Post by smadelinker on Aug 8, 2008 20:18:47 GMT -5
Here is a 6 month project: tumbling in a Lortone 33B rocks collected from a public park in Rock Creek, Maryland (near a bridge as the creek goes under a road, just in case you live near there). First I separated the rough into different colors because I wasn't sure the rocks were the same hardness:
Note the larger flat rock in the upper right part of the photo above--I wasn't sure I could put it in a tumbler, it was pretty large (close to 1/2 dollar size) and I thought the larger rocks would crack it right down the middle:
The rocks really reduced in volume while in 60-90 and I had a lot of trouble with rocks chipping just as they got close to being ready to move on to 120-220 because fine cracks in the rocks would develop. I ended up putting a bunch of different colored rocks together in 60-90 and at that I had to keep adding new matrix to 60-90 before I got enough to move on to 120-220.
I stored the finished project in a gingerbread tin that my great-aunt got me for the holidays:
(Yes, it still smells like gingerbread.) I used AO polish and in spite of everything I tried, I still had chipped rocks in the polish stage! I sorted them by size and color (there are two layers to the tin, I just shot one layer--I couldn't really get the shine to photograph well):
Finally, the large rock, which does have an irregular shape and a fissure in it-- I was constantly in a terror that it would crack right down the middle... it stayed intact! I need to find someone who can wire wrap it for me:
Hope you liked the project!
smadelinker
Note the larger flat rock in the upper right part of the photo above--I wasn't sure I could put it in a tumbler, it was pretty large (close to 1/2 dollar size) and I thought the larger rocks would crack it right down the middle:
The rocks really reduced in volume while in 60-90 and I had a lot of trouble with rocks chipping just as they got close to being ready to move on to 120-220 because fine cracks in the rocks would develop. I ended up putting a bunch of different colored rocks together in 60-90 and at that I had to keep adding new matrix to 60-90 before I got enough to move on to 120-220.
I stored the finished project in a gingerbread tin that my great-aunt got me for the holidays:
(Yes, it still smells like gingerbread.) I used AO polish and in spite of everything I tried, I still had chipped rocks in the polish stage! I sorted them by size and color (there are two layers to the tin, I just shot one layer--I couldn't really get the shine to photograph well):
Finally, the large rock, which does have an irregular shape and a fissure in it-- I was constantly in a terror that it would crack right down the middle... it stayed intact! I need to find someone who can wire wrap it for me:
Hope you liked the project!
smadelinker
