rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Oct 11, 2008 20:35:40 GMT -5
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Post by texaswoodie on Oct 11, 2008 20:38:31 GMT -5
Perfect as only you can make them Don!
Have you started the Llanite yet?
Curt
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Post by Condor on Oct 11, 2008 20:48:50 GMT -5
They are incredibly beautiful. You "Donned" them Don.
Condor
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Post by connrock on Oct 12, 2008 3:49:25 GMT -5
AWESOME Don!
connrock
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Oct 12, 2008 4:04:42 GMT -5
Fantasic as always!
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 12, 2008 9:12:31 GMT -5
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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 Oct 12, 2008 9:18:43 GMT -5
Beautiful batch. The cubic rock in the bottom-left of the first picture is so interesting!
Adrian
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Oct 12, 2008 11:10:29 GMT -5
That is truly some Dedication and Patience! They turned out beautifully and only the way you can do them!
Steve
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Post by Bikerrandy on Oct 12, 2008 12:30:19 GMT -5
Those look great!! I've never tumbled anything for three months before, I just don't have the patience for it. lol... most of my stuff starts out on the grinder.
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Post by deb193redux on Oct 12, 2008 20:17:57 GMT -5
the two closeups are great. like little paintings
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Post by sitnwrap on Oct 12, 2008 21:13:00 GMT -5
Your tumbles are amazingly flawless. I really enjoy looking at them.
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Oct 13, 2008 7:02:46 GMT -5
Interesting rock and a great tumble, Don! Did you use cerium oxide polish?
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1rockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 286
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Post by 1rockhound on Oct 13, 2008 13:48:12 GMT -5
One word beautiful.........
I'm currently on week 9 in coarse for my Morrisonite batch, and I think that it will be a 3 month grind as well.
Jason
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Post by frane on Oct 14, 2008 19:53:11 GMT -5
OK Don,
There is something you need to do when you have a BEAUTIFUL batch like this. Put a drool warning! Almost too late but I caught myself in time.
The spots and banding look fantastic and that shine is like glass! Great job!!!
Fran
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rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Oct 16, 2008 23:35:57 GMT -5
Wow! 3 months can really test most nerves. I'm usually opening up my tumbler after 7 days to see some progress  However, the results you show here prove that the 7 day for each step is outdated...my old gem trail book still has this nonsense...and I have proved it to my self that once you get the shape you want in the course grind...you really don't need the 120/220...but can go straight to pre-polish. Excellent results. Thanks for sharing. Ozzy |
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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 Oct 17, 2008 2:38:55 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments!
Curt, I'd kind of forgotten about the Llanite, so thanks for the reminder.... it's been through coarse grind but as a bit of a softer stone I've set it aside until I finish coarse-grind on enough other softer stones to fill a barrel. Getting there, not there yet though. The Llanite looks good coming out of coarse grind though.
Bikerrandy, you have patience BEFORE putting things in the barrel -- that pre-grinding has to have it's own patience demands!!
Ejs, no cerium, these were done with aluminum oxide. I've never tried cerium.
Thanks again all!!!
-Don
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Oct 18, 2008 1:57:56 GMT -5
Hi Ozzy ,
120 or 220 Grit is a very important stage to a high gloss finish I Personally would NOT miss these early stages out
Yep Paitience is the name of the game I still could do with a bit extra at 68 ! !
Have a good day
Jack
Yorkshire UK
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Post by sparkles on Oct 23, 2008 7:00:08 GMT -5
The Master at Work! WTG Don, your last two batches have compeltely blown mine away - I must apologise for posting Mex Lace and Lagunas just days before you photograhped yours - I bet you were cursing me for pinching your thunder  Well I can't compare to this batch - you have some particularly fine examples in there - lots of the "pink champagne" varieties that I enjoyed tumbling so much. Sounds from your description that they were as time consuming as mine though - the pits really drive you crazy hey?! Well I'm glad you persevered, they certainly rewarded the attention to detail. Did you find many with the black soft material in the centre? Many of mine showed a much softer black stuff which ground out far more quickly than the Agate, quite tricky to deal with - and I also had loads with cemented cracks and flaws running through them, really frustrating... Just wondered if yours had the same pit falls... Cheers, Sparkles. |
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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 Oct 24, 2008 1:56:48 GMT -5
The Master at Work! WTG Don, your last two batches have compeltely blown mine away - I must apologise for posting Mex Lace and Lagunas just days before you photograhped yours - I bet you were cursing me for pinching your thunder Did you find many with the black soft material in the centre? Many of mine showed a much softer black stuff which ground out far more quickly than the Agate, quite tricky to deal with - and I also had loads with cemented cracks and flaws running through them, really frustrating... Just wondered if yours had the same pit falls... Sparkles (H), You always post top-notch tumbles, you aren't playing second-fiddle to anyone. I agree that the Lagunas can be frustrating sometimes -- the stuff available to tumble often has nasty fractures that become obvious when polished because the material is so clear/transluscent, plus there can be that bleah black or brown material in an otherwise perfect agate. Just the nature of the beast I think. The payoff is that if you can work around the bad spots or find stones with few or no trouble spots, the results are simply amazing. Don |
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Post by stoner on Oct 24, 2008 18:49:44 GMT -5
At least it didn't take as long as the limbcast I sent you!!!!! Another excellent job, they look like jelly beans!
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;D ;D
