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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 12, 2023 21:09:49 GMT -5
That little piece is awesome! I've tossed saw scraps in with tumbles in the past...and it seemed like the small pieces were the coolest of all! LOL
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Aug 12, 2023 22:09:07 GMT -5
That little piece is awesome! I've tossed saw scraps in with tumbles in the past...and it seemed like the small pieces were the coolest of all! LOL It is definitely ironic, or wait - is it - do we have an English teacher anywhere on the forum??  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 12, 2023 22:23:14 GMT -5
That little piece is awesome! I've tossed saw scraps in with tumbles in the past...and it seemed like the small pieces were the coolest of all! LOL It is definitely ironic, or wait - is it - do we have an English teacher anywhere on the forum??  If we do, thankfully they ain't been the grammar police! LOL |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 18, 2023 20:28:21 GMT -5
So, I started these back in June which means they spent ~5.5 months in coarse grind. I then moved them to the Lot-O for 2 rounds of 220 (2 days each), one round of 500 grit AO (3 days), pre-polish AKA Tripoli Powder(4 days), Rock Shed polish (4 days). Pic of results below. So, the question was: Are cold Mountain Thundereggs a good material for tumbling? Simple answer is - no. That said they are fun, challenging, beautiful, and take a good shine. But, as jasoninsd pointed out they are fairly unstable, and contain several voids/cracks that get exposed as you tumble them. Additionally, places where agate meets the Jasper often have voids or seams that are not smooth or uniform. I had mine tumbling for over 5 months, and I would have tumbled them down to nothing if I tried to get them perfectly smooth. All that said I would tumble them again - they are challenging/fun and have cool patterns - I just need to adjust expectations in terms of how uniform I can get the surface. I think out of this batch only 3 had uniformly smooth surfaces. Here are some pics of the batch below. I will try to highlight some of the cooler ones when I get back from Arkansas.   |
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 18, 2023 21:51:58 GMT -5
Holy Crap! Were these really started that long ago? (Rhetorical!) I remember when we discussed these...and would've guessed only a couple months ago! Sheesh time is flying!!
I was REALLY hoping you were going to have better results on these! There's still so many gorgeous colors mixed in with this material...which always suckers me in to working them time after time...with the same crappy results! LOL - I've only had a handful of cabs work out! Arghhh!!!
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 25, 2023 10:40:22 GMT -5
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 494
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Post by hplcman on Nov 25, 2023 11:28:53 GMT -5
Just Beautiful! Great job! |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 25, 2023 12:38:17 GMT -5
Just Beautiful! Great job! Thank You! |
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 26, 2023 18:28:51 GMT -5
Love the individual pics Dillon! Dang you though! Every time I see "good pics" of this material, I get the itch to work it again...only to have my heart broken 9 out of 10 times when I actually do work it! LOL
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Post by velodromed on Nov 26, 2023 18:55:57 GMT -5
dillonf Those look very nice bud! I’m tumbling a couple of Blue Boy (Bell?) thundereggs I got from Richardson ranch and they are now pretty round and the size of a large golf ball. Really interesting. I’ll post photos at the next clean out when I’ll be moving them on to stage two. I’m hoping that there’s just enough matrix left to make them look like weird plants lol, they were nearly there this last clean out.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 26, 2023 20:41:19 GMT -5
Love the individual pics Dillon! Dang you though! Every time I see "good pics" of this material, I get the itch to work it again...only to have my heart broken 9 out of 10 times when I actually do work it! LOL Thanks! Yeah CM T-eggs have so much potential, but are a real pain in the a*@ to work with. They took a real nice shine though. I'll definitely do another batch some day even though they are a bit of a pain, but that is only because I'm a glutton for punishment |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 26, 2023 20:48:11 GMT -5
