Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 15, 2016 18:03:45 GMT -5
Hey,anyone tumble fossils? I have some "Baculites" that I want to try and tumble.... Worth a try I guess...Have lot's to play with...
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 15, 2016 18:48:44 GMT -5
Scratch test 'em. If they're hard enough then I'd go for it. We do coral and it's a hard fossil..
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 15, 2016 19:30:55 GMT -5
They are about a 5 or 6 on the scale of hardness......I just don't want to ruin the suture patterns in the fossil.........
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,770
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Post by Mark K on Feb 15, 2016 20:21:57 GMT -5
Try it with crummy ones or broken ones first. If you are going to bake a cake, you have to break a few eggs.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 15, 2016 21:14:17 GMT -5
Going to be in a 1 pounder,so not much room to smash around.....
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Feb 16, 2016 17:05:43 GMT -5
Depends on what they're composed of. A lot of fossils are replaced by calcite, probably too soft for most people to successfully tumble. Most of the soft stuff you see that looks tumbled, like lapis, kunzite, fluorite, calcite, etc., is actually polished one at a time, by hand, in third world countries.
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Post by broseph82 on Feb 16, 2016 17:59:24 GMT -5
What about crinoids?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 16, 2016 18:22:43 GMT -5
Calcite,is on a few,those I know can't b tumbled.................The others are a bit tougher.. Going to give it a try,I have many to play with.........
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Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,104
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Post by Thunder69 on Feb 16, 2016 21:43:10 GMT -5
The thing with baculites is they will wear down fast in coarse grit..It is best to do them in a vibe starting at 500 and then polish...Especially to keep the pattern intact....JOhn
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 16, 2016 22:04:50 GMT -5
The thing with baculites is they will wear down fast in coarse grit..It is best to do them in a vibe starting at 500 and then polish...Especially to keep the pattern intact....JOhn Yes they take a nice shine fairly easy,was thinking of skipping the 1st two stags,just go to 500 or so,than polish........... Should be able to do a load in two weeks-I like that!!!!!! LOL
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