Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,687
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 15, 2022 12:21:59 GMT -5
I just soak the material in warm water for a bit, the chemical will loosen up and its gone, wipe with cloth and good to go..
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 15, 2022 15:29:04 GMT -5
TommyI want to apologize, I told you I hadn't polished any calcite. Hi, no worries and definitely no apology is necessary. I understand that you were getting frustrated with it and I'm glad you are getting solid advice from folks here and innovating and making some progress and feeling a bit better about how it's going. I posted exact instructions for you to follow that would allow me to install a fully functioning connection to 3rd party photo host Cloudinary.com on your account. I will repost those instructions here. TommyI did I sent all the info I have to you in the message button up by [home] [profile. [messages] I put it into the message button. Maybe I did it wrong Kelly
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 15, 2022 15:47:54 GMT -5
The comments are all good. My two cents is the best way to stop polish in cracks or scratches is backup a stage or two and remove the imperfections. Also, how long did you do stage 3 pre-polish? How long did you do burnish? A second solution might be a second burnish to continue to wash out the unwanted polish greigI tumble each stage at least 7-10 days. Stage 1 longer if I can feel imperfections yet. I burnished three times yesterday. I did all three with hot water which seemed to get the polish out. I tried using science with the hot water to open those imperfections up to allow the Borax solution to wash the polish out. I iced rocks before I moved second stage into pre polish and pre polish into polish (I have 4 barrels each dedicated to a stage) I hope my expensive science classes help me out π€·ββοΈ
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 15, 2022 15:49:21 GMT -5
I just soak the material in warm water for a bit, the chemical will loosen up and its gone, wipe with cloth and good to go.. FossilmanThe polish?
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,684
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Post by Tommy on Mar 15, 2022 15:58:35 GMT -5
TommyI did I sent all the info I have to you in the message button up by [home] [profile. [messages] I put it into the message button. Maybe I did it wrong Kelly Hi Kelly, I just now got it and I have installed the 'house' account into your profile settings and logged back off. When you click on Create Post or New Thread you the Cloudinary Upload button will work for you now. The drag and drop interface only works with computers but the program can be used from your phone device in "desktop" mode.
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 15, 2022 20:52:23 GMT -5
TommyI did I sent all the info I have to you in the message button up by [home] [profile. [messages] I put it into the message button. Maybe I did it wrong Kelly Hi Kelly, I just now got it and I have installed the 'house' account into your profile settings and logged back off. When you click on Create Post or New Thread you the Cloudinary Upload button will work for you now. The drag and drop interface only works with computers but the program can be used from your phone device in "desktop" mode. Thank you so much Tommy.
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Post by greig on Mar 16, 2022 18:07:12 GMT -5
The comments are all good. My two cents is the best way to stop polish in cracks or scratches is backup a stage or two and remove the imperfections. Also, how long did you do stage 3 pre-polish? How long did you do burnish? A second solution might be a second burnish to continue to wash out the unwanted polish greig I tumble each stage at least 7-10 days. Stage 1 longer if I can feel imperfections yet. I burnished three times yesterday. I did all three with hot water which seemed to get the polish out. I tried using science with the hot water to open those imperfections up to allow the Borax solution to wash the polish out. I iced rocks before I moved second stage into pre polish and pre polish into polish (I have 4 barrels each dedicated to a stage) I hope my expensive science classes help me out π€·ββοΈ You have done everything right and maybe more so. It must be the rock.
