Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 6, 2012 10:38:16 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Took out a UV-10 load of obsidian today. had some dandy apache tears sent to me by our buddy Lowell ( elementary) which were not enough for a full load so I filled it out with some tiny tears from Duck Lake, Nevada, snowflake I collected at Blackrock, Utah, some mixed obsidian from a deer hunting trip at Davis Creek, CA and some misc sunstone and other feldspar which does very well with obsidian ( about the same hardness). These went in coarse till well rounded and smooth ( 2-4 weeks), fine grind 110/220 for three days, tripoli prepolish for four days, and tin oxide polish for four days. Burnished in Dreft for a couple of hours. Used ceramic filler for the fine grind and plastic pellets for the other stages even coarse grind. Polished up very well. The whole lot after sorting: The apache tears: These are translucent gold or silver and really glow! The snowflake: The mixed big-uns from Davis Creek:
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 6, 2012 11:35:14 GMT -5
Really nice tumble Mel, thanks for sharing.
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Post by Toad on Feb 6, 2012 12:13:09 GMT -5
Raising the bar again, Mel. Great stuff.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 6, 2012 12:25:57 GMT -5
wow, nice work. I really like the snowflake. Might have to add some to my next rockshed order now.
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Post by tntmom on Feb 6, 2012 12:35:57 GMT -5
FANTASTIC batch Mel!!!! Perfectly rounded and knock out shine on beautiful ob!!!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 6, 2012 13:01:09 GMT -5
Mel, how do you handle your rough stage with that Obsidian? Do you work in on the wheel or rotary tumble that? You don't get that shape in the vibe do you?
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 6, 2012 13:37:53 GMT -5
herchenx: Yep, all my rough grind work is done in a rotary tumbler, these in a 12 pound barrel real full with lots of plastic pellets. You want the barrel extra full ( more than 3/4 because you don't want the obsidian knocking around much) . I used 60/90 grit and changed out the barrel every week and recharged. Needed the extra obsidian because of size reduction in the rough and to compensate for the stuff removed. In all, it probably took four weeks of tumbling to get enough properly rounded and smoothed for the vibe.....Mel
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Post by susand24224 on Feb 6, 2012 16:36:26 GMT -5
Wow, great batch. I assume your expressing difficulty with tumbling Apache tears is now a thing of the past!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 6, 2012 17:04:52 GMT -5
*L* Susan, it did take some time and more than a little advice from our fine board members, but now, by golly, I think I've got it....Mel
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Feb 6, 2012 18:15:14 GMT -5
Those really came out nice. Fine finish and shapes.
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riverrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2010
Posts: 1,395
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Post by riverrock on Feb 6, 2012 19:58:26 GMT -5
I have a 5lb piece just wating to be tumbled. super shine was it just a standard run with extra plastic fill?
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Feb 6, 2012 21:23:45 GMT -5
Great batch Mel
snuffy
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NorthShore-Rocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,004
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Post by NorthShore-Rocks on Feb 6, 2012 21:36:27 GMT -5
Fantastic tumble Mel!!!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 6, 2012 21:38:24 GMT -5
riverrock: My standard runs are all mixed quartz materials like agate and jasper and for those I use Rockshed AO for polish. Obsidian is best done by itself so this was all obsidian and I used a high grade tin oxide as final polish. Also used plastic pellets even in coarse grind which I don't do except with delicate materials like obsidian. For my standard runs I use plastic pellets primarily in prepolish and polish. Leaving out the plastic pellets maximizes the cutting action of the grit in the grind stages...Mel
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Post by roy on Feb 7, 2012 0:55:28 GMT -5
wow mel those really shine ! i hope some day i can make obsidian shine like those!
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Post by connrock on Feb 7, 2012 7:38:19 GMT -5
GREAT job Mel!!!!!!!! Glad to see the obsidian phobia is a thing of the past!
One thing about any obsidian,,,,it's either perfect or it's back in they go! No room for hiding any flaws or having a so-so shine on them!
Did you find that some of the pieces (other then the tears) didn't shine as well as they did?
connrock
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 7, 2012 9:41:54 GMT -5
Connrock: There were a few pieces of sheen obsidian in the lot which showed slight irregularity in the polish , I think, due to the layering in the material. Depending on which angle they broke at, some of the areas seem to have been softer than the rest. Other than that, the shine obtained in this lot was very uniform. The tears were a blast to do as their already somewhat rounded shapes meant they smoothed out way faster than the rest in coarse grind....Mel
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Post by connrock on Feb 8, 2012 8:51:46 GMT -5
Mel,,,I have a terrible time when I do a mixed load of obsidian. The tears always seem to shine more then any of the other types. and especially the snow flake.
connrock
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 8, 2012 9:32:32 GMT -5
Yeah, I was actually expecting difficulty with the snowflake, especially since it was hammered up and very angular. It did take three or four times as long to grind smooth and, of course, lost way more of it's mass but the final shine was as nice as the tears.....Mel
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 9, 2012 13:13:46 GMT -5
Mel,
As always, you work magic with those machines of yours.
Those tears I got last week are yours as you need them. I'll post a box out to you hopefully in the next week. As for returns, just keep me up on tumbled pieces for my class. It's all I ask. Oh...and the occasional shrinkwood. That stuff's fascinating... If you liked the Cady Mix, I have more.
(I already need to mail a box to tntmom - been in my car for 3 weeks, the auction box to wyobrian, the agate trade box to Thunder69, and...heck...I just need to get to the post office..hmmm, with where I am today, maybe I'm just wary about entering governmental edifices...)
Lowell
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