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Post by Tonyterner on Mar 20, 2008 13:34:00 GMT -5
I've been working on this batch of softer stones since the summer. I do the first two stages in a tumbler and the prepolish and polish in a vibe. It takes a lot of batches in my 3 lb tumblers to fill the vibe. In the batch is amazonite, sodalite, apache tears, japanese beach stones, tiny moonstones and some green diopside. The diopside was a big disappointment. It was one of the first stones I that I ever purchased. I didn't know at the time that cleavage was going to be a huge problem and they almost disintegrated in the first tumble. Oh well live and learn. The whole batch.  Apache tears from my secret santa, could be shinier but it was my first time with these.  Local rocks. I think its chert. I find flint and pretty quartz crystals in the same stream. Its the only place I have found decent rocks around here.  Japanese beach stones from Connrock. Thanks Tom they are great!  Labradorite, a real disappointment. The chunk I bought had a great window of color but one cut past that there was almost no color in any direction. There isn't one bit of flash in any of these.  Sodalite.  Palomino picture stone from Firewalker. Pretty stuff. These were off cuts from making cabs.  Thanks for looking. |
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Mar 20, 2008 14:21:02 GMT -5
Great stuff. I've been wondering what Labradorite would do in the tumbler.
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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 20, 2008 17:52:00 GMT -5
Great batch Tony ... I have some apache tears but havent started them yet .. I'd like to get a full batch together , I read they are best run alone , The sodalite looks great , I just finished some also , got about the same amount of shine , I'm pretty happy with them. what polish did you use?
Wolf
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 20, 2008 19:13:26 GMT -5
Great batch, lots of color in the first pic. Nice!  |
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holdemplyer
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 418
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Post by holdemplyer on Mar 20, 2008 19:40:58 GMT -5
OK, i'll tiptoe to that line...... I've never heard it said that cleavage could be a problem before! still a really nice looking batch, I really like the apache tears, i really want to do a batch of those, may even be my next project. again, a really nice batch in my opinion.
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luv2hound
freely admits to licking rocks
I try & I try, but dang it! Those rocks just keep ending up in my pockets
Member since June 2007
Posts: 890
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Post by luv2hound on Mar 20, 2008 20:35:52 GMT -5
Tony this is a great batch. I see a lot of rocks I like. THe little reds ones you think are local chert are really nice. The japanese stones are great too. I'd like to know what the big green stone is in the upper right? I really cant pick a favorite though they are all so pretty.
~~Mitzi~~
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Post by Titania on Mar 21, 2008 7:03:21 GMT -5
Nice looking batch, Tony! I love those mixed runs.  How'd the amazonite turn out for you? I've tumbled a bunch...some comes out really nice, some not so nice. Looks like yours turned out pretty well. |
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Post by Tonyterner on Mar 21, 2008 9:54:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments all.
Woldfden, I have a batch of apache tears running right now. I do have some obsidain mixed in with it though. I'm not sure what the polish is. I got it in a kit off of ebay when I first started tumbling. Is there any way to tell what it is just from observation?
Mitzi, anything green is amazonite. This stuff comes from canada. I got mixed results with it, some pieces came out really well and other just so so.
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montagieu
starting to shine!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 28
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Post by montagieu on Mar 21, 2008 11:21:05 GMT -5
Really like the Palomino Picture Stone. After seeing the sodalite pics, my wife is now insisting I order some and put it in the tumbling queue!
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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 22, 2008 11:11:44 GMT -5
Nice batch! Your Apache tears turned out very well. And I'm shocked. I had read here that obsidian should always be tumbled alone, and I've managed one batch. I have several large chunks and I took a hammer to one (before I had a saw) and filled a barrel. I combined a lot of the recipes and tips that I searched for on this board and babied those suckers all the way through.
I used Karo syrup in the slurry. It went really well (although time consuming and messy) but the burnishing between stages made me cringe (no Karo syrup in there). Some of my larger pieces would show a little wear on the edges and one corner just got knocked off, but the shine was good.
I'd read that tin oxide was best, so I got some just for obsidian. I tried it on another batch of jasper and agate, and wasn't happy with the results, so I'll keep it for obsidian. I hear you can make nice wind chimes with obsidian, and I think I'll try another batch with some cut pieces.
One recipe I read here was ----------6 weeks in 60/90 - not opening at all
then 2 weeks in AO and they supposedly come out perfect. I may try it.
Turq
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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 23, 2008 18:52:11 GMT -5
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huffstuff
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2007
Posts: 1,222
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Post by huffstuff on Mar 23, 2008 21:18:11 GMT -5
Wow, still some nice stuff there, Tony. You've been busy lately. Can I cover it all (all your recent posts) with a blanket statement that I like everything I've seen.... ?
Amy
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Post by Tonyterner on Mar 24, 2008 9:08:21 GMT -5
Thanks all for the comments.
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How'd the amazonite turn out for you? I've tumbled a bunch...some comes out really nice, some not so nice. Looks like yours turned out pretty well. 
