mooresean68
having dreams about rocks
Member since February 2018
Posts: 52
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Post by mooresean68 on Sept 16, 2018 15:41:39 GMT -5
Hi All So as the subject mentions I'm curious to hear thoughts on any given stones surface quality and that given stones ability to take a polish. I've had a handful of mixed stones in a Lortone 3A for a couple weeks with Cerium polish and plastic beads for cushioning. They look great wet but of course when they dry they're dull. Even after a couple hours of borax burnishing in a completely new unused barrel meh, no difference. My own noob thought process is bouncing around a couple/few ideas 1) The actual surface quality is not yet smooth enough for the polish to do its work, though this batch has gone through AO-500 and AO-1000 each for a week which makes me wonder just how "smooth" the surface should be before moving to the next stage.
2) There is too much plastic for good stone to stone contact as the plastic is forgiving in its cushioning.
3) With the plastic there is not enough physical weight in the barrel for the stones to really work the polish against each other.
Looking at the images I did take I can see the surface isn't "glass" smooth which makes me want to put them back through the process starting from the 120.
I would post the images but I'm not keen on this new Cloudinary thing, maybe I'll look into it yet. (ok always better with pics!)
Thanks -Sean
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Post by pauls on Sept 16, 2018 16:21:27 GMT -5
To me that rock looks like it has small pits in the actual stone, you could tumble it forever and never get there, removing a layer of pits exposes new ones.
If you have more of it hit a piece with a hammer and have a close look at the fracture. Ideally it should be a clean smooth break, if you can see graininess and pits give it a miss.
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surreality
starting to spend too much on rocks
is picking up too many rocks at the beach again
Member since January 2012
Posts: 217
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Post by surreality on Sept 16, 2018 16:24:22 GMT -5
I'll second this being the rock's fault more than the process or a mistake on your part. I run across a bunch of these in the beach stones, and when it's clear they're just too porous to take a shine, I set them in a different little pile of 'pretty and smooth but not shiny'. It's still quite pretty, either way!
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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 16, 2018 17:52:57 GMT -5
Been a while since I rotary polished but I never had any luck with cerium, pink or white. The AO from the rockshed never let me down. Plastic pellets were not a favorite either. I used ceramic or had a full barrel of rock, plenty of smalls and barrel about 85% full. The overfill provides "cushion". Less head room equals less action so I would go at least three weeks.
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mooresean68
having dreams about rocks
Member since February 2018
Posts: 52
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Post by mooresean68 on Sept 17, 2018 20:33:39 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback all, of course it'd have to be on one of the stones I really really like ... ah well there's a whole west coast line to find more on
-Sean
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Nov 29, 2018 11:39:59 GMT -5
You might shine it up with a spray of inexpensive clear Krylon or other clear enamel which is widely available at most hardware stores. It has worked for me in stones with lots of very tiny pits. I would give up on further tumbling.
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mooresean68
having dreams about rocks
Member since February 2018
Posts: 52
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Post by mooresean68 on Nov 29, 2018 12:36:39 GMT -5
Thanks gatorflash1 I haven't given up on it quite yet, it did go back in starting at 120 SiC. Since I'm still pretty new at all this I'm trying different things to see the results. Probably end up doing something else with it but for now it's back rolling.
-Sean
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