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 17, 2022 21:09:13 GMT -5
ingawhDo you make the slurry up then put it in the tumbler or just put it all in the tumbler and pray. π
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 17, 2022 22:02:32 GMT -5
ingawhAlso want to ask you if you use the psyllium with stage 1
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ingawh
starting to spend too much on rocks
The rock wants to shine, I just help it get there
Member since February 2011
Posts: 194
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Post by ingawh on Mar 17, 2022 22:03:59 GMT -5
ingawh Do you make the slurry up then put it in the tumbler or just put it all in the tumbler and pray. π Hahaha - I just dump it in and pray all the way! The only time I might pre-mix is if I were going to make up a batch of the pea-soup-thick tripoli polish to keep and re-use indefinitely. I started to do that once years ago, but then found the Lot-O-Tumbler, and now don't do enough rotary polishes to bother with that. I love your good questions and enthusiasm. Hope you have lots of fun and rewarding polishes ahead of you. Best wishes, Inga
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 952
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 17, 2022 22:25:24 GMT -5
ingawh Do you make the slurry up then put it in the tumbler or just put it all in the tumbler and pray. π Hahaha - I just dump it in and pray all the way! The only time I might pre-mix is if I were going to make up a batch of the pea-soup-thick tripoli polish to keep and re-use indefinitely. I started to do that once years ago, but then found the Lot-O-Tumbler, and now don't do enough rotary polishes to bother with that. I love your good questions and enthusiasm. Hope you have lots of fun and rewarding polishes ahead of you. Best wishes, Inga Hi ingawhThank you, only way to learn is ask. Our nursing school motto was "no question is stupid unless it's left unasked" I am in an auora group and when a newbie asks questions that have been asked hundreds of times they get snotty. I try to search before I ask but sometimes you just can't find what you need. I only have 3# barrels, 4 of them, each dedicated to a stage. I had to redo my agate. As hard as those suckers are they have bruises π I have had rose quartz in 60/90 for almost 2 weeks now. And they still have blemishes. βΉοΈ Should I move them to 120/220 for a couple weeks. I am trying not to be to anxious but I want these to work out for a specific reason. I just put them back in with the fiber and bleach and am praying. Kelly
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ingawh
starting to spend too much on rocks
The rock wants to shine, I just help it get there
Member since February 2011
Posts: 194
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Post by ingawh on Mar 17, 2022 22:59:02 GMT -5
Hahaha - I just dump it in and pray all the way! The only time I might pre-mix is if I were going to make up a batch of the pea-soup-thick tripoli polish to keep and re-use indefinitely. I started to do that once years ago, but then found the Lot-O-Tumbler, and now don't do enough rotary polishes to bother with that. I love your good questions and enthusiasm. Hope you have lots of fun and rewarding polishes ahead of you. Best wishes, Inga Hi ingawh Thank you, only way to learn is ask. Our nursing school motto was "no question is stupid unless it's left unasked" I am in an auora group and when a newbie asks questions that have been asked hundreds of times they get snotty. I try to search before I ask but sometimes you just can't find what you need. I only have 3# barrels, 4 of them, each dedicated to a stage. I had to redo my agate. As hard as those suckers are they have bruises π I have had rose quartz in 60/90 for almost 2 weeks now. And they still have blemishes. βΉοΈ Should I move them to 120/220 for a couple weeks. I am trying not to be to anxious but I want these to work out for a specific reason. I just put them back in with the fiber and bleach and am praying. Kelly Sometimes you find that the rough rock just has imperfections all the way through, and you may grind it down to nothing, and never find some "perfect" core or stopping place. To help with that, some people pre-shape the rocks a bit on a grinding wheel, and some use a clear filler that hardens in the cracks and pits before they tumble the stone. I guess I'm more OK with letting the rock be whatever it is, and knowing "when to say when" if a particular rock is just not turning out. That can be especially hard in the beginning when you've got your hopes set on a particular stone becoming a "gem." So back to your question - 2 weeks is actually not a long time for a course grind on a 7 mohs stone, especially in a #3 barrel. The smaller the barrel, the longer the course grind can take because the sheer weight of the stones contributes significantly to the effectiveness of the grit and the grinding process. To put it in perspective, I have a 40 lb barrel that I love to use for most of my rough grinds on stones that are a 6 or 7 mohs (and are not too shatter-y -- I don't put obsidian in there, for example, though I probably could with enough filler....). Even in the 40 lb barrel, it can easily take a month to get a nice shape on the stones, and some stones even go back in couple more times after that until I feel they're really ready to move on. Rose quartz is hard, but it can also have lots of cracks and fault lines that may shatter before you get the shape you're looking for. It may not be anything you're doing "wrong" - it can just be the nature of the rough you have. If you're using plenty of good media, be patient, and realize this is a marathon, not a sprint, and keep going in the course grind a while longer to see if you can get a shape you're pleased with, and reduce more of the blemishes. Check once a week, and if the grit has completely worn down, but the rocks aren't done, recharge with fresh grit and water and keep going. By four weeks, if you're still not sure, I'd say go ahead to the next grind, and see what you get. You can always go back a step later if you want, but when you're starting out, I say there's no point driving yourself crazy waiting for perfection that may never come. (BTW - My theory is that the sellers of rock tumbling equipment like to say to tumble a week at each stage, because lots of newbies would probably not bother to get started if they knew how long it can really take! ) Hope that's helpful. About me: I am not a perfectionist, but I AM an experimenter. I'll play by the rules for a while, and then I'll just "play" and see if what I've learned can help me improve the process. It doesn't always work, but when you achieve a breakthrough, it can be really rewarding. I can't wait to see what you come up with. Best wishes
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