titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 501
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Post by titaniumkid on Apr 16, 2024 18:05:51 GMT -5
Updates for anyone interested or who has ideas. After the rock came out of coarse grit, we spent some quality time together and the rock acquired the name Araluen ("place of the water lilies" in the language of the Walbanga people), inspired by two poems from one of my favourite poets. Kidding. We didn't spend time together. I'm not quite that deranged. With the same face showing as in previous photos, it has rounded slightly in the grit but also retained its deformed 3D Tetris block shape.  It also has interesting markings on its other sides, including little silicon pockets, some of which appear to be tiny thundereggs that have been squashed under pressure (first image below; it also has a lovely fracture...) and the coarse grit has revealed blue (second image below):   Despite the fracture, I've decided to take it out of coarse because I want to preserve the pattern. Is this the right thing to do? I don't know. There is a week to be haunted by the decision and it can always go back in coarse. If you have any insights or opinions, I'd like to hear them. It is a beautiful rock. If it was me - based on the pics - I'd do 2-3 more rounds of 80 grit the one round of 220 grit in rotary before shifting to the vibe starting at 220 grit. Looks like you still have a few minor cracks/pits that will come out after 2-3 more weeks of rolling. Some of the small cracks appeared after the last round of tumbling (except not the bigger fracture; I'm not sure how I missed that). I wonder if it got bashed about a bit too much. Do you think tumbling it with mostly smaller rocks in 80 grit would help? |
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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 Apr 16, 2024 20:29:04 GMT -5
titaniumkidI haven't done rainforest jasper, so I'm not clued into its specific peculiarities, but I would use smalls to cushion it. I tend to use ceramics myself, but small rocks would work too. Yes, I think another round of 80 grit with smalls would help. You could try 2 rounds of 220 grit and see what you get. That will probably get the cracks out but not the pits, but it is really hard to tell from a picture. That said sometimes you have to strike a balance between a cool pattern and a perfectly smooth rock. I face this often with Bahia agates - in the beginning I ground off a lot of cool banding trying to get it perfectly smooth, so now - with Bahia anyway - I don't focus as much on how smooth it is, or getting out all the cracks. Instead I focus on when I think I've revealed the coolest patterns in the rock. Not sure if this balance needs to be struck with rainforest jasper or not.
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Post by pebblesky on Apr 16, 2024 20:38:10 GMT -5
I have no experience in tumbling rainforest jasper but from the pictures I suspect there are pre-existing internal fractures and chips. It is a beautiful piece. How big is it?
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titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 501
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Post by titaniumkid on Apr 16, 2024 22:45:28 GMT -5
titaniumkid I haven't done rainforest jasper, so I'm not clued into its specific peculiarities, but I would use smalls to cushion it. I tend to use ceramics myself, but small rocks would work too. Yes, I think another round of 80 grit with smalls would help. You could try 2 rounds of 220 grit and see what you get. That will probably get the cracks out but not the pits, but it is really hard to tell from a picture. That said sometimes you have to strike a balance between a cool pattern and a perfectly smooth rock. I face this often with Bahia agates - in the beginning I ground off a lot of cool banding trying to get it perfectly smooth, so now - with Bahia anyway - I don't focus as much on how smooth it is, or getting out all the cracks. Instead I focus on when I think I've revealed the coolest patterns in the rock. Not sure if this balance needs to be struck with rainforest jasper or not. Thanks for your advice. I'll send it through 80 again but only put smaller rocks and ceramics in to avoid it getting knocked around too much. I think the relatively large, flat surfaces might make it more susceptible to bruising (that is a guess though). I suspect rainforest jasper might be like Bahia agates in that the patterns rather than a perfectly smooth, shiny surface should be the aim, unless a lot of work is done to initially shape the rock. |
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titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 501
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Post by titaniumkid on Apr 16, 2024 22:54:14 GMT -5
I have no experience in tumbling rainforest jasper but from the pictures I suspect there are pre-existing internal fractures and chips. It is a beautiful piece. How big is it? I think you're right. It's approx. 6.5 x 4 x 3 cm (max. length x width x height). |
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titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 501
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Post by titaniumkid on May 6, 2024 22:16:31 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on May 6, 2024 22:32:02 GMT -5
I don't know if you know this or not, but rainforest jasper is actually rhyolite. The "pattern" is agate. They are actually thundereggs. Really small dense thundereggs. The stress between the rhyolite and agate may contribute to the cracks. Just spit balling- I really don't know.
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titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 501
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Post by titaniumkid on May 7, 2024 0:20:29 GMT -5
I don't know if you know this or not, but rainforest jasper is actually rhyolite. The "pattern" is agate. They are actually thundereggs. Really small dense thundereggs. The stress between the rhyolite and agate may contribute to the cracks. Just spit balling- I really don't know. I was going to blame how they got it out of the ground, but that's a good theory too. I've read it doesn't polish evenly. Could be for a similar reason. |
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Post by pebblesky on May 7, 2024 11:53:38 GMT -5
I like that this piece is quite colorful. I see yellow orange pink red on it..
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