AgateChaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 167
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Post by AgateChaser on Mar 24, 2006 12:54:54 GMT -5
So...here they are. My first pics of my first batch. As some of you may know, I had to upgrade to a brand new tumbler after my toy-store (gift) one had a motor burn-out after one week. I love my Lortone! ;D ;D ;D Since this is my first run (Yes, I'm COMPLETELY New at this) I was wondering.....do these (first two pictures) look ok? I used #80 Silicon Carbide for 7 days. I just put them in w/#220 and I was going to check them in about eight days. What do ya think? Any suggestions? I'll take any help you want to give. P.S. Thanks Ron for the Rock Polishing guide. It was greatly appreciated. Here's some of the rocks I found when in Arizona. These are the rocks that came with my toy store tumbler. Piece of Malachite Piece of Veined Quartz I picked up at the Mine entrance. There was tons of it around. Found this at the Fire Agate site. I have no idea what it is but, it kinda looked like fake vomit to me. This is my favorite rock. Can you make out the shape on the top of the rock? It's a Rams head. I can't wait to get a digital camera because these are the best pics I could get with my webcam. Sorry about that.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Mar 24, 2006 13:18:13 GMT -5
Not too bad- I run my course grit for at least 2 weeks (usually around 6 to 8 weeks) but if you leave them in the 220 for longer- you should see better results!
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Post by rockds on Mar 24, 2006 13:49:41 GMT -5
I'm like stefan, mine at least go for at least a couple of weeks and usually 6+ weeks depending on the 'rough' that goes in. I have 2-6lbers that do nothing but 60/90 recharged weekly. I cherry pick the ones that are ready to move to 120/220 which usually take 2-3 weeks to get enough for a 6lb barrel of 120/220. You may want to cherry pic yours also if some are ready to move on and add back 'rough' until you have enough that are ready to move forward.
robert
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AgateChaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 167
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Post by AgateChaser on Mar 24, 2006 14:48:38 GMT -5
Can I do that with any type of rocks? Even though Lortone says 7-10 days...I should run it longer? How do I know it's ready for 220? Now that I have it in the 220...how long should I keep it there?
Huh? Does cherry pic mean to pick out the ones that don't look ready to go to stage 2?
Can you tell I'm a newbie? LOL! I'm sorry about all the questions but, with exception of this site, I haven't had many questions answered. My husband bought a rock, mineral, gem handbook and it doesn't help, either. Ron from rth sent me a great tumbling guide but, I still have questions. It's so frustrating being the new one on the block.
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Post by Alice on Mar 24, 2006 15:05:27 GMT -5
Cherry picking means the opposite AgateChaser. Remove the ones that are ready for stage 2, and keep tumbling the rocks which aren't ready in more (fresh) stage 1 girt. Just keep repeating stage 1 every week until you have a full barrel of rocks that are ready for stage 2.
Be sure to keep that barrel full though. If you're removing rocks, you will need to add more rough during stage 1 (Do this ONLY during stage 1)
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greenmann
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2005
Posts: 325
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Post by greenmann on Mar 24, 2006 15:32:45 GMT -5
one thing you may want to watch out for is mixing rocks of different hardnesses in the same batch. The white rock in the middle looks a little like howlite, and if so is much softer than the agates and quartzes, as is the malachite. Put these in the same batch for a week, and there is liable to be very little left of the softer malachite and howlite. One test you can try is to use a nail- if the nail can scratch it, its too soft to go in with the harder agates and quartzes. With the little tiny ones you got with the first tiumbler, I would treat these as filler, they look tiny! Not worth worrying about, but thats a nice looking piece of malachite, so I would be more careful with is. Most people actually save malachite for polishing by hand, rather than tumbling it since it is kinda pricey and is easy to grind to nothing in the tumblers. My rule of thumb for length of time for staying in the grit is if the grit is fully broken down when you open the barrel. You can do you own experiments with that, but typically for me its around 10 days for course grit. If that batch fo rocks still has gritty grit in the bottom of the barrel when I open it, I usually let them sit for longer the next go round. It would be so much easier if it were a set number of days, but different rocks break down at different rates, so I just try and keep an eye on things and adjust accordingly. My two cents, at least
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inflight22
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2006
Posts: 710
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Post by inflight22 on Mar 24, 2006 18:55:09 GMT -5
As you can see, this isn't an exact science, which makes it hard to advise. If a rock is shaped smooth enough the way you want it, pull it out of the coarse grind. When you have enough rock for the next stage, burnish them all in borax or something and move on to the next stage. I think it's a matter of trail and error as to how long certain rocks need to be in a certain stage, and I'm still learning myself.
Malachite is something I've played around a little with. Pull it out of coarse before it's really where you want it. During the next two grit phases, it will still lose size and smooth out more. My malachite was at least 1/4 or less its original size by the time I took it out of polish. I shouldn't have left it in coarse for so long. Check your malachite every 24-48 hours in coarse. You may want to pull it out of the other grit stages a little early, as well.
We've all had first batches that were less than wonderful, but to me, it was totally awesome to bring those rocks along to a nice, slippery shine! The imperfections here and there are areas I will improve on in time, but a newbie is pretty easily pleased with the first couple of batches.
jj
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Post by Original Admin on Mar 25, 2006 6:45:33 GMT -5
Hi Agatechaser - i'd leave them in 80 a while longer that top load - to get them a bit rounder. I think the longest i did was about 2 months with a recharge of 80 every 5 days. Having said that, sometimes the rocks look fine to me smoothed off but still a bit "squareish" if that makes sense? The rams head - it must be an "aries" rock then. "How do I know it's ready for 220?" Well the thing to think about is that 80 does the shaping - the rest from 220 onwards does only "smoothing" - so - if at 80 you are happy with the shape of the stones - then its time to smooth the surface of them with 220, 400/600 and polish. Its all about the "shape" at 80 agatechaser - and what is pleasing to your own eyes. The longer you leave them in 80 over different recharges - the rounder they will be - but smaller also as the grit erodes them Hope that helps
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Post by Cher on Mar 25, 2006 10:12:13 GMT -5
You can run them in coarse just as long as you like. Lortone's 7-10 days is very general and I've seldom seen anything go through that fast. I leave mine in 60/90 coarse grit until I'm happy with their shape and they are smooth all over. Sometimes if there's little pits or nicks, fractures or whatever, I take the dremel after them or take them to the saw. I clean the barrel, check the rocks and add new grit weekly, removing those that are ready for the next step, adding new rock and keeping it rolling. I always have something going in the coarse stage. Don't worry about asking questions, we were all newbies at one time ... you have to start somewhere.
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Post by Alice on Mar 25, 2006 10:47:38 GMT -5
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