tombodc
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 88
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Post by tombodc on Aug 16, 2008 17:47:42 GMT -5
I only have a little and I would like to not mess it up, lol.
I also have some garnet that I need to tumble and it is so small that I am worried it might not survive my rookie tumbling...
Tom
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randy
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
Posts: 117
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Post by randy on Aug 17, 2008 11:00:46 GMT -5
where did you get your rough garnet? I have wanted to some too; but, I did not want to spend too much as I might mess it up! Good luck with the garnets.
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Post by cpdad on Aug 17, 2008 12:42:56 GMT -5
tom...i was going to try a batch of tourmaline but was told i would probably be wasting my time....in common grade tourmaline...its usually full of cracks ...even if you cant see them....and constantly chip during a tumble....not saying you cant do it....if you give them a tumble....dont keep trying to get the chips out...just be prepared to move on chipped pieces.....the areas that dont chip....will polish just fine. for yaws garnet questions.....i use those small babies for filler a lot....they tumble nicely.....see link below.....kev. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=Pictures&action=display&thread=13834 |
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tombodc
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 88
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Post by tombodc on Aug 17, 2008 14:41:01 GMT -5
Randy, I got my rough garnet from Emerald Hollow mines in NC. I went there with my kids for Father's Day last. I found a good hand full of small specimens and I am hopiong to not mess them up, lol. cpdad I sure hope my Garnet turns out as nice as yours did. I love them already, lol. I guess I need to plan another trip to the mines and see if I can find some more! And thanks for the heads up on the tourmaline. I will use lots of plastic beads to soften the tumble... I will probably do them at the same time as some quarts and the garnet and add some ceramic as well as the plastic beads. That can be my next tumble... I have two rough grit going now, lol. I am such an impatient newb  |
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Post by cpdad on Aug 17, 2008 15:03:08 GMT -5
no..no..no...that is not my tumble....thats dons (rollingstone} tumble.
just do a search for some of his tumbles....he and james have pretty much set the benchmark for some of us to try and obtain....when i say that ...i mean it as a whole......patience...correct shaping in coarse....not moving on until ready and so on....kev.
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lynskyn1970
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 93
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Post by lynskyn1970 on Aug 20, 2008 13:30:08 GMT -5
i would tend to think that the tourmaline would sort of fall apart if it was tumbled. as for the garnets i have tumbled some and they do just fine.
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lsmike
spending too much on rocks
Maxwell's demon lowers tumbling entropy
Member since January 2007
Posts: 468
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Post by lsmike on Aug 24, 2008 9:45:47 GMT -5
Small garnet.Minnesota Lapidary has a limited supply though it's not in their catalog I believeI paid 4$ a pound. 1-888-612-3444.
The cool thing is that you can use it for filler,then pull out the best for keepers.Mike.
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Post by Jack, lapidaryrough on Aug 24, 2008 10:40:50 GMT -5
lsmike,
Garnets are best for tumbling with they work into small areas of stone.
I use them with Fire agates though i run 220 grit for the first stag
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oldgrouchy
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 240
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Post by oldgrouchy on Aug 25, 2008 6:16:36 GMT -5
Tourmaline can be tumbled with no special problems. You do lose a lot of material, but that is normal. One of my buddies made several kaleidoscopes using tumbled tourmaline instead of glass fragments and they were spectacular. Naturally the lower the grade of material you start with, the less the return will be. He bought a kilo of low end material and wound up with about a pound of finished. He used a 3# Lortone to tumble it and only used plastic pellets in the polish stage.
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