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juzwuz
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2010
Posts: 526
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Post by juzwuz on Aug 22, 2012 16:42:11 GMT -5
Nice! Is it possible to get any asterism (star effect) in the rose quartz? What are the diameters?
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fwfranklen (Mike)
spending too much on rocks
Rock-ON--Have you kissed your rock today?
Member since August 2012
Posts: 379
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Post by fwfranklen (Mike) on Aug 22, 2012 17:04:53 GMT -5
Nice very nice! What size are they?
Mike
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borock
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2011
Posts: 225
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Post by borock on Aug 22, 2012 17:51:35 GMT -5
like the one in the middle
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Aug 22, 2012 18:37:30 GMT -5
Yes, I did forget to post the sizes:
Rose Quartz: 3.685 inches diameter Labradorite: 3.292 inches Sodalite: 3.197 inches
Christopher told me that this rose quartz can show stars.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Aug 23, 2012 8:11:00 GMT -5
Awesome and great sizes too!!!
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Roger
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2005
Posts: 1,775
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Post by Roger on Aug 23, 2012 9:04:54 GMT -5
Nice job,looks like fun.
Roger
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Aug 23, 2012 9:51:38 GMT -5
Love the rose quartz! Beautiful!
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Post by christopherl1234 on Aug 23, 2012 13:13:28 GMT -5
Very fine job Steve. I am curious too....did you get a star or eye out of that piece of Rose Quartz I sent you?
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rattlehead
starting to spend too much on rocks
MI Rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 213
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Post by rattlehead on Aug 23, 2012 14:00:48 GMT -5
Those turned out great and those size are nice.
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Aug 23, 2012 16:53:13 GMT -5
No star on this one. I have another piece I haven't yet preformed. I'll try to get more pink and less white to see if that piece stars for us. Just today, I read a Rock and Gem magazine article from 2000 on shperes. It had a picture of a rose quartz sphere with a star - so I now know what to look for.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Aug 23, 2012 18:09:50 GMT -5
Those are cool, I wanna do that one day. What machine are you using?
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Aug 24, 2012 17:24:13 GMT -5
I now have 2 old homemade garage sale machines that I rebuilt. One I use for grinding and one for sanding and polishing - i.e. one to keep clean. Both are 3 head machines somewhat similar to the 3 head machines recently described in the Homemade Equipment section - just more steel and welded parts. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=hmequip&action=display&thread=48288The above picture shows the grinding machine at work with grit. I actually ground down these three spheres with diamond cups.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2012 12:15:09 GMT -5
you put the preform directly into the machine? No hand grinding? How long did the quartz take to become a sphere from preform?
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Aug 29, 2012 12:17:35 GMT -5
Yes I know I should hand grind it first, but I'm in no hurry. It takes less of my actual time to just stick it in the machine and run it loose for a while. The rose quartz went round in one day and it took another day to get out the last flat spot. For me the hardest and most time consuming is getting out the last flat spot.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2012 15:46:45 GMT -5
interesting. I would have thought it would bounce out. My normal routine is hand grind first. 30 minutes of hand grind and another hour at 100grit SiC in the sphere machine for a 3" quartz sphere. I watched a guy using diamond cups take a 6" jasper sphere from hand ground preform to round in 20 minutes!
But like you say, let it run!
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Sept 2, 2012 14:29:26 GMT -5
"I watched a guy using diamond cups take a 6" jasper sphere from hand ground preform to round in 20 minutes!"
Amazing what can be done with the right tools, knowlegde and skills. I'm working on all 3.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2012 14:40:32 GMT -5
Naw. that was all tools. Diamond cups did all the work!!
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