aimeesrockworks
spending too much on rocks
I really do look like my avatar... it kinda freaks me out.
Member since December 2010
Posts: 458
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Post by aimeesrockworks on Feb 3, 2011 12:48:16 GMT -5
My first offical batch is just about ready (I'm bursting!) but I'm a little confused about the burnishing step.
The one post I found on here says 24 hours, my booklet that came with the tumbler (rotary) says 4 days, online source says 'few hours'... Is this another ones of those "just do it until it's done" deals?
I'm just making sure the rocks are all nice and clean, right?
-Aimee
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lparker
fully equipped rock polisher
Still doing too much for being retired!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 1,202
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Post by lparker on Feb 3, 2011 12:56:33 GMT -5
24 hours in a rotary is OK. A few hours in a vibe....Good Luck!
Lee
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 3, 2011 13:28:49 GMT -5
What Lee said. Some burnish longer; it doesn't hurt as long as you have enough cushion that the rocks aren't banging together.
Yes, you're removing all the residue. Some claim that the burnish acts as an additional polish step, but I'm skeptical.
Chuck
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Post by tkrueger3 on Feb 3, 2011 14:18:24 GMT -5
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Feb 4, 2011 4:30:53 GMT -5
I like to do a 48 Hour Burnishing stage and as TOM above says it is realy spectacular in the results ,
I have tried the shorter runs and it didnt work and I think that is why people DONT burnish they try the short run and it dosent work
Try a long 48 hour and you will also be supprised at the results
Jack Yorkshire UK
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Feb 4, 2011 12:16:04 GMT -5
We do our burnish run w/pancake batter thick laundry soap mix and lots of leather padding, for a week; makes great improvement in polish quality.
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lloyd1wv
starting to shine!
Member since December 2010
Posts: 47
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Post by lloyd1wv on Feb 4, 2011 18:05:37 GMT -5
Could someone talk about using leather as a cushion. How do you do this?? Cut up is what size pieces? Any kind of leather?
Thanks!
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Feb 5, 2011 11:07:26 GMT -5
We routinely use leather padding during polish and burnish stages, have for several years. Generally get cheap leather anything at garage sales and such; stay away from really thin mtls. I've cut up belts, purses, jackets, even a few pairs of boots. Any dyes present don't seem to matter, but we shy away from really heavily dyed things, they are generally thin anyway. I cut the mtl. into pieces roughly 1-11/2" in dimension [box knife and scrap wood or plastic backing works well] and load about 20% of rock volume with leather during polish and soap burnish runs. We keep separate leathers for each stage, as one would do with any cushioning mtl. We generally tumble in either 1 3/4 or 5 gallon barrels, I think smaller units would work better with padding maybe half our size. The stuff gets pretty slimey, takes a little getting used to, and does wear over time. We tumble pet. wood and agate. Won't say it's better than other cushion mtl., plastic pellets for us are too messy, and haven't tried ceramics; too far to go get 'em. Our tumbling quality has been complimented by a couple who started rocking the year I was born-1947, and they are good at it. That made us feel good.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Feb 6, 2011 4:23:14 GMT -5
I tried in a 3 1/2 lb barrel a few years ago and used 1/2" squares ,
But I like plastic pellets better as they are better to seprate from the rocks
jack Yorkshire uk
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lloyd1wv
starting to shine!
Member since December 2010
Posts: 47
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Post by lloyd1wv on Feb 11, 2011 9:15:24 GMT -5
Oh well,,,,, I guess I didn't read well, but learned in the process.--I failed to catch that the thread was about a tumble polisher and not a vibe. - I tried leather cushion in a Lot -O, as well as my Ray Tech vibe: You guessed it, leather won't work in a Vibe. It just sticks itself to the sides and bottom of the barrel and pretty much just stops any movement.
Lloyd
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 11, 2011 9:32:48 GMT -5
yes, the media in vibes MUST have mass. basic physics.
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rockhappy
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2010
Posts: 12
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Post by rockhappy on Feb 14, 2011 21:29:57 GMT -5
Our last batch came out of the polish a bit banged up -- uneven surface polishing and some edges even rougher than when they came out of the 500 stage. Not enough padding. Figured we'd need to go thru another polish stage with more padding. OK, let's wash these out and start with fresh polish...
I decided to go for a short wash, 24 hrs. Completely by accident, we ended up extending our Ivory soap wash from 1 day to a week and the stones turned out great. No need to go back to polish.
Sooo, I think I'll stick to a 1-week ivory soap wash/burnish. I've found filling stones to 2/3 and padding up to 3/4. I've been using airsoft BBs for padding and they work great.
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MikeS
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2009
Posts: 1,081
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Post by MikeS on Feb 15, 2011 9:54:42 GMT -5
Depends a lot on the material in question and what you are using for a burnishing agent....for agates and jasper, I tend to use Ivory soap shavings (I've never had good luck with Borax, I get much better results with Ivory soap) in my Lot-O and run them for 6-12 hours or so. With other materials, like quartz or jade, I skip the burnish stage altogether. You kind of just have to play with it a bit to find a method that works for you....
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learn2turn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2011
Posts: 77
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Post by learn2turn on Feb 23, 2011 19:59:31 GMT -5
still new to this. I take it burnishing is an extra step to clean up the stones after a step.
In a vibe, do you just add dry borax and let it go for a while?
Or you you also add moisture and if so, how much?
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MikeS
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2009
Posts: 1,081
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Post by MikeS on Feb 24, 2011 10:04:16 GMT -5
Burnishing cleans the material and adds some additional polish to certain materials. In my experience it works best with agates and jaspers, but not as well with other materials.
In a vibe you need to add water in the burnish stage, I add as much as I can still allowing for good action. I use Ivory soap shavings, I've never seemed to have as good of luck with borax.
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