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Post by vegasjames on Feb 8, 2022 7:04:39 GMT -5
I have heard a lot of people say opal cannot be tumbled but some can. Hardness and stability of opal depends on the water and aluminum oxide content of opal. I have run opal in my 12 pound rotary barrels for about a week to clean them up some as some of it has a crust. I do not use grit, just water and let them rub against each other. Now that I got a vibe tumbler I tried tumbling my common opal/opalized wood in the vibe also with water only. Ran most the stones for two days but kept pulling out clean stones and replacing them with more rough stones.
Here is a video of the opal in the vibe. And yes, I know there is a lot of water in there. I am saving the mud and water for more opalization experiments and the stones are still moving fine.
And here is the first batch I finished.
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hummingbirdstones2
fully equipped rock polisher
Vince A., 1958-2023
Member since August 2018
Posts: 1,461
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Feb 8, 2022 9:02:03 GMT -5
Good post. The Aussies miners use drums from cement mixer trucks to clean their opal rough. Called "agitators" there.
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Post by vegasjames on Feb 8, 2022 19:14:52 GMT -5
Good post. The Aussies miners use drums from cement mixer trucks to clean their opal rough. Called "agitators" there.
Interesting video. Tumbling to clean the opal up some does save a lot of time and work.
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hummingbirdstones2
fully equipped rock polisher
Vince A., 1958-2023
Member since August 2018
Posts: 1,461
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Feb 8, 2022 19:40:56 GMT -5
Yeah, and some people on here are always wanting a bigger tumbler - so there ya' go!
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