ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 16, 2017 19:12:52 GMT -5
Had to stop faceting for a while because of back and hip pain (I'm not even thirty ). Here's my first stone in a good long time. Garnet, 7.6mm, 2.1ct, in a custom octagon that I tranposed to 96 index and tweaked to optimize performance. Then tweaked again because I ran out of crown. Sorry to hear bout your pains keeping you from what you love, I'm 30 and had terrible back pain from bad posture/fishing/shoveling. A few years ago I started to hear online that celenite is good for bones and old aches and pains so I purchased a piece and started sleeping next to it and gradually the pain has lessened, my post in the "worry stones" thread explains better if you're interested ryan
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 15, 2017 18:51:23 GMT -5
Not big earthquakes. My 500 lb girl friend is coming to visit me. Grin... Going to get cold in a few days Sweating the plants I have outside. Busy.. have to hook up and hunt some rocks when the weather gets better and I have a day to rest. . Like the tumble. Did good with that material and learned tons. Patience little brother. I do the easy stuff. hehehe.. Hahaha, I got out in the woods today n found some good pieces flic.kr/s/aHskWVUN29
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 15, 2017 11:33:37 GMT -5
Cool beans Ryan, re these the ones that you said you had lots of? Maybe put some of the weathered quartz looking ones you been finding there as well. Did the wind blow over there last night. Sure did here. Now that your batch is done you can relax and don't have t o feel like an expectant father. Grin. Anyone can buy and polish rocks but it give us so much more knowledge and interest to see unique stuff like you did here. Kind of nice to see the labor of your love born. Thanks for that mental uplift, it's good to hear I'm not crazy (maybe crazy cause I started another round yesterday . I took out the unknown stuff that I posted in "got some cuttin done" n I'm gonna do n entire round of just that stuff n an entire round of the quartz stuff I showed/told you about the boulder field of it, not sure what to do first :l . N yeah wind all day yesterday and into the night (usually tells me big earthquakes jus went down in the Pacific)
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 15, 2017 10:58:14 GMT -5
Those are nice Ryan. Did you cut the 2nd rock? Looks like you could cab some of those. Thanks, but no these rocks are gonna stay how I found em ( I love rough that display fine they're like rare presents) (sounds like a good thread:) . N I've got a flat lap on the way (I can't wait ahhh!
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 15, 2017 10:28:44 GMT -5
Granite can be tricky to polish evenly due to felspar. Gneiss and unakite can take great polishes. Gneiss I believe is granite that got remelted and became more quartz like and will polish well. There is both gneiss and granite her in Georgia. I gave up on granite but do well with the gneiss. it is common here too. Those rocks have wild patterns. Never seen such. Maybe you could post some of them in the ID section. If you don't mind I will post some here. Jugglerguy finds similar unakite, I believe he is near Alpena,MI. Thanks jamesp! The metasomatic areas of the stones are much harder than the granite areas and did better
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 15, 2017 10:20:54 GMT -5
Those are some beauties! Nice job rounding them out in the coarse tumble and pretty good shine on some. I am no expert but it seems like they would be difficult to get a good polish on. Love that you found all the rocks on your own! Thanks petrifried!
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 15, 2017 1:45:03 GMT -5
Yes Ryan I know what you mean about your rock collecting, um yeah I have a bushel basket of them. I can't part with this one, sigh,goes in the basket. i can pretty much tell you where I found them too. Wish the rest of my brain worked that well for other reasons lol. I hear ya on that you can imagine the area the stone your looking at came from even down to the exact spot doing that helps me not get lost in the woods (I mean completely lost a little lost is ok) here's a few of my favs from last summer that I can't part with flic.kr/s/aHskZNEWbB
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 22:48:07 GMT -5
That is some neat looking material. Some of it looks to my untrained eyes like granite. I personally haven't had good luck so far getting a good mirror shine on granite so far. Sounds like you are making progress. It took me a while before I got any of my tumbled to have a mirror shine when dry. Thanks for sharing. Thanks richardh, it's been a learning experience for sure! N good call on granite, lots of white, pink n red feldspar with green epidote veins. keep rockin rollin
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 22:37:37 GMT -5
Lots of color there. Looking good. I love that you collected them yourself. Tumbling is just fun and you get a reward in the end. All your hard work shows. Thank you! I notice stones you collect yourself seem more real or alive it's hard to explain like a connection you'd have with your pet and a friends, even if you're a pet lover your bond with your pet be a lil stronger. ryan
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 19:27:50 GMT -5
My first batch to look somewhat good (thanks to adding plastic bits from a cut up milk jug) doesn't keep its glass shine when dry so still a lil work to be done but not hard to do. All stones were collected by me flic.kr/s/aHskV6PzFX
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 18:40:17 GMT -5
I'm thinking that golf ball size is bout the max, I had a couple a bit bigger n it seems to take away that glassy look you look for in tumbled stone. N easy fix the wet pics still look good n 1 dry pic for contrast flic.kr/s/aHskV6PzFXAnd my polish I'm using is 1200 grit aluminum oxide (4th stage) the third stage is 500 grit silicone carbide (pre-polish) I'll gladly accept any advice n have a rocknrollin day! Ryan FWIW, you may find that you need a more fine polish if you are not happy with your final results. Most would probably consider your 1200 to be right along the lines of 1000 which is still considered to be a pre-polish. My polish is labeled "one micron" which is equivalent to 14,000 grit. Try some of that and see if you don't wind up with better results. Good luck. Dave Thanks I thought I heard someone talkin bout a way high grit like that, thought it was a dreamhaha. I've got 3 more rolls of 1200 "polish" if I can't get a proper glass shine by then I'm movin on to the 14,000
