indychris
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2008
Posts: 81
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Post by indychris on May 1, 2008 22:51:26 GMT -5
I posted a question a few days ago about polishing some Picasso marble, and the general consensus was that it wouldn't polish well in a tumbler. Being the hard-headed guy that I am (must be what attracts me to rocks!  ), I decided to give it a try anyway. I contacted Shawn at The Rock Shed and he suggested trying some corn cob media (I already had some on hand from tumbling brass) with some polish. He stressed not adding any water to the mix. I gave it a whirl and am really pleased with the results. Granted, the finish is nothing like glass, but it is day and night compared to what I could accomplish with a wet polish tumble with other rocks and ceramic media. All the colors were pretty drab before the polish, and now there is a lot of vibrancy to them. Now I just have to figure out something to do with them!     Thanks for looking! And if anyone has any ideas to improve the shine, I'd love to hear them. |
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Post by deb193redux on May 1, 2008 23:26:15 GMT -5
I wonder how these would do with the VibraDry stuff
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indychris
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2008
Posts: 81
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Post by indychris on May 1, 2008 23:34:59 GMT -5
I wonder how these would do with the VibraDry stuff I'm not familiar with VibraDry.  Is that a dry polish? |
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Post by deb193redux on May 2, 2008 0:24:30 GMT -5
There has been some discussion on here. I have not tried it yet. Ask Johnsgems
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Post by krazydiamond on May 2, 2008 8:01:52 GMT -5
well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! that is an amazing shine for Picasso!
KD
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Post by larrywyland3 on May 5, 2008 15:06:07 GMT -5
Lookin good; nice to know about the corn cobs will keep it in mind
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on May 6, 2008 15:27:23 GMT -5
I wonder if you put some Zam shavings in with the corncob or maybe walnut shell and tumble it dry. I think I'll set up a test this afternoon. I have some picasso cabs that I tried to vibe tumble finish and they didn't polish.
I'll keep you posted on the results.
Rick
The vibe tumbler crash test dummey
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Post by Bikerrandy on May 6, 2008 17:09:42 GMT -5
Wow, you did something that I couldn't figure out, great job!!  |
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snivlem
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 167
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Post by snivlem on May 6, 2008 19:30:32 GMT -5
I have a sample I made that is similar-I have some cabinet and drawer pulls I am making out of Picasso for my kitchen and we chose it for its color and matte type finish. Pics coming soon!
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on May 6, 2008 23:30:22 GMT -5
Well, the picasso in a 1.5 lb lortone is starting to show a little shine with the wallnut shells and ground up Zam. The Zam disappeared in the walnut shells so I took a cheese grater (don't tell my wife) and ground some more in.
I'll check it again tomorrow.
Rick
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on May 7, 2008 10:36:42 GMT -5
I just checked the tumbler and the polish is looking good! I took one of the stones and polished it on my buffer with Zam and it got a little more shine to it so I will let it run a week and see how things turn out.
Rick
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indigoace
starting to shine!
Member since May 2008
Posts: 26
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Post by indigoace on Aug 2, 2008 18:57:32 GMT -5
What size walnut shell did you use, 8/12 or 12/20?
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tombodc
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 88
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Post by tombodc on Aug 2, 2008 19:07:47 GMT -5
They look great! Some of them look like tree branches across a grey sky...  |
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Aug 8, 2008 22:25:34 GMT -5
Awesome! I just bought two rocks from a guy on eBay (18# total) that stonesthatrock is gonna slab for me for my sculptures. Was thinking of trying to tumble some in the vibe, too.
Eileen
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), I decided to give it a try anyway. 
Is that a dry polish?
