firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 9, 2009 13:05:16 GMT -5
I was over at The Rock Shed and they have some beautiful jasper in the tumbling rock section. Is jasper a difficult stone to work with? Is it something that is better left until you have more experience? I have tried searching the site for jasper, but I haven't found many comments on it regarding tumbling it. I'd hate to buy it if it's a rock which is more suited for people with more experience than I have.
Thank you!!
Bonnie
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Jan 9, 2009 15:41:38 GMT -5
Jasper is good starting rock. Takes a great shine easy, go for it. Its about 7 mohs so you can mix it with agates or chert to tumble.
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JEFFD
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2004
Posts: 242
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Post by JEFFD on Jan 9, 2009 15:45:12 GMT -5
Jaspers are great tumbled!! Mook is one of my favorites,.. shines like wet candy. Anything you get from the Rock Shed will be good stuff.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 9, 2009 16:37:46 GMT -5
Yep, jasper is one of the best rocks to start with. Remember to be patient though. Sharply broken jasper can take a good long while to round off in the coarse grind stage, easily as long as six weeks with weekly grit recharges but you'll be much happier with your results if you take the time and get good round shapes before you move on to fine grind.....Mel
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Jan 9, 2009 17:21:57 GMT -5
Jasper is my favorite rock to tumble and an excellent material for beginners, provided that you are patient. I find jaspers to round off faster than agates. I usually have some ready after just 3 rounds or so of coarse, but it takes me about 8 rounds of coarse to get enough for the next stage.
I've got a bunch of jaspers going right now: a mix of black and Noreena in polish, and brecciated, ocean, red, black, fantasia, and Noreena in rough. I love jasper!
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firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 9, 2009 18:26:37 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for your comments and advice!! I really appreciate it. I went ahead and ordered some jasper from The Rock Shed. I'm so excited and can hardly wait until it gets here. My second tumbler is just sitting there empty and I think it needs something to do. ;D Here's what I ordered:
Red Jasper Brecciated Jasper Multi Colored Jasper Desert Jasper And a pound of med mixed rock (I couldn't resist)
Bonnie
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jan 9, 2009 22:47:34 GMT -5
That's a good variety. It's near impossible to mess up on tumbling jasper. Just remember that you can always go back a stage or two if you're not happy with how the stones look in the stage they're in. The final outcome depends mostly on the coarse stage. Clean the rocks and barrel really good between stages. One thing that never hurts is to run them in borax for an hour or two between each stage. You don't need to worry about doing this between coarse grit re-charges.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Jan 10, 2009 3:39:45 GMT -5
I like the jasper family to
Randy above gives you some good advice with the burnishing stages with borax between stages,
Its a "dirty rock" when you cut them up colours the oil up real fast
Jack Yorkshire UK
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firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 10, 2009 11:43:16 GMT -5
Bikerrandy and Jack, thank you for your advice and comments! I'm getting more and more excited about this project. When I first looked at the jasper rock, it's such a gorgeous rock, I thought surely it was a stone better left to people with experience, so I'm just tickled to read that it's a good beginner rock.
A question on the Borax, when you add it to to the tumbler for cleaning, how much Borax do you add? After the borax tumble, do you need to clean the barrel really well again to get all the borax out?
Thank you!!
Bonnie
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 10, 2009 11:49:06 GMT -5
Bonnie. One note: When you dump the borax water from your burnish, don't dump it on or under any plants. Borax is a good herbicide and will kill your plants dead! One of the folks here recommended Dreft soap as a burnish and it works well and doesn't hurt your plants....Mel
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randy
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
Posts: 117
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Post by randy on Jan 10, 2009 13:36:51 GMT -5
I have some picture jasper that I bought from The Rock Shed a few months back. I rinsed it last night after a week in coarse. It is looking really nice already. I was expecting a week or two more in coarse, but it looked good enough to go on to fine grit.
Welcome to the board Bonnie. Are you located anywhere near Kirksville? My wife and I went to that part of your state in 2001 to visit her families "roots".
