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Post by frane on Oct 10, 2010 20:34:43 GMT -5
I got tired of waiting for enough material to run in the vibe so I rushed a few carnelians that still had pits but after 3 months in rough, some were wearing almost to crystal centers without getting rid of pits so they moved forward. I still ran with about 1/3 ceramic pellets and they were looking wonderful, even the very sensitive Pigeon blood, until I burnished. That is when I had some trouble. I guess I had a bit too much water in the vibe and when I pulled everything out after a few hours, most of the pigeon blood had chips or cracks and same with most of the wood. Oh well, even though it may not show so well in the pictures, they really have a beautiful shine! There are some stones that I had in here for filler that never did shine but they look nice anyway.      A pretty little wood that developed a crack at the last minute  A carnelian that is almost gone. Just the crystal insides left with a thin shell   Some are fine the way they are and some will go back into the tumblers for awhile. Thanks for looking! Fran |
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Post by tkrueger3 on Oct 10, 2010 20:53:25 GMT -5
Dang, Fran, don't you just hate it when that happens? All that work, and at the last minute...
I don't worry about minor pits or internal fractures in stuff that I'm just tumbling "as is" - because all I'm going to do with it is use it to fill glass jars and stuff. When I'm doing cabs, I work pretty hard to get rid of pits and cracks. But sometimes, pits appear in a cab where the stone itself just looks like it ought to have pits. Those I like to leave "natural" - I think it adds interest to the stone, when it's the right kind of material.
I think most of what's in this batch looks pretty doggone good. I can see the "wet-look" shine, and it's apparent on especially the harder stones. I like the little wood chunk!
Tom
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Oct 10, 2010 21:42:35 GMT -5
There's lots of nice stones in that batch and a nice finish.
Burnishing is the the riskiest thing I do when tumbling.
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Post by Toad on Oct 11, 2010 9:03:09 GMT -5
I hate those last minute defects. Some really nice stones in there though.
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papat
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2010
Posts: 261
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Post by papat on Oct 11, 2010 12:12:34 GMT -5
some realy nice stones great shine
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Post by tanyafrench on Oct 11, 2010 13:21:44 GMT -5
Lots of beautiful stones! The shine does show. Is the Vibe tumbler harder on the stones than the rotary? I pretty much never worry about the burnishing step but all I have are rotary tumblers.
Tanya
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Post by rockrookie on Oct 11, 2010 18:29:15 GMT -5
nice batch !!
--paul
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snuffy
Cave Dweller 
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Oct 11, 2010 18:35:14 GMT -5
Nice stones in there.
snuffy
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Post by MyNewHobby on Oct 12, 2010 16:24:32 GMT -5
I really like this batch!!
Do I see some Turritella (sp?) in the 1st and 4th pictures?
I have a little that I worked with earlier in the year. Didn't come out perfect but it is still a cool fossilized item to have. Yours came out nice!!!!
As always!!!
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Post by frane on Oct 12, 2010 22:01:38 GMT -5
Thanks everyone!
Tanya, the vibe is just different. You do not wear as much of the stone down as you do in the tumbler, however, it takes less time to get to a polish phase than it would in a tumbler. There is very little water in the vibe so the stones roll around in a past that they make as they move in the grit. You have to check it at least twice a day to add water and rinse about every other day. You can get a batch that you have gotten the shapes you want in the tumblers through the 120-220, 500 and polish in 7-10 days instead of weeks. I think my problem was a little too much water in the burnish so the stones were hitting each other instead of slipping around and off of each other.
Julie, good eyes! I didn't think the turratella would hold up but it did pretty well.
Fran
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