didn't happen. In the Lot-O, they went 9 days. I did three days in polish just because they were really nice rocks and I ran it an extra day. They ran two days each in 220, 500, and 1000. Thanks for the info.....
Your results are truly the path I'd like to follow. I'm still experimenting using the typical dual 4" barrel rotaries and basic TV-5 type shaker........quantity is not my goal, but quality is. After I recover from the trim saw purchase, I'll be looking into the Lot-O vibe........like the idea of reducing the media cycles and the speed at which good results appear. I can live with the longer rotary cycles......as you can probably tell, I'm gaining patience, but being Italian has it's shortcomings.......lol
I have a Lortone 33b, a Thumlers A-R2, and a Lortone QT66. I love my Lortones and kind of hate the Thumlers, although they all do about the same thing. I'd recommend the QT-66 out of the three of them. I posted my recipe on one of your threads. Do you use borax or some sort of soap in your tumbles? I'd suggest trying that recipe in your Lyman tumbler before buying a Lot-O. I'd definitely recommend the Lot-O, but I'd make sure you can't get the same results from the tumbler you have first.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Feb 18, 2018 18:16:29 GMT -5
Nice batch, Rob. Lovin' all the bots. #30 is a standout. I also believe that a lot of those impact marks are from the rock rolling in the river. It's odd that some would have them and others not, if you were getting them from the tumbler.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 18, 2018 18:17:06 GMT -5
I have not gone to much expense on anything yet.......really didn't know if I was "cut-out" for this hobby. Been into firearms and aerial RC for quite sometime. But learned quickly in both of those arena's that cost is a good indicator to quality. Seems that is the case here as well. My rotaries are Chicago Electric Lortone knock-offs. A little noisy and need attention, but I like the drums and cheap to maintain. I've already given them roller bar up-grades...so far doing the job. The Lyman has been a pleasant surprise.
No, have not used Borax. I use an agent made by Covington called Old Miser for all grinding stages expect 600 and 8F-800, which I have used liquid laundry detergent like Tide without bleach. Have had decent results.....maybe it's time to try Borax.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 18, 2018 21:08:15 GMT -5
Nice batch, Rob. Lovin' all the bots. #30 is a standout. I also believe that a lot of those impact marks are from the rock rolling in the river. It's odd that some would have them and others not, if you were getting them from the tumbler. I would normally agree about them coming from rolling in the river but I got them on a bunch of my cut faces on the ones I did. All of my tumbles were nodules I cut in half so I would not expect river impacts in the middle of 2"-3" nodules. I chalked them up to the abuse of 3-4 months of rising and falling in stage one. I never use any fillers in stage one but I think that it would have helped with my bots. I could tell by the sound that by the end of each week they were taking a beating. A full batch of mohs 7 agates does not create a very good slurry. After 6 years tumbling still keeps me on my toes. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 18, 2018 21:37:51 GMT -5
Nice batch, Rob. Lovin' all the bots. #30 is a standout. I also believe that a lot of those impact marks are from the rock rolling in the river. It's odd that some would have them and others not, if you were getting them from the tumbler. I would normally agree about them coming from rolling in the river but I got them on a bunch of my cut faces on the ones I did. All of my tumbles were nodules I cut in half so I would not expect river impacts in the middle of 2"-3" nodules. I chalked them up to the abuse of 3-4 months of rising and falling in stage one. I never use any fillers in stage one but I think that it would have helped with my bots. I could tell by the sound that by the end of each week they were taking a beating. A full batch of mohs 7 agates does not create a very good slurry. After 6 years tumbling still keeps me on my toes. Chuck That’s pretty good evidence for the tumbler causing the damage. Maybe some of Jame’s clay would be useful with Bots. Has anyone seen these crescent shaped marks on other types of rocks? I think I’ve only seen them on Botswana agates.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 18, 2018 21:53:45 GMT -5
I would normally agree about them coming from rolling in the river but I got them on a bunch of my cut faces on the ones I did. All of my tumbles were nodules I cut in half so I would not expect river impacts in the middle of 2"-3" nodules. I chalked them up to the abuse of 3-4 months of rising and falling in stage one. I never use any fillers in stage one but I think that it would have helped with my bots. I could tell by the sound that by the end of each week they were taking a beating. A full batch of mohs 7 agates does not create a very good slurry. After 6 years tumbling still keeps me on my toes. Chuck That’s pretty good evidence for the tumbler causing the damage. Maybe some of Jame’s clay would be useful with Bots. Has anyone seen these crescent shaped marks on other types of rocks? I think I’ve only seen them on Botswana agates. I had a few cut Brazilian agate nodules in those same batches with the same marks on some of them. Chuck
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