momma
starting to spend too much on rocks
YUMMY
Member since December 2004
Posts: 183
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Post by momma on Jan 3, 2005 20:14:18 GMT -5
Hello everyone. Im sorry to bother you again. My problem is, Im polishing the rocks and when they are wet they look totally awesome. They have the glassy look to them. I put them on a soft towl making sure not to scratch them and they dry withen seconds and they look at thogh I didn' do anything to them. Does anyone know if there are any signs of a good polish? I am just doing some rocks from my front yeard as a begning untill I know what I am doing.
I have read threw almost all of the hints in here, doen everything everyone has suggested and still know luck. I have had them in polish for 2 weeks total. I would let them go for a week and then I would wash them in just Borax and Ivory soap like it was suggested but still no luck. I went to the library and found a book and it told me to put the stones in the barrel wet, than add soap and polish and dry tumble for 5 minutes. Than after five minutes add a little water to make the soap and polish like mud and tumble for 5 days checking every 24 hoursuntill your liking. Still I have not seen any difference. Could that mean I have stones that wont polish at all??
Thanks to anyone who can help.
momma
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JKowalski33
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 451
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Post by JKowalski33 on Jan 3, 2005 20:53:26 GMT -5
i think your making this more complicated than it needs to be. since you are only telling us about your polish stage, may i ask how long you had the rocks in the stages prior to polishing?
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Post by Cher on Jan 3, 2005 21:12:23 GMT -5
Hi Momma, If you could please list the stages you went through with each grit and how long ... something like,
60/90 - 2 weeks 120/200 - 1 week 500 - 1 week Aluminum Oxide Polish - 1 week
These are just examples, but you do need at least these four step. Please list what you did and what you used so we can have an idea of where you should go. If you've gone through these stages, it could be a possibility that you are tumbling stone that is too soft to take a polish.
Cher
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Glenn
having dreams about rocks
Member since January 2005
Posts: 55
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Post by Glenn on Jan 3, 2005 21:30:53 GMT -5
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Post by cookie3rocks on Jan 3, 2005 23:50:54 GMT -5
Don't be afraid/embarressed to back up a stage or two. I have these 3 beautiful green stones, don't know what they are, they were gifted to me and I can't remember from who, but I can't seem to get a good polish on them. They will make a great earring/necklace set, but I keep backing them up cause I'm not happy with the end result. They are getting there, though. If your stones are pretty wet, they have potential. Maybe a Tripoli stage and a different polish are in order cookie
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Post by docone31 on Jan 3, 2005 23:56:16 GMT -5
Momma, I have had stones that just would not take a polish. I had to cull out those stones, and rerun them with another batch. Sometimes you gotta just keep at it. I have run stones like that as filler for small batches. Some stones, bam! done. Some stones you gotta work at it.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jan 4, 2005 1:41:46 GMT -5
momma sometimes a different type of polish will work - what kind of polish are you using? sure would like to see a pic. along with what cher suggested and are you using a separate barrel for polishing?
kim
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joanna
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2004
Posts: 385
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Post by joanna on Jan 4, 2005 6:45:26 GMT -5
Are they all not polishing or do you have a few shiney ones? Until I got more dilegent about sorting the rocks according to their hardness my batches would come out a hit and miss.
It also helped to make sure the rocks are meticulously clean going into the polish.
Or maybe a different type of polish is needed?
Those were a few of my troubled areas I had to fine tune.
If all else, like Rollingstone mentioned, there's good old quartz. It's never failed me.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jan 4, 2005 10:08:06 GMT -5
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momma
starting to spend too much on rocks
YUMMY
Member since December 2004
Posts: 183
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Post by momma on Jan 4, 2005 15:13:56 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. I tumbled the stones in stage one for a 8 days checking the grit every 4 days. When I would check the grit it was gone. I would put my hand all the way in the barrel and I could not feel any grit. Is that supposed to happen? Same as with the 2nd and 3rd and 4th stages. They all did the same thing. They all rounded really nice in 4 days but I thought I should let them go the full week. I decided to let it go today and I will be putting them aside to see if I might have to change things adain.
Thanks everyone
momma
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doit4luv
starting to shine!
Member since September 2004
Posts: 43
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Post by doit4luv on Jan 4, 2005 18:14:42 GMT -5
It would help to know what kind of rocks you are tumbling. Not ALL rocks will take a polish even after gonig through all of the grit phases and attempting to polishing them. Some will produce a better polish when a certain type of polishing compound is used (aluminum oxide vs cerium oxide vs tin oxide vs titanium oxide vs R2). Some rocks also don't polish well unless they go through a pre-polish phase for 1-3 weeks. So, you see there's a lot to consider here. Don't get discouraged though. Try ordering some tumbling rock from a vendor on-line or purchase some at your local rock shop and see if there is a difference. Wishing you the best!!!
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JKowalski33
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 451
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Post by JKowalski33 on Jan 4, 2005 21:39:38 GMT -5
I don't really see how you were able to reach your hand down to the bottom. When i chechk my barrels, there are just too many rocks to get my fingers in. Personally, i would have left the rocks in each stage longer then 4 days. what kind of tumblers, and what size barrels do you have? also, how much grit were you adding when you would add grit?
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Post by stoner on Jan 5, 2005 1:17:50 GMT -5
If the rocks are drying after only a few seconds on the towel, then I'd say they are too soft to polish. When I first started tumbling, I mistakenly tried to polish some sandstone along with some other beach rock, and when the batch was thru, I placed all the rocks on a towel and the sandstone dried up in a matter of seconds, while the harder rocks stayed wet. Now, if I see a rock dry quickly as I progress thru the stages, I pull it from the batch. Put them in your potted plants as decoration and find yourself some quartz to tumble.
Ed
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momma
starting to spend too much on rocks
YUMMY
Member since December 2004
Posts: 183
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Post by momma on Jan 6, 2005 21:49:44 GMT -5
hey all, Ok, I decided to pull the rocks out and just toss them aside. Im not really sure what kind they were all I know is that they are like down to nothing now. In the first stage like I said they rounded really nicely, but I would let them run for 8 days not 4. I would check every 4 days. I have know idea what kind of polish Im using They did not put the name on the bag. I tryed to go to there websit and they dont have one now. All it says is "LUSTERITE Gem Polish FORMULA II"
Thanks everyone
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