Post by lithrick on May 22, 2006 18:42:15 GMT -5
Well...
that's exactly what it is; cheatin' through sprayin'. I like to run these Heinz 57 mixtures in my tumblers, and although I try to make sure the rocks are all compatable with each other as "tumble mates", there always ends up being one or two that causes problems, and I'm too stubborn to remove them from the batch. Hey, they won the "lottery" that I perform to choose which rocks get to be tumbled and which rocks don't. Since they won, they stay!
I have no problem getting them wonderfully smooth and rounded, I just can't get a shine on them. I finally gave in and started spraying the finished rocks with a gloss acrylic spray. It shines them up beautifully and adds a protective layer over the rocks. It also helps fill in and smooth out small pits.
There are some downsides. It takes away from the rocks' smoothness just a little bit as one can feel the texture of the spray's presence. It takes away just a little bit of the distinctive, pleasing "clicking" sounds that tumbled rocks make when handled together. It adds a chemical coating to the rocks that may limit how they can be used; for example, one may not want to use these sprayed rocks in an aquarium for fear of the chemicals in the spray. Also, it is just downright cheating!
This spray thing isn't without some other potential, though. Maybe you have some nice decorative stones lying around that would look great with a shine added to them. The spray will shine up most non-pourous rocks very nicely, regardless of shape. Add a touch of shine and sparkle to your flower garden decorative stones that will have the neighbors scratching their heads with envy. Perhaps you have a rock you really like that is a little soft and brittle. Give it a coating of this spray and it will protect and shore it up. There is much good these types of sprays can do for rocks for certain applications. A friend of mine uses a polyurethane based spary for shining up some of his better slag pieces, and WOW! What a great job it does! These sprays really bring out color that would otherwise not be that noticeable.
Have a little fun... cheat and spray!
that's exactly what it is; cheatin' through sprayin'. I like to run these Heinz 57 mixtures in my tumblers, and although I try to make sure the rocks are all compatable with each other as "tumble mates", there always ends up being one or two that causes problems, and I'm too stubborn to remove them from the batch. Hey, they won the "lottery" that I perform to choose which rocks get to be tumbled and which rocks don't. Since they won, they stay!
I have no problem getting them wonderfully smooth and rounded, I just can't get a shine on them. I finally gave in and started spraying the finished rocks with a gloss acrylic spray. It shines them up beautifully and adds a protective layer over the rocks. It also helps fill in and smooth out small pits.
There are some downsides. It takes away from the rocks' smoothness just a little bit as one can feel the texture of the spray's presence. It takes away just a little bit of the distinctive, pleasing "clicking" sounds that tumbled rocks make when handled together. It adds a chemical coating to the rocks that may limit how they can be used; for example, one may not want to use these sprayed rocks in an aquarium for fear of the chemicals in the spray. Also, it is just downright cheating!
This spray thing isn't without some other potential, though. Maybe you have some nice decorative stones lying around that would look great with a shine added to them. The spray will shine up most non-pourous rocks very nicely, regardless of shape. Add a touch of shine and sparkle to your flower garden decorative stones that will have the neighbors scratching their heads with envy. Perhaps you have a rock you really like that is a little soft and brittle. Give it a coating of this spray and it will protect and shore it up. There is much good these types of sprays can do for rocks for certain applications. A friend of mine uses a polyurethane based spary for shining up some of his better slag pieces, and WOW! What a great job it does! These sprays really bring out color that would otherwise not be that noticeable.
Have a little fun... cheat and spray!
