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Post by cpdad on Feb 28, 2006 19:27:40 GMT -5
howdy all...i had to order some more grit last night for cp...while i was at it...i bought some petrified wood..small peices... said 3/8 to 5/8 i beleive..is there anything i should know about tumbling it?... before i throw it in the tumbler...or just start out with coarse and follow the progress...i broke down and bought a 2nd tumbler...just so we could start it(petrified wood)..man i can't beleive i done that...but the sound is kind of relaxing...or addictive...as always i truly appreciate the help.
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Post by krazydiamond on Feb 28, 2006 19:50:31 GMT -5
those are some pretty small pieces, cpdad.....you need a good mix of sizes to accomplish a good tumble...especially with pet wood which tends to be on the soft side. pet wood is very rewarding when polished tho, but i wouldn't recommend it for a first timer. get some nice agate or jasper, try the wood when you have a little more practice.
my opinion, anyway,
KD
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Post by Cher on Feb 28, 2006 20:05:22 GMT -5
Those are really small pieces of pet wood, I've got some tumbling now and it takes a long time before it's ready to move on but then I might be too picky. If it's got the tiniest mark, it goes back in coarse for another week.
One thing you have down there in Georgia is quartz and tumbling quartz is a great beginner's load mainly because it's so easy to polish. It's hard so it does take a little longer shaping but once you get past that it's win win win. Agate and jasper as KD mentioned are great starters too and they all mix well together. Get out to a gravel pit and pick up some rocks.
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Post by cpdad on Feb 28, 2006 20:29:32 GMT -5
i have already purchased it..not a lot i can do about it now...it was 2 lbs of it..suggestions?
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Post by sandsman1 on Feb 28, 2006 21:08:23 GMT -5
yea goforit its gonna be small when done but pet wood is way cool when finished just start as usuall 60/90 till you get it lookin good and move on
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greenmann
spending too much on rocks
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Post by greenmann on Feb 28, 2006 21:27:32 GMT -5
Well, you won't be a newbie forever ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) I would be too impatient to wait anyway... collect some quartze and jasper if you can and start with those. When you get a good polish on them, you'll be jazzed to start on the wood, and may have found more in larger sizes to mix with it. That would be my suggestion,anyway. Good luck either way!
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Post by cpdad on Feb 28, 2006 22:09:44 GMT -5
man..i forgot about mixing sizes...would the wood be harder than the bloodstone cp is working on now..or softer..or just requires more work?...since i dont have other sizes..i will put it aside untill i do...after a search..the wood seems to have a lot of names...will that affect what i can tumble together?..or should i buy bigger peices from the same person.
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earthdog
Cave Dweller
Don't eat yellow snow
Member since June 2006
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Post by earthdog on Feb 28, 2006 22:27:44 GMT -5
I don't see anything wrong with starting out with pet. wood, it's cheap, easy to do and most always shines up really good. You can through it in with some other agates or jaspers to make up the size difference. With pet. wood, you can't go wrong.
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Post by rockds on Feb 28, 2006 23:56:24 GMT -5
hope you have better success than I. I did a 6lb load and got maybe a pound that worked for me - kept breaking and chipping in the final stages but if you get good pieces you should be okay
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by rollingstone on Mar 1, 2006 2:28:37 GMT -5
Those are small pieces of petwood, I'd call them "chips". Nothing wrong with that though, and chips will get through coarse grind much faster than regular tumble size -- for example, with agates I find that chips shape up in about two weeks in coarse grind, but 1.5" pieces can take 8 weeks or more.
If you can, toss in a couple bigger pieces just to give a bit more action in the tumbler... helpful but not required. Pet. wood has had the wood replaced with silica, so it's the same hardness as other quartz minerals, including the bloodstone you already have.
