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Post by connrock on Aug 11, 2009 11:24:02 GMT -5
After another long bout with the computer I finally got the photo's uploaded and if all goes well(Ha Ha Ha) you will see them below! To sum up things here this load of rocks gave me nightmares!I have NEVER treated any other load of polished rocks with as much TLC as I did these and they still came out lousy! I guess I could still "play" with them more but to tell you all the truth I have NO patience left in me and I've HAD IT with them! If I get an Honorable Mention out of this I will be VERY surprised! I tried to make the "comp posts" (Tee Hee Hee) as simple and informative as I can and I hope some of you learned a bit from them and that the "pro's" at least enjoyed the photo's! If anyone has questions and or needs a little help PLEASE just ask!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll notice the rocks didn't loose much weight at all during the polish stage,,,,,  These are all of the rocks I will send in for judging,,,,,, You will see that some took a high gloss and others,,,Pffffft!  A few close-ups,,,,,,that I'm ashamed to post      A couple close-ups of 2 of the worse rocks in the load,,,,,,   Our original "Test Rock" to show the grain,flaws and how it's shine came out,,,,,, The shine,,,,,  The grain,,,,,,  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 25 2009  After running 24/7 for 77 days the rocks are finished on August 10 2009,,,,,,,(i took them out yesterday) Was it worth it?  We'll see in September!! connrock |
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Post by MyNewHobby on Aug 11, 2009 11:48:15 GMT -5
Connrock ...
I think that you did an absolutely awesome job!
Like I said before, I know of a couple of others outside of RTH that are in the competition and they have had similar issues and big problems with the rock.
I sincerely hope that when all is said and done, all participants are asked to give input, comments, and suggestions.
As always ... Julie
Again ... you made miracles happen with rocks that would have otherwise been ignored!!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 11, 2009 11:57:41 GMT -5
Looks like you did a great job with what they provided you as tumble material. When they don't start you out with the ideal rocks, you do what you can with what you've got. You sure got a great shine on what would shine up....Mel
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Aug 11, 2009 12:03:49 GMT -5
That was some mean rough to work with. None the less some of those look like they came out really nice. Best of luck to you in September.
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rocko
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2009
Posts: 4
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Post by rocko on Aug 11, 2009 12:14:51 GMT -5
It would be unfair of them to judge your work based on the quality of the material, since that's something you had no control over. I think you did an absolutely amazing job, that material couldn't have come out better.
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Post by sitnwrap on Aug 11, 2009 13:32:46 GMT -5
Connrock, I wonder if they sent really tough rough on purpose. I am sure they know what kind of rough they sent and what can be expected once they are finished by a serious tumbler and you did some serious tumbling.
Wish you lots of luck. I think they came out beautiful.
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 11, 2009 15:23:09 GMT -5
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Capricorn
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2009
Posts: 11
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Post by Capricorn on Aug 11, 2009 16:03:53 GMT -5
Amazing results!!! The test rock looks like a mirror! It reflects so much light that the actual grain is hard to see in the pic. Truly beautiful. It has been a wonderful and instructive series, which I followed with great interest. Would you mind me asking a question now? I can see what you mean about bad rocks to start with: some of them still have small cracks and pits even after 77 days. If these were not competition rocks, what steps would you take to "rescue" the worse ones? Or would you have ruthlessly discarded them? In other words, without having to consider competition rules, what is the best way to go with challenging rocks like these? Wish you lots and lots of luck, conrock, you deserve it!  |
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Post by moondragon on Aug 11, 2009 18:50:39 GMT -5
woweeeee those are some purdy rocks:) You did a fantastic job. Imperfections are what makes them so beautiful:) You got my vote if I can vote:)
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Post by connrock on Aug 12, 2009 5:37:19 GMT -5
Julie,
Thanks,
I hope the judges see the rocks the same as you do!
Mel,
Thanks,
Wouldn't it be great if all the rough was good quality?
Hmmmmm,,may if they were there would be no challenge at all!
S'w'zard,
Thanks,
Maybe we can call this batch "The good,the bad and the ugly"? LOL
Rocko,
Thanks,
The only way to win a boxing match is to knock the other guy out and leave NOTHING to the judges! lol
Maybe in this case ya have to knock out the judge! lol
s.wrap,
Thanks,
You may just have something there???Just about anyone can get a good shine on good material!
KD,
Thanks,
Now there's a web name I REALLY like.Short and sweet "KD"!!
You're pretty phenomenal yerseff!
C'corn,
Thanks,
When I took the close-ups I wasn't in a very good mood after seeing the results after polish.
