stefan
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Post by stefan on Mar 17, 2023 14:30:12 GMT -5
This was the last of my finished rock waiting for polish. I am all caught up as of today and have nothing waiting (except rough). THe mini sonic has done in 2 months what would have taken me probably 6 to 9 months to complete! First is some more Burro Creek agate. ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679080910/ksxqoce5guavxp3fmsvf.jpg) Then some small Lakers. ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679080973/p7rxadm98fr3znn7htqm.jpg) Other assorted What nots: Mozambique, Bahia, Missouri, Crazy Lace, Ocean Jasper (Sea agate), some Pet wood, and a local grey chert, and Ohio River chert ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679081187/qwxnxji3dgip3pwxivdb.jpg) Some closeups Bahia Agate ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679081246/reuuvamv9cdtrbo4lp6x.jpg) Pet wood (Can't remember where in Oregon it came from) ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679081313/pnge7tdpywdikuj50jk1.jpg) Missouri Lace ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679081346/ilvk9pljv7gups9h6vvy.jpg) And Mexican Crazy Lace ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/da2qrvsnz/image/upload/v1679081386/w6yfpez2tghllr9a2emw.jpg) Thanks for taking a peek!
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khara
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Post by khara on Mar 17, 2023 16:08:10 GMT -5
Great banded agates and petrified wood!👍
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 17, 2023 16:30:30 GMT -5
Another great looking group of polished beauties Stefan! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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chris1956
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by chris1956 on Mar 17, 2023 16:41:02 GMT -5
Never get tired of looking at agates. Great job!
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ashley
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Post by ashley on Mar 17, 2023 16:47:43 GMT -5
stefanThose look amazing!! Awesome job and fantastic polish! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) I am using a minisonic at work and am having to learn it. I am used to the lot-o. What is your process and recipe ratios for the minisonic?
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hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Mar 17, 2023 17:25:36 GMT -5
Looks like the mini-sonic is doing a great job. I'm a loto person but Your finish looks great!
Jim
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jone
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by jone on Mar 17, 2023 19:28:09 GMT -5
You’ve got some beautiful stones there, nice work! I hope I can get mine to look so nice!
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stefan
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Member since January 2005
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Post by stefan on Mar 18, 2023 9:25:39 GMT -5
stefanThose look amazing!! Awesome job and fantastic polish! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) I am using a minisonic at work and am having to learn it. I am used to the lot-o. What is your process and recipe ratios for the minisonic? I have only been working with it since January, but I have learned a lot. Here is my "recipe" at this point. "Course" I am using 120/220. So far the best results for me have been 1 tablespoon borax and 1/2 tablespoon grit. Yes that tiny amount. I fill the barrel about 1/2 full of rocks and about 1/2 full of ceramics (usual fill barrel with water, add rocks and ceramics,dump off excess water, put on tumbler, run at full speed, add borax slowly, add grit slowly) I start the load running first to make sure it is rotating well. I fill to to just below where the neck meets the main body, I will add/ subtract until I have a good rotation. This step runs for 4 to 5 days (I don't recharge, but almost all my rocks are pretumbled in a rotary for several weeks) I follow the same clean out procedure between steps: dump out the rocks, ceramics, and rinse well then clean out the barrel, add rocks, ceramics, and a squirt (like 1/8 of a teaspoon) liquid dish soap, let run for about an hour, clean out again. "medium" Using the same media, I follow the same fill procedure (water rocks, ceramics, dump off excess) I add 1 tablespoon borax, and 1/2 tablespoon 500 grit. I was using SiC, but recently switched to 500 AO and like it much better. This runs for 4 days (or longer if needed). I will take a rock out after 4 days and I should start to see a shine, if not then it goes in for another day, or 2. I use the same rinse cycle as before. "Pre polish" I run a pre-polish stage with 1/2 tablespoon of borax, and 1/2 a teaspoon of tripoli (around 1200 to 1400 grit). This goes for 3 to 5 days. The rocks are pretty shiny at this point. I do a cleanout like above, but add 1/2 tablespoon of borax to the soap) "Polish" I have a separate barrel and ceramics for polish. Prep the rocks the same way. I use 1/2 tablespoon of borax and 1/2 teaspoon of AO polish (kingsley North, or Rock Shed, both are great polishes). This runs for 5 days. I clean out like above and set up for burnish (I do a soap and borax wash like for pre-polish) "Burnish) Prep the rocks like above and add 1 tablespoon of Borax. This runs about 4 to 6 hours (longer is fine and I have done overnight). I add dish soap to the mix and run that for about 30 mins, then dump it all out and rinse very well. Phew that seems like a lot of work. I have used more grit and polish, but I end up with the same results, and have left over grit (especially in the 120/220 and 500 steps). The times are not set and I check the load once a day. THe Mini soic does not use a lot of water and I usually don't have to add any (except at the very start of the cycle, where I will watch it run for 5 minutes, and spray the load if I see the borax not dissolving. It is very important to clean the lid between stages, I have found grit stuck to the lid on more than 1 occasion. I run the speed at full for the 120/220 stage, after that it depends on how the load is rotating. I find that I'm running it at about 80% for the pre-polish and polish stages, and about 60% for burnish. My polish barrel is a little smaller than the other barrel, I would guess about 10 to 15 less chunks of medium ceramics. I use 3 sizes of ceramics. 5/16" and 3/16" cylinders, and 5mm balls. They get into even the tightest spots. Hope that gives you a launching spot!
