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Post by 150FromFundy on Feb 19, 2009 17:50:57 GMT -5
It always amazes me to watch tourists walking along Bay of Fundy beaches each summer, hoping to see a whale, and not noticing the treasures under foot. Here's a few samples of what they keep painfully stubbing their toes on. Here is about 12 pounds of what I call Fundy Rock Candy.  Here is how it all looked this morning.  And here are a few attempts to show you how beautiful some of this material is. My photos don't do the rock justice.      I need your expertise. These are my first cuts with my new tile saw. I am familiar with the 4-stage polishing process for crushed rock, but am new to slabs. Q1 - Do I have to modify the standard 4-stage process? Q2 - Are there templates out there to assist the non-artistic with cutting some pre-forms? This group is awesome. I look forward to your suggestions. |
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Post by frane on Feb 19, 2009 21:43:29 GMT -5
Now, you are using a tumbler right? A tumbler is a little hard on the preforms but they do survive and will round at the edges nicely. As long as your preforms are about the same hardness as your tumbled stones, you shouldn't have any problem adding them now. You may only want to run these though the first grit for one round, no more than two so you won't loose too much shape over all.
That is just my thoughts. I usually shape my stones in a tumbler and then go to the vibe for the 120-220 stage and on. I add preforms to the vibe at the beginning stage here.
It looks like you will have a nice tumble there!
Fran
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rockerfellerz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
Posts: 120
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Post by rockerfellerz on Feb 19, 2009 22:09:00 GMT -5
Welcome to the board, I am also about 150kms from The Bay of Fundy.That looks like some great stuff you've found there.Check out a couple of my posts to see what I've been finding round the bay.I haven't seen any whales though, my eyes are always fixed on the ground! What areas do you collect in?
I think that to get a good polish on all those slabs you should mix in some smaller rounder stones in the batch or use pellets for fill.
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Post by 150FromFundy on Feb 20, 2009 7:50:27 GMT -5
Frane:
Thanks for the input. I have a Thumler A-R2 (2-3lb rotary barrels), so I may run into problems. I gather I should have a vibratory tumbler to preserve shape.
The rock is a combination of banded rhyolite, brecciated jasper, agate, and some granitic blends. It's all around a hardness of 7, so at least I have that going for me.
I'll minimize the course grind cycles and go heavy on the pellets for cushion.
Thanks.
150fromfundy
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Post by 150FromFundy on Feb 20, 2009 8:08:33 GMT -5
Rockerfellerz:
Your avatar gave you away. If I'm not mistaken, that is "The Old Wife" at Five Islands. I have left a few rock pick scratches in the area.
Where do I collect? Loaded question ... where don't I collect.
On the NB side of the bay, anywhere from Alma south the state of Maine, don't forget about Gran Mannan Island. On the NS side, anywhere from Brier Island to the Blomidon. Minas/Cobequid is probably may favorite from Cap D'Or to Economy. And then there's south shore NS and Cape Breton Island.
I'm going to get active on this forum (when rock hunting season returns) and post some locations, specimens, and tumbles in an effort to entice some of our American neighbors to the south to venture to "The Great White North" and explore some of our ocean treasures.
I'll send you a PM on locations later. Too much detail for this post.
150fromfundy
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Post by NatureNut on Feb 20, 2009 8:41:03 GMT -5
Too cool! Nice preshapes there. I echo Fran's suggestions. They'll do nicely as far a holding up, but for all that work you did, to keep them looking like cabs, you need a vibe. Awesome load. Jo
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rockerfellerz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
Posts: 120
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Post by rockerfellerz on Feb 20, 2009 11:21:16 GMT -5
150fromfundy , my avatar is a picture of the very end of Cape Split, taken by me from down on the shore. I've been collecting from the N.S. side of the bay, mostly Ross Creek, Scot's Bay, Cape Split and Blomidon.
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rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Feb 20, 2009 11:25:36 GMT -5
nice colors. nice batch.
Ozzy
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Post by Sea Faring Wang Dang on Feb 21, 2009 1:26:40 GMT -5
Very cool looking stuff.
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NDK
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Feb 21, 2009 23:01:17 GMT -5
Man, that's an awesome set of rocks! There's a whole plethora of stuff there. Definately worth collecting!
Keep us posted as to how they turn out.
Nate
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