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Post by sparkles on Sept 8, 2008 11:55:49 GMT -5
Hiya Folks, Well as you can tell, I’ve Been Busy! Those little barrels can give quite a turnover at times and my second batch in less than a week came out of the polish last night, so here are the results... Everyone knows Mexican Crazy Lace, and I’ve been dying to have a go at this stuff for quite a while. So when I saw they had some at the tumble shop, I made a bee line and grabbed a nice barrel full!  It’s very well behaved in the tumbler, and took it’s shape quite quickly. Just 8 weeks of rough tumbling and the majority of the stones were ready to progress in to the finer grits. A further week in 220 and then 3 weeks in the 400 did a great job of smoothing the surfaces and preparing for polish, and the Aluminium Oxide so kindly donated by my dear Tumble Buddy put a fabulous shine on these eagerly anticipated pebbles in under 3 weeks. I was very happy with the progress from start to finish, and the final stones really surpassed my expectations. I was super chuffed! Hope you enjoyed them! I’m tumbling some nice Indian Agate at the moment and that should be finished in less than a month, so I’ll keep you all posted, Remember to Have Fun with your tumbling! Later Folks! Sparkles |
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Post by creativeminded on Sept 8, 2008 11:59:18 GMT -5
Those turned out great. Love the different colors.
Tami
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Sept 8, 2008 12:15:14 GMT -5
Great patterns! Another great tumble, sparkles.
Were you concerned about the pits? In the 2nd to last photo, I notice two (a larger one near the top and a smaller one near the bottom). The 3rd to last photo also has a small one near the middle. I have some pits like this in some of my rocks (they are sparkly and "geode-like" inside them) and I am worried that the pits will carry grit from one stage to the next (potentially ruining the whole batch). So I generally smash them or keep tumbling until the pits are eliminated. But you seem to have done just fine leaving well enough along.
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textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
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Post by textiger on Sept 8, 2008 13:01:08 GMT -5
Great job. That's a nice batch. Your patience was rewarded nicely.
matt
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Post by sparkles on Sept 8, 2008 14:01:43 GMT -5
Hi Again! EJS - I LOVE those little caves in my rocks! ;D They are little geode pockets - fits the definition in my geology book anyway! I've seen these little pockets described as drusy too. Basically a void filled with crystal growth. They could be a contamination source, however I wash and sort my stones between runs, and give them a VERY thorough clean before they go from final grind (400 SiC grit for 3 weeks) in to the polish. I often wash the rocks, fill the barrel as normal but add extra water and a squeeze of dish soap instead of grit, tumble for an hour and repeat if I see grit in the bottom of the barrel. Often takes 3 wash cycles to rid the pebbles of grit and tiny stone particles. Works for me! The pits I refered to in the last batch were surface flaws due to the formation process, this Mexican Lace is vein Agate and so there is very little outside pitting such as the Carnelian Nodules display. Glad you liked 'em! Sparkles. |
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huffstuff
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2007
Posts: 1,222
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Post by huffstuff on Sept 8, 2008 16:11:30 GMT -5
Gorgeous, gorgeous! I was going to ask about the "vugs" (what an awful name for those beautiful pockets, too close to vulgar), too.
I love the lace! The first one by itself is my favorite.
Amy
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Sept 8, 2008 18:32:29 GMT -5
Who doesn't LOVE Crazy Lace!!! You did an awesome job on that batch. You should be very proud. I love the close-up ones too. Thanks for sharing...and looking forward to your next ones.
Steve
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tombodc
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 88
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Post by tombodc on Sept 8, 2008 18:36:49 GMT -5
Oh my... I love that dark red... I HAVE to find some of that...  |
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Post by frane on Sept 8, 2008 18:46:37 GMT -5
If my jaspers ever finish, crazy lace will go in next! They look beautiful!
Fran
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Sept 9, 2008 11:47:06 GMT -5
A superb job on some high-quality lace!
-Don
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 9, 2008 14:12:10 GMT -5
now THAT's what i'm talking about! that IS my favorite stone! you did a fabulous job on those!
KD
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erbojones
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2006
Posts: 659
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Post by erbojones on Sept 9, 2008 14:37:02 GMT -5
Tip top job Harry - gotta love the lace!!!
When I grow up I want to be as good as you.................
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Post by sitnwrap on Sept 9, 2008 16:17:51 GMT -5
I don't tumble but I love looking at them. Your tumbled lace is awesome.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Sept 9, 2008 17:48:39 GMT -5
That's an amazing batch of crazy lace, too cool!!  |
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Post by Condor on Sept 11, 2008 21:33:24 GMT -5
Great going. They turned out excellent.
Condor
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Sept 12, 2008 7:52:47 GMT -5
Great batch!!! Crazy lace can be funny stuff (especially the pis and seam breaks) You handled that stuff perfectly! Congrates!
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zmd2008
starting to shine!
Member since August 2008
Posts: 29
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Post by zmd2008 on Sept 12, 2008 21:05:32 GMT -5
Wow, those really are incredible. Great job! Gotta love agates.
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karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
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Post by karenfh on Sept 14, 2008 2:24:04 GMT -5
Wowsers, you did an incredible job.
OK, I have 2 comments and one question.
Comment: Amazing tumble! Holy cow!
Comment: Great pix! Yep, you did a super job on your close-ups. I am blown away!
Question: You said you were 'super chuffed.' Never heard that term! What does it mean?
Thanks so much.
K
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adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,790
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Post by adrian65 on Sept 14, 2008 2:36:56 GMT -5
Harry, that's an amazing batch! Look at the depth in those stones, not mentionning the colors! The are really sparkling! Adrian |
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Sept 14, 2008 6:18:45 GMT -5
Karen: "chuffed" is a British colloquialism equivalent to the American "psyched" or "pleased" or "stoked". Cool word, eh?
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It’s very well behaved in the tumbler, and took it’s shape quite quickly. Just 8 weeks of rough tumbling and the majority of the stones were ready to progress in to the finer grits. 
