mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 167 
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Post by mgroothuis on Jan 21, 2024 19:45:36 GMT -5
I found some highly-fractured quartz on the beach months ago. It has beautiful smokey translucency, flecks of green, and filled with hopes and dreams. I have tumbled this no less than 12-16 weeks. It's 40-ish% smaller than it started. I thought for sure I could tumble through the cracks and eventually get a beautiful polish. Every single week, no matter how I change the process, there's more fracturing, more chips, and more dreams crushed. I'm done. Has anyone else stuck out the fight and tumbled similar rocks smooth? Brittle feldspar is another I've come to hate. I need a vacation. And a nap.    |
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Post by MsAli on Jan 21, 2024 19:58:17 GMT -5
The nature of the beast (quartz). Eventually, it will probably start to break apart.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 21, 2024 20:09:16 GMT -5
My heart goes out to you. I hate it when I start working a material...and the material doesn't have the same idea for results that I do! 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 Jan 21, 2024 20:11:19 GMT -5
Sorry bro. I've given up on some as well.
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Post by chris1956 on Jan 21, 2024 20:14:37 GMT -5
Yep, quartz and quartzite give me headaches. But they also produce some gems. If they look like they are going to end up like yours, they become driveway rocks.
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mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 167
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Post by mgroothuis on Jan 21, 2024 20:16:59 GMT -5
I have a decent sized bucket of "abandonite" and this one will join them. I try not to swear when throwing them back in Lake Michigan.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 21, 2024 21:29:16 GMT -5
If they're fractured all to hell when you find them do yourself a favor and just throw them back no matter how pretty they may look. Life's too short.
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Post by Pat on Jan 21, 2024 22:05:18 GMT -5
If they're fractured all to hell when you find them do yourself a favor and just throw them back no matter how pretty they may look. Life's too short. And mgroothuis, when you throw them back in now, it is suggested that you swear when you do so. It’s good for the soul! |
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jan 21, 2024 22:11:38 GMT -5
some rocks would fit right into this song
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Post by velodromed on Jan 21, 2024 22:29:49 GMT -5
Yep. I would say 2/3rds of the rock we collect ends up getting tossed into the yard, even if they’ve been tumbling for months. Sometime rocks just don’t work out. I also lost count of how many rocks I messed up while tumbling, ugh. I just move on to the next one. It’s definitely a bummer though.
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wseaton
starting to shine!
Member since January 2024
Posts: 30
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Post by wseaton on Jan 22, 2024 13:10:29 GMT -5
So, if this were my rock I would do the following:
...It's a rock, not a cue ball, and this rock obviously has no desire to become a perfect cueball :-)
Assuming you've given into the above, do you want to make it at least shiny and see what it does?
Run it a couple days in 500 by itself with either ceramic or 1/2" peagravel, then polish. This will stop the cracking from getting worse and allow you to move forward. Then polish by itself. Same technique I use with granite, and it works. As an alternative you can run it for a few days by itself in 120/220 in large ceramic or pea gravel and you can take down some unevenness without shrinkng it. Honestly, peolple don'r realize how abrasive 120/220 is for solving problems like this without reducing too much rock volume.
Going to need a long burnish cycle wuth those cracks.
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Post by tandl on Jan 22, 2024 15:03:59 GMT -5
Nature of the stone, i think it is beautiful . i would put it in a vibe and move on.
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Post by Bob on Jan 22, 2024 21:08:36 GMT -5
If they're fractured all to hell when you find them do yourself a favor and just throw them back no matter how pretty they may look. Life's too short. Amen. Lot's of rocks are like that and have to be discarded. |
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,987
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Post by Tommy on Jan 23, 2024 10:48:06 GMT -5
I think it's a beautiful rock exactly as it is. Maybe it's time to quietly slip it into someone's potted plant and move on - not that I've done this on a number of occasions or anything  |
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Post by Mel on Jan 24, 2024 11:47:37 GMT -5
Sometimes, you have to take the L and yell at Mother Nature's quality control. The only other thing I've found that helps is tons of cushioning and a lot of swearing. And an open space in the yard for when I don't have any swearing left in me. It's not you  |
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