jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 461
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Post by jimaz on Oct 6, 2018 13:12:16 GMT -5
Here's the first batch out of the 45c. It's desert jasper from The Rock Shed and it tumbled for 7 days. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results. I think some is OK to go forward, but some needs a little more shaping. Need to get enough material built up to go to the next step. First attempt on taking a picture of the tumbled stones. Taken outside in the sun with wet stones. Got to figure out how to keep the background dry. Any hints appreciated.
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Post by beefjello on Oct 6, 2018 17:39:58 GMT -5
Looks like you're off to a great start!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Oct 6, 2018 22:09:45 GMT -5
Nice material. With patience you will have a nice batch of tumbles. Keep in mind that all stages after the first stage do not remove flaws and imperfections. However they look wet when you put them into stage two is about the best you expect them to look after they are complete.
Imagine taking a slice of wood that was cut with a chainsaw and trying to sand it smooth. You might need to spend an hour with the coarsest sandpaper to remove the initial rough surface. After that you would only need to spend a few minutes with each finer grit sandpaper because you are only trying to remove the scratches from the previous grit. If you did not spend enough time with the coarsest grit paper first then the finer grits would never make the wood smooth.
Chuck
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 461
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Post by jimaz on Oct 7, 2018 0:26:37 GMT -5
I think I’m OK with about a third to go to the next stage. The rest will go back for more shaping. I’ve got another batch going now and will probably combine ones that need more attention. Will add additional material to make a full load. Hope to have enough material to go the the next stage in a few weeks.
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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 Oct 7, 2018 0:40:09 GMT -5
Desert jasper is one of my favorite stones to tumble, it consistently takes a nice shine
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 461
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Post by jimaz on Oct 16, 2018 12:50:56 GMT -5
I reran some of the first batch with some additional stones and am still not satisfied with them. In fact, I think some of them are worse after that additional tumbling. I can see where a trim saw for preshaping comes into play. I think I will look into finding something I can use In the future. I still need a little more material before going to 120-220, so I started another batch.
Can I expect some additional shaping with the 120-220, or is it mostly getting rid of the scratches from the course stage?
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Post by aDave on Oct 16, 2018 13:50:02 GMT -5
I reran some of the first batch with some additional stones and am still not satisfied with them. In fact, I think some of them are worse after that additional tumbling. I can see where a trim saw for preshaping comes into play. I think I will look into finding something I can use In the future. I still need a little more material before going to 120-220, so I started another batch. Can I expect some additional shaping with the 120-220, or is it mostly getting rid of the scratches from the course stage? There will only be VERY minor material removal (scratches) with no significant impact on shaping. And, as the grit gets finer, even less material is removed. As a sidenote, sometimes I'm able to take advantage of material removal in 120/220 in order to even out undercutting that occurred in the first stage. That's as long as it's not too deep. It doesn't completely make it go away, but it can make it appear less severe. If I tried "fixing" some undercutting in the coarse stage, it would only get worse. All of your real shaping will only take place in the coarse stage, so if you aren't quite happy with something there, keep it in coarse. In terms of the coarse stage, what you see there (shape-wise) is what you will end up with.
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