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Post by cpdad on Jul 12, 2006 20:47:26 GMT -5
not sure how this going to turn out...but thought i would post and add follow ups later. i had a bunch of peices that i had cut up on the workforce...nothing special...just learning my around it (the workforce)...rockyraccon...had posted about rocks being in 60/90 a long time...and then borax...not sure if they were truly rough rock or not....mine arent truly rough. most everything was cut into peices on the workforce...there is some peices that had run 60/90 for 7 days...such as amy...you know how that goes...not much shape at all...after 7 days. these are going to run for 30 days in 60/90...then 30 days in borax....i havent been posting any pics lately....so thought i had better post something...here is the pic of the rough batch. any thoughts on what might happen?...this is a no peak situation...its agates...jasper...jade...heck i dont remember chunked some of all in there.
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Post by Cher on Jul 12, 2006 21:07:37 GMT -5
I think it will be very interesting to see how it turns out, how big is your barrel? How much grit you putting in to start this off?
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Post by joe on Jul 12, 2006 23:34:33 GMT -5
I really think you should check them after 2 weeks tops. After that the grit will break down and start polishing the stones. If they aren't shaped the way you want after 2 weeks they never will be with out a recharge. If they all look properly shaped after the 2 weeks then go ahead and seal them up for 2 more weeks and it will save you grit by acting as your 120/220g stage. Heck, once they're shaped I'd seal them up and run them for a month with your 220 grit. Then go for your borax and polish stages.
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HarryB41
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2004
Posts: 605
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Post by HarryB41 on Jul 13, 2006 5:29:01 GMT -5
Looking forward to the outcome of this experiment. I am thinking of doing something simular with my glass or obsidian.
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Post by Tweetiepy on Jul 13, 2006 7:09:16 GMT -5
I too think you should peek to see how they're going, when they're pretty close to how you want them, I'd recharge them and let them run, otherwise you may end up with smooth pointy rocks
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jul 13, 2006 9:22:24 GMT -5
I ran some 60/90 for 6 weeks without checking- WASTE OF TIME- 60/90 really needs to be checked at least every 14 days!!! now the 120/220 run is a different story- I did one for 7 weeks- that worked very well!
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rockhard
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 227
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Post by rockhard on Jul 13, 2006 14:52:36 GMT -5
My experience is different from Stefan's- 120/220 broke down to slip just as fast as coarse. Probably has a lot to do with barrel size and speed and hardness of rocks... Agates and jaspers stopped smoothing and started glossing after about a week in 120/220 for me in the QT12.
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Post by cpdad on Jul 13, 2006 19:02:01 GMT -5
cher its a 3 lb barrel..with 4 heaping tablespoons of 60/90....dang i didnt want to look after 14 days....but i suppose i will at least peek....just to see ;D...you guys always bring me back to reality....not sure if i like that or not...hahahahahaha.
well they went into the barrel july 3rd...we will see after 2 weeks...whats going with them....if i do have to recharge...that will be ok...i think rockyraccons went months
but 1 way or the other...i want to try and eliminate 120/220...and 500 completely...and possibly more....at least im going to try...thanks for the input all.
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Post by Cher on Jul 13, 2006 20:56:26 GMT -5
Save the slurry and once you've got them shaped, put them right back into it and let it go for another few weeks. Then you'll have the "broken down" 60/90 that should continue breaking down smoother and smoother as you let it go.
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Post by puppie96 on Jul 14, 2006 2:29:52 GMT -5
I've got a small barrel of rubies/sapphires tumbling in borax.
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kjohn0102
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2006
Posts: 774
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Post by kjohn0102 on Jul 15, 2006 7:32:41 GMT -5
Hi all-what is the point of 30 days in borax?
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