stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jan 1, 2023 17:14:36 GMT -5
Put mine in the mail last Thursday. Didn't want to forget (like I have the past couple years). Washington State Pet wood is what I believe I saw. Should be a very interesting challenge, depending on where they got it from (some of that stuff is so fractured and loaded with soft spots, some is brutally hard, and chips if you look at it wrong.)
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geoff59
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2022
Posts: 278
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Post by geoff59 on Jan 1, 2023 20:33:25 GMT -5
I don’t think my skills are up to snuff for this either. I don’t own a vibe, although that in itself wouldn’t stop me from trying. It would be a lot of fun. And, I think the best approach to take would be to tumble it all, with a lot of care, and when it comes out of polish, then select your 5. I wouldn’t start selecting before they are done.
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vickster
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2022
Posts: 13
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Post by vickster on Jan 1, 2023 21:45:56 GMT -5
Sent mine in Friday. What with the extra holidays on Monday.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 3, 2023 14:50:49 GMT -5
haha, i sent mine in already and i'm just laughing at the junk i know i'll get! (and that's fine and said in happy voice - like i totally realize why they send out the terrible stuff - anyone can tumble the easy stuff) my hope is, that since pet wood can vary so much, a few decent pieces might sneak in there by mistake! LOL
this seems like a good place to ask - what are the rules about cleaning? can you hand-clean? i'm not talking polish or burnish but just like scrubbing with a toothbrush? water pick? ultrasonic? while the odds are astronomical that i'll end up with anything worth spending postage on to even return - i still have some lavic siding around here, somewhere. didn't even keep it wet to finish some day - i don't want to inadvertently cheat.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 3, 2023 17:01:47 GMT -5
haha, i sent mine in already and i'm just laughing at the junk i know i'll get! (and that's fine and said in happy voice - like i totally realize why they send out the terrible stuff - anyone can tumble the easy stuff) my hope is, that since pet wood can vary so much, a few decent pieces might sneak in there by mistake! LOL this seems like a good place to ask - what are the rules about cleaning? can you hand-clean? i'm not talking polish or burnish but just like scrubbing with a toothbrush? water pick? ultrasonic? while the odds are astronomical that i'll end up with anything worth spending postage on to even return - i still have some lavic siding around here, somewhere. didn't even keep it wet to finish some day - i don't want to inadvertently cheat. I plan to use all those cleaning tools. I didn't see anything about it in the rules besides that burnishing is okay. Pretty sure I've seen toothbrushes in other competitor's vlogs. I think something that might draw the line is like, plugging the vugs with wax or something to prevent them from getting dirty in the first place. Not sure.
the more i think about it, pet wood is one of the materials that leaves little crumbs of itself in the ultrasonic sooooo, yeah, i might not use that so much, who knows. i feel like this is getting way ahead of myself though, assuming i'll have anything even worth trying to clean and move to the vibe!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jan 4, 2023 17:07:39 GMT -5
So the basic rules are you can grind the rock before and after the first stage. Beyond that you are not allowed to grind. You can use as many grit stages as you want (hint my plan is to use 6 stages all in a rotary tumbler (unless my wife loses her mind and lets me get a vibe- if I can even find one for sale lol)). Cleaning is allowed (and probably very necessary between stages). They do look at these with a hand lens, and ANY evidence of hand work (grinding, sawing etc) will be automatically disqualified. with aprox 8 months to tumble it is going to be close for me. I have a set of barrels dedicated for this contest already prepped and ready to go (having the ability to tumble 8 3 Lb barrels at a time really helps). I have all the grit and polish I need and even have my plastic pellets ready to go. I have extra barrel lids, sealing bands, and extra belts for the machines. I just got my confirmation e-mail that my rocks are in the mail. I am as ready as I will ever be!Good Luck to everyone!
