tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 27, 2014 12:57:27 GMT -5
Azgnoinc is correct ... lots of good info there. I read it like eight times before my first vibe batch.
I have the Thumlers UV-18, instructions say to fill 3/4 full which is supposed to be a little over the center line. It works much better when filled to about the top of the center cone. I looked at pictures of the HF vibe and they are similar so may work near the same. I'm sure that you are aware that the HF model is really made for cleaning brass and hardware. I've heard that they will do rocks but will wear out relatively quickly.
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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 27, 2014 12:43:16 GMT -5
Great job on those! Where did you get the red glass. I have been looking for some - even old broken tail light glass. But no luck. Thanks for sharing. The red glass came from along the railroad tracks. Maybe an old lens from a signal lantern? I've been wanting more ... look at Wally World and Goodwill Store when I'm there. Have seen some but it's too thin to mess with, still looking.
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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 27, 2014 12:38:56 GMT -5
I see a 'how to' by tk. Awesome batch. Thanks. Followed Krystee's tutorial. She's really got it right. I did learn that AO outperforms SIC as a prepolish in a vibe.
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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 27, 2014 12:36:07 GMT -5
I love snowflake obsidian and you did them up right!! Great job Really nice shine The glass is also really cool- was it from broken up bottles? Thanks for posting Bill Most of the rock collecting I do locally is around creeks and rivers. Popular recreation and fishing areas. I always pick up the glass I find while looking for rocks. Some is of it is older stuff, the thickness and color you don't find these days. So yes broken bottles and jars.
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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 27, 2014 0:19:32 GMT -5
Pretty dang happy about how this batch turned out. Had some bumps ... gassed off on me once, had about 1/2 a cup of slurry and grit to clean up. Added too much water on the second round of coarse grind and got a lot of pits. Took three rounds of coarse grind when it should of taken two. Used 600 SIC for a prepolish but it didn't produce a shine so had to add another step with AO 1000. Let the cat come into the rock room ... he laid in a bowl of reclaimed polish ... cat's aren't good helpers All the Snowflake Some of my favorites All the Apache Tears They took a really nice shine. The glass And I have favorites of these too. And the Etc. Thanks for looking and keep on rollin' them stones.
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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 26, 2014 23:54:50 GMT -5
Nice! Colorful and interesting. Keep at it.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 26, 2014 23:50:17 GMT -5
Certainly glad you took the time to make this thread. Learned a little something.
I like pic #1 the best. Them's some beauties!
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 26, 2014 8:30:11 GMT -5
Nice batch. Would of liked some close ups of your favorites.
Checked your etsy shop. You have some really nice stuff there!
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 23, 2014 8:38:48 GMT -5
That link is essentially what im hoping mine look like. I went to clean out and dumped my slurry into the colander over a container, noticed right away a lot of the grit hadnt broken down much from my last add 10 days ago. Got me thinking maybe there wasnt enough movement inside the barrel? Took out a few of the bigger pieces, put everything else back in and added more grit. We will see in 10 days if there is any difference, definitely sounds different now. After 10 days the grit should be used up. If not it is likely one of two things .... too much grit or too much water. In my 3# barrels I have found that 2 to 3 tablespoons will get used up. Lortone says add 4 tbs. but I always had grit left over when adding four. As for water I use 1/2 cup in a 3# barrel. It is way below the "bottom of the top layer" guideline. Only need enough water to make the grit stick to the rocks.
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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 22, 2014 11:48:59 GMT -5
James, I tried the getting in focus and cropping. Much clearer as to what the surface looks like. No post just for my own info. Thanks for the tip.
Connrock, first time I've heard it's problematic to mix different kinds of obsidian although I see the sense of it. Guess I got lucky, my batch is a mix of snowflake, tears, glass and a little mahogany. Pulled one of each today and all looked good.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 22, 2014 9:49:36 GMT -5
If you change two variables, you're not going to be able to answer the original question. If I understand you right, one barrel is going to be completely washed and get two TBSP of grit each week. The other barrel is not going to be cleaned out, but is going to have one TBSP of grit added each week. If one barrel does better, you won't know if it was because of the amount of grit added or because of the old slurry left behind. You are very correct to point that out. I had the same thought after I already started. I think that using loss of mass as a gauge will give me a good idea of what is going on. The math can be used to show loss of mass per tablespoon of grit. Additionally I have decided to do a continued round of comparison with equal amounts of grit after the initial 3 weeks. Three weeks at a time because that is the interval I use for cleaning out a recharge barrel. I have plenty of stuff to use as fill and should be able to keep what is going in consistent between barrels.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 21, 2014 23:26:02 GMT -5
I often have rocks in rough grind for three or more months at a time. Longest part of the journey, a real patience tester. Doesn't sound like your doing anything wrong. If you don't like a rock coming out of rough you'll likely nit like it polished. Hang in there.
