sage
off to a rocking start
Member since March 2016
Posts: 1
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Post by sage on Mar 16, 2016 18:20:19 GMT -5
I am new to rock tumbling and just received a shipment of 10 lbs of tiger eye. I was expecting smaller pieces that would fit into my 3 lb tumbler. I am looking for tips/ advice on best way to make smaller rough pieces for tumbling. Other than wearing proper eye protection, do I go at it with a chisel and hammer ? Sorry if I am causing you to cringe, that's just my humor. The pieces are about