Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 10, 2008 15:06:28 GMT -5
Okay, got my new Lortone QT66 today! WHOOT!
I now also have 5 pounds of angelite --- anyone have words of wisdom for tumbling this stuff or should I just wing it? They're round nodules and some are pretty bloody big!
Okay, so I read it's about a 3.5 in hardness. One site says it will dissolve in water? Heh.
So, into the vibe it goes, right?
Eileen
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 10, 2008 22:38:07 GMT -5
Angelite is probably too soft to tumble in the rotary. You could probably tumble the chalky rind off in the rotary then vibe them to finish. I sell it at some of my shows and keep some in water. So far none have dissolved. I tried to vibe some free- form slabs in my KG-1 Mini-Sonic but had a lot of edges chip. No speed control so too vigorous for them. I have cabbed some succesfully but you have to use a very light touch. It is some beautiful rock for sure.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 11, 2008 0:00:43 GMT -5
Excellent! Thank you, John. I'll tumble it in the rotary for a day or so to de-rind and then try the vibe. I love angelite. Wish me luck  |
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Post by sitnwrap on Oct 11, 2008 0:09:39 GMT -5
Wish you tons of luck.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 11, 2008 18:34:21 GMT -5
Heh, guess I'll need it, eh? ;D |
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 11, 2008 18:37:18 GMT -5
Okay, so I just checked on the angelite and all looks great!
There's only a bit of rind left in a few grooves and it doesn't look like it's grinding down too much. I'm going to leave them in overnight and check again in the morning. If I can get them to a little rounder and more uniform shape, that would be nice and would probably help in the vibe.
I didn't put the full 5 pounds in the tub, just a few pieces. The rest is small and larger bits of abalone and some other MOHs 5 and lower stuff.
I'll post pix as I go.
Eileen
ETA: I'm also getting my hubby to bandsaw off a few slices for me so I can try those as well. I've a huge lot of amber I want to tumble in the rotary and the angelite should fit in with that real well and also add some much needed weight.
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nansaidh
spending too much on rocks
Jewelry artist, graphic designer, dog lover, car nut (etc.)
Member since August 2008
Posts: 311
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Post by nansaidh on Oct 12, 2008 12:01:07 GMT -5
Eileen!!!!! TPIWWOP!!!!!!! Camera, woman - CAMERA! ;D ;D ;D Nancy  |
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 12, 2008 20:15:11 GMT -5
I will I've got a final Borax wash going in the vibe and it will be done in the morning. Once I take that stuff out, I'll take the angelite out of the big rotary, take some pix and then move it to the vibe. I've also got some smaller chunks tumbling in the little Lortone with the amber and abalone. |
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 13, 2008 10:40:18 GMT -5
It's going to be a few more days for the angelite. I had to break a few pieces that were in the big tumbler. Once the rind was off it looked like two pieces stuck together, so I separated them. One of the other pieces just has a bit more tumbling to do to get rid of the grooves.
Couple of notes: I put some smaller pieces in my little Lortone 3# and in an effort to be gentle with the angelite the only other rocks I added were abalone and amber. That was a mistake. If the angelite has a rind you need a harder rock to break resulting stuff up. When I opened that tumbler this morning I had a rock PASTE. The rind "powder" soaked up all the water big time. Nothing was damaged, but I had to rinse everything and start over. I also added some ceramic media to give it some sharper, harder edges.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 13, 2008 19:41:35 GMT -5
I've changed the title of this thread as it looks like it's going to turn into a project, complete with pictures and stuff. I took some shots of some raw angelite that I haven't put in the tumbler as yet. Here is a stone complete with the rind:  And here is the same stone, wet, after I scrubbed it a bit with a wire brush:  You can see the blue angelite peeking through. |
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nansaidh
spending too much on rocks
Jewelry artist, graphic designer, dog lover, car nut (etc.)
Member since August 2008
Posts: 311
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Post by nansaidh on Oct 14, 2008 11:38:55 GMT -5
Ooooooou that's pretty! I love blue....  |
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Post by akansan on Oct 20, 2008 11:07:50 GMT -5
How's it coming along?
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tombodc
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 88
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Post by tombodc on Oct 20, 2008 12:23:30 GMT -5
Wow... that is scary soft... I am scared to tumble Garnet at this stage, lol...
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 23, 2008 14:48:30 GMT -5
Whoops! Been so busy I fergot about this.
I had to leave it in the rotary for a week and just moved a couple of pieces over to the vibe yesterday. Forgot to take pix! DANG!
Anyhow, so far it looks great. No huge loss of size or anything. I'll catch some pix before I move it to the 500g.
Eileen
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Oct 28, 2008 17:09:56 GMT -5
PS - No such animal as "angelite", that's a made-up name. It's actually anhydrite. Soft as butter and just great fun to cab. A nice mellow blue that's quite pleasing to the eye. Hope your load comes out great!
SirRoxalot
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 28, 2008 17:52:20 GMT -5
Technically all names aside from the chemical names are "made up". The chemical names were "made up" also. I'm sure the first guy that called them "rocks" made that up too.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Oct 29, 2008 15:22:30 GMT -5
The thread subject line does have "anhydrite" in it.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Nov 13, 2008 7:59:46 GMT -5
Unfortunately the angelite -- and a few other soft rocks -- I had in the vibe suffered major fatalities. During the 500g stage the lid popped off the tumbler and everything dried out. I don't know how at what point during the 12 hour shift it started to run like that, but when I checked it in the evening all the angelite had shattered  Dat's okay, though, I have a new batch running and the opening under the lid is sealed with Press and Seal -- the stuff you use to freeze things. Eileen |
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Nov 23, 2008 23:44:29 GMT -5
The angelite is out of the final burnish and I can say that I'm not impressed with the results. I have some pictures of the 500g cycle and I will take some pictures of the final results in the AM.
I looked at the angelite tumbles I bought off eBay earlier in the year and suspect they waxed the final product. I did take one of the smaller ones I did and did a beeswax dip and buff, as well as a bowling alley coat and it brought the color and shine almost to par with the purchased tumbles.
Pix in the AM.
Eileen
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