John
no posts
Member since April 2003
Posts: 0
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Post by John on Dec 30, 2003 8:20:17 GMT -5
hi all i just found this site i have read all post on this subject and instead of lookin at the bags i have gotten of the same i guess ill start them i had no idea how to start but after reading this page i feel like i can doit hahaha-------anybody ever do rough opals i just ordered some from aus. see what he sends me ---thanks for the info sandsman1
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Post by Noosh9057 on Dec 31, 2003 10:55:12 GMT -5
Wellcome to the board. Good luck tumbling
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Post by sandsman1 on Dec 31, 2003 18:51:55 GMT -5
thanks i got a good feeling im gonna learn alot from you guys and girls hahahaha
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Dec 31, 2003 20:05:16 GMT -5
Welcome , I have learned a lot here.
Dwight P
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Post by puppie96 on Dec 31, 2003 22:23:47 GMT -5
Welcome, and I've also learned a lot, and some of my emeralds are just beautiful. The rubies/sapphires are tough!!
Happy New Year everybody!
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 1, 2004 5:08:44 GMT -5
thanks for the welcome ;D and happy new year to all
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 2, 2004 4:23:42 GMT -5
hi again can anyone tell me if i can mix the rubies and emeralds together in same barrel and tumble or are they dif hardness im hopin to start them today if the tumbler gets here ok thanks----john
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mrflake
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 58
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Post by mrflake on Jan 2, 2004 12:46:34 GMT -5
hi again can anyone tell me if i can mix the rubies and emeralds together in same barrel and tumble or are they dif hardness im hopin to start them today if the tumbler gets here ok thanks----john Hi there, my personal experience recently is when micxed I could not get anything much to happen, I now have some emerald running withour ruby in a mix of quartz, jasper and other assorted softer stones. The emeralds are now coming up beautifully, there are some lovely patterns showing and various shades of green. I won;tbe putting rubies in with anything other than rubies in the future I think. cheers. |
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James
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 876
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Post by James on Jan 2, 2004 21:25:39 GMT -5
Sounds like Rubies, Sapphires and Emeralds are definitly not for the novice. I've been hereing the same story for months and still no solid results. I hope they turn out. It would be nice if someone could post some pic's when done too.
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Post by docone31 on Jan 2, 2004 21:31:52 GMT -5
The rubies, and saphires, I have culled out the good crystal and continued to tumble the rest untill I see colours. I have used a lot of grit to see anything. I have never done serious polishing as I facet.
The emeralds, I run standard cycles for all grits. Works great. No real challenges. Often I find Aquamarine with the emerald, sometimes in the same stone. Once again, I facet and the polish is not really important. I have also used the rubies, and saphires as dunnage with beginning runs on other stones. They seem to take a beating, clean up eventuallly, and end up looking good.
If I ever get around to taking a picture that looks like anything I will try to post it. I have also sold rings made from tumbled emerald. A lot of people like the random factor.
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 2, 2004 23:17:39 GMT -5
thanks real good info . i have gotton something called fire agate looks cool can i just throw the ruby mix in with that and start both together you said you mixed it with other other stones to help break it up will these work and please dont mind the spelling im bad ( but i can count to five with only one hand ) hahahaha seeya-s and thanks----john
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Post by docone31 on Jan 2, 2004 23:23:46 GMT -5
Fire Agate. Way cool. I have fought with that stuff since I first saw one polished. It is worth quite a bit polished. I would be interested in the finished product. I usually cab the stones, and try to polish a plane that shows the nodules within the stone. I have found with that stuff, one second on the 3600 wheel and I have to grind to the next level of nodules. I have also found, the stuff is amazingly hard. I think it will chew up the emeralds. The corundum should stand up to it. Good luck.
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Post by puppie96 on Jan 3, 2004 1:55:09 GMT -5
About putting them together, I've started rough emerald along with the saphs for the first stage, and that seemed to work well to get off the black coating that tends to be all over the emerald. Once past that, the surfaces start to smooth out pretty fast and I was concerned about losing too much stone so I separated them at that point and did the subsequent stages with all emeralds/all corundum. I rushed the polish stage in hopes of having a couple of Christmas gifts and even so, quite a few of the emeralds were just beautiful, took a great polish, while others were less so. In the corundum department, only a couple had a really good polish.
