tarylina
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2004
Posts: 84
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Post by tarylina on May 23, 2004 0:52:36 GMT -5
I'm getting ready to move my first batch to pre-polish, and I have some questions. First of all, how small is too small to bother with? I was surprised by how drastically my rocks have changed, and some small ones are gone altogether. I know it's grinding them down, but I can't tell how much. I don't want to waste my time if there is going to be nothing left My other question has to do with supplies. Hubby and I went to the one (one!!!!) hobby store in Dallas today - 30 minutes from our house - and they didn't have much. Grit packs, tumbling kits, and that was it. This is Dallas, for goodness sake! Does anyone have this problem, and if so, where do you get what you need? I went out today and looked EVERYWHERE for fillers and found nothing. Can I use the plastic bb's my son has for his air gun? One more question - has anyone tried tumbling marble, as in marble driveway rocks? What is the hardness of marble? Thanks for any help. Taryl
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Post by stoner on May 23, 2004 2:59:09 GMT -5
Hi Taryl. You can get plastic pellets(yuk) at a fabric store or even at K-Mart/Wal-Mart. They're sold for making bean bag dolls, it says on the package somewhere, "100% polyproylene". They are actually cheaper there than if you buy them from a tumbling supply place.
As far as wasting time on small stones, the major part of the loss occurs in the 1st, rough grind.(60/90 grit). And that is roughly 30%. You'll lose a little in the 2nd stage, but not enough to worry about. In the 2nd and 3rd stages, all your really doing is removing the scratches from the previous grind. And in polish, any scratches that are left are being filled in, thereby providing the shine we all lust for. As for the marble, I've never tried it, but I understand it polishes real nice. Hope this helps.
later, Ed
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Post by puppie96 on May 23, 2004 3:37:36 GMT -5
Hi, I'm thinking marble should polish well, considering the shine on marble statues. I don't know the hardness on the scale or anything, but I do know that marble is considered a relatively soft stone. It weathers much faster than granite, for instance, so I would think it would smooth out faster than some other rocks. I have also found pellets in craft stores. I've never even tried to find a supply shop locally. I've done all my shopping online, from the first barrel to now. The only exception is picking up some polish and grit at a couple of rock shows. I continue on with extremely fine stuff. Some of my tumbles have included extremely small rounded quartzy beach stones and they are beautiful at the end even if small. The ones that have lots of small stuff are the emerald tumbles and I pick this through really carefully including straining any remaining grit residue in the bucket through a really fine sieve. As you'd expect, the most beautiful stones are the really tiny stuff. I take it through all the way if I can, though it drives me sort of nuts. I think the bottom line is the value and/or beauty of the material and it may or may not be worth the effort.
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Post by cookie3rocks on May 23, 2004 11:07:29 GMT -5
I'm tumbling some white marble right now, it's in polish. Not much to look at ( plain ole white), but it is getting a better shine than anything eles. It's becoming kinda translucent. Gonna find some kind of decorative use for it.
cookie
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Post by creativeminded on May 23, 2004 11:16:22 GMT -5
Marble has a hardness of 3 on the Mohs Scale. My dad said that the reason it is used for so many things is because it has a high tensel strength. Tami
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Post by Taryl on May 23, 2004 13:26:07 GMT -5
Hey thanks, everyone! I am going to try marble soon, I think - it sure is pretty. I was asking about that because there was an open bag of marble at home depot last night - they were strewn everywhere - and I stole a couple of pieces to try. Now that's really bad, when a hobby turns you into a klepto!! (I stole two pieces of river rock, too.) Please don't turn me in I have resigned myself to the fact that the internet is probably the best way to go for supplies. It sucks though - my hubby hates it when I purchase stuff on the internet. He's a fuddy-duddy sometimes but I love him anyway. I found a recipe for using sugar as a filler, so I'm going to try that. It's my first batch and I look at it this way - they're rocks. Kinda hard to ruin and always replaceable! I'll let you know how it turns out.
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Post by creativeminded on May 23, 2004 15:42:19 GMT -5
When it comes to too small, for me there is no too small when I do a batch of larger stones, I try to throw in a handfull of small stuff to help with the grinding and if I have anything left after the polish stage then I plan on using it on one of my sisters painting that looks like water and use it for a beach like scene or turn it into something like a clear babbling brook. Or I will use them in some sort of mosaic. Tami
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Post by rockyraccoon on May 23, 2004 16:51:11 GMT -5
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tarylina
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2004
Posts: 84
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Post by tarylina on May 23, 2004 22:05:12 GMT -5
Thanks, Kim! Some of those shops are close to where I go on a regular basis. I have bookmarked. Very helpful.
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Post by creativeminded on May 24, 2004 9:42:43 GMT -5
You are going to watch your barrel carefully if you put sugar in it, it might start fermenting and cause a lot of gas, plus the sugar will dissolve and you will no longer have a filler. Tami
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RedwoodRocks
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 762
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Post by RedwoodRocks on May 24, 2004 15:07:58 GMT -5
Tarylina,
Call first to see if they are still in business. I was in Dallas in January. I was working some weird hours, so during the daylight time, I tried to visit some of the stores on the list above without calling first (the hotel I was staying charged something like $10 for a local call; and, I don't have call phone.
I think the one in Arlington was moving to a new location, the one in Downtown sells only rugs, Hairy's on Ferguson didn't sell rocks, etc. At least the rock shops gave me a reason for driving around the Dallas area.
Cal
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Post by rockyraccoon on May 24, 2004 17:58:28 GMT -5
i never seemed to have enough small stuff to help out in the 60/90 stage so i bought a big heavy bag of natural aquarium gravel and throw in several handfuls starting out and before polish i toss them into the driveway.
kim
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Post by Noosh9057 on May 24, 2004 22:19:06 GMT -5
Great Idea about the natural aquarium gravel. i think i will try that.
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Post by Taryl on May 24, 2004 22:43:03 GMT -5
Aquarium gravel is a really good idea! I'm going to try that when I tumble my two large sapphires. I checked my rocks today, and so far so good in the sugar filler. I do check my tumbler every day, so I'll let you know if I have any problems. And Cal, if you were out and about on Sunday - everything is closed here on Sunday. The so-called Bible Belt, you know. A strange place, but I love it
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on May 25, 2004 15:53:28 GMT -5
Small rocks in the cycle are A Good Thing. They cushion the load and grind out the crevicy bits of the larger rocks. One author I've read says using 30% small pieces (~1/4") is majorly important. He uses safety glass, gets it from those car windshield repair joints. A neat idea I'm about to pursue is using pea size India garnets; two bucks a pound and when they're done they're beautiful and can be relatively valuable.
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Post by puppie96 on May 26, 2004 1:18:51 GMT -5
Great idea about the garnets.
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Post by Taryl on May 26, 2004 8:03:53 GMT -5
That is a great idea? Where do you get them? I would like to try that.
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Post by Taryl on May 26, 2004 8:05:03 GMT -5
Oops. It was supposed to read - That is a great idea!!!
I had a moment.
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on May 26, 2004 8:14:29 GMT -5
When I need small stuff, I just got outside and get a handful of river rock out of the road. No pretty driveway gravel here, just river rock. I also sometimes use a handful or two of my sapphire gravel.
SirRox, where do you get the India garnets?
llana
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on May 26, 2004 14:51:34 GMT -5
www.therockandgemplace.com/Tumbling_&_Rough.htmIndia garnet, pea size, 1,400 pcs per pound, two bucks a pound. Haven't ordered any but I'm a planning on it. Tons of other great stuff there too, like carnelian for a buck a pound, yum, yum, yum.
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