jenny0530
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2006
Posts: 4
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Post by jenny0530 on Jul 25, 2006 9:14:34 GMT -5
Hello All-
I am new to this board! I recently purchased a Lortone dual with dual barrels 6 lbs each.
I am finsihing up my first batch of rocks with this new tumbler set (that i LOVE!) I went through the 60/90, 220, 500 stages and just finished the oxide polish stage (All stages went for 7 days).
The stones are shiny and very smooth, but they are not as shiny as my husband or neighbor think they should be. They have seen rocks in the shops that look like glass etc.
So my question(s) is, am i using the wrong polish? Is it even possible to get my rocks to look this shiny/glassy? Should I just let them go through the polish stage longer?
The rocks themselves are all river rocks that I collected on a family trip to Tehquamenon Falls and Lake Superior in Michigan.
All help/advice is GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks so much!!!
-Jennifer
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Post by LCARS on Jul 26, 2006 0:02:32 GMT -5
Jenny, There are alot of possible reasons why your rocks never reached the brilliant shine that you were hoping for... How long did they stay in each stage? What type of polish did you use? Did you do a wash cycle between each stage? Were any pellets or filler materials used? Try to provide as much info on your tumble as possible (including close-up photos of the rocks if possible) so we can be of more help. You will likely get a barrage of advice on getting the rocks to polish better but it really is dependant on the specific situation. There are so many variables to tumbling that it is hard to give a "short" answer to why your rocks did not fully polish. A very common mistake is to move to the next stage before the rocks are fully ready. It's tough to tell when they are ready if you're just starting out. Tumbling requires a lot of patience and willingness to learn through reading and some hard rocks, err, knocks.  Also, some types of grit kits (like Lortone) use a low grade aluminum oxide that does not produce a very good shine on many rocks no matter how well prepared they are or how long you leave them in. The worst case scenario is that you will have to start the rocks again at whatever stage they did not finish and perhaps you may need to buy another type of polish to finish them. Try posting a more detailed plea for assistance in the "general" forum and you will get alot of good helpfull advice in the responses. Good luck!  |
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Post by Condor on Jul 31, 2006 17:00:53 GMT -5
Sometimes one week alone in first stage is not enough. Two to four weeks is sufficient as it smoothes out the rocks a lot better. Like LCARS said, there's a lot of trial and error. This is for beginners and those that have tumbled a few rocks in their time.
Condor
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Jul 31, 2006 17:43:02 GMT -5
If you haven't done so already go to someplace like the rock shed www.therockshed.com/or Pearson's www.pearsons-uslj.com/abrasives.htm and buy a couple pounds of polish from them. If you were using a grit kit from lortone, that stuff they call "polish" probably did a decent "pre-polish:, but run a week with some REAL polish (don't forget the plastic pellets too!) and you should be much happier with the results. |
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Aug 2, 2006 3:09:40 GMT -5
Hi Jenny, Welcome and keep persevering you wil get a good shine I think you might have not gone far enough in the grit stages I think most USA persons do a 1000/ 1200 grit pre polish (we have dificultie in getting 1000G in UK so I run in(600 Grit) the SAME grit for a extra week = 2 weeks) I also wash (use Borax)and burnish the rocks between stages ( This is a rock rubbing/cleaning exercise and realy helps to get a mirrow finish then 2 weeks in CO polish and 48 hours wash Burnish. Also I always give my rocks a good 220 stage (2 + weeks) that is 1week & a 10 days , wash / re charge I find this is a good foundation to to lay for a good mirrow polish like this, img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/john-edward/March1st011.jpgjack Yorkshire uk |
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Aug 2, 2006 17:42:46 GMT -5
Hi Jenny,
I agree with Jack, most people tend to rush their rocks through the early stages, and that makes the polish stage almost impossible to get right. Like Jack, I run my 220 stage for two weeks, and then I run my 600 for two full weeks. The rocks should be very slippery when wet. You must feel each and every one. If most of the rocks are slippery, but a few are not, those are probably softer rocks and you should pull them from that load.
Ron
ps
I do all of my work in rotary tumblers.
pss
I use TXP polish for most of my general Quartz based polishing.
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