dillonf Those look very nice bud! I’m tumbling a couple of Blue Boy (Bell?) thundereggs I got from Richardson ranch and they are now pretty round and the size of a large golf ball. Really interesting. I’ll post photos at the next clean out when I’ll be moving them on to stage two. I’m hoping that there’s just enough matrix left to make them look like weird plants lol, they were nearly there this last clean out. Thanks! That is cool you are tumbling the Blue T-eggs! Can't wait to check out your photos! On another note we were talking about running some Fire Agate in the vibe to see if we could get that cool iridescent sheen out of it. For the life of me I couldn't find that old post . . .  If I remember correctly you got it to work on one of your pieces - I ran 3 pieces in the vibe with ceramic from 500 to polish - didn't work for me  |
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Post by velodromed on Nov 26, 2023 22:28:02 GMT -5
dillonf Those look very nice bud! I’m tumbling a couple of Blue Boy (Bell?) thundereggs I got from Richardson ranch and they are now pretty round and the size of a large golf ball. Really interesting. I’ll post photos at the next clean out when I’ll be moving them on to stage two. I’m hoping that there’s just enough matrix left to make them look like weird plants lol, they were nearly there this last clean out. Thanks! That is cool you are tumbling the Blue T-eggs! Can't wait to check out your photos! On another note we were talking about running some Fire Agate in the vibe to see if we could get that cool iridescent sheen out of it. For the life of me I couldn't find that old post . . . If I remember correctly you got it to work on one of your pieces - I ran 3 pieces in the vibe with ceramic from 500 to polish - didn't work for me I just finished up with the fire agate thing. I started the day we discussed it tumbling in a small 1lb barrel for a long time then the vibe for near two weeks. I’ll post pics soon of my results, which I’m a bit confused about right now and need to sort out first. |
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Post by velodromed on Nov 27, 2023 12:59:44 GMT -5
Yeah. Thats it. Just one holds any interest really. Won’t be trying that again lol.   |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 27, 2023 19:02:13 GMT -5
Thanks! That is cool you are tumbling the Blue T-eggs! Can't wait to check out your photos! On another note we were talking about running some Fire Agate in the vibe to see if we could get that cool iridescent sheen out of it. For the life of me I couldn't find that old post . . . If I remember correctly you got it to work on one of your pieces - I ran 3 pieces in the vibe with ceramic from 500 to polish - didn't work for me I just finished up with the fire agate thing. I started the day we discussed it tumbling in a small 1lb barrel for a long time then the vibe for near two weeks. I’ll post pics soon of my results, which I’m a bit confused about right now and need to sort out first. Very interesting. My experience was a bust as well! |
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Post by velodromed on Dec 5, 2023 12:36:56 GMT -5
dillonf Here’s the Blue Bell thundereggs. I’ve put them in a smaller barrel now. I’m hoping the matrex holds together enough to give it a planet like look once polished. But it keeps chunking out so I don’t know yet. They are now bout 80% the size of a golf ball. The color doesn’t show up very well in the photo, I think it’s a deep blue hue of sorts.  
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Post by velodromed on Dec 5, 2023 12:37:14 GMT -5
Dammit…blue boy.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 5, 2023 12:58:13 GMT -5
Nice eggs.. I have tumbled thundereggs cut rough, many times and some undercut, some are blah, some are very nice.. The slabbed eggs come out great, so do the cut cabs..
You never know till you try...
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Post by velodromed on Dec 5, 2023 15:14:52 GMT -5
Nice eggs.. I have tumbled thundereggs cut rough, many times and some undercut, some are blah, some are very nice.. The slabbed eggs come out great, so do the cut cabs.. You never know till you try... Can’t do a saw yet. I tried early in the year and it rattled my damaged nerves, setting off sever neuropathy that lasted quite awhile. I’ve had several surgeries since and a spinal stimulator installed (think pace maker for the spine nervous system), so I’m hoping it’ll go better next time I try, here before long. |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Dec 6, 2023 20:16:36 GMT -5
dillonf Here’s the Blue Bell thundereggs. I’ve put them in a smaller barrel now. I’m hoping the matrex holds together enough to give it a planet like look once polished. But it keeps chunking out so I don’t know yet. They are now bout 80% the size of a golf ball. The color doesn’t show up very well in the photo, I think it’s a deep blue hue of sorts. Hey Velo! Those look cool. They do have sort of a "planet look" to them. Can't wait to see them done! I have that same problem capturing certain colors in pictures - it is very frustrating. |
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