herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 475
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Post by herb on Nov 10, 2023 14:11:09 GMT -5
This my 1st post in the tumbling section! I have about 4.5 pounds of small water worn Amethyst bits from Nova Scotia. The pieces are like 3/8" and smaller. Since I don't really have any use for tiny pieces of amethyst, I thought I'd make them pretty to display them in a jar by polishing them. I've never tried tumbling just small pieces like these. Can I just put them in my Lot-O with some ceramic media, or do I need to add other material of varying sizes? It will probably be like 2/3 or more ceramic to get the bowl filled as much as it is supposed to be. Also, as you can see in the picture, some of it is frosted and some has a bit of a shine. I was wondering, to not make the pieces any smaller than necessary, if it was worth while to just tumble the frosted pieces in the coarse 200 grit and then add the semi-shiny pieces for the medium and later stages.  Amethyst Nova Scotia by Shiny Objects, on Flickr |
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Post by chris1956 on Nov 10, 2023 16:23:10 GMT -5
I don't know but someone will. But I like that really deep color on the shinny ones.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,158
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Post by dshanpnw on Nov 10, 2023 17:07:08 GMT -5
Great question. I would put them all in the 220 together and check them after two days to see if they look about the same. Nice amethyst from an unusual place. I can't wait to see how they will turn out.
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Post by pauls on Nov 10, 2023 17:38:48 GMT -5
I'm not sure what is happening with those frosted bits. The polished pieces don't look like Amethyst to me, more like Rhodolite Garnet.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,171
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Post by rockbrain on Nov 11, 2023 9:55:33 GMT -5
I'm not great at ID but my first thought was the same as pauls. Those don't look like amethyst at all. They look red in the picture. |
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Post by velodromed on Nov 11, 2023 11:01:11 GMT -5
Here is a pile of (wet) garnets that I use for media with polishing larger agates. What you have does look very similar…  |
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herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 475
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Post by herb on Nov 11, 2023 17:51:41 GMT -5
I'm not great at ID but my first thought was the same as pauls . Those don't look like amethyst at all. They look red in the picture. Yes, they do look kind of red in the picture! I took some better and closer shots of just some of the shiny ones. They definitely look purple now. For the 1st pic, they are on a piece of clear glass raised up several inch over a white background to get some light coming thru them. To give an idea of scale, the piece at the very bottom of the pic is about 3 x 5 mm. For the 2nd pic, they are just on a white sheet of paper and look much darker.  Amethyst Nova Scotia - Backlit by Shiny Objects, on Flickr  Amethyst Nova Scotia 2 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr |
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Nov 12, 2023 11:44:58 GMT -5
Here is a pile of (wet) garnets that I use for media with polishing larger agates. What you have does look very similar… Hey, where do you get your garnets from? Been looking for awhile to get some for my vibes. Thanks |
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Post by velodromed on Nov 13, 2023 6:51:58 GMT -5
Here is a pile of (wet) garnets that I use for media with polishing larger agates. What you have does look very similar… Hey, where do you get your garnets from? Been looking for awhile to get some for my vibes. Thanks I got them off of Amazon actually. 2 pounds for 13 bucks. |
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Nov 13, 2023 12:21:50 GMT -5
Hey, where do you get your garnets from? Been looking for awhile to get some for my vibes. Thanks I got them off of Amazon actually. 2 pounds for 13 bucks. Thanks, appreciate it! |
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Post by velodromed on Nov 13, 2023 14:50:00 GMT -5
I got them off of Amazon actually. 2 pounds for 13 bucks. Thanks, appreciate it! Let me know how it works in your vibe. I was wondering about that. So far they are good for polishing large single agates in a rotary. |
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Post by rmf on Nov 13, 2023 15:28:39 GMT -5
As stated above by many I thing these are garnet. The dull ones may be schist that held the garnet. You may want to try just a batch of those again. My guess is they are schist (host rock for the garnet) and as such they will never polish. Try them in the 220 grit to see if they improve but don't be disappointed if they do not. Garnet is tougher (not harder) than amethyst but I don't think that is the problem here.
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herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 475
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Post by herb on Nov 14, 2023 15:19:34 GMT -5
As stated above by many I thing these are garnet. The dull ones may be schist that held the garnet. You may want to try just a batch of those again. My guess is they are schist (host rock for the garnet) and as such they will never polish. Try them in the 220 grit to see if they improve but don't be disappointed if they do not. Garnet is tougher (not harder) than amethyst but I don't think that is the problem here. If I hold the frosted ones up to a bright light, they are translucent purple like the back lit pic above. I got these from an estate years ago. I'm wondering if the frosted ones already went thru the 1st tumbling stage |
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