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Post by E J Cox on Sept 17, 2004 23:03:05 GMT -5
Just getting started. Ordered some ruby rough on Ebay. Actually cam ande seems to have a lot of faceted (hexagonal) materials in it. Ordered a tumbler and some polishing materials. Hope this hobby will be interesting to me. Any suggestions on Ruby rough would be appreciated. Ed  |
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deepsouth
fully equipped rock polisher
He who rocks last rocks best
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,256
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Post by deepsouth on Sept 18, 2004 0:48:36 GMT -5
welcome to this site E J Cox,
you may like to sign up as a member after all it is all for the fun and the learning from each other.
Someone else will be able to tell you about ruby rough I believe.
Jack
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 18, 2004 15:18:40 GMT -5
Cookie is doing/has done some rubies i think...welcome, Ed!
KD
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Sept 18, 2004 21:37:50 GMT -5
Hello Ed,
Welcome ... you just as well become a member.
The information that is shared within this forum is absolutely stunning.
You would be hard pressed to find the information (that is given so freely within this forum) that deals with so many aspects of the lapidary trade, in any one book!
The people are great, you won't find a better group of folks to learn from.
Again welcome,
John
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Post by Cher on Sept 20, 2004 10:16:21 GMT -5
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shorty
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 392
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Post by shorty on Sept 20, 2004 23:53:33 GMT -5
hi e j cox welcom to the bord have fun and happy tumbling shorty
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RiverOtter
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2004
Posts: 339
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Post by RiverOtter on Sept 23, 2004 10:34:35 GMT -5
Ed,
Rubies grow in a hexagonal shape so they are not truly faceted but rather in their natural shape. I have to agree with Rollingstone. I'm not trying to discourage you, but there were many of us on the board (me included) that bought corundum and thought how cool it would be to tumble it and have our own gemstones, only to discover that the stuff is a true pain to work with. Corundum is a 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness (diamond being a 10). The silicone carbide grit used to tumble is a 9.5, so consequently the tumbling process is extremely slow. To give you some idea, I have a batch running now that I have worked on continuously since March 21. I ran them for 3 months in course grit and I'm still not sure I ran them long enough. They are in the polishing phase finally, but are not polishing well. So please keep this in mind. Since you are trying to determine if this hobby is right for you and it's your first tumble then I urge you to get a few batches under your belt before attempting the rubies. Otherwise you will become discouraged quickly with the corundum. Anything with a Moh's of 7 is great to tumble. Like Rollingstone said, any of the quartz (clear quartz, smokey quartz, amethyst, rose quartz, citrine, ametrine, just to name a few) is a good place to start for a beginner. Check around online to several places that sell rough. The Vendors- The Good, the bad and the ugly portion of this board is a good place to look for reputable dealers. Watch yourself on ebay. There are a couple of people on there that sell rough and lapidary equipment that jack their prices up and it really isn't a deal at all. Hope this helps.
Good Luck
Otter
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