pebblepup
has rocks in the head
Succor Creek Thunder Egg
Member since July 2008
Posts: 515
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Post by pebblepup on Dec 21, 2009 11:34:17 GMT -5
I have worked this material (opalized wood)before and it came out looking great. This time it came out very chipped and had lines of material cut out of the middle of many of the stones. There are also rough spots on many of them. This all happened in the last polishing stage. I didn't change my process at all. The only thing that changed was the temperature. We just went through a cold spell here and my buckets were freezing in the garage. I checked the tumbler barrels and none of them seemed to be freezing. All Junk! ![]() www.pebblepup.com/forum images/HPIM2743.JPG[/img] This is what I kept. Still not the best material.  ![]() www.pebblepup.com/forum images/HPIM2745.JPG[/img] |
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Post by superioragates on Dec 21, 2009 11:52:10 GMT -5
Oh man!Such pretty stuff too! Can you re-do them? Looks like a lot of it would be salvagable.....Seems shameful to have to dump any of them. I've definetly had this happen to me too, and it is just so disapointing when you open the barrel!
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Post by Toad on Dec 21, 2009 12:04:05 GMT -5
That is a bummer. Opal is iffy material for tumbling.
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Post by frane on Dec 21, 2009 19:32:21 GMT -5
WOW! That really is a bummer! I suspect that your barrels got so cold that they shattered when they impacted each other. That is really too bad because so many show so much promise too! Maybe you can salvage some.
Fran
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Dec 21, 2009 22:17:58 GMT -5
Is that a gouge running the length of that stone at 5:30? Was this a vibe? Is it possible something in the load wasn't in sinc with the rest of the load? One stone, or (a frozen) cluster, that was too heavy to move with the rest? Or stuck hidden on the bottom? Something like that could explain all of it. Or not. Maybe it's a rotary. Inquiring minds want to know. They can tell me I'm off base too!
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Dec 21, 2009 22:36:11 GMT -5
Once a few of them chip it's ixnay on the olishpay.
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pebblepup
has rocks in the head
Succor Creek Thunder Egg
Member since July 2008
Posts: 515
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Post by pebblepup on Dec 22, 2009 15:12:29 GMT -5
This was done in a three pound rotary tumbler. I think the cold caused the shattering then the broken pieces caused the cuts that were of various sizes and random directions. My plan is to hold off tumbling opal until spring. I have about 60 lbs of agate going right now and that doesn't seam to have problems with the cold. Stopping the opal works out well because I will need the smaller tumblers when the agate reaches the polishing stages.
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brent
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2008
Posts: 1,316
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Post by brent on Dec 22, 2009 17:49:16 GMT -5
I feel for you. Same thing happened to me.
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