WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Feb 21, 2007 14:43:31 GMT -5
Just out of polish, I'm not happy with them at all. I think this is the worst batch I've ever done... been working on these for months! I'm almost ashamed to show them to ya. :-[S ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CrapBatch1.jpg) Local NM rocks ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBNM.jpg) Couple of Utah Horn Corals ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBHornCoral.jpg) Carnelian ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBCarnelian.jpg) Chippy Devil Rock ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBAmmy.jpg) AZ stuff ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBAZ.jpg) Bloodstone from Stoneage Industries ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBBlood.jpg) Botswanas ![](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/NMrocks/Tumbled%20Rock/CBBotswana.jpg)
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
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Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
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Post by blarneystone on Feb 21, 2007 15:24:53 GMT -5
They look pretty good to me. ....maybe a little beat up though... What do you think might have happened?
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
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"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
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Post by MichiganRocks on Feb 21, 2007 15:32:20 GMT -5
Hey Susan, it's not that bad. If I posted some pics of my bad stuff, you'd see what I mean. I've had some that looked like somebody beat with a hammer after I took them out of polish. I noticed the Utah horn coral. I have a lot of the horn coral fossils here, since Michigan used to be a sea. I have never tried to tumble any, maybe I need to give it a try. I kind of like those!
Ron
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Feb 21, 2007 15:49:01 GMT -5
Dan and Ron- You both are so sweet.
I guess most of these are going back again...some into coarse and some into medium. What happened? Maybe I didn't have enough "cushion rock". Most everything was the same size going in. Or maybe it was the mixture of different stuff. Or maybe not enough grit. Or maybe it was just a case of Crap in/Crap out.
Damn. I need a Workforce and a vibe. ::)S
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Post by gaetzchamp on Feb 21, 2007 15:57:41 GMT -5
Susan-
Did you by chance have porportionately "larger" rock in the batch that could've beaten the rest up? One time I put 1 larger rock in and it really did some damage that resembles your load.
Also, the shine doesn't look too crisp (no offense), could you have some cross-contamination??? Keep at 'em as you have a great variety there.
gaeter
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
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Post by stefan on Feb 21, 2007 15:59:08 GMT -5
Susan- I see a few that could use a little TLC- but all in all they look great- I especially like the way the horn coral came out- that is a softer rock and does not easily polish (I think Don did some that came out pretty good) The Ammy- Well they call it Devil rock for a reason (I have good luck with it- but I cusion the Heck outta it) I think your being to hard on yourself!
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erbojones
has rocks in the head
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Member since October 2006
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Post by erbojones on Feb 21, 2007 16:01:30 GMT -5
I don't think they look crap - I've had far worse results in my time!!!
We are always our own harshest critics - but you really fell like you've been kicked in the guts when you think you've done a bad batch don't you? (or is it just me being too harsh on myself!)
You've got a lovely variety of stones there - amethyst always breaks my heart (devil rock indeed).
I like your local NM rocks - wish we had colourful rocks here ... just dull browns and greys (so much granite!!) and the various agates (bots?) are cool.
The great thing about this hobby is that you can just whack 'em back in the tumbler and start over!! I've shown some of my failures to people and they're raved over them... they were probably just being polite but you'll be surprised how many people love colourful rocks no matter what!!
Anyway, they're not crap. That's about the gist of my post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by rollingstone on Feb 21, 2007 16:37:37 GMT -5
Susan, don't be so hard on yourself -- you've got a few in there that got beat up, but pull those out of the batch and you have a lot of very nice ones left over. It's tough to do amethyst well without a lot of cushioning and running it by itself, if another rock even looks at it, amethyst will chip. -Don
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Post by Cher on Feb 21, 2007 16:55:52 GMT -5
I'm sorry Susan, that's so disappointing when that happens. It's hard to tell for sure from the size of the pics but I'd be willing to bet part of the problem was not enough smaller rock to fill in and help cushion the load. I gave up and always use pellets but there's still times you get rocks that just insist on chipping and cracking no matter how much you baby them. Even with a work force cutting them, you still need to have plenty of little stuff in there to help keep the slabbets separated too.
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Post by Jurrasic Jonje on Feb 21, 2007 20:35:17 GMT -5
I think they turned out fine. If every batch turned out perfect wouldn't you get bored?
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Post by sandsman1 on Feb 21, 2007 20:56:25 GMT -5
hey susan that batch looks better then 3/4 of the stones iv tumbled haha they look good id think about wrappin that horn coral bet it would look great --- hey wile we are on the subject glad ya brought it up (nudge-nudge) if you come down i want ya to look at a cab i have been holdin for tony i have all the supplies maybe we can do a trade use my stuff and wrapit for me its alittle small for me to do i have fat clunky fingers and its hard enuff to do the big ones for me i know ill just be wastin wire haha
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Feb 21, 2007 21:03:37 GMT -5
John, you know I love wirewrapping. Haven't been able to do any lately though, 'cuz I can't afford wire. You got yourself a deal. I'd be honored to wrap a cab for Tony.
The horn coral and the Botswanas were the only ones that turned out ok. Hard to screw up Botswanas...
;)S
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Feb 21, 2007 21:09:40 GMT -5
Thanks, everyone.
I'm a perfectionist so this was a disappointment for me.
Jeremy, checked out your website. I really like the little beaded dragonflies.
;)S
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Post by Jurrasic Jonje on Feb 21, 2007 21:19:09 GMT -5
The pink dangle bow earrings? Joi made those. She loves beading.
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Feb 21, 2007 21:23:17 GMT -5
No, they're on your homepage - 2 dragonflies, each sitting next to a ruler for size. They're cool. :)S
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Post by gaetzchamp on Feb 21, 2007 21:23:25 GMT -5
Susan-
I'm a lot like you and tend to go a little off the deep end when a batch doesn't turn out perfectly---ask Cher, I've grovelled to her a time or 2 about less than perfect batches....LOL. I think tumbling is part art and part science and as soon as we think we've figured it out, we get that batch that tends to humble us a little. In fact, I bought a QT66 to get rocks that were more rounded (my vibe has a tendancy to create a lot of flat surfaces) but have yet to get a batch done w/ it yet. I was getting lots of pitting and weird anomalies to the rocks that I've yet figured out.
Anyway, I think your Bots have great shape and pretty good shine and have tons of potential. What polish were/are you using?
Gaetz
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Post by Jurrasic Jonje on Feb 21, 2007 21:24:50 GMT -5
oh ok now I see. Joi made those for Jamie as a thank you gift.
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since April 2007
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Post by WyckedWyre on Feb 21, 2007 21:31:55 GMT -5
Gater,
I use 2 QT66s and they've been rolling almost constantly for 2 years! I love them!
I think the disappointment lies in the fact that some of this rock was expensive and it took FOREVER to be done...our local rock is very hard and can take 8-10 weeks in coarse. I tried to skimp a bit on grit and this could have been part of the problem. I also prefer graded 80 for the coarse grind to the 60/90 I used on this batch. As stated, the rock was pretty much all the same size to start out with.
The polish I used on this particular batch was AO from The Rock Shed.
:-/S
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Post by stonesthatrock on Feb 22, 2007 0:56:55 GMT -5
Those look good to me. I would have been so excited if my first batch turned out so good. Infact mine were so bad, and i was so disappointed, i quit tumbling. Keep up the good work.
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Post by joe on Feb 22, 2007 1:39:20 GMT -5
C'mon now don't beat yourself up over them! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) They look pretty good compared to my bad batches! You're just a little depressed over this. I know the cure. Take out your collection of Cabojohns and Stoner originals and get lost in them for awhile. You'll feel better!!
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