Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Nov 1, 2017 7:24:27 GMT -5
I'm fairly interested but I self-collect and North Alabama does not have a lot to offer. I am getting some fairly great rocks from across the street from my favorite brewery.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Nov 1, 2017 6:05:38 GMT -5
Something soft, like pencil lead, in the tumbler.
Photo Tip- Hold the camera Very Still when snapping pictures.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 30, 2017 16:19:58 GMT -5
Well sure, at a minimum a tumbler can be used to clean the rocks for presentation. I would think that it would be more difficult to put a polish onto a rough rock. A rounded rock shows the internal structure of the stone more clearly.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 22, 2017 23:49:18 GMT -5
I have been struggling with this problem myself. Been tumbling since December and can do 15 pounds at a time. I have about 25 or more pounds of polished rocks. Starting to be much more selective about the rocks that go into the tumbler. I give a LOT away but still have too many stones. Starting to keep the Very Best rocks. Joined the local rock club and want to learn Wire Wrapping.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 17, 2017 17:21:10 GMT -5
So It took a few months total but I did finish polishing all of the quartz that my South Carolina friends gave me. It has been finished for awhile but I lost them for a month before I could take the picture. They shined up very well but it doesen't show well in the photos. Group Shot The Best Of . . .
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 15, 2017 11:17:13 GMT -5
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 15, 2017 0:36:20 GMT -5
I just love that last photograph. Everybody is so interested
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 14, 2017 17:25:36 GMT -5
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 14, 2017 7:59:32 GMT -5
Today is the second day of this big event. I plan to visit for a couple of hours this morning before going to my real job.
------------- There will be about 18 Dealers offering a wide variety of minerals, crystals, jewelry, lapidary and rock-hunting supplies and more for sale. We’ll also have Displays of gems, minerals, and jewelry, Demonstrations of lapidary and related arts, and a Mining Flume for all to enjoy. There will be a Fluorescent Room to explore and for the kids, we’ll have a Gem Dig and activities based on our Pebble Pups Program. There will also be hourly Door Prizes and Raffle Prizes to try for. Donations of $3.00 are requested at the door, with children under 5 free -------------
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 12, 2017 10:26:24 GMT -5
It was funny, yesterday when I bought 6 bags of rocks from the Dollar General store, The cashier is looking at all the rocks and asks me "what are you going to do with all these rocks"? I promptly said "I'm going to polish them shiny". She looks up at me and my girlfriend and asks "No , really , what are you doing with the rocks"? I briefly explained it, and returned later with a gift of polished stones.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 11, 2017 14:33:29 GMT -5
That picture looked so good that I went back and bought all 6 bags of the rocks they had. $6
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 11, 2017 12:38:22 GMT -5
Was down the street at the corner Dollar General store and noticed some packages of rocks for a Dollar a bag. They looked neat but had lots of cracks but I thought I would give a coupla bags a roll and see how they came out. Here they are fresh from the store untumbled and already nicely rounded. . . And here are some of the best of the bunch after tumbling... actually very pretty.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 11, 2017 12:20:11 GMT -5
Here is another batch that went through the same 5 step tumble, but the material is not so good . . . and a few in a closeup
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 10, 2017 6:34:03 GMT -5
So what is the problem ?
Did you clean the rocks first ?
Probably leftover soap ?
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 9, 2017 21:38:13 GMT -5
These did . . .
1 or 2 weeks in SiC 46/70, very full barrel, only glass, no plastic beads or filler 1 week in SiC 220, always have a 80% full barrel, No beads or filler 1 week in SiC 600, half glass half plastic beads 1 week in AO 1000, half glass half plastic beads 1 week in Cerium Oxide Polish half plastic beads
If you want clear polished glass, clean thoroughly between stages, Use more than 75% plastic beads in the last 3 stages, keep a full barrel 80% full.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 9, 2017 20:25:04 GMT -5
We go hounding in the Flint River here in North Alabama even though there are not great rocks in there, but it's about as good as it gfets around here. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/80484/canoeing-rockhounding-flint-river-alabama?page=1&scrollTo=957626The best stuff looks like Flint mixed with some Limestone, it looks very layered but has a lot of fractures in it. Been trying to tumble it with mixed results. It chips a lot and big pieces become small trying to grind into rounded stones. I keep hoping for a surprising piece to come out of it but it's slim pickin's. Here are some examples from two different batches.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 9, 2017 20:04:24 GMT -5
I ran this glass through the 3 pound Loretone 3A tumbler a couple of months ago. I did not have enough plastic beads in the polish stage and the edges became frosted, but otherwise, they came out OK.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 9, 2017 19:47:59 GMT -5
I have run the 5 step tumble a few times and I can notice a slight difference for the better. These rocks have been done for a long time now but were lost and were the subject of a Lost Rocks thread. Now that I am used to rock tumbling and not so anxious to see results, I will be adding this extra step. Here is one of the better batches using 5 steps . . . Some cool rocks that I found at the Family Dollar store Some rocks from an ancient flower bed that doesn't exist anymore South Carolina Quartz
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 9, 2017 19:33:35 GMT -5
Found a few pounds of landscaping rocks on Clearance at Walmart and got them for a couple of dollars. They were white and green so I got them because everybody seems to like green. I ran them all the way through a 5 week 5 step process but only some of them shined up properly. Will probably just use these rocks as-is in a flower pot.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Oct 9, 2017 19:05:31 GMT -5
yes !! a 2 stage separator ! Prelude to coarse grit diamond grit seperation. COUP de GRAS Making an offer on your patent Well sure, but don't forget to use the lightest stuff to polish your fogged car lenses. And it polishes the car very nicely too! Make sure all the scratchy stuff goes somewhere else. Only made that mistake once.
I tried to use the small stuff for polish ... but it didn't work ... forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/78394/using-recovered-slurry-polish-experiment
|
|