Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 28, 2015 17:17:52 GMT -5
Was on the final stag with my Obsidian,than going to polish-found this on 90% of my rocks..... The agates mixed in with the Obsidian was ok.... Whats going on? ? See the grey marking around the border areas....
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 28, 2015 17:20:23 GMT -5
So I added some small gravel pieces (fist full) and started over with 80 grit,will run it for two weeks and move forward...
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Mark K
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Post by Mark K on Dec 28, 2015 18:46:27 GMT -5
Since it is just on the surface, I think I would have tried 600 grit and cleaned it off.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Dec 28, 2015 18:58:20 GMT -5
agates in the final stage with obsidian is asking for trouble. best bet is all obsidian with 50 percent of the load being small filler such as ceramic. others say pea gravel etc. but I only trust ceramic with my obsidian batches. also run your obsidian pretty full in in the barrel. you want the least amount of banging around as possible.
Chuck
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 28, 2015 19:00:47 GMT -5
Since it is just on the surface, I think I would have tried 600 grit and cleaned it off. Well if they are smoothed surface after this next go around,I will move to a finer stag.......Kind of thinking,I didn't have enough small stuff with the Obsidian for a tighter tumble...... Cross fingers and will see....................LOL
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 28, 2015 19:03:07 GMT -5
agates in the final stage with obsidian is asking for trouble. best bet is all obsidian with 50 percent of the load being small filler such as ceramic. others say pea gravel etc. but I only trust ceramic with my obsidian batches. also run your obsidian pretty full in in the barrel. you want the least amount of banging around as possible. Chuck Will take out the agate after this 80 grit,than just run small gravel with the obsidian................Go with 600 than polish....
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 28, 2015 19:05:25 GMT -5
The Obsidian I am running is nice chunks ,seems it is holding up pretty good...............No chipping,etc...............
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Dec 28, 2015 21:59:02 GMT -5
Have you read tntmom's obsidian tutorial? I started with her method years ago and achieved instant success. I still use a very similar formula now. I know the tutorial is geared for a vibe tumbler but most of it will still be useful if you just adjust the tumble times. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/52088?page=1Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 29, 2015 4:18:32 GMT -5
Go with what Chuck says Michael. You sure don't want agate in the load. But I am suspicious of those marks. Those look like metallic marks. Could there be metal or ore in your barrel ? Is this obsidian wet in this photo ? I had a stainless steel nut in one of my polish runs in a rotary one time and it made a mess. Left tracks all over my rocks, grey ones just like what I see on your rocks. I reran them in polish and it removed them. The reason I ask about the photo, if they are wet, frost damage and bruising does not show up well if rocks are wet, but metal tracks sure do. I believe broseph82 had some pyrite ?? that was leaving metal tracks on one of his tumble loads. I do clean outs in stainless steel pans. But not the final polish. Those pans leave metal tracks all over polished rocks. Gotta use plastic colander for polish. If those marks are on the agate then it about has to be metal tracks....they can be grey or gold or copper colored. Depending on metal or ore. You mentioned 90% of your rocks.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 29, 2015 10:14:05 GMT -5
James,yes these are wet......Nothing in the barrels but agate and Obsidian...Pulled the barrel again lastnite,will pull the agate out.. I guess I better buy a plastic colander for polished rocks huh.. Picking up some walnut shells today.... Going to just run the Obsidian by itself and grit it at the 600 stag...
Yes I will be looking at tntmom's obsidian tutorial too................Thanks all.....
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 29, 2015 10:22:36 GMT -5
I see she went from a rotary to a vibe tumbler.....I only use rotary..But I see its the same concept.. Going to visit a buddy today,that tumbles Obsidian,will be getting pointers from him too....
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 29, 2015 15:57:53 GMT -5
Ok,got it figured out and a load of Obsidian rolling again....Took the agate out,replaced the 80 grit,with 600 grit,plus crushed walnut for filler......... Going to replace the metal colander with a plastic colander....... That's where my markings were coming from!! LOL No contamination,like I thought-thumbs up............ Only put me back two weeks,but another lesson learned.....More knowledge for the books-never to old to learn,I say!!!!!!!!!!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 31, 2015 9:21:35 GMT -5
Ok,got it figured out and a load of Obsidian rolling again....Took the agate out,replaced the 80 grit,with 600 grit,plus crushed walnut for filler......... Going to replace the metal colander with a plastic colander....... That's where my markings were coming from!! LOL No contamination,like I thought-thumbs up............ Only put me back two weeks,but another lesson learned.....More knowledge for the books-never to old to learn,I say!!!!!!!!!! Metal colander will sure put the marks on them. I thought stainless colander would not mark them, wrong. The marks are easy to remove by re-running in polish though. Glad you found the why. My Vibrasonic gives me a hard time w/obsidian. Best I ever polished was in the rotary. And it was not a super shine. If you get it wet shined please share. I know that 1 inch pieces are less likely to bruise, heavier pieces easy to bruise and bruises the others...
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 31, 2015 10:31:50 GMT -5
Ok,got it figured out and a load of Obsidian rolling again....Took the agate out,replaced the 80 grit,with 600 grit,plus crushed walnut for filler......... Going to replace the metal colander with a plastic colander....... That's where my markings were coming from!! LOL No contamination,like I thought-thumbs up............ Only put me back two weeks,but another lesson learned.....More knowledge for the books-never to old to learn,I say!!!!!!!!!! Metal colander will sure put the marks on them. I thought stainless colander would not mark them, wrong. The marks are easy to remove by re-running in polish though. Glad you found the why. My Vibrasonic gives me a hard time w/obsidian. Best I ever polished was in the rotary. And it was not a super shine. If you get it wet shined please share. I know that 1 inch pieces are less likely to bruise, heavier pieces easy to bruise and bruises the others... Most of the Obsidian is round 1 inch and smaller/give or take..Some like cubes,some flat,some round...Whatever I picked up,that's the way it went into the tumbler.... Will do two weeks in the 600,than polish......
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