Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Jul 22, 2012 18:17:32 GMT -5
Happy Sunday RTH, So why did I not go with the advice on the web and polish agate for my first tumble in the hobby? Why did I punish myself with Hematite. First of all, WHAT A BLOODY MESS. I started out with very large golf ball size Hematite, hoping to get some large pieces polished for a project. What I have left is penny size and smaller lol. I have had to run these three times due to pits and poor quality Hematite. little did I know when starting to tumble. Well lesson learned not to attempt again till I have more knowledge of this beautiful grounding stone. I need some quick advice though. After finally getting Hematite to the polish stage I have been using aluminum oxide polish from Thumblers. I believe its Alum Ox. After reading more on polish types I need to use Cerium Oxide for best results. I have pulled the hematite from the polish stage after 8 days and they are showing dull. I checked for broken stones and have plenty of plastic pellets for cushion. I put a bit of Dawn in there and have a good slurry running the whole time. I just placed a large order for grit/polish at Rockshed (based on member reviews but did not order Cerium Oxide. I have Tripoli here and in my Rockshed order more A oxide and tripoli not knowing about the Cerium Oxide. I do need to pick up Cerium Oxide but, should I try the trypoli polish or keep the Hem in Alum Oxide for longer or put the hematite on hold and wait for the Cerium when I order again? After all this mess and work I'm going to get these damn rocks to shine BTW, I have agate in the 12# tumbler now :)lol
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hand2mouthmining
spending too much on rocks
Purveyors of California Gem Rock
Member since September 2011
Posts: 495
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Post by hand2mouthmining on Jul 22, 2012 19:06:15 GMT -5
Hi Matt, I'm a beginner tumbler, but a multi-decade cutter. I really appreciate your detailing your trials with hematite, proving again that it's a LOT easier to tumble hard, agate-y materials than soft materials. In my humble (yeah, sure! ) experience, the hardness of aluminum oxide makes it the least desirable polish for hematite. Try the tripoli, since you have it, then move on to cerium if necessary. Yes, the tripoli will only make an already messy tumbler load messier, but the hardness is much closer to hematite. If tumbling natural hematite, remember that it's an uneven material, unlike most of the commercially available hematite beads & trinkets. They're generally made of "hemalike," a powdered and pressed hematite product that's far more consistant and harder than natural hematite. I've experience cutting natural specular hematite, and it's brittle and cranky. I love the look, and we mine jasper that has lots of hematite included, so we cut quite a bit of the flashy stone. BTW, when polishing the jasper or hematite, I prefer tin oxide after a very high pre-polish, 50,000 mesh diamond if possible. Tin oxide is a medium hardness polish, and would be adequate for the task, too. Good luck and keep us posted! Kris Hand-2-Mouth Mining
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Jul 28, 2012 16:52:41 GMT -5
Update on hematite, I'm still being punished lol thanks for your help and experience. I moved it from AO polish to tripoli with no change. This is natural hematite that was purchased online and pretty much crap in my opinion with the amount that has been wasted. I have read that the formation of the stone makes for a hard to tumble stone. I am putting an order in for tin and cerium polish and since i have the nest if the stones down to a 3# barrel I'm going to hit it with the cerium? I think. I'm confused by the diamond polish you mentioned and how to use it. I have some diamond 1000 paste. Are you suggesting i use a leather disk and polish individually? I will have these stones polished if out means hand doing everyone of them, then walk away with the experience if not touching that bloody mess of a stone for a few years Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards
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Post by susand24224 on Jul 28, 2012 17:25:41 GMT -5
I have tumbled and polished "accidental" hematite in aluminum oxide. By this I mean that I tossed a bunch of rocks in together and a few hematite pieces made it in because I overlooked them. They took a nice sheen but not a gleaming polish like, say, an agate. I was happy with them.
All aluminum oxide is not created equal. I've successfully used AO from the Rockshed when other AO has not worked.
I'm currently tumbling hematite, but haven't gotten to polish stage yet. The stuff is doing well, and starting its 60/90 life in a mixed Mohs 7 barrel. It's loosing mass, but nothing like what yours did. I am only tumbling a few pieces at a time, and then pulling them as done until I have enough rounded ones to do a "hematite only" completion in the Lot-O.
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Jul 28, 2012 19:09:07 GMT -5
I was using the Lortone AO polish but just got some RockShed in and will try that in a couple days.
The reason they are do small is i they were poor quality for tumbling even. I had to charge the barrels in first stage a couple times due to pits.
The ones that were so bad i attempted to use my grinding wheel and said screw it. Not worth the red mess for the price of time and cleanup. I have to say though starting with a complicated mineral has a good side too.
I have learned so much about grits and picking quality stone to work with. When i first started i wad e buying blindly not knowing how to look for the right tumble rough. I'm not an expert at it by all means but its been a rewarding experience.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards
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Post by connrock on Jul 29, 2012 6:01:39 GMT -5
Matt I think a lot of us dove in head first not knowing anything about which rocks are better then others to tumble,nothing about grit or polish or how long it really takes to be successful in tumbling.