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 4, 2023 22:53:50 GMT -5
So the basic rules are you can grind the rock before and after the first stage. Beyond that you are not allowed to grind. You can use as many grit stages as you want (hint my plan is to use 6 stages all in a rotary tumbler (unless my wife loses her mind and lets me get a vibe- if I can even find one for sale lol)). Cleaning is allowed (and probably very necessary between stages). They do look at these with a hand lens, and ANY evidence of hand work (grinding, sawing etc) will be automatically disqualified. with aprox 8 months to tumble it is going to be close for me. I have a set of barrels dedicated for this contest already prepped and ready to go (having the ability to tumble 8 3 Lb barrels at a time really helps). I have all the grit and polish I need and even have my plastic pellets ready to go. I have extra barrel lids, sealing bands, and extra belts for the machines. I just got my confirmation e-mail that my rocks are in the mail. I am as ready as I will ever be!Good Luck to everyone! When Lori sent me an email confirmation, I asked about the cleaning methods, just to make sure. She said "of course, you're allowed to clean" (and also volunteered that you could pre-cut forms if you wanted @hefty!) but the only thing that confused me was she said "no grinding after the tumbling process starts" ... the written rules, though are much more like what you say here stefan, regarding grinding. so i didn't ask for more clarification on that. i can read, lol, it's just the ultrasonic seems maybe a little much, since they say something about "we'll be looking for leftover grit" ... but I asked (the same wording I used here) and she said it was good. you've made the argument about how much less grit and electricity per batch (that's key) you'd use with a vibe, right? ;-) (we know there might be more batches but your cost/batch should decrease with a vibe!)
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jan 7, 2023 11:48:21 GMT -5
It's more about finding one for sale. I work a ton (average 5 to 10 hours a week)of OT so it's not so much the money issue. It's more about time and finding one for sale. Plus I think a vibe has won every year for like the past 10 yrs or something crazy like that. I think it's high time a rotary brought home the gold!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jan 7, 2023 15:02:51 GMT -5
Box just arrived. About half my pieces are cutoffs. Actually some really decent good looking material. Off to start the course run!
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 7, 2023 16:00:58 GMT -5
I got mine today too. I assume cut off means the ones with the super smooth sides? I have a bunch of those and they are GORGEOUS. Like if they do well, I'd have a real hard time sending 'em back in! I'm guessing it's the super splintery kind - wondering what the "catch" is. My box didn't have a bunch of crumbs though so I don't know. It's the most "wood looking" petrified wood I've ever seen (though, granted, I haven't done many batches of petrified wood) ... I have a couple random, more granular pieces that look a lot different but don't look like they'll necessarily tumble poorly. Good luck everyone!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jan 7, 2023 16:48:44 GMT -5
I thought the same thing...what's the catch? I got more than 3 lbs as well and cannot get it all in the 3 lb barrel.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 8, 2023 20:14:47 GMT -5
I also got mine today. I was a little worried because I never got an email. Is there important or relevant info in the email like a contestant number or do I just send my rocks in when I'm done and say who I am? I had probably 70% sawn pieces too, 30% rough. A few pieces look like they have significant cracks but plenty are looking solid too. A couple of my smallest pieces stand out as possibly being agatized compared to the rest. One large piece doesn't look much like wood at all. there was nothing important like a number or anything in the email. just letting you know it's on the way and to be looking for it. i have failed to get mine rolling yet. i actually want to take pictures of all my pieces, wet, first. and yes! i have one - not huge but decent sized - piece that's totally white with black speckles - does NOT look like it belongs at all! if it's agatized, it'll probably be a good one, too and ... it'll look like some random rock i threw in myself? i haven't thought about what, exactly, you do at the end, though ... i'll probably not have to worry about it! =)
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geoff59
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2022
Posts: 278
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Post by geoff59 on Jan 9, 2023 13:00:35 GMT -5
They’ve been known to include a trick rock in past years, I believe. That actually does look like there is some quality as rough, I will be eavesdropping as you post updates.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 9, 2023 18:55:24 GMT -5
