pebblepup
has rocks in the head
Succor Creek Thunder Egg
Member since July 2008
Posts: 515
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Post by pebblepup on Sept 18, 2008 11:59:10 GMT -5
Over the past few weeks I had some trouble with my tumbler. More details about that can be on my blog www.pebblepup.com. After I got the tumbler back up and running I started my tumbles where I had left off. One of the batches was in the pre-polish stage. When I went check on it a couple of days later I found that the rocks, mainly Jasper, had a very matte finish. Thinking that the pre-polish could have weakened while sitting during the repair of the tumbler I added more pre-polish to the mix. When I checked the rocks last night I found that nothing had changed. Even the marbles I used as filler now have a matte finish on them; they were very shinny to start with. I now have cleaned out the tumbler barrel and restarted the batch with Borax to make sure the rocks are clean before trying the pre-polish again. My question is has anybody else had this happen and how did they resolve the issue? |
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lynskyn1970
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 93
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Post by lynskyn1970 on Sept 18, 2008 15:07:07 GMT -5
usually when i go to prepolish my rocks are still pretty matte like even after prepolish they aren't real shiny at all. not until after i do the final polish stage do i notice them getting really shiny. i'm no expert on this just what i have experienced. what did you use for prepolish? i usually use cerrium for prepolish then i use tin oxide for my final polish.....
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pebblepup
has rocks in the head
Succor Creek Thunder Egg
Member since July 2008
Posts: 515
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Post by pebblepup on Sept 18, 2008 15:45:35 GMT -5
I am not sure what the pre-polish is exactly. I purchased it from a local rock shop and it's just labeled "pre-polish" This is my third tumbling batch and I have used this on my first two batches. After the pre-polish on the first two batches I had a low shine on my stones. Some of the earlier stones were jasper from the same parent rock so I would expect the same result as I had before.
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lynskyn1970
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 93
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Post by lynskyn1970 on Sept 18, 2008 15:47:24 GMT -5
yeah kind of strange. maybe from just sitting and not tumbling could of been the problem... well good luck on retumbling the stones.
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Post by connrock on Sept 19, 2008 3:52:24 GMT -5
What are you tumbling now and what were the first 2 loads you did?
Some consider a 500 grit a pre-polish and that will give a fine grained matte look unless it's run for a couple of weeks without a grit change.I suspect the pre-polish you bought might fit this situation but I'm not positive of it.
A good pre-polish is Tripoli or 1000 grit or 800 aluminum oxide.
I use Tripoli and or 1000 grit with outstanding results.
There are a few things I can think of that might have caused a poor pre polish.
One is contamination.Another is the material being tumbled.Your pre-polish may be the problem.Or maybe you didn't run the load long enough.The barrel is too full and your not getting the proper action in the barrel as it turns.Your belt is slipping causing the barrel to turn too slow.A loose pulley.The barrel slipping on the rollers.
That's about all I can think of and I hope it helps.
connrock
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Post by Jack, lapidaryrough on Sept 19, 2008 4:57:48 GMT -5
water down slurry, to thin ?
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lynskyn1970
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 93
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Post by lynskyn1970 on Sept 19, 2008 8:21:46 GMT -5
too thin also can be a problem. i also use plastic pellets in my polishing stage they seem to help out alot.
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Sept 19, 2008 8:59:17 GMT -5
I use Tripoli for pre polish and have had zero problems- usually the rocks come out with a semigloss shine to them- I also just finished a prepolish run of 6 months- and the rocks came out better than they normally do out of polish! I think you must have some cross contamination going on-
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pebblepup
has rocks in the head
Succor Creek Thunder Egg
Member since July 2008
Posts: 515
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Post by pebblepup on Sept 19, 2008 23:36:36 GMT -5
Thank you everybody for you input on this. Today I checked the the Borax cycle and am very happy. The soapy water was really dark but it seams to have fixed the problem. As I cleaned my rocks and the filler marbles the batch was looking real good, no matte finish. When the rocks were dry I could see that the problem was gone. Even the marbles were back to being shinny. I now have the batch in the final polish. Hopefully I will have some nice pieces to show in about a week.
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Sept 21, 2008 6:27:17 GMT -5
I suspect that you let the rocks dry out while your tumbler was under repair. Sometimes if you let the rocks dry out without a good cleaning you'll have to repeat that step. Steve
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steakman1
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2008
Posts: 1 
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Post by steakman1 on Sept 22, 2008 15:12:09 GMT -5
I'm brand new to this so be kind, OK?! I'm trying to put a shiny finish on some tiger eye specimens and for some reason they won't get shiny for me. They're smooth and of course when they're wet they're gorgeous but I can't seem to get the shiny glass-like look that I want. I tried the plastic pellets in with the polish (aluminum oxide) and then just the polish and water but they came out the same both times. I know there is a way to shine these puppies but I'm stuck so can anyone give me the right procedure?! Thanks so much.....
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lynskyn1970
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 93
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Post by lynskyn1970 on Sept 22, 2008 19:59:15 GMT -5
i usually use cerrium oxide as a pre polish then i use tin oxide for final polish. i always make sure that i have plastic pellets and not to much water. i have had great success that way.
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pebblepup
has rocks in the head
Succor Creek Thunder Egg
Member since July 2008
Posts: 515
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Post by pebblepup on Sept 26, 2008 13:06:06 GMT -5
Here are some photos of this batch that gave me problems. Overall I am happy with it but it still isn't my best work this time around. This first photo is a piece of Willow Creek Jasper. I am very happy with how it turned out.  This picture shows pieces that had porous areas that did not take a shine. I still think they make interesting pieces.  These are the remaining pieces. I think the Owyhee Jasper I started with wasn't the best quality.  |
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