tomsavage
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2024
Posts: 2
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Post by tomsavage on May 6, 2024 11:22:11 GMT -5
I have been lurking as a guest for a while now, and haven't seen much mentioned of the following scenario so I thought I would jump in to get some thoughts on this. Like many, I started my grit journey purchasing a cheaper grit kit with all four stages. The 3rd stage is a 500 SiC, the 4th stage is only a 1200 AO. I have since upgraded to the micron AO for polishing. My question is whether I am helping, hurting, or doing nothing by using the 1200 as a 4th stage prepolish and adding a 5th stage with the micron AO? Should I bother with the extra time, or should I just trash the 1200 AO?
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Post by pebblesky on May 6, 2024 12:10:25 GMT -5
I guess it depends on the rocks. For hard rocks such as jaspers and agates, I have no problem moving from 500 AO (my prepolish) to polish. For some of the batches you can even try replacing the 500 SiC with 1200 AO as the 3rd stage. You can always rewind one or two steps if you are not happy with the final polish.
I even experimented quite a few combinations with fewer steps, such as 60/90+120/220+500AO or 60/90+120/220+polish because each step is non-trivial amount of work and I always wanted to skip some steps if I could. For these experiments I had a longer 120/220 tumbling cycle in the vibe for about 7 days. For most of the agates I genuinely feel a good cycle in 500 already does a fantastic job to polish. In the end, with regards to the tumbling results, the level of polish whether it is 95% or 99%, is the least important factor that bothers me. Some more important factors are: the shallow chips, the undercut, the deep cracks and pits, the porous area, the polish residue, the suboptimal shape, and the boring final look.
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Post by aDave on May 6, 2024 13:06:51 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum.
For the longest time, I went straight from 500 AO to an AO polish. I had no issues with that jump, and I ran that 500 stage for about one week. Then, at some point, I just let that 500 AO go for about 10-14 days (depending on how I felt), just to take advantage of grit breakdown and kind of getting a pre-polish stage without the effort of doing a cleanout and adding pre-polish grit.
Did it make a difference? Maybe, maybe not, but I thought it was worth running that stage that way.
So, long story short, you could do either. 500 to polish or 500 to 1200 to polish. Just depends on how much time or work you want to save.
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nolasean
having dreams about rocks
Member since March 2024
Posts: 58
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Post by nolasean on May 6, 2024 14:43:57 GMT -5
Welcome Tom
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on May 6, 2024 15:27:06 GMT -5
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titaniumkid
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 499
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Post by titaniumkid on May 6, 2024 18:18:17 GMT -5
I saw someone try 5 stages and they said it improved their polish in a rotary tumbler. If you have the grit, you should give it a try. I don't think it hurts.
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mirkee
starting to spend too much on rocks
Started tumbling a couple of months ago but now have four tumblers. Very interested in the hobby.
Member since March 2024
Posts: 125
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Post by mirkee on May 6, 2024 20:28:21 GMT -5
Mine is even more complicated. I'm happy with 50-90, 110-220, 500, 8,000. I bought 12,000 AO, did one batch and was not as happy as I had been with 8,000 AO. So I have AO of 1,200, 8,000 and 12,000.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 6, 2024 20:36:54 GMT -5
Tom, welcome to the forum from South Dakota! Looks like you've got some good feedback to your question. Good question by the way!
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ronnsrockroundup
starting to spend too much on rocks
Hurry up and wait.
Member since October 2023
Posts: 154
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5 stages?
May 6, 2024 23:00:43 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by ronnsrockroundup on May 6, 2024 23:00:43 GMT -5
Welcome from NC. All good advice.
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tomsavage
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2024
Posts: 2
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Post by tomsavage on May 13, 2024 13:50:18 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. I am going to be playing with the stages a bit and see what I like. I have a batch now using the 5 steps. In the future I will play with some of your suggestions like the 500 to polish, and the 220 to 1200 to polish.
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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 May 13, 2024 21:31:43 GMT -5
I use a pre-polish pretty consistently. Though in my opinion it isn't necessary on really hard agates like bots, Swazi, or SD prairie. That said it doesn't hurt either.
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rockanoff
starting to shine!
Member since May 2024
Posts: 26
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Post by rockanoff on May 23, 2024 11:03:05 GMT -5
This is an interesting thread. I myself am wondering if I should do the 60/90 sc stage 1.. 220 sc stage 2. then do either a 500 sc stage 3. 1000 ao stage 4. then polish.
or do a 600 ao stage 3. then polish.
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