A lot of petwood fractures easily, so once you are out of coarse grind it is helpful to be fairly generous with plastic pellets (sometimes I even use them in coarse grind, but with chips you shouldn't have to). You should still hear the rocks tumbling gently -- if you don't hear a rumble you've added too many, if you hear crashing around you haven't added enough. Don't be afraid to discard pieces that have pits or fractures that you can't grind out and that might trap grit and contaminate the pre-polish or polish stages.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
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Post by stefan on Mar 1, 2006 10:17:02 GMT -5
Ok Steffy the pet wood expert here!!!! Sounds like a fun batch to work with- The trick with pet wood is to grind grind grind- See pet wood like to fracture along the growth rings- so any little crack or chip will eventually break- so this is what I do- Start a batch in 60/90- (you can add some Jaspers, agates, or filler if need be) and let it run for 2 weeks (1 week if your impatient) then check it- BE BRUTAL!!!! anything that shows chips, fractures, or damage needs to go back in to grind- Most of my pet wood runs for 6 weeks (checking every other week) in 60/90 till it's ready- After course- move onto 120/220- I run this for 2 weeks straight (no peeking) then move it to 500 (with pellets) for a week, prepolish (tripoli w/ pellets) for a week then Aluminium Oxide Polish (w/ pellets) for a week- then a 24 hour burnish (with pellets)- and taaa daaa finished batch- Most of all have fun with it- Pet wood is very cool and the smaller stuff you have should make some very interesting stuff for cp to hand out!
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Post by cpdad on Mar 1, 2006 20:22:33 GMT -5
thanks all...i dint know what i got myself into...but I'm going to give it a valiant effort.
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Post by BAZ on Mar 1, 2006 20:33:48 GMT -5
“God aids the valiant...both to you and to me He will give the help needed.”
- St. Teresa of Avila
"Dude, keep on tumblin'!"
- BAZ, RTH Forum
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snowdog
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by snowdog on Mar 1, 2006 22:37:13 GMT -5
think alot has to do with where the wood comes from --some I've seen (gathered in colorado) was so loose that you couldn't put it in a tumbler unless you just wanted dust but then have seen some from Az that was agatized --reds/yellows/ etc. that was as tight as brazilian agates and would come out beautiful no matter what you put them in with ---also have some pet palm wood that I've slabed just 3/16" thick and put them thu the vibs in one piece --but those aren't transparent for light to show thu but the wood grain sure is pretty
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Post by cpdad on Mar 3, 2006 23:34:45 GMT -5
howdy..i got home a little while ago..and a box i ordered from the rock shed was on the table...that was where i ordered the grit and pet wood from...maybe i should have put this on the vendor board..or not say it at all..but I'm gonna...the invoice was for about 3 bucks more than i actually paid..the pet wood has 2 be more than 2 lbs..i guess about 4...and the size of it is much better than i expected..i immediately sent the owed amount when i seen the difference in the invoice and price paid of course...its just nice to know that there are some people that will go ahead with things..whether they get their money.. or not...all i can say now is.. rock shed has a new customer.
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Post by gemkoi on Mar 4, 2006 13:22:46 GMT -5
Good Petrified wood wont chip. Opalized wood will chip, and is just as common as petrified wood in the markets. And allot fo Northwestern woods, are mixtures of opal and agate/jasper.
Arizona Wood will have lots of fractures, becasue of the way it eroded. BUt the stuff is as hard as any good agate/jasper. And would be treated exactly as such.
As well, Stefan is right on with grain breakage, So you would sort you material that has heavy grain, and tumble that all together. AS allot Of Arizona wood, or Marsten wood is so heavily replaced by silica, you dont have grain problems. BUt woods like Eden valley can have excelletn grain. As well, Opalized wood will ahve heavy grain too. BUt opalized wood shouldnt be tumbled with anything but more opalized wood. IT can produce great looking stuff either way, and keep us uptodate with your progress.
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thehawke
freely admits to licking rocks
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Post by thehawke on Mar 4, 2006 13:38:51 GMT -5
I love rock shed, cpdad! I think you will find they are definitely a favorite around here.
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jerryb
spending too much on rocks
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Post by jerryb on Mar 4, 2006 20:14:08 GMT -5
i'm running some pet wood that i got from the rock shed too, its coming along just fine. and i'm as new as you.
give it a go
cheers jerry
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Post by cpdad on Mar 4, 2006 20:40:52 GMT -5
would you assume.. that since i purchased the pet wood from the same place..that it all could be tumbled together?...the colors of the wood vary greatly..most of it is medium brown..but some is white..and some almost black...some of it i can see the grain..others i cant see it at all...just trying to get info now..cp stole the new tumbler to put his jade in by itself.
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Post by gemkoi on Mar 4, 2006 20:55:10 GMT -5
The one main principle i have learned from tumbling rocks, Is, “its always trial and error“. And because allot of wood can have soft areas, you just have to go for it. And to be honest, i am never satisfied with my frist tumble batch of a new rough. It takes time to perfect it, mainly based on you own personal method. And your on the right track, most dealers i would assume, grade there tumbling rough by hardness, not type or local. So you in the clear, even if some undercutting occurs for any soft spots or grain issues.
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