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Post by Rockindad on Mar 11, 2019 20:11:45 GMT -5
We finished our Sodalite and are pretty pleased overall. These are the stones previously mentioned in another post @intentionally Running Vibe Too Wet. I am only starting a new thread because this is my first time posting pictures here and didn't want to screw up that thread. I was a little concerned about the rocks after reading so many posts about how difficult this is to work with and how many people have never been able to get a decent polish on it. I am very glad we went ahead anyway and it will not be the last time we run this. Yes there are cracks that keep appearing, areas that seem like they will never take a polish, etc. but I think it is worth the effort. These were not shaped at all outside of the tumblers, I plan on doing some grinding next time to try for better results. We also benefited from starting with good rough that was not too beat up. I am pretty happy considering this is our third finished load. The first was a mixed bag that had about a dozen different stones in it and turned out reasonably well (some fantastic and some chipped/bruised/frosted) and really stoked our interest in tumbling. The second was Snowflake Obsidian that did well until we got greedy during the polish phase, deciding to run them a bit longer even though they looked great and ended up bruising many of them. A complete bummer but a good learning experience. Thanks For Looking, Al
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goatgrinder
spending too much on rocks
Make mine a man cave
Member since January 2017
Posts: 368
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Post by goatgrinder on Mar 11, 2019 20:16:18 GMT -5
Nice shiny bunch. Thanks for sharing the experience and pics.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 11, 2019 20:27:11 GMT -5
Good job on that Sodalite. Thanks for sharing your finished pictures!
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 461
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Post by jimaz on Mar 11, 2019 20:29:05 GMT -5
Those turned out good.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Mar 11, 2019 21:38:39 GMT -5
I think you did great!
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Post by Rockindad on Mar 11, 2019 22:23:54 GMT -5
Thanks, I appreciate it. Al
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Post by MsAli on Mar 11, 2019 22:46:57 GMT -5
Really nice job on those!
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mossyrockhound
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2011
Posts: 1,278
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Post by mossyrockhound on Mar 12, 2019 2:03:18 GMT -5
Nice job on those Al! Sodalite has a hardness of 5.5-6.0 on the mohs scale, so I wouldn't have expected that good of a polish.
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Post by fernwood on Mar 12, 2019 3:52:49 GMT -5
Great shine on a soft material. You did goon on those.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 12, 2019 5:33:36 GMT -5
Great softie run Rockindad. "The second was Snowflake Obsidian that did well until we got greedy during the polish phase, deciding to run them a bit longer even though they looked great and ended up bruising many of them. A complete bummer but a good learning experience." This point. Obsidian and some glass starts to bruise bruise in my vibe if run longer than 36 hours in Rock Shed polish with sugar thickener. Especially at the rim around flat faced sawn tumbles. A very light frosting. No explanation.
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Post by Rockindad on Mar 12, 2019 6:25:55 GMT -5
Great softie run Rockindad . "The second was Snowflake Obsidian that did well until we got greedy during the polish phase, deciding to run them a bit longer even though they looked great and ended up bruising many of them. A complete bummer but a good learning experience." This point. Obsidian and some glass starts to bruise bruise in my vibe if run longer than 36 hours in Rock Shed polish with sugar thickener. Especially at the rim around flat faced sawn tumbles. A very light frosting. No explanation. To come completely clean: the Obsidian was run all the way through in rotary. Looked nice all the way through. I had it in my head to run it 7 days in polish. Checked it at day 5 and it looked great. Decided to run it 2 more days and this is where I made my fatal error. I thought the slurry was a bit thin and I did not want the rocks crashing into each other with inadequate protection so I removed some (too much) of the liquid to thicken it up. I overdid it as when I opened the barrel up two days later many of the rocks were stuck together in a mass that was just crashing around the barrel. Lesson learned.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 12, 2019 7:58:25 GMT -5
A constant dependable slurry is mandatory. Trusting a slurry to protect your rocks is awesome but if we make a bad slurry adjustment disaster will result. Too thick and causing the rocks to stick together is a bad day. Not just for obsidian but hard rocks too.
Colloidal clay slurry contains microscopic felspar crystal plates that suspend well. After a couple of weeks the micro felspar plates break down and colloidal(platelet) slurry is no longer colloidal(plates). It is still a very acceptable slurry but near as effective after the platelets break down. analogy: tossing a 1 pound steel ball in the lake as opposed to tossing a 1 pound steel sheet in the lake. The ball will sink much faster(not suspended as well as the sheet).
For example, worst case scenario, if running big SiC 4 and SiC 8 grit at only 30 RPM(instead of 80 RPM) fresh colloidal clay had to be replaced every week at end of SiC 4/8 breakdown. Old slurry would not float the big SiC particles at only 30 RPM. They would stay at the bottom or poorly distributed. Same goes for mining applications when using colloidal slurry to float heavy ore particles, the slurry becomes less effective as it gets recycled too many times.
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Post by Rockindad on Mar 12, 2019 8:52:55 GMT -5
Nice job on those Al! Sodalite has a hardness of 5.5-6.0 on the mohs scale, so I wouldn't have expected that good of a polish. mossyrockhound, To be honest this is where I was hoping to be after 2-3 experimental batches and was pretty happy these turned out how they did. There are a few things I would like to try to see if we can get better results but it was definitely an education. Al
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Post by miket on Mar 12, 2019 9:57:15 GMT -5
I think they look great as well!
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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 Mar 12, 2019 10:42:21 GMT -5
Nice for sodalite. Pretty.
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minniek
having dreams about rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 74
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Post by minniek on Mar 12, 2019 13:51:02 GMT -5
Very nice!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 12, 2019 14:06:49 GMT -5
Nice looking batch. Good job.
Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 12, 2019 16:53:31 GMT -5
Those turned out great!
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Post by nowyo on Mar 12, 2019 18:35:59 GMT -5
Nice job on those.
Russ
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Post by Rockindad on Mar 13, 2019 17:11:10 GMT -5
This is from my son A.J.: Thanks for all of the compliments! I have been looking at many of your pictures and I am amazed at the results so many of you get . I am going to keep practicing and learning so I can do the same . A.J. (and Al)
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