rocks2gems
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2024
Posts: 8
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Post by rocks2gems on May 22, 2024 21:14:32 GMT -5
Hello all, been tumbling these agates for the last 8-10 weeks in 60/90 grit.. today I dried them and noticed the white patches (bruises). I'd really appreciate your thoughts on how to deal with these. 1. How do I avoid these bruises? I have been loading the tumbler 3/4, but no media since it is stage 1 2. Do I still continue with 60/90 until I grind out these bruises?   |
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Post by pebblesky on May 22, 2024 21:49:58 GMT -5
I believe these are pre-existing internal fractures. Many of the chips are quite deep, and I don't believe they were formed by tumbling.
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Post by pebblesky on May 22, 2024 21:52:55 GMT -5
A 3lbs tumbler is typically gentle and bots are not that fragile. I have bots that exhibit fractures. I also have bots that are almost perfect after tumbling.
To answer your second question, you can definitely keep tumbling in stage one. Judging from the photos, some fractures are pretty deep and if you want to completely get rid of the fractures by tumbling which means the whole surface of the stone will need to be grinded off by at least the same depth of the deepest fracture, the agates could become quite small eventually.
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rocks2gems
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2024
Posts: 8
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Post by rocks2gems on May 23, 2024 9:33:24 GMT -5
A 3lbs tumbler is typically gentle and bots are not that fragile. I have bots that exhibit fractures. I also have bots that are almost perfect after tumbling. To answer your second question, you can definitely keep tumbling in stage one. Judging from the photos, some fractures are pretty deep and if you want to completely get rid of the fractures by tumbling which means the whole surface of the stone will need to be grinded off by at least the same depth of the deepest fracture, the agates could become quite small eventually. Thank you for your response. I will continue tumbling in my 2lb tumbler for 3-4 more weeks to get rid of the shallower fractures and move them along. |
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nantucketdink
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2022
Posts: 21
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Post by nantucketdink on May 24, 2024 5:43:44 GMT -5
Some rocks just have fractures and will never be perfect looking.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Jun 13, 2024 10:40:28 GMT -5
Botswana agates will show a bunch of small C shaped bruises on it. Here is what my finished rocks looked like. What I did, which really seemed to help, was as the rocks would finish up coarse, I'd run it through one additional time, but this time with no more than 1 additional piece of Botswana agate in with it and mostly just pea gravel. I'd add 2 Tbsp of coarse grit and then let it run for 2 weeks. This is more doable when you have a spare 3lb barrel that wouldn't be used otherwise. They seem to be very surface level and actually mostly disappeared after I did this.  |
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rocks2gems
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2024
Posts: 8
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Post by rocks2gems on Jun 13, 2024 15:45:13 GMT -5
Botswana agates will show a bunch of small C shaped bruises on it. Here is what my finished rocks looked like. What I did, which really seemed to help, was as the rocks would finish up coarse, I'd run it through one additional time, but this time with no more than 1 additional piece of Botswana agate in with it and mostly just pea gravel. I'd add 2 Tbsp of coarse grit and then let it run for 2 weeks. This is more doable when you have a spare 3lb barrel that wouldn't be used otherwise. They seem to be very surface level and actually mostly disappeared after I did this. Your results are great!! Do you include other rocks along with 1 or 2 bots in the barrel? This must be taking a long time to finish up a batch of bots. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2024 22:29:54 GMT -5
I'm tagging Brent... Starguy - He's a true expert on tumbling Bots!! |
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Post by Starguy on Jun 14, 2024 10:24:48 GMT -5
rocks2gems. In my experience, Bots are very tough. I think more time in the tumbler will help some. Some of what is showing on your rocks are low angle cracks. They will grind out in coarse grit. Cracks that go straight into the rocks are tough to remove. Splitting cracks in bots is difficult. I often split other rocks with light hammer taps sometimes with a piece of mild steel between the hammer and the rock. The reddish cracks in bots are usually healed and won’t break. The white cracks sometimes will break. Be careful when tapping on bots. If they are hit a little too hard, they kind of explode. Tapping on them can also cause the c-cracks waterboysh showed. They will usually grind out in a couple weeks. Good luck. Looking forward to photos of the finished product.
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