smadelinker
starting to shine!
Member since October 2005
Posts: 47
|
Post by smadelinker on Oct 2, 2005 11:45:49 GMT -5
I am new to rock tumbling... my grandfather used to tumble quite a bit and collected agate, obsidian (before it was illegal!) and other stones in the central Oregon area. He made jewelry for his wife, all the daughters-in-law and grandchildren--and the grandchildren did not appreciate it, since we all lost our bracelets. Now that we are older (and have suffered through burglaries of the remaining pieces of my grandmother's collection), I decided the only way to replace these heirlooms is to remake them myself. On a recent vacation I dragged sisters and nieces and nephews along to collect stones at N. California beaches... and this new hobby is a HUGE hit with us. But we are working with children's tumblers (Natural Science Industries), no idea about reordering grit (I checked out postings about that first!), and a complete lack of background knowledge. I've read some of the posts, emailed a link to my sister, and I really like this site... thanks for the information! I'll be back...
|
|
|
Post by Cher on Oct 2, 2005 12:03:31 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum! Don't be afraid to holler if you have any questions, there's always someone here to help. It's too bad you don't have the stuff your Grandfather did but I love your idea of learning the craft yourself to fix things, awesome idea. You do need to get a real tumbler though, I suggest a Lortone 33B, double three pound barrels.
Cher
|
|
|
Post by xenaswolf on Oct 2, 2005 15:05:39 GMT -5
I second that vote and welcome to you! www.therockshed.com is a great place to start for tumblers, grit etc
|
|
|
Post by rockyraccoon on Oct 17, 2005 20:12:08 GMT -5
hi smade and welcome to a fun hobby. you are not only lucky to be where you can find rocks but to have a whole bunch of family to pitch in.
kim
|
|
|
Post by sandsman1 on Oct 23, 2005 0:42:07 GMT -5
welcome smade
|
|
fatrichie
has rocks in the head
Member since July 2004
Posts: 651
|
Post by fatrichie on Oct 23, 2005 22:29:27 GMT -5
Howdy smade, welcome aboard!
|
|
Duckbean
fully equipped rock polisher
Looking for rocks in all the wrong places
Member since February 2005
Posts: 1,072
|
Post by Duckbean on Oct 26, 2005 14:18:12 GMT -5
Welcome Smade! Sounds like a great way to keep the family together while having a good time.
|
|
halabit
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since October 2004
Posts: 91
|
Post by halabit on Oct 27, 2005 0:17:55 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D way-cool place,welcome!!!!!!! halabit
|
|
drupe
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2005
Posts: 1,245
|
Post by drupe on Oct 27, 2005 17:58:59 GMT -5
Great to have you Smade.
I'm fairly new myself but you will find answers to questions you didn't know you had on this site. These folks are knowledible and extremely helpful.
Welcome aboard and sit back and ENJOY.
|
|
smadelinker
starting to shine!
Member since October 2005
Posts: 47
|
Post by smadelinker on Nov 20, 2005 17:55:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome... I did visit the rock shed website and have a completely revised Christmas list now My siblings and I have also rented a couple of houses for this summer to continue rock hunting on N. Calif beaches as a group. Some have decided to focus more on the jewelry-making aspect of the hobby. One more newbie question... I saw in other message boards that sometimes the pressure inside the rock tumbler can be so great that it "explodes"... Um, my husband, who is very protective of his car (both the tumbler and the car will be in the garage) and I are wondering how great an "explosion" radius is needed to protect the car???
|
|
|
Post by Cher on Nov 20, 2005 18:02:44 GMT -5
As long as you check it frequently you shouldn't have a problem, you'll be able to tell if it looks like gas is building up inside the barrel. You can also add a tablespoon of borax to the barrel, it's supposed to help that. It's not going to "explode" as in volcano like, might pop the top off and you'd have a very messy tumbler. If you have any more questions, post them over on the General forum so your question doesn't get missed.
Cher
|
|