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Post by pebblesky on Aug 6, 2024 23:42:51 GMT -5
Some close-ups:  Montana Moss Agate  Not sure. Maybe Amethyst Sage Agate.  A big sakura agate. |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 6, 2024 23:53:28 GMT -5
 I love this one because it reminds me of those paper maps.  Gobi Desert Jasper with fish-scale patterns.  Not sure which angle I shall place this picture stone. |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:04:43 GMT -5
Gobi Agates.  The one at the center is slightly purple with white heart. |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:10:38 GMT -5
 Indonesian Fossil Corals are always full of details. |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:17:25 GMT -5
The side on the bottom looked to be smudged by brown even after pre-polish. A two-day polish started to reveal its beauty. I guess another two days of polish will further improve its look.  |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:25:02 GMT -5
Mozambique(Swazi) Agates  Some don't have sharp bands but still nice colors. |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:32:11 GMT -5
Orby Gobi Desert Jaspers  |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:36:27 GMT -5
Charming Small Moroccans  |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 0:43:43 GMT -5
Random collage because I am running out of flickr free storage quota:   |
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choochoorocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rock hounding
Member since April 2020
Posts: 181
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Post by choochoorocks on Aug 7, 2024 1:02:22 GMT -5
Another batch done polishing over the weekend. Detailed pictures to come later this week.  This was the first time my mom saw the whole process in person. During and after the pandemic I shared with her many pictures of my tumbling, but it wasn't until she saw and felt them in person, did she understand why I put so much emphasis on the fineness of the rocks. She definitely had a LOT of comments. It was fun. We are very peaceful together when talking about rocks. She will take home some small slabs of Picture Jaspers that she loves (from Randy's box), that she will try tumbling herself in her small toy plastic tumbler. I don't think it is going to work due to the limited supply of non commercial-scale grit in China. Oh about those sandstones that she lost from her Utah/Arizona visit, she didn't even mention them because she was dazzled by so many of other types of rocks. She thought the stage 0 was the most important and I shall stop putting the "sub-par" (per her standard, which disqualifies 80% of the rocks I have) rocks in for tumbling, otherwise I will never be able to finish all of them in my lifetime. Who would be able though? I think it's wonderful that you can share this with your mom! You sure are lucky! And beautiful tumbles! |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 7, 2024 11:15:46 GMT -5
I think it's wonderful that you can share this with your mom! You sure are lucky! And beautiful tumbles! Thanks! Talking about rocks is definitely safer and more pleasant than many other topics. |
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Post by chris1956 on Aug 7, 2024 11:18:48 GMT -5
Some close-ups: Montana Moss Agate Not sure. Maybe Amethyst Sage Agate. A big sakura agate. All of the current batch are great but the first one in this post is amazing! |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2024 12:51:58 GMT -5
These are beautiful, pebblesky. Thanks for sharing!  |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 20, 2024 13:19:22 GMT -5
Some progress photos of my first try-to-make-it-correct-but-i-am-still-too-lazy-to-completely-separate-them soft batch run (technically some are not that soft, they just didn't polish for various reasons) after stage 2 (120/220 Sic) from the Raytech TV5 base + UV mini bowl. I added some plastic pellets for cushion, but I didn't use enough since they were split between different stages so I wouldn't worry about cleaning them up. As usual, the stage 1 was done with all the other hard rocks in Rebel 17. Pardon the messy background which didn't work for some colors. I am rushing this batch because I want to show my mom how they eventually look before she heads home. Washing + burnishing + recharging every two days seems to be challenging during my work days. For size reference, the stones were put on a UV mini bowl lid.  Gobi Golden Eye Agates have skipped stage 1 and are directly put in stage 2 as the fillers. Although these are "agates", their earth yellow crusts are really soft and created a lot of slurry which helped to cushion the other rocks. Many of them won't look flattering even after polish, but I can not resist the eyes.  Cherry Creek "Jaspers" from China. The brown healed fractures are even softer than the other part. Not an ideal tumble material but I am still curious to see how they would end up.  Plum Blossom "Jade" from China. I only hope to improve the final look a little bit. They looked so charming when wet.  Serpentine "Jade" from China and Green Calcite from Middle East. I kept seeing some really shiny Green Calcite tumbles on etsy and was wondering how they achieved that. From the roughs I have, the surface is so easily scratched even if I handle them with care.  Nguni Jaspers. When the boring brown part polishes fine and easily, the lighter colors, especially the purple-pink are soft and porous. I am still searching for finer materials. The patterns look so charming to me. They reminded me of African pottery somehow.  Some random pieces that don't look like easy materials to polish. Thanks for taking a look. My next update will probably be the end of the week, once they are all done. |
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Post by chris1956 on Aug 20, 2024 13:32:09 GMT -5
They are looking good. I have a mix of yours that should be done in a week or so.
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adam5
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2023
Posts: 153
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Post by adam5 on Aug 23, 2024 20:53:51 GMT -5
Even without a shine those "jaspers" and "jades" look awesome.
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 24, 2024 19:57:53 GMT -5
This is an update that I am not EXTREMELY disappointed about. There is at least some fun in documenting the changes. Cherry Creek "Jasper" from China, after stage 2 After polish  Most of them are worse than after stage 2, with more chips and scratches, except one that seems to shine up a bit, although there is also more visible scratches:  The following picture is one piece, left: rough, middle: 1 week stage 1 in Rebel 17 and 1 week stage 2 in the vibe, right: going back to stage 2, then stage 3, 4 in the vibe each for two days. The middle state did actually look pretty good. After the full polish cycle it became dull again and much smaller.  |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 24, 2024 20:06:08 GMT -5
Plum Blossom "Jade" from China, after stage 2  After polish  The after picture is a bit overexposed, but still the black background undercuts a lot, which made them look grey. The foreground parts have some reasonable shine but that no longer matters with this ugly background. A couple pieces look darker than the others - it seems they suffered less from the undercuts than the others:  Again, I felt the undercut was much better controlled when I instead only ran stage 2 for 7 days in the vibe and didn't move forward. |
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Post by chris1956 on Aug 24, 2024 20:09:43 GMT -5
This is an update that I am not EXTREMELY disappointed about. There is at least some fun in documenting the changes. Cherry Creek "Jasper" from China, after stage 2 After polish Most of them are worse than after stage 2, with more chips and scratches, except one that seems to shine up a bit, although there is also more visible scratches: The following picture is one piece, left: rough, middle: 1 week stage 1 in Rebel 17 and 1 week stage 2 in the vibe, right: going back to stage 2, then stage 3, 4 in the vibe each for two days. The middle state did actually look pretty good. After the full polish cycle it became dull again and much smaller. Wow. And the colors of the ones on the plate look so great but don't take a great polish. Darn! I had some of the ones you sent me disapear like the last one. They should be finished up in a couple days and I will post pics. |
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Post by pebblesky on Aug 24, 2024 20:11:18 GMT -5
Serpentine "Jade" from China and Green Calcite from Middle East, after stage 2: After polish:  The shine level of the serpentine improved a bit especially the green translucent parts but still far from what I desired. The green calcite are complete frosted. One of the interesting serpentine pieces:  |
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