I love the emeralds. They are just beautiful if you like the look of the rough still involved. Really nice streaking and color variations within the stones, some transparent areas, etc. My big concern is that I'm such a bozo at all this that I'll effectively grind away the "Hope Emerald" or Ruby -- know what I mean?
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mrflake
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 58
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Post by mrflake on Jan 3, 2004 4:13:29 GMT -5
I love the emeralds. They are just beautiful if you like the look of the rough still involved. Really nice streaking and color variations within the stones, some transparent areas, etc. My big concern is that I'm such a bozo at all this that I'll effectively grind away the "Hope Emerald" or Ruby -- know what I mean? Likewise, with the rough on and mixed in, great, I would not worry about losing "the Hope" too much, the chances of a find likethat must be very slim, I looked up the term "mine run" and what it used tomean years ago is not the same as present day, in the past it was literally shovelled off the mine floor and sold on, now adays it is the end of the line in terms of grading, it will have been picked over many many times before getting to its end customer, the stuff on Ebay ( i bought plenty) is great for the results you and I like to get, with the slim chance of something better for those hoping for a real gem. |
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Post by puppie96 on Jan 4, 2004 3:12:34 GMT -5
Now, that is an interesting post. So you have done a lot of these, too?
Really, I've been impressed by the amount of pretty stuff that is showing up in the tumbles. Some of it I'm reasonably certain is gem quality. Who knows. It's not the major consideration at this point, anyhow. Hopefully the Hope would jump out at me, as it were.
Now that I'm thinking about all this, maybe it is time for another trip to Ebay...!
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 4, 2004 8:25:03 GMT -5
hi again sound like me im still waitin for my first tumbler and have allready picked out another to buy next week i gotta stay off ebay i just got more rubies and emeralds i looked through the ones i have and i can see some nice stuff there and i orderd a couple more LB of the fire agate when its wet is so cool lookin cant wait to see when done . i was tellin some friends on line about the emeralds and one said it was her birth stone any body know an easy way to make a pendent outa rough she thought that was great to get it natural--well thanks again for all the info ---- john
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Post by puppie96 on Jan 14, 2004 4:00:46 GMT -5
This should be renamed. "The Iron Thread"!
I have polished up some emeralds that look really cool --at least to me. In the process I've gotten some nice looking stuff is various sizes and colors, some of which is pretty crystalline. I'm clueless about what to do at this point. I sorted it out pretty well.
The rubies/saphs have been up & down & up & down on stages -- I backed some of them up a whole lot and suddenly the surfaces seem to have improved a lot after a recycle. BTW, the improvement happened in the barrel after I'd mainly used a vibe up to this point. So we are back into a hopeful polish, again.
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Post by puppie96 on Jan 14, 2004 4:04:01 GMT -5
And a question!
What is your recommendation for a polish for saphs/rubies and emeralds? The same for both or different?
Thanks!
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Post by Alice on Feb 27, 2005 19:44:46 GMT -5
Docone31
Just wanted to thank you for talking to me in another thread. You have enspired me after seeing your faceting and jewellery.
I do woodworking as a hobby and usually build things for my kids.
I stumbled onto rock polishing by accident... well, actually my son got me into it (he wanted gems to fill his wooden treasure chest that I built for him), and he eventually lost interest in tumbling, but I fell in love with it.
So now instead of tumbling and polishing rocks from the river to fill up my sons chest, I'm going in blind folded to do harder rocks (emeralds to start, as I mentioned in the other thread).
You have been a great inspiration not only to me, but to everyone here
Thank you.
Alice
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Post by docone31 on Feb 27, 2005 20:00:19 GMT -5
Alice, isn't that how we all start in essense? When I was eight years old, I used to collect costume jewelery. Then, my folks told me I was being a girly guy. I stopped for years. Today, I make custom jewelery, facet gems, teach, repair.
We start for a variety of reasons, we find our level through working our various ideas. After a while we develop a theme. We show our results to others, and learn from our teaching. We then pass it on, and we need to do more, more, more.
And here we are.
I query, if heaven is not flying around on the clouds watching life, could it be, for us, an immense tumbler that recquires responding to a challenge?
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