there was nothing important like a number or anything in the email. just letting you know it's on the way and to be looking for it. i have failed to get mine rolling yet. i actually want to take pictures of all my pieces, wet, first. and yes! i have one - not huge but decent sized - piece that's totally white with black speckles - does NOT look like it belongs at all! if it's agatized, it'll probably be a good one, too and ... it'll look like some random rock i threw in myself? i haven't thought about what, exactly, you do at the end, though ... i'll probably not have to worry about it! =) Thanks for the info. Good idea about taking pictures, don't mind if I steal it. I have one that is blue with black speckles. Looks so different it might have been a mistake lol. I was like okay this blue thing is definitely opalized but it's got the highest specific gravity out of the group. Maybe a trick rock? a trick rock?! oh dear. i wasn't expecting that! i took some pictures of mine, both sides, in the lots they were going to tumble in ... i'll try to do the same as i check them, weekly-ish. i'd post 'em here, if it were easier to do! i ended up throwing in some smaller, filler rock and media because the contest pieces were all kinda the same size (and a lot were a bit bigger than i usually start with). i probably should have started one lot and held the other back to see how the first group got on, but that would make too much sense!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jan 9, 2023 19:00:11 GMT -5
Just finished trimming down all those huge chunks. Really solid stuff! I will take some more pix once they are out of the kitty litter.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 9, 2023 19:00:35 GMT -5
They’ve been known to include a trick rock in past years, I believe. That actually does look like there is some quality as rough, I will be eavesdropping as you post updates. seriously?! that's so ... tricky, LOL ... you're not supposed to return that one, then? i've already pegged my outlier to be the nicest tumbling one of them all ... and i guess it wouldn't be much of a trick if it tumbled like ...., well, not nicely - no one would wanna pick that one to return. (my young daughter is quite attached to the outlier already and doesn't want to return it, no matter what, so it'll work out well if i'm supposed to keep it!)
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geoff59
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2022
Posts: 278
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Post by geoff59 on Jan 9, 2023 20:46:19 GMT -5
They’ve been known to include a trick rock in past years, I believe. That actually does look like there is some quality as rough, I will be eavesdropping as you post updates. seriously?! that's so ... tricky, LOL ... you're not supposed to return that one, then? i've already pegged my outlier to be the nicest tumbling one of them all ... and i guess it wouldn't be much of a trick if it tumbled like ...., well, not nicely - no one would wanna pick that one to return. (my young daughter is quite attached to the outlier already and doesn't want to return it, no matter what, so it'll work out well if i'm supposed to keep it!) I have to think so…last year’s winner for sure, and I am sure I saw in another contestant’s video, both thought 1 rock they were sent was cement/concrete. 😀
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geoff59
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2022
Posts: 278
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Post by geoff59 on Jan 9, 2023 20:57:51 GMT -5
Curious, I just googled this contest, then quickly found their site online…..from there, to their FaceBook page, where as of 18 minutes ago, it says the contest is sold out.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 9, 2023 21:15:59 GMT -5
seriously?! that's so ... tricky, LOL ... you're not supposed to return that one, then? i've already pegged my outlier to be the nicest tumbling one of them all ... and i guess it wouldn't be much of a trick if it tumbled like ...., well, not nicely - no one would wanna pick that one to return. (my young daughter is quite attached to the outlier already and doesn't want to return it, no matter what, so it'll work out well if i'm supposed to keep it!) I have to think so…last year’s winner for sure, and I am sure I saw in another contestant’s video, both thought 1 rock they were sent was cement/concrete. 😀 Yes, I saw Sam saying "this looks like concrete!" LOL At least maybe we got an actual rock.
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ataraktos
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 140
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Post by ataraktos on Jan 9, 2023 21:19:01 GMT -5
Curious, I just googled this contest, then quickly found their site online…..from there, to their FaceBook page, where as of 18 minutes ago, it says the contest is sold out. It did say something when I looked late December, about limiting entries this year. I can't remember the exact language but I was worried I might even be too late.
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