You chose one of the worse rocks for a beginner and are sticking with it.You've learned in a short time what took MUCH longer before the web came along,when there was almost no information to help.
I've been on this board for quite a while now and although I have roamed around to the different sections I tend to make this section my "Home" because I think it's the roots of this great hobby and where people need a lot of help to overcome the frustrations of getting started and becoming successful.
This board and it's people are the fast track to learning not only rock tumbling but many,many other aspects of lapidary and jewelery making. I have NEVER asked a question that wasn't answered and from what I see,no one hides their "secrets" here!
All you have to do is listen to these wonderful folks and learn from their experiences,trials,errors and success! Before you know it,you'll be helping some poor soul who is ready to quit and that will make you feel as good as good gets!
connrock
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bushkraft
having dreams about rocks
Public nuisance Number 1
Member since July 2011
Posts: 65
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Post by bushkraft on Jul 29, 2012 7:56:35 GMT -5
I tumble and hand polish hematite in the form of Tiger iron and marra mamba tiger eye almost daily, I use AO and it works just fine but only a small well diluted amount is required for tumbling, I have found that AO on felt is best for hand polishing and placing the slurry on the stone rather than on the pad reduces the amount required quite considerably.
I use diamond resin pads (50 grit) to preform items for tumbling, and 50, 150, 300, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, in sequence before final polishing with AO for hand made cabs.
Take care.
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rock
having dreams about rocks
Metamorphosed Mind
Member since June 2007
Posts: 62
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Post by rock on Aug 2, 2012 16:18:23 GMT -5
I have quite a bit of "hematite" out here in Vermont, but I also have a whole bunch of magnetite aglomerate with interstitial chlorite which actually grades directly into primary hematite. Like hand2mouth I hand and wheel polish the stuff, but it is so terrible to polish I often leave it at a worn 1200. Good quality "primary" hematite is around 6 mohs and fairly consistent texture but would take special care in a tumbler because it is brittle as well and will nick/chip/scratch at the drop of a hat. If your material is decreasing in volume too much you may be using to abrasive of a grit for too long. Possibly use the low grits for less time and higher grits sooner in the process, and do whatever you can to protect the tumbles while they are in the higher grits from bashing around like keeping the slurry thick and using plenty of media (maybe). Good luck!
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Oct 15, 2012 17:31:08 GMT -5
Update on the Hematite, I was hoping to update with positive results today but I am determined to have shiny rocks soon There is just no luck with my hand in this batch. I don't have my tumble log with me but basically these have been through routine twice and I have used Cerium and AO during polish stages. I have been so good about not cross contaminating between stages and have been using specific barrels between step 2-3-4. They have been cushioned with plastic pellets (which is now a must since they have lost so much mass lol) I have a new polish pad I bought for my arbor and will have a crack at hand polishing them with AO from Rockshed. I know they have some minor pits and streaks in them but I have been at this now going on 5 months and I am determined to get them shiny. What I find so strange is that I have a hematite rock that was given to me a while back that it pitted and streaked badly and they somehow still managed to have a mirror finish on them. Image is of single rock Uploaded with ImageShack.usimageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/20121015145749.jpg/Thanks guys for all your help. I'm going to see what I can do from with hand polish. And hopes to come back with shiny results Attachments:
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Oct 15, 2012 17:34:32 GMT -5
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Oct 15, 2012 19:51:21 GMT -5
They look good! Shaped very well.I tumbled some in the past,varying success.I'm in the process of cutting some now,looks to be good solid material.Time will tell!
snuffy
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Oct 16, 2012 10:30:08 GMT -5
Wow, yeah, very nicely shaped. If you can get those shiny they're going to be GORGEOUS.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Oct 16, 2012 16:06:58 GMT -5
Do they look good wet? You may need to go back one step. What is your grit sequence and how long at each step?
Chuck
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Oct 22, 2012 0:39:56 GMT -5
They Did take a really good shape. There was a lot more when I started though lol.
About the sequence steps taken.
Before I had joined RTH, I didn't know about Rockshed and was using Lortone steps to polish.
The first round All Lortone grit Was 60/90 120/220 500 prepolish AO Polish
Then I went through the above 60/90 120/220 500 Prepolish But used Tripoli from a local shop.
Found out about Rockshed and tired AO Polish (3 week) Chrome Polish (1 1/2 week) Cerium Polish (2 weeks)
After ordering polish from the rockshed I picked up 1000 AO prepolish. I didn't know about 1000 AO till after I was trying all these polish methods.
Do you think I should try 1000 AO then AO polish or go back another step and do 500AO>1000AO>then Polish with Cerium or AO?
Thanks for your help guys!
matt
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Oct 23, 2012 1:11:14 GMT -5
I think I may have answered my own question. After looking at stonewizard pm he sent me about his sodalite recipe. With softer stones he used 1000 before polish. He got great results on his sodalite. I need to order some from the rock shed. While I wait the hematite is moving to back tp 500 RShed and my soda is moving on to 500 for 10 days until the 1000 arrives. If that don't do the trick then I don't know what else to do. Thanks for being so supportive of the new guy. Here is a pick of the sodalite after 120/220 rockshed AO Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards Attachments:
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