The light was all wrong and I didn't use my tripod.If that wasn't bad enough I had to shoot at 1/15th-1/30th of a second which made the photo's a bit blurry.
To answer your question,if I see that some of the rocks look bad after the 1st rough they either get re-broken or totally smashed up and used for filler.
There is NO way to make rocks like this shine and NO way to doctor them up.
They are just junk and that's that!
I had a VERY tough time trying to prevent cross contamination after the roughing was finished.I had to wash each rock separately,scrum them with a tooth brush,hit each one with a high pressure spray gun and then give them a wash in the tumbler with plastic pellets!
I then inspected each rock with a 10x jewelers loup!
I was very lucky as a LOT of the rocks had some VERY deep cavities which hold the grit and cause problems down the road.
It was a LOT of work and a serious challenge for me as I NEVER polish rocks of this poor quality.
It is M U C H easier to tumble high quality rocks then it is to tumble tough rough!
M'd.gon,
Thanks,
I hope the judges see it through your eyes and that all the other competitors had as much "fun" as I did!
connrock
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 12, 2009 6:21:53 GMT -5
Yep, I agree with the others. If you did not have the skills and the care of a world-class tumbler, would you have had any luck at all with any of them? Perhaps that is why they selected that material.
Hey, I could see this catching on as a sport kinda like poker has. Tumbling competitions. You'd be one of the greats, Connrock. All we need is a gold bracelet!
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Aug 12, 2009 8:01:07 GMT -5
Fantastic! Better than James'!
csroc
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NorthShore-Rocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,004
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Post by NorthShore-Rocks on Aug 12, 2009 8:39:44 GMT -5
What a great effort connrock! End the end, that's what matters. You busted your rear shining those rocks up and they do shine!!!
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huffstuff
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2007
Posts: 1,222
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Post by huffstuff on Aug 12, 2009 8:48:05 GMT -5
OK, your work is done, and done very well indeed. But you're right, it's the lousy stuff they provided you with in the first place that makes it a competition.l
Now treat yourself to tumbling some good stuff!
Amy
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Post by stonesthatrock on Aug 12, 2009 10:19:57 GMT -5
i too think they look fantastic...... the shine is outstanding you should win. good luck this was a very interesting post.
mary ann
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10thumbs
spending too much on rocks
I want to be reincarnated as a dog.
Member since March 2009
Posts: 480
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Post by 10thumbs on Aug 12, 2009 16:36:57 GMT -5
Your pfft pile looks better than my best tumbles. As far as the pits and imperfections go; garbage in, garbage out. They kind of remind me of the mixed Mexican tumbling rocks I bought from Kingsley North. There were a ton of stinkers in that mix too.
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Aug 13, 2009 0:00:14 GMT -5
Tom, you deserve to give yourself a break and tumble up some good quality rock, perhaps some lakers. If you can't bear to look at these rocks anymore you can always send them to me and I will give them away to children at my next show
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Post by connrock on Aug 13, 2009 7:25:54 GMT -5
N'nut,
The funny thing is that I broke just about every basic rule in tumbling to do these rocks!
I am ALWAYS preaching about the choice of rough and to just toss the "runts" in the garden.Why waste your time and effort for bad results.It just takes way too long to find out you have junk.
I had all my fingers and toes and eyes crossed when I took them out of polish hoping there was n cross contamination of grit in there!
I think that's what happened back in the first 1000/Tripoli stage.
This hasn't happened to me since me and Noah we doin our first load of rocks!!
c'roc
Thanks,
I don't know about that.James is a pretty tough act to follow!
Speaking of James,,,,,,where has he gone?
N'S'R's,
Thanks,
Yes it was a fight right to the last round but it's not a KO and I hate to have to let the judges decide! lol
Amy,
Thanks,
I may be a gluten for punishment but a geologist sent me some pretty rough tourmaline to try to get a shine on so they're turnin right now!
I do have a load of goodies goin round in my one of my 15 pounders though!
mary ann,
Thanks,
I am soooooooooooooooooooooo happy you are enjoying this post.
It's been all of you wonderful people following this thread that has kept me trying and trying and trying to do the best I can.
Thanks ;D
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Post by sandsman1 on Aug 13, 2009 7:34:36 GMT -5
hey tom theres allways a dud or two in a batch they look great to me man
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RockyBlue
fully equipped rock polisher
Go U.K.
Member since June 2006
Posts: 1,719
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Post by RockyBlue on Aug 13, 2009 11:14:46 GMT -5
Outstanding shine Tom,I`ve been looking for them in the wrong section
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