Post by thegrumpybuddha on Apr 7, 2013 20:41:15 GMT -5
Brief backstory: On pretty much every hiking vacation I've taken, I end up bringing a handful of rocks or two as souvenirs. I've got zero knowledge about what I'm taking (other than I like their looks) and after a trip to the Channel Islands/Santa Barbara/the Sequoia National forest, I brought back about 70-80 stones.
Upon my return, thoughts turned to what the hell I was going to do with these things, and long story short, I've got my first rock tumbler, set of Moh's picks, plus 2-3 books on types of rocks, identification, etc.
Here's a few of my problems:
1) Determining the hardness of these things is a lot trickier than I thought it'd be. It seems like most of the picks leave some sort of mark on the stone -- I guess the gist is that sometimes it's hitting the stone, and sometimes it's the stone hitting it. Perhaps part of the problem is that at least half of the stones are pretty rough. So: Do I throw everything in the tumbler with some rough grit, cross my fingers, and then test whatever's left after it comes out?
How bad is it to combine rocks with different hardness?
The ones that have a hardness <6 (some of them, I get a smear with the small sample in the Moh's hardness picks supply, so that's helpful, at least) -- can they go in the tumbler? Or will they just disintegrate?
2) On a similar note, I've got at least a couple of stones that barely seem to make a mark on glass (so, hardness <5.5, right?) but that I can't seem to dent with the picks, even the 9. (That stone clearly was towards the lower end, though, given I think I lost 1/3rd of it after one week in the tumbler. It's the odd-shaped all white one.)
3) Identifying these puppies is similarly difficult. I figured out a couple pieces of slate, etc., but most of the stones just confuse the hell out of me.
Here are the stones that show the most promise (based on how they look when wet) that have gone through at least a week of phases 1-3 (and most started out somewhat smooth). Only the big honking one in the lower left of the first pick is currently ultra-smooth and almost as shiny when dry as when wet. The others don't seem to have changed much between Step 2 and Step 3.
Help?! I will peruse the links in this forum and give it another shot, but I'd like to hear what some pros think (other than "Why are you even bothering with these bland things?!")
I *especially* want to get that black one with white striations identified and fully polished ... looks sooo cool when wet!
Upon my return, thoughts turned to what the hell I was going to do with these things, and long story short, I've got my first rock tumbler, set of Moh's picks, plus 2-3 books on types of rocks, identification, etc.
Here's a few of my problems:
1) Determining the hardness of these things is a lot trickier than I thought it'd be. It seems like most of the picks leave some sort of mark on the stone -- I guess the gist is that sometimes it's hitting the stone, and sometimes it's the stone hitting it. Perhaps part of the problem is that at least half of the stones are pretty rough. So: Do I throw everything in the tumbler with some rough grit, cross my fingers, and then test whatever's left after it comes out?
How bad is it to combine rocks with different hardness?
The ones that have a hardness <6 (some of them, I get a smear with the small sample in the Moh's hardness picks supply, so that's helpful, at least) -- can they go in the tumbler? Or will they just disintegrate?
2) On a similar note, I've got at least a couple of stones that barely seem to make a mark on glass (so, hardness <5.5, right?) but that I can't seem to dent with the picks, even the 9. (That stone clearly was towards the lower end, though, given I think I lost 1/3rd of it after one week in the tumbler. It's the odd-shaped all white one.)
3) Identifying these puppies is similarly difficult. I figured out a couple pieces of slate, etc., but most of the stones just confuse the hell out of me.
Here are the stones that show the most promise (based on how they look when wet) that have gone through at least a week of phases 1-3 (and most started out somewhat smooth). Only the big honking one in the lower left of the first pick is currently ultra-smooth and almost as shiny when dry as when wet. The others don't seem to have changed much between Step 2 and Step 3.
Help?! I will peruse the links in this forum and give it another shot, but I'd like to hear what some pros think (other than "Why are you even bothering with these bland things?!")
I *especially* want to get that black one with white striations identified and fully polished ... looks sooo cool when wet!