oldutahgal
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2010
Posts: 2
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Post by oldutahgal on Apr 24, 2010 17:19:21 GMT -5
Hi everyone
I have quite a few rocks that I picked up on the beach in Northen Calif. last summer.
They are round and smooth and pretty much the size that I would lile the finished rock to be.
I would like to get them to a polished stage. Where do I start the process? Do they need to put in rough grit or should I start with a finer grit?
Thanks for any help.
Charmane
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 24, 2010 21:59:42 GMT -5
I've tumbled a lot of beach rock. They always come out better after at least a short run in 60/90 (several days to a week). Even though they are nicely rounded there are usually some deep scratches. I used to have access to a private beach in Central CA. that was literally all rock. You could fill buckets with good unfractured, unblemished rocks. They still came out better with a 60/90 run.
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 24, 2010 22:01:14 GMT -5
By the way, always wash beach rocks well before tumbling. You sometimes get a lot of organic crud.
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Apr 24, 2010 22:32:46 GMT -5
If you need some quickly (2-3 weeks) polished rocks of average quality for some project you can get away with starting at 120/220 with carefully selected cleaned beach rocks. But as John says it is best to do a 60/90 run first.
Steve
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 25, 2010 13:49:56 GMT -5
You should also test hardness and/or smash one to see if there are pits and fractures all the way to the center. Some beach rock is quartzite, and will take a hard polish. Other rock is very altered jasper, and is too soft to take a polish. Too many folks mistakenly believe any rock can be polished.
The fact that these are very rounded suggests that they may be the softer variety. Post a pic and maybe we can give an opinion on whether the rock will polish.
If they are not going to polish, you need to think about clear coatings.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Apr 27, 2010 1:54:19 GMT -5
Hi I polish a lot of beach rocks I dont bother to wash them as John says as I" Vibe" them and the vibe has a open top to let the gas out, You MUST wash them if you use a rotary tumbler I just use a pocket knife to see the hardness 99% polish but you always get the awkward one that wont I can polish to this standard in 12 days starting from 220 grit img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/john-edward/March1st007.jpgJack yorkshire UK |
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oldutahgal
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2010
Posts: 2
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Post by oldutahgal on May 2, 2010 10:00:15 GMT -5
Thanks so much everyone for your replies. I will figure out what to do with them shortly.
I think will get a vibe since I have a lot of smooth rocks and would like to cut down the time to polish them.
Right now I have a little rock wall where I stack all my finds. I live in a Park model mobile home so don't have a lot of room for anything.
Thanks again for all your suggestions.
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