herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 19, 2012 19:37:46 GMT -5
Several months of tumbling what started as 2# of Carolina garnet has been completely fruitless. My last charge, 3 or 4 weeks ago I put in 46/70 SiC grit and haven't opened it since. It was interesting because I immediately noticed a difference from previous tumbles. The reddish colored grit that is normally there was replaced with a lighter tan grit, and I could see a lot of teeny pieces in the load: I actually saw some color (dark red) through some of the smaller stones! Even though it is taking FOREVER, and the stones are getting teeny I am encouraged by this. I'll let these go at least another 2 weeks, this time with 60/90 and see how things look! There is probably less than 1# in there now, I know the volume is low but I don't have anything else hard enough to tumble with them and I am not going to buy another bunch of these.
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Post by Toad on Mar 19, 2012 21:20:20 GMT -5
I'd put a few medium and a large rock in the load just to help keep things mixed up. Rocks all the same size can lead to an ineffecient grind.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Mar 19, 2012 21:26:48 GMT -5
Yeah, these garnets are harder than anything else I have. Any ideas on cheap mohs 9 material I could add?
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
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Post by jspencer on Mar 19, 2012 23:00:22 GMT -5
Ditto what Toad said. A variety of sizes is key to a good tumble IMHO. And maintaining a proper fill level. Have you tried pricing some corundum gravel. I ran across some awhile back and got a pound or two of them but don`t see any nice colors. Mostly white and kind of brown. I even chose mostly single crystals but nothing worth a flip came out of it. It is basicly the same hardness as the sic so it does take forever or you can use diamond.
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 20, 2012 8:56:00 GMT -5
Yeah I know I am breaking the rules with these garnets, but I don't really need the 1.5# barrel for anything else and I am content to just let them keep going ad infinitum unless I stumble onto some hard "junk" rock or cheap stuff to tumble with them.
I don't want to invest a whole lot more into these as they are low grade, very small and not likely to ever be really pretty.
I'll post updates once in a while as they keep getting smaller.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 12:43:05 GMT -5
If the purpose of adding rock is to help mix the load around and not to polish that additional rock; why not simply put anything in? A hunk of some inexpensive jasper?
If your garnets keep getting smaller, then the SiC is doing it's work.
I have some peridot coming. Yikes! I hope I dont grind them away hoping for green.
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Post by connrock on Mar 21, 2012 9:20:40 GMT -5
John you have a load of pretty low grade garnets as seen by the lighter colored 'matrix'. They also have a high iron content so the more "gemmy" looking ones will polish better then the others.
Something to ponder,,,,, If you don't have enough garnet 'filler' you can add just about any agate and or jasper and let the garnets/grit rough them in for you. When the agates/jasper are ready for the 2nd stage,,,remove them and add more.Kind of like a by-product,,,,kill 2 birds with 1 stone type of thing?
Good luck,,,
connrock
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 21, 2012 10:28:41 GMT -5
I originally had agate in there as filler and someone said about how much harder the garnet was, that it would hurt the agate, so i separated it out.
I have some Bahia Agate that takes many weeks to tumble, I'll throw some pieces in there for a fast start and see how that works.
Thanks Tom and all
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 21, 2012 12:52:28 GMT -5
OK, I went ahead and filled it with a small handful of Bahia agate. I'll post an update when appropriate.
Thanks again
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Post by connrock on Mar 22, 2012 9:39:35 GMT -5
John I may be wrong(again) but I don't see how garnet could hurt agate or jasper in anything but maybe the pre-polish and polish stages? The garnet is about the same hardness as the grit so the most it can do is grind down agate and jasper the same as the grit in most stages? ? connrock
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 22, 2012 12:15:51 GMT -5
I'll check it and see. I did initially have garnet and agate together but was cautioned against it so I separated it.
I'll keep an eye on it and see. I'd love to see these show me a little of their color if they can!
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