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ashley
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Post by ashley on Mar 18, 2023 14:32:54 GMT -5
stefanWow thank you so much for taking the time to help me! Thank you!! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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jone
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by jone on Mar 18, 2023 15:53:16 GMT -5
stefan This is the first "recipe" I have seen for the mini-sonic besides what is in the manual (which no one ever seems to follow anyway). This is very helpful! I started with Rob's (Michigan Rocks) method that he uses for the Lot-O which was in one of his videos. I am tweaking it as I go but I have only finished one batch so far. Thanks for sharing your experience. Your method seems a little longer duration on each stage, uses borax for all stages, less grit for 120/220 stage, and adds a pre-polish step. You also are using more ceramics, I think. Great food for thought!
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Mar 18, 2023 16:37:09 GMT -5
Thank you all. Yes my recipe is very different. I too started with Rob's Lot-o recipe, but was not getting the results I wanted. I started running longer and saw improvement, but was still having left over grit. Started running less grit, and again saw improvement, but still wasn't what I expected. Once I added in my pre-polish stage and the Borax it all started to come together. I was frustrated with the lack of recipes for the mini sonic as well. I think the only one I found that was close was from Drummond Island Rocks, but even his just wasn't working great for me.
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wedger
noticing nice landscape pebbles
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Post by wedger on Apr 12, 2023 11:50:42 GMT -5
Is this with an MT-4 or one of the larger units?
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Apr 14, 2023 10:26:28 GMT -5
Thats a MT-4. I am so impressed with that tumbler!
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jone
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by jone on May 27, 2023 8:50:23 GMT -5
stefanI have been using your "recipe" for the MT-4 as above with a couple of minor modifications (1000 AO instead of tripoli, for one). The last couple batches, I'm trying to use shorter fixed duration times to see if I could speed up the process. Last batch was 4 day for all stages and came out great. Currently I have a load in there that I'm doing 3 days for all stages. I'll let you know how it looks. Thanks again for your help!
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rockbrain
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Post by rockbrain on May 27, 2023 22:16:49 GMT -5
Nice looking stones! I love my minisonic. I do similar to yours but usually run each stage 3 days.
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Post by velodromed on May 28, 2023 15:15:15 GMT -5
The orange Bahia agate and the crazy lace at the bottom are amazing! All of them are actually, nice work!
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rocknewb101
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Post by rocknewb101 on May 30, 2023 8:44:33 GMT -5
Beauties! Great job on those!
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Post by victor1941 on May 30, 2023 9:18:49 GMT -5
Great polish and especially like the stones that have both color and banding. Great directions for the mini-sonic!
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jone
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by jone on Jun 3, 2023 11:07:59 GMT -5
Here’s the stefan recipe with 3 days for all stages ![](https://res.cloudinary.com/djj7v3jik/image/upload/v1685808304/rtedzngmgjg4zkiiothj.jpg) Leopard skin jasper, petrified wood, and Bahia agates - I think they turned out nice - good polish! Love the mini-sonic!
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dug
off to a rocking start
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Post by dug on Jun 21, 2023 19:51:55 GMT -5
stefan Any particular reason for using tripoli as a pre-polish? I've only every used AO, so I'm curious how tripoli might be different. Thanks!
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