tinker
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2009
Posts: 3
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Post by tinker on Dec 24, 2009 20:55:21 GMT -5
I am new to this board,(and tumbling) though I have been lurking for a few months. I just finished up my second batch of rocks, and neither batch were as polished/shiney as I expected. The 1st batch was mostly stuff I collected along the road, and I think I just had a lot of wrong stuff in there. But the second batch is jasper and agates that I purchased. I have well water, with a lot of minerals. Could this be causing a problem in my final polish? I'm thinking of rerunning both batches (minus the ones in the 1st batch that are course)in phase 4 again, using distilled water.
Does anyone else have hard water problems, or am I doing something else wrong?
Thanks!
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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 Dec 24, 2009 21:14:15 GMT -5
Howdy, Where I lived before, we had very hard water and I never experienced any associated tumbling problems. I'm on a well here and still no problems so I guess that's not your problem. Most failures to achieve a mirror polish that are not caused by choice of raw material are due to A. poor choice of final polish B. Failure to do the first three stages properly, especially the initial coarse grind which should produce smooth surfaces where you want them C. Failure to run prepolish or polish for a long enough period. D. Failure to have a good mix of sizes with lots of smalls to cause good surface to surface contact and cushion the load, or E. Contamination of the load with grit from the previous stages.....Mel
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Post by Toad on Dec 24, 2009 21:50:59 GMT -5
What Mel said...
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 24, 2009 22:23:41 GMT -5
Minerals can cause a haze on the rocks. At my Jan show my rock slabs are "covered with snow" when the water evaporates. Some vendors keep a little vinegar in the pans. I gave up and keep spray bottles handy. It is really bad water (Colorado River).
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Post by susand24224 on Dec 26, 2009 22:49:55 GMT -5
I also have differet results with different water. I just moved about two hours away and my issue is not hard water, it is the darn water softener that the owners of the house that I rent use. I am finding that it often takes 2-3 weeks in polish where previously it took one week; a burnishing of 1-3 days following polish is helpful now and didn't make a difference before, and a one day "wash" between pre-polish and polish is now essential. Since I using the same tumblers, grit and polish from the same source, and the same techniques, I am assuming that this is the water. I also experience the "haze" that John describes and can literally rub a "polished" rock on my sweatshirt and immediately have a much better shine.
I have no idea whether this is your problem; as mentioned, there are numerous things that can cause a poor polish. But it will only take a few times of experimenting to make that determination.
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tinker
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2009
Posts: 3
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Post by tinker on Dec 28, 2009 10:40:22 GMT -5
Thanks guys for your responses. Susan, I like your idea of a "wash" between phases. I did buy some Ivory Snow for washing. I'll be more careful in selection from now on, try the wash between, and use distilled water for the last phase. I'll see if that wakes a difference.
I have a batch in phase 1 & one in phase 3, and after 4 days my belt broke. Since it was the holidays, it didn't get changed for 3 days, so now it is restarted, and 3 days behind schedule. The 1 batch has some wonderful amathyst from Miner John, and is looking good so far.
Thanks again.
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CUL-Ann
spending too much on rocks
rock lover~
Member since September 2008
Posts: 380
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Post by CUL-Ann on Dec 28, 2009 11:59:09 GMT -5
Tinker, what kind of machine do you have that the belt broke? It sounds like you didn't get much usage before the belt broke.Some machines can use a hair ponytail band($ store) for a belt tell you can get a new one. Our 1st machines broke down all the time, now we have only Lortone machines.
Oh and welcome, this site is the best.!!!
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