herchenx
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Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 17, 2012 1:40:36 GMT -5
So I have these garnets I bought off ebay. I'm in week 3 or 4 now. When I checked them tonight I was greeted to exactly what has greeted me every other time:  I rinsed a couple off, there was still a lot of grit, but the stones looked exactly the same as always. No sign of transparency or color at all:  I don't know what else to do. I know these are very hard, and I know I might have gotten total garbage, so i added a little water (it was pretty thick slurry) and I'll let it roll another weeks. |
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rastageezer
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 169 
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Post by rastageezer on Nov 21, 2015 3:39:10 GMT -5
How did those come out? I've got a batch I got from the Rock Shed and they are pretty much doing the same thing. Really thick brownish-grey slurry, some rounding, no transparency. i'm letting them roll and threw a bunch in a mixed Loto load.
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,620
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 21, 2015 10:09:38 GMT -5
Wait till James gets on here.............He has polished garnets,with results..
I know it takes a few months...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 11:36:31 GMT -5
Wait till James gets on here.............He has polished garnets,with results.. I know it takes a few months... |
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Post by iant on Nov 21, 2015 14:29:07 GMT -5
Get some from James P, They are small but you will get great results. Ask me for more details if you need.  |
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rastageezer
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 169
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Post by rastageezer on Nov 21, 2015 14:34:11 GMT -5
I have a good load of J's garnets........they work more like a grit enhancer and few (Rios seem to eat them up like candy) seem to make it thru the tumbles. I am more interested in the larger stones like those from the Shed.
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Post by Rockoonz on Nov 21, 2015 14:55:27 GMT -5
We use them for filler in the first two stages.
They eventually round out, but we never have tried taking them the rest of the way.
I think I would use a vibe unit if I decided to polish them further.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 22, 2015 2:47:59 GMT -5
Check with iant, he has success with them. Iron garnets with their typical fractures can make a muddy mess. They seem to expand in the rotary, like yeast. High grade glassy garnets are likely going to cost. Ebay has many garnets, but if they are both glassy and facet size the wallet gets involved. Best deals likely imported. |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 22, 2015 10:08:55 GMT -5
Iron and highly fractured garnets were big biz SW of Atlanta. Mined for making garnet/sand paper. They are highly fractured and large, but were crushed into 80/220/400 etc grit. Though fractured, they were full of high grade particles for making grits. But they were crushed and well rinsed before before final sieve segregation. Process made lots of mud as in John's tumbler. Amazing how much red clay is packed into them. They settle out on soil roads in the area and can be swept with a broom to fill 5 gallon buckets quickly. 1/4-3/4 inch size. Worse stone you can tumble, seen John's mess when I tried them.(once) rastageezer, I am puzzled that the almandines disappeared. Everytime I use them mixed w/other agates in the rotary they change or round very slowly. High grade glassy alamandines about the hardest toughest stones imaginable or tumble able. Did they shatter in your tumbler or just slowly wear to nothing ? Interested in what happened. If dissatisfied allow me to refund. |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 22, 2015 10:26:15 GMT -5
James' garnets back lit, don't buy them lest they got the glass going on. These are old school #5 grit(rated like our tumbling grit) garnets. Dredged at Emerald Creek Idaho long ago.  Another view with good light, wet  |
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Post by broseph82 on Nov 22, 2015 11:24:03 GMT -5
jamespYour garnets I've used in Lot-O. Sometimes I forget to use small mess sieve and they get washed out with the grit. I have taken them in lot-o all the way through to polish and they come out really nice. Gemmy garrnets good. Won't make muddy mess. Iron rotted almandine bad, make muddy mess and are garbage
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 22, 2015 11:50:17 GMT -5
jamespYour garnets I've used in Lot-O. Sometimes I forget to use small mess sieve and they get washed out with the grit. I have taken them in lot-o all the way through to polish and they come out really nice. Gemmy garrnets good. Won't make muddy mess. Iron rotted almandine bad, make muddy mess and are garbage I remember your experience with those ole Alabama iron garnets. Looked just like John's mess. |
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Post by broseph82 on Nov 22, 2015 12:57:50 GMT -5
jamespYour garnets I've used in Lot-O. Sometimes I forget to use small mess sieve and they get washed out with the grit. I have taken them in lot-o all the way through to polish and they come out really nice. Gemmy garrnets good. Won't make muddy mess. Iron rotted almandine bad, make muddy mess and are garbage I remember your experience with those ole Alabama iron garnets. Looked just like John's mess. Yep never again! Ha. |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 22, 2015 13:42:46 GMT -5
When I was a kid the neighbor and his sons bought back a pick-up truck full of sandstone/granite matrix from somewhere in N Georgia full of 3/8-1/2 perfect purple garnet crystals.
They had sharp octahedron edges and all dead glassy. Been trying to find that spot for years.
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rastageezer
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 169
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Post by rastageezer on Nov 22, 2015 14:26:52 GMT -5
James...in the Lortone 12#, 3/4 to 7/8 full #80 grit and about 1/4 of the garnets you sent. Mel's Rios. Garnets totally gone after 10 days. I didn't lose them in slurry. Made a muddy thick slurry. I think those Rios are killer hard.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 22, 2015 16:28:18 GMT -5
James...in the Lortone 12#, 3/4 to 7/8 full #80 grit and about 1/4 of the garnets you sent. Mel's Rios. Garnets totally gone after 10 days. I didn't lose them in slurry. Made a muddy thick slurry. I think those Rios are killer hard. wow, am surprised. with your barrel 3/4-7/8 I would think they would have never been shattered. You got some efficient grinding going on. Yes, Rios are hard. They travelled a rough journey. Are the Rios small or large ? Or a good tumble size mix. |
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rastageezer
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 169
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Post by rastageezer on Nov 24, 2015 3:48:46 GMT -5
a good tumble sized mix leaning toward larger. Rios tend to big so I try and chop them down before tumbling.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 24, 2015 10:20:21 GMT -5
a good tumble sized mix leaning toward larger. Rios tend to big so I try and chop them down before tumbling. I see, still puzzled that they disintegrated rastgeezer. |
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 25, 2015 0:42:03 GMT -5
Herchenx, it is the garnets that are the problem. They are very cloudy and look fractured too so I don't think you will ever get the look you are hoping for. I suggest you get new garnets and use them as filler with some larger stones (the larger stones will give the needed action to grind the garnets). I ran garnets 8 years ago, I think they were India garnets. I got them off ebay. They were very small but I think the small ones are more likely to be clear. Anyway, here's a pic of them with a quarter for scale, then another pic to show what they look like up close. They didn't take very long to go through coarse grind, just one week if I remember correctly. Maybe two. Good luck, but I really do think you need to start again with better quality material. -Don   |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,053
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Post by jamesp on Nov 25, 2015 5:53:51 GMT -5
Well done garnets. India may be one of the better sources.
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