lilacmoth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2015
Posts: 160
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Post by lilacmoth on Jul 5, 2015 1:42:01 GMT -5
You know what, I still love the quartz pebbles. If they don't wanna polish up, I'll just run them through the first two stages and put them in my flower pots. It rains here all winter long anyway so they'll still be shiny, lol!
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Post by adam on Jul 5, 2015 12:16:35 GMT -5
I am new to tumbling too, but now I mostly tumble agates and chalcedony of all colors. They hold up well in the tumbler. The quartz I tumble never has that final glassy polish. Also the polish likes to get into the crevices between the quartz crystals, and they're hard to clean. Does your area have the chalcedony, lilacmoth? They can turn out with a high gloss and sheen.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jul 7, 2015 4:20:01 GMT -5
Don't give up lilacmothI started with some rough I knew was good, to get my feet under me. I've had a lot more flops than successes but you will get a feel for what rough can yield a great finished product. I have found that polish can wreck stones that seem to be doing well in some cases. I think the reason is that the size of the polish is small enough to get into finer cracks than the coarser grits. When this happens I toss the rocks and make a mental note of where I got them and what they looked like. This happens to me most with epidosite or some granites. Things look good, then the small bright white polish gets in the small fissures and wrecks the batch (or at least some of it) Also, like peachfront said, Amazon may not be the best resource for grit. I get mine at therockshed.com and have always been happy. Others on here will make similar recommendations for good vendors. Hang in there!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jul 7, 2015 4:28:06 GMT -5
Just saw the second page or replies (dur!) - yeah like captbob and quartz said I think you just need better starting material.
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lilacmoth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2015
Posts: 160
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Post by lilacmoth on Jul 7, 2015 4:36:45 GMT -5
I think the reason is that the size of the polish is small enough to get into finer cracks than the coarser grits. Ok, this makes a lot of sense!! Things are clicking into place now. And yeah, I will be tumbling more suitable material but I don't want to buy it - half the fun of this tumbling adventure for me is collecting the darn things and we have many, many beautiful rocks in this area. I'm gonna throw them all in the barrels and see what pops out shiny I also will be buying grit from reputable sources from now on, promise. lol
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on Jul 7, 2015 18:49:10 GMT -5
IMO, your tumble looks better than many for river quartz. Thinking you would have hit agate out of the park.
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ChrisO
off to a rocking start
My first groove wrap on a Charlevoix stone I polished!
Member since July 2015
Posts: 7
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Post by ChrisO on Jul 7, 2015 21:02:04 GMT -5
Most of my tumbling experiences were similar. It's very disheartening to open the barrel, rinse them off, and see disaster. I've tried skipping the steps and going directly to polish, which yielded better results, but still not good. I tried doing a final cleaning step using laundry soap, slivers of ivory barsoap, and even a second polishing. No help. I am now learning how to use cabbing equipment to polish my pretty stones. Instant gratification, but a much more expensive hobby.
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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 Jul 8, 2015 0:10:47 GMT -5
Good for you. We all pretty much started this tumbling hobby with little knowledge or experience, that comes with time. Learn all you can, and this forum is a good place to help with that, and don't give up. Certainly, finding the material is a big part of the enjoyment.
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lilacmoth
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2015
Posts: 160
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Post by lilacmoth on Jul 8, 2015 0:35:23 GMT -5
I am now learning how to use cabbing equipment to polish my pretty stones. Instant gratification, but a much more expensive hobby. That's definitely next on my to-buy list, or a saw ... or both, lol. But first I need the property to put all that noisy equipment! We're in an apartment right now, in the final stages of getting pre-approved for a mortgage. Then it'll be searching for a house, then moving, then resting from that!! haha So yeah, maybe next summer, but for now, I'm enjoying opening those barrels and fishing out the transformed nuggets! It's my happy place
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Jul 8, 2015 13:41:58 GMT -5
When tumbling any material, once you get to a clean out, try to remove the fractured pieces as they will trap grit in them and redeposit it onto the material in the next phase on tumbling which will in turn give you the scratches. This is referred to as grit contamination and is common when tumbling unknown material. some people will pull out the cracked rocks and grind them smooth before re-tumbling them, others will leave them in the course grind longer so that they smooth out completely. I saw a few that had large cracks in them and they may be the culprits. also remember that dissimilar material hardness can be a factor too. an agate that bounces around with quartz will beat up the quartz because it is not as hard as the agate.
Other than that I think they look really good. I went to a local landscape business and bought a 5 gallon bucket of river rock which is mostly quartz to tumble. they came out so nicely my buddy put them in his garden, he still owes me a new bucket of rock!! LOL
The main thing is to keep plugging away at it. It's sooooo much fun!!!!
Good Luck and always ask questions!! Mario
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
Posts: 452
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Post by Henry on Jul 9, 2015 14:23:38 GMT -5
Quartz has always been hit-or-miss for me. Like everyone else was saying, you can't get the pieces "sterile" by washing...but try to get it darn close. (think OCD rocktumbling)
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