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 18:34:38 GMT -5
I'm thinking that golf ball size is bout the max, I had a couple a bit bigger n it seems to take away that glassy look you look for in tumbled stone. Oh heck no. On the golf ball size that is. I tumble fist sized and larger at will. Seldom even put a rock in a tumbler anymore that isn't bigger than a golf ball to start. With no smalls in the batch, other filler (ceramics or plastic pellets - depending on the grit stage) needs to be used. I have one 15 lb barrel running with just one very large rock in it. Experiment and see what works for you, but don't sell that barrel short if you want larger tumbled rocks. FWIW, you may find that you need a more fine polish if you are not happy with your final results. Most would probably consider your 1200 to be right along the lines of 1000 which is still considered to be a pre-polish. My polish is labeled "one micron" which is equivalent to 14,000 grit. Try some of that and see if you don't wind up with better results. Good luck. Bingo! If that 1200 is your final step, you are leaving the game with a step yet to go. Thanks for the motivation (I really needed to hear from someone that big stone in model B's are fine) the coolest stones I find are the size of apples and up (Lil stones don't last are winters) keep rollin! Ryan
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 16:44:15 GMT -5
Love the Model B unit, have a few myself. No problem with rocks that size! What is polish 1200 grit? A pre-polish step like AO 1000? I'm thinking that golf ball size is bout the max, I had a couple a bit bigger n it seems to take away that glassy look you look for in tumbled stone. N easy fix the wet pics still look good n 1 dry pic for contrast flic.kr/s/aHskV6PzFXAnd my polish I'm using is 1200 grit aluminum oxide (4th stage) the third stage is 500 grit silicone carbide (pre-polish) I'll gladly accept any advice n have a rocknrollin day! Ryan
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 16:26:12 GMT -5
Thanks captbob! I'm usin a 15lb model b rotary thumbler n I gotta check it in a lil bit Its been runnin polish 1200 grt For 6 days I can't wait! WooHoo Purdy purdy rocks.. Anticipation is making us wait... grin Do you have a vibe tumbler too Ryan/ Just got that double lot o and waiting for some to get through the barrel.. anticipcation here too brother. Busy in the Nursery today, little badger.. hehehehe
Watin sucks but it usually pays off I only have a rotary n I the bigger the barrel the harder to polish... I got a couple stones a Lil to big that gotta get done with the dremmel, my next role will be betta for shure flic.kr/s/aHskV6PzFX
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 12:36:42 GMT -5
Thanks jamesp! Those are really cool lookin! The Reds are the best n lots of variety keep rockin out buddy!
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 14, 2017 12:30:14 GMT -5
Looking at those rocks Ryan I gotta say that should be a fun batch to tumble. Lots of variety and that unknown stuff is pretty good looking too. Hope it tumbles well for you. What size tumbler you using, those look like some pretty good sized pieces. (applause - I hate small rocks) jamesp and some others have tumbled a bunch of similar granite, maybe search for those threads to see their results and whether they did anything special. Thanks captbob! I'm usin a 15lb model b rotary thumbler n I gotta check it in a lil bit Its been runnin polish 1200 grt For 6 days I can't wait!
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 13, 2017 13:10:52 GMT -5
Got this stone cut not sure what is but I've got bout 50lbs from last summer n first time out this spring found a 30 lb chunk if anyone likes it lemme know first pic is the unknown material second is the other random stuff (unakite, weird granites) that will be the rest of the load flic.kr/s/aHskZGK752
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 10, 2017 22:54:47 GMT -5
Hello from Colorado! That quartz will tumble nicely n 2 things I recently learned are important is to cut as much cracks out (the little cracking inside the quartz is ok but the less is better) and use a lot of plastic filler to help reduce cracks from tumbling. You can buy plastic pellets or ceramic type stuff, I recently got the idea to try cutting up some leftover milk jugs (distilled water is actually what the jugs were for so they were clean) here's a pic of my first 500 grit (third stage) to actually look good n all stones were self collected- flic.kr/s/aHskWh1LsVGood job Ryan.. Thanks mang, I messed up 2 batches before this one so third ones a charm n this batch has been rollin in polish for 2 days I'm thinking I'll check it this weekend
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 10, 2017 20:24:44 GMT -5
Hello from Colorado! That quartz will tumble nicely n 2 things I recently learned are important is to cut as much cracks out (the little cracking inside the quartz is ok but the less is better) and use a lot of plastic filler to help reduce cracks from tumbling. You can buy plastic pellets or ceramic type stuff, I recently got the idea to try cutting up some leftover milk jugs (distilled water is actually what the jugs were for so they were clean) here's a pic of my first 500 grit (third stage) to actually look good n all stones were self collected- flic.kr/s/aHskWh1LsVInteresting! And thank you! I was planning on using a bunch quartz I have laying around- do you suggest using pellets for the first step anyway? Yeah I would or something here's some quartz ready to tumble n some bigger pieces i need to cut flic.kr/s/aHskZoXh4L
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ryan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2016
Posts: 185
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Post by ryan on May 10, 2017 16:02:55 GMT -5
Hello from Colorado! That quartz will tumble nicely n 2 things I recently learned are important is to cut as much cracks out (the little cracking inside the quartz is ok but the less is better) and use a lot of plastic filler to help reduce cracks from tumbling. You can buy plastic pellets or ceramic type stuff, I recently got the idea to try cutting up some leftover milk jugs (distilled water is actually what the jugs were for so they were clean) here's a pic of my first 500 grit (third stage) to actually look good n all stones were self collected- flic.kr/s/aHskWh1LsV
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