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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 21, 2014 12:53:02 GMT -5
I have started with 5 lbs. in each barrel. I weigh each load as a matter of practice, before and after. I plan to use the clean out barrel as a gauge. If it takes, say, one pound to get back to volume then the recharge barrel gets the same. This test is also meant to measure efficiency vs. economy. The recharge barrel gets 1 tbs. grit per pound, as per John Herchex's formula for a 3 pounder. The clean out barrel gets 2 tbs. per pound as per Lortone's suggested formula.
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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 21, 2014 10:32:59 GMT -5
Glad we are mirroring along tk. The vib is a sure success story on obsidian. Mentioning SiC, I wonder if it digs too deep or something. I read about AO being the preferred grit. So I avoided it except in coarse where the AO 220 could grind the scars away. And thought it did a good job, as it was a very soft frost when done. Vib and rotary are far apart I suppose. I believe obsidian can scratch, and it is glass and we know what a glass cutter can do to it. The AO does round off. And the vib will sure round it. I would order some AO 500 from the Rock Shed. The AO 1000 may take a while to get rid of the surface from the SiC 600 as you mentioned. Thanks for stopping by. Keep your progress posted. 72 hours in AO 1000 and getting a shine of sorts. Going to clean out and go to polish today. Random piece of snowflake. My cheapo camera doesn't have the focus range yours does ...
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 21, 2014 9:43:15 GMT -5
I just started two 6# barrels with nearly identical loads. One will get a recharge and one a cleanout. I'll post the results in about 3 weeks or so. This is something I've wanted to experiment with for a while and finally got around to.
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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 19, 2014 11:42:14 GMT -5
A friend of mine at my last job brought me a piece of grey and white chert with crinoids it one day. He found it in a cars frame as well. Winter time and his son had lost control, went off the road and tore up some ground and his front end. They had towed it home themselves and were cleaning it up to assess the damage. "Car Hounding" ... the next big thing for rockers?
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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 19, 2014 11:20:25 GMT -5
First off I've been following this thread daily. I appreciate the time and effort going into this. Photographic detail of the obsidian's surface has been enlightening to say the least. Coincidentally I have my obsidian batch going through the final stages as this thread continues. It has been interesting to see your progress as compared to what I'm experiencing.
Have been following Krystee's Ob tutorial with some degree of success. The 220 stage went well as far as I could tell. I think I put a little too much borax in the vibe as the slurry kept getting overly thick. Took more water to keep it going than I expected. Next I went to 600 SIC, don't have 500 AO. After 96 hours I did not have a shine anything near the picture in the tutorial. I decided to stop the 600 step here even though the tutorial said to maybe go a day or two longer. I had not seen any improvement from 48 to 96 hours. Made me wonder if the difference was something to do with SIC vs. AO.
I do have some AO 1000 so decided to try running it. In theory this is a big step backwards as the 600 SIC should have been something like 4000 by the end of 96 hours. A test pull today after About 24 hours shows that I'm getting closer to a finish that could be called shiny rather than matte. Makes me wonder about the nature of the breakdown of the two different grit types. Perhaps the sharp angular nature of smaller SIC particles do not lend themselves to creating a shine. Will have to order some AO 500 next time I get polish. Pretty sure that Chuck and Rob use AO for their pre-polish and their results are always awesome.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 16, 2014 10:32:10 GMT -5
Those are really nice. Good score!
Somewhat related ... Had a weird dream last night. Won't go through the whole thing but in it I found a piece of malachite .....
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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, 2014 10:29:06 GMT -5
You certainly have some cool pieces there. As to pricing I can't be much help. In a thread I was reading recently others were talking about how rutilated quartz had gone way up in price from a few years ago. It seems that whatever is in vogue demands the best price. Demand side of the supply and demand system seems to drive price.
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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, 2014 10:09:42 GMT -5
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