rydersrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Likes rocks of all kinds
Member since January 2024
Posts: 109
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Post by rydersrocks on Feb 4, 2024 0:04:21 GMT -5
From what I know, It's smart to do what you are thinking. I would suggest getting a Cabbing machine (If you can), and using Silicon Carbide grinding wheels or belts. Diamonds tend to make really deep scratches, so I would use SC. An RPM of about 400 - 1000 seems good I think. Use something with a grit of 100 or 200. Why would a 1000 grit diamond cut any deeper than a 1000 grit SiC? Alright, he responded: "I don't know how to explain it. I have used diamond grinding discs before and all I can say is that my years of experience showed that using silicon carbide is way more productive and far CHEAPER when it comes to flat-grinding agates.
The diamonds tend to get too harsh on Agates. I kept getting tiny crescent-like fractures when dome-grinding the Agates with only one diamond wheel. For some reasons, silicon carbide belts don't do that to the Agates."P.S, since I question peoples experience, this guy has been doing this for 20 years with almost perfect results. He does thunderegg polishing commissions. I have seen his work in person, and it is literally the best method I have ever seen. In fact, the best polish I have ever seen on any rock. I would highly suggest if you all need any eggs cut and/or polished you visit his website: www.sailorenergy.net/Minerals/DwarvesETAgatesEggsMain.html |
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 4, 2024 0:25:25 GMT -5
SiC carbide has hard but rounder shaped structure, diamond doesn't round off, it just breaks and forms new points till it's gone. That makes it grabby in comparison, so more likely to undercut. It's also digging in as it cuts, as opposed to the more gentle gringing action of SiC.
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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 Feb 4, 2024 8:44:17 GMT -5
I've completed a few tumbles since my restart and now things are starting to get serious. (not CabKing serious) But upon inspecting my candidates after stage one I'm seeing a fair amount of imperfections. There are some rocks where I can overlook those imperfections but others just gnaw at me. It would be easy to throw some of them in with the next stage 1 batch and hope to grind out a few of the problems but I'm trying to shine them up, not make them into pea gravel right? My point in all this? I'm thinking about purchasing some grinding stones/wheels/accessories to use my Dremel to soften up the angles and allow the next stages to do their thing. I could really use some advice here to find the basics and get one small step closer to satisfaction. What should I look for? Brands, sizes, tips etc. would be helpful. I'm totally oblivious to what's available to accomplish this. Gnawing on the rocks is terrible for your teeth..... Mark PS: I guess we all have our imperfections. I have been grappling with this as well. I do a lot of field collected rough and some stuff that would be considered more difficult to polish. There are some stones that, frankly, I would just grind to nothing if I tried to tumble all imperfections out of them. I think there are 2 perspectives - start with higher quality rough, or do what you are suggesting and remove imperfections manually. If I was going to remove them manually I would invest in a double headed bull wheel and I'd try to remove the imperfections at the start or at the 500 grit stage - 80% of the time I can tell what imperfections are sticking around and which ones aren't at the 500 grit stage. That said some just seem to "appear" after the polish stage . . . Most likely due to my lack of diligence than anything else hahaha |
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 161
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Post by zebra61 on Feb 5, 2024 9:26:21 GMT -5
I've completed a few tumbles since my restart and now things are starting to get serious. (not CabKing serious) But upon inspecting my candidates after stage one I'm seeing a fair amount of imperfections. There are some rocks where I can overlook those imperfections but others just gnaw at me. It would be easy to throw some of them in with the next stage 1 batch and hope to grind out a few of the problems but I'm trying to shine them up, not make them into pea gravel right? My point in all this? I'm thinking about purchasing some grinding stones/wheels/accessories to use my Dremel to soften up the angles and allow the next stages to do their thing. I could really use some advice here to find the basics and get one small step closer to satisfaction. What should I look for? Brands, sizes, tips etc. would be helpful. I'm totally oblivious to what's available to accomplish this. Gnawing on the rocks is terrible for your teeth..... Mark PS: I guess we all have our imperfections. I have been grappling with this as well. I do a lot of field collected rough and some stuff that would be considered more difficult to polish. There are some stones that, frankly, I would just grind to nothing if I tried to tumble all imperfections out of them. I think there are 2 perspectives - start with higher quality rough, or do what you are suggesting and remove imperfections manually. If I was going to remove them manually I would invest in a double headed bull wheel and I'd try to remove the imperfections at the start or at the 500 grit stage - 80% of the time I can tell what imperfections are sticking around and which ones aren't at the 500 grit stage. That said some just seem to "appear" after the polish stage . . . Most likely due to my lack of diligence than anything else hahaha I know a cabbing machine would be the easy answer here (and a pricey answer as well) but being relatively new to the hobby I'm just looking to make shiny rocks at this point. So there's another choice in all of this. I could process my rocks the best I know how and set aside the ones that have potential but show imperfections. If I get real serious someday there's a few project buckets to reassess and process. Here's the other rub... Is a cabber the right route to go? Maybe I should consider a saw and knock off those imperfections... What is the natural sequence for people to go down this rabbit hole? Should I just get it over with and order up my 8" Cabber, 30" slab saw and a 28" flat lap to save a few steps?  |
