flipme8
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 16
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Post by flipme8 on Mar 16, 2008 17:39:11 GMT -5
Hi all from the virgin tumbler.  I have a piece of what an expert told me is peacock ore, has anyone ever tumbled this ? any tips ? Chicago dual 3lb tumbler $50 (shipping included) price ok? tumbler ok? Also reading some of the posts i have seen that many members buy grit in 50 - 100 lb lots. does any member sell smaller amounts for the beginners? I bought mine off ebay but im sure people buying in bulk could do a lot better price than i paid? Maybe someone could make a fortune on ebay with little work? Looking after us little fellas with a discount hey ;D |
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 16, 2008 19:53:22 GMT -5
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 16, 2008 23:41:34 GMT -5
I don't think peacock will tumble. I never cut any but believe the beauty is only skin deep.
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flipme8
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 16
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Post by flipme8 on Mar 17, 2008 1:20:00 GMT -5
Thanks John, seems a shame as the rock has a beautiful play of color. might just give it a try in next batch and see what happens.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Mar 17, 2008 3:39:13 GMT -5
I dont think it Tumbles
jack
yorkshire uk
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Post by Michael John on Mar 17, 2008 5:12:22 GMT -5
Before you go throwing them in the tumbler, if you doubt what folks here have told you, sacrifice one and either bust it open or saw it in half. You'll be happy you did. Better to lose one than all of them. The outer layer would be gone within the first day or two in coarse grit. The peacock will lose his feathers!
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flipme8
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 16
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Post by flipme8 on Mar 17, 2008 5:31:40 GMT -5
Yeh thats what i intended to do michael, am just gonna cut a piece off the end and cut into 3 or 4 3/4 to 1 inch chunks then fill tumbler with plastic pellets to make up to 2/3 full and only going to add 2 ounce of 60/90 and check every hour or so till i see what is happening.
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Mar 17, 2008 8:54:50 GMT -5
Hi there flip .. I think 2 ozs is alot for a 3lber I put in 3-4 tablespoons in mine is the ore soft ?
just my .02
Wolf
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turquoiselover
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 115
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Post by turquoiselover on Mar 17, 2008 10:54:37 GMT -5
Wolfden.......FYI....4 tbl spoons = 1/4 cup. 1/4 cup = 2 oz. Not being a smart a$$, just informative.
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Post by Lady B on Mar 17, 2008 12:36:46 GMT -5
Hi all from the virgin tumbler. I have a piece of what an expert told me is peacock ore, has anyone ever tumbled this ? any tips ? Chicago dual 3lb tumbler $50 (shipping included) price ok? tumbler ok? Also reading some of the posts i have seen that many members buy grit in 50 - 100 lb lots. does any member sell smaller amounts for the beginners? I bought mine off ebay but im sure people buying in bulk could do a lot better price than i paid? Maybe someone could make a fortune on ebay with little work? Looking after us little fellas with a discount hey ;D Everyone seems focused on your first question and I can't help you there BUT... DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON CHICAGO ELECTRIC TUMBLERS--regardless of the cost. I was so anxious to be tumbling that my Hubby bought four of the dual CEs for me. After many repairs and many replacements of belts, I now have 8 extra barrels for the Lortones I have since much more wisely accumulated!!!! The CEs are just not up to the "demands" of rock tumbling by any stretch of the imagination. As for your grit purchases...Bob and I have 4 15# Thumler's Tumblers; 1 12# Ball Mill tumbler; and 5 33B and one 33A Lortone tumblers rolling. We bought a 50 pound barrel of 60-90 and one of 120-220 grit back in November. At our curent rate of tumbling we will need to replace the 60-90 probably by August and the 120-220 perhaps by next January. Unless you are going to invest in lots of tumblers, 50 pounds of grit go a very, VERY long, L O N G way!!! Small packets of grit should work for now and I highly recommend The Rock Shed!!!!! Hope all of this helps. This is really what this particular sub-board is all about! ;D Lady B |
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181lizard
Cave Dweller 
Still lurking :)
Member since December 2005
Posts: 2,171
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Post by 181lizard on Mar 17, 2008 14:24:24 GMT -5
Hey flip...PLEASE do not tumble the peacock ore. (I believe it's proper name is bornite and the irridesence is caused by tarnish only so they are right in saying it's only skin deep! ) Besides all that...it's hardness is only a 3.
As for grits...yup...some of the members do buy in bulk but I really think you'll do better at the rock shed. They are all set up to sell smaller amounts unlike most members and besides...grits are usually kinda heavy & you'll lose savings with the postage on small amounts.
Oh yeah...welcome!
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181lizard
Cave Dweller
Still lurking :)
Member since December 2005
Posts: 2,171
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Post by 181lizard on Mar 17, 2008 14:27:53 GMT -5
Hey! Where you at in Louisiana? Husband was born in Baton Rouge!
