mikeinsjc
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2010
Posts: 329
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Post by mikeinsjc on Nov 6, 2014 23:27:32 GMT -5
Here's my sequence; rotary two weeks 60/90 Finish in a 50# Diamond Pac vibe; 220 24 hrs 600 48 hrs 800 48 hrs TXP 48 hrs. I use 3/8 x 3/4 ceramic pellets in the vibe.
All rounded/uneven surfaces polish perfectly. But any flat or slightly flat surface ends up with something I can only describe as a scale (it might be what another poster called "frosting")on it. I understand the problems in getting slabs to polish, but this might be different. This seems like a scale of some type. Sometimes I can remove it with a dry rag and lots of pressure. It comes off with 1200 or 2000# dry silicon carbide paper- its almost as if the stone is polished beneath this scale. Needless to say it is somewhat tedious hand-polishing 30 pounds of rock. So let me ask a few unrelated(?) questions;
Could this be scale from hard water? Our water is terrible.
What is "burnishing"?, and how/when is it done?
Could the problem be with the TXP? Do I need a more "aggressive" polish?
Does anyone do any procedure after final polish to help the finish?
Has anyone used walnut shells or corn cobs dry after final polish?
Does anyone see anything amiss with my vibe grits and times?
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Nov 6, 2014 23:50:31 GMT -5
You don't say where home and the terrible water is, but I know a fellow who lived in N.E. Vancouver, Wash., and had a very similar problem. He started using distilled water only in his tumbler, problem solved.
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Post by connrock on Nov 7, 2014 7:18:08 GMT -5
What are you tumbling? connrock
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 7, 2014 9:19:38 GMT -5
the 800 seems odd. usually steps double or upto 3x. 600 to 800 is very small. but I can't think how this would produce what you describe
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Nov 7, 2014 9:35:00 GMT -5
I can speak to burnish. Its a cleaning procedure basically. After I finish my polish, I have a Thumlers UV18, I rinse everything well and put it back in the vibe. Add 3 tbs. borax and run for 3 to 4 hours, same amount of water one would normally use. Many say it improves the shine but I cannot say that for sure. It definitely removes any polish that might be left on the rocks however.
As I was typing this I had a flash of memory. I had a couple rotary batches that had a haze on the finished rocks. It could be rubbed off with some effort. Neither of them got a burnish. I thought it might of been a thin layer of polish. Could that be what is on your flats? I know dry polish is a real bugger to clean.
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Post by pghram on Nov 7, 2014 10:45:05 GMT -5
I would suggest running it in borax or ivory soap flakes as a burnish.
Rich
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Post by johnjsgems on Nov 7, 2014 10:57:33 GMT -5
Burnish is a good thing. If your water is hard the distilled water will be a good idea too.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 7, 2014 12:25:55 GMT -5
A burnish wash is a good idea. If this was a matter of the flats not getting polished, rather than a matter of residue left behind, I'd tell you to try using more ceramics. When doing a lot of little slabs, you should use about 50% ceramics.
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Post by captbob on Nov 7, 2014 12:37:03 GMT -5
To lessen the cost of buying distilled water, you may only want to use it in the final stages. Who cares if there are water issues in the early steps.
Do you really notice that much difference going from 600 to 800? Might consider buying 500 when you use up your 600 supply.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,771
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Post by Mark K on Nov 9, 2014 11:55:22 GMT -5
I had this happen to my last batch of tumblers. What I did was to put the rock back in the vibe and added filler rock while it ran until the vibe was completely full up to the top of the cone. I let it run for a few hours and when I came back the crap was gone and most of the polished rock was till good.
The polish I used was a package of polish that I had that came with one of those trash tumblers with the red barrel that are made to discourage kids from wanting anything to do with tumbling. The polish worked, but it left that crap which really ticked me off.
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