Randy
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Jan 10, 2009 16:30:51 GMT -5
Bonnie: For the between-stages rinse, I usually rinse off my rocks and barrel thoroughly with water, then put the rocks back in + 1 tablespoon of Borax (or grated pure Ivory soap bar) + the usual amount of water. This is for a 3 lb. barrel. I run it for a few hours and then give it a really good rinse with water. If I am going to use that same barrel in the next stage, I'll give the barrel a scrub with a toothbrush, making sure to scrub out all the creases, before starting the next stage.
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Post by frane on Jan 10, 2009 16:40:47 GMT -5
The jaspers are great! I just pulled some brecciated out of the course and it is sitting and waiting till my order comes in of more. I will run it and get it to catch up to this batch...I only ordered a pound to start with because I wasn't sure if I would like it...I DO! Here it is after 3 weeks in course grit. It is wet. I have found that the picture jasper seems a little softer than the others so it didn't shine as well but I still love it! Good luck with your tumbles and I sure look forward to seeing 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 Jan 10, 2009 20:15:37 GMT -5
frane: that brecciated jasper looks great after coarse! There is one piece there (near the bottom middle) that almost looks like Noreena due to the distinctive flat gray regions. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Make sure to keep posting pics as it progresses! I've got some brec. running now, some of it in coarse, some of it ready for medium.
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firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 10, 2009 21:18:19 GMT -5
Bonnie. One note: When you dump the borax water from your burnish, don't dump it on or under any plants. Borax is a good herbicide and will kill your plants dead! One of the folks here recommended Dreft soap as a burnish and it works well and doesn't hurt your plants....Mel Mel, thank you so much for this advice! I didn't know that and would have been very upset with myself if I destroyed one of my plants. I'll add Dreft to my list of supplies as well. Bonnie
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firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 10, 2009 21:21:45 GMT -5
I have some picture jasper that I bought from The Rock Shed a few months back. I rinsed it last night after a week in coarse. It is looking really nice already. I was expecting a week or two more in coarse, but it looked good enough to go on to fine grit. Welcome to the board Bonnie. Are you located anywhere near Kirksville? My wife and I went to that part of your state in 2001 to visit her families "roots". Randy Hi Randy and Thank You for the welcome!! I'm getting so excited about the jasper rocks after reading the comments here. I think I'm really to enjoy tumbling these. I'm about 100 miles west of Kirksville. I've been in that area to attend the Exotic Animal Auction at Macon MO. I also know where Marysville WA is! I lived in the Lynnwood area for several years and at one time, we looked at some acreage parcels up in Marysville. Gosh you guys are getting pummeled with snow and rain this winter! I hope you're staying safe and dry. Bonnie
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firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 10, 2009 21:24:07 GMT -5
ejs, thank you so much for the detailed explanation on using the Borax, I really appreciate it. I printed your comments out, so that I could have them in front of me when I get to this stage. I'm really excited, I hope the rocks arrive soon! Gosh, haven't even received them yet, and I'm already impatient..
Bonnie
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firstrune
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2009
Posts: 156
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Post by firstrune on Jan 10, 2009 21:28:44 GMT -5
OH MY GOSH Frane!!! Those are gorgeous!!! Now you really have me chomping at the bit!! I'll be sure to post results of my jasper as I go along as well. I hope it turns out as great as your's did. I too only ordered pound sizes, but tried to vary the kinds I ordered. Should I tumble all the same variety together or is it fine to mix the varieties for tumbling? Thank you so much for sharing Frane! Bonnie
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Jan 11, 2009 4:48:04 GMT -5
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Jan 11, 2009 8:25:33 GMT -5
Bonnie: In general, it is okay to tumble a mixed batch of rocks of the same hardness. Since most jaspers are right around 7 on the Mohs scale, you should be okay tumbling different kinds of jaspers together. In my current batches, I started off with just one kind, but once I started to run low on rough, I mixed together a bunch of different kinds of japsers in the same barrel.
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