Post by chickpea on May 22, 2010 13:26:24 GMT -5
Hello, I posted a while ago and have kind of lurked on and off since then. I got a tumbling machine as a gift (A CR2 from www.manchesterminerals.co.uk/acatalog/Tumbling_Machines.html) and a couple of bags of rough rock - one mixed quartz and one mixed agate.
I did some of the agates first. They're nice and shiny but there are two things I'm not completely happy about. One is that some of them still have surface pitting, I think I should have left them longer on 80 grit. Another is that some of them seem to have picked up some chips and dings, so from now on I am using polypropylene beads in all stages after the 80 grit, not just in the final polish.
I have also finished a batch of the mixed quartz. Just took them out of the polish today. They are also lovely bit they also have some of the chips and knocks like the agate. They were fairly far along by the time I realised what I should do different. My 8-year-old son put dibs on a large piece of tigerseye from that batch as soon as he spotted it, and it has come out really nice. He is delighted with it.
I have got a second batch of the mixed agate. I am trying to avoid all the mistakes I made with the first batch. It just went into a vessel with some 220 grit (and polyproylene beads) today having spent 3 weeks in 80 grit to get a shape I was happy with. And I have removed 3 rocks that still had some pitted surface, they can go in a later batch.
I have also recently started a new batch of agates I chose myself (not the ready-to-use bag of mixed agates from the rock shop). There is some jasper, some turitella agate, some snakeskin agate, some agatized fossil wood and some Seftonite.
I am having great fun with this. My tumbled rocks are in a glass bowl on the kitchen windowsill and I like to look at them. My 3 children have each chosen one or two they especially liked. I am amazed when I compare the rouch rock with the tumbled stones. It is like magic.
I did some of the agates first. They're nice and shiny but there are two things I'm not completely happy about. One is that some of them still have surface pitting, I think I should have left them longer on 80 grit. Another is that some of them seem to have picked up some chips and dings, so from now on I am using polypropylene beads in all stages after the 80 grit, not just in the final polish.
I have also finished a batch of the mixed quartz. Just took them out of the polish today. They are also lovely bit they also have some of the chips and knocks like the agate. They were fairly far along by the time I realised what I should do different. My 8-year-old son put dibs on a large piece of tigerseye from that batch as soon as he spotted it, and it has come out really nice. He is delighted with it.
I have got a second batch of the mixed agate. I am trying to avoid all the mistakes I made with the first batch. It just went into a vessel with some 220 grit (and polyproylene beads) today having spent 3 weeks in 80 grit to get a shape I was happy with. And I have removed 3 rocks that still had some pitted surface, they can go in a later batch.
I have also recently started a new batch of agates I chose myself (not the ready-to-use bag of mixed agates from the rock shop). There is some jasper, some turitella agate, some snakeskin agate, some agatized fossil wood and some Seftonite.
I am having great fun with this. My tumbled rocks are in a glass bowl on the kitchen windowsill and I like to look at them. My 3 children have each chosen one or two they especially liked. I am amazed when I compare the rouch rock with the tumbled stones. It is like magic.
