thenorseman
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2008
Posts: 4
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Post by thenorseman on Aug 27, 2008 20:45:37 GMT -5
I have never tumbled anything as soft as calcite. I want to try it. Do any of you have any suggestions that might help my first batch be successful? I want to use a vibrating tumbler and was wondering if I should use any ceramic beads or are they too hard? I would very much appreciate any suggestions any of you might have.  |
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lynskyn1970
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 93
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Post by lynskyn1970 on Aug 27, 2008 21:44:23 GMT -5
i have never tumbled anything so soft before. i think that the calcite would just eventually dissolve if your not careful with it.
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Post by Toad on Aug 28, 2008 6:55:48 GMT -5
I would think it wouldn't work well both due to the softness that has already been mentioned, and the crystal habit - doesn't calcite cleave very easily? Ceramic beads would be much harder, maybe tons of plastic pellets, as little water as possible to make the slurry thick fast. And maybe start with 600 grit. In the end, probably nothing will help, better off hand-polishing on a belt.
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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 28, 2008 7:06:03 GMT -5
IMO the best way to find out if something *can* be done is to see if anyone has done it before.
So what I do is go on eBay and search on "whateverrock tumbled" -- I see quite a bit of tumbled calcite, so it definitely can be done.
If I were to tumble it, and I probably will at some point, I would do a batch using Connrock's vibe recipe first, just to try it out and see how the stone reacts. Then, after looking at how round some of those stones on eBay are -- pretty round, so I would think they were roughed in a rotary -- I would go back and use the rotary for shaping stage. Probably a few days in 60/90, check it *often* and tumble only with other calcite.
Eileen
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