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flipme8
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 16
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Post by flipme8 on Mar 17, 2008 15:18:05 GMT -5
Hey liz, Lady ,wolf,tq lover
We are up top of the state bout 50 miles south east of shreveport, yeh peacock ore has a moh rating of 3 - 3.25 so is quite soft. Seems to be covered in a harder matrix which i managed to impact with my dremmel burr. Damn shame this stuff dont tumble am thinking of using it in a water feature at new home but i guess with a little matrix clean can lay the slabs under the waterfall and the play of light through the water onto this rock should give a pleasing effect.
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Mar 17, 2008 17:55:18 GMT -5
You can tumble it but getting a polish might be tricky. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Most peacock ore is chalcopyrite treated to become iridescent, but chalco on it's own is a fine mineral, nice bright golden.
SirRoxalot
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turquoiselover
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 115
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Post by turquoiselover on Mar 18, 2008 1:09:30 GMT -5
Yes, WELCOME Flip - nice people here, and a wealth of info to be had from ALL of them. Everyone has their own opinion of brands of tumblers. I'm afraid I'd have to agree with Lady B on CE tumblers. I have one myself, and it is working 24/7 and has been since Nov. HOWEVER, it has been nearly completely reconfigured with a new belt pulley, belt and has an external fan pointed down into the motor compartment whose cover has been removed permanently. The barrels machine off their own tightening nuts due to one of MANY design flaws. I bought mine because it was cheap and looked good. It was on sale at Harbor Freight who I'm sure regret carrying them by now because of the belt problem. I have since bought 2 Thumler's single 3# model T's used on Ebay and haven't had any signifigant issues with them at all. I buy my grit from the RockShed, as well. They have great prices and SUPER fast shipping. If I order online on Friday, the package is at my door on Monday. By the way - this "Tumbler" section on the board is relatively new - if you search the "General" section, you'll find TONS of old threads on CE tumblers, grit and just about anything else you ever wanted to know about how to get that awesome shine. And listen to Sir: experiment, experiment, experiment. It will never get boring! My parents lived on Grand Isle when my older brother was born.....about a hundred years ago....  Turq |
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flipme8
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 16
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Post by flipme8 on Mar 18, 2008 2:53:39 GMT -5
Thanks Turk,
Yeh i looked at the inner workings on the CE and saw the probs but i think it maybe overcome, I used to work in a bakery back in Australia and we had similar motors driving some of our machinery and with the right size cogs to keep the speed as close to possible to standard i should be able to rig up something chain driven.
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turquoiselover
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 115
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Post by turquoiselover on Mar 18, 2008 9:11:55 GMT -5
By all means, Flip - as long as you're mechanically inclined, the CE tumbler is ideal. My dad and hubby have managed to keep mine running. Both were dismayed at the poor craftsmanship of the thing. SOmeone (like me) would have a tough time on their own beyond just trying to find a belt that didn't keep breaking.
My dad ended up making me a tumbler what can hold 3 CE or Thumlers barrels with a nice, heavy duty motor. I can load those as heavy as I want, and it doesn't faze it a bit. I eventually want to get a larger 12-15# to throw on there with coarse grit to run all the time.
You might consider that idea, as well. It would be nice to have a coarse load to run constantly, and take out rocks as they finish to move on to other barrels. I find that I often have sometimes 3 barrels loaded up with coarse, and not enough barrels to send them on to other phases when they are complete. I end up with a lot of containers marked "on to FINE", or "on to PREPOLISH" sitting around til a barrel is free. I keep one barrel devoted to "polish only", and you probably should, too.
What line of work are you in now that brings an Aussie to Louisiana?
Turq
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thomtap
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 237
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Post by thomtap on Mar 18, 2008 20:11:15 GMT -5
About tumbling the peacock ore... If the "shimmer" is in the tarnish effect, couldn't you tumble it and THEN somehow tarnish it to bring back the shimmer? Wouldn't it do this naturally?
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flipme8
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2008
Posts: 16
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Post by flipme8 on Mar 19, 2008 12:59:03 GMT -5
Yeh turk, have the old thummler and the two dual CEs (well one is in the mail ) so was thinking of running the thummler on coarse all the time which works out well as that barrel is slightly larger than the CEs and using the CE 4 barrels for fine, pre,polish and bunishing so i can keep running continually while i get my parts together to modify the CEs. Should have an old washing machine motor laying around to use for a build.
Not doing anything atm jobwise, but executive motion geologist sounds like a good title lmao.
Phil
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Mar 19, 2008 13:31:15 GMT -5
Wolfden.......FYI....4 tbl spoons = 1/4 cup. 1/4 cup = 2 oz. Not being a smart a$$, just informative. ohhh ok Thanks for that bit of info , I didnt think you were being a smartazz ;D still being new at this I appreciate the corrections when I'm w rong Wolf |
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