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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 Feb 5, 2024 18:35:42 GMT -5
I have been grappling with this as well. I do a lot of field collected rough and some stuff that would be considered more difficult to polish. There are some stones that, frankly, I would just grind to nothing if I tried to tumble all imperfections out of them. I think there are 2 perspectives - start with higher quality rough, or do what you are suggesting and remove imperfections manually. If I was going to remove them manually I would invest in a double headed bull wheel and I'd try to remove the imperfections at the start or at the 500 grit stage - 80% of the time I can tell what imperfections are sticking around and which ones aren't at the 500 grit stage. That said some just seem to "appear" after the polish stage . . . Most likely due to my lack of diligence than anything else hahaha I know a cabbing machine would be the easy answer here (and a pricey answer as well) but being relatively new to the hobby I'm just looking to make shiny rocks at this point. So there's another choice in all of this. I could process my rocks the best I know how and set aside the ones that have potential but show imperfections. If I get real serious someday there's a few project buckets to reassess and process. Here's the other rub... Is a cabber the right route to go? Maybe I should consider a saw and knock off those imperfections... What is the natural sequence for people to go down this rabbit hole? Should I just get it over with and order up my 8" Cabber, 30" slab saw and a 28" flat lap to save a few steps?   haha |
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 5, 2024 21:43:47 GMT -5
I have been grappling with this as well. I do a lot of field collected rough and some stuff that would be considered more difficult to polish. There are some stones that, frankly, I would just grind to nothing if I tried to tumble all imperfections out of them. I think there are 2 perspectives - start with higher quality rough, or do what you are suggesting and remove imperfections manually. If I was going to remove them manually I would invest in a double headed bull wheel and I'd try to remove the imperfections at the start or at the 500 grit stage - 80% of the time I can tell what imperfections are sticking around and which ones aren't at the 500 grit stage. That said some just seem to "appear" after the polish stage . . . Most likely due to my lack of diligence than anything else hahaha I know a cabbing machine would be the easy answer here (and a pricey answer as well) but being relatively new to the hobby I'm just looking to make shiny rocks at this point. So there's another choice in all of this. I could process my rocks the best I know how and set aside the ones that have potential but show imperfections. If I get real serious someday there's a few project buckets to reassess and process. Here's the other rub... Is a cabber the right route to go? Maybe I should consider a saw and knock off those imperfections... What is the natural sequence for people to go down this rabbit hole? Should I just get it over with and order up my 8" Cabber, 30" slab saw and a 28" flat lap to save a few steps? When I first started my "adventure", I started off with tumbling. I quickly learned I wanted "faster" results. So, I made some cabochons with my Dremel. I decided I loved making cabs...and wanted to make them "easier". So, I bought a slant cabber - figuring that would appease me. Nope...I did that for a year, but knew in my heart I wanted a cabbing machine...so I got my KN Cabber 6. I can't say I "regret" making my moves slowly...however, I kinda knew right from the start where I was going to go with cabbing...so I could have skipped the slant cabber. If you're questioning where you're going with the hobby, by all means, acquire your "tools" incrementally. However, if you know in your heart where you're going with the hobby, save yourself a few bucks on the "mid-grade" equipment and just go for the gusto. Just my thoughts...  |
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 161
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Post by zebra61 on Feb 6, 2024 13:54:59 GMT -5
I know a cabbing machine would be the easy answer here (and a pricey answer as well) but being relatively new to the hobby I'm just looking to make shiny rocks at this point. So there's another choice in all of this. I could process my rocks the best I know how and set aside the ones that have potential but show imperfections. If I get real serious someday there's a few project buckets to reassess and process. Here's the other rub... Is a cabber the right route to go? Maybe I should consider a saw and knock off those imperfections... What is the natural sequence for people to go down this rabbit hole? Should I just get it over with and order up my 8" Cabber, 30" slab saw and a 28" flat lap to save a few steps? When I first started my "adventure", I started off with tumbling. I quickly learned I wanted "faster" results. So, I made some cabochons with my Dremel. I decided I loved making cabs...and wanted to make them "easier". So, I bought a slant cabber - figuring that would appease me. Nope...I did that for a year, but knew in my heart I wanted a cabbing machine...so I got my KN Cabber 6. I can't say I "regret" making my moves slowly...however, I kinda knew right from the start where I was going to go with cabbing...so I could have skipped the slant cabber. If you're questioning where you're going with the hobby, by all means, acquire your "tools" incrementally. However, if you know in your heart where you're going with the hobby, save yourself a few bucks on the "mid-grade" equipment and just go for the gusto. Just my thoughts... They sound like good thoughts jasoninsd. I dusted off the old tumbler this Winter without any plan at all. As things have progressed I've added two more rotary tumblers and a vibe but then my taste for rocks became more critical and I'm looking for more perfection. Truthfully I don't have an artistic bone in my body so I don't see me getting into the jewelry scene. I'm gonna stay on course for the Dremel plan and see how long it takes to get frustrated with my results after that. Things will probably change.. They usually do... 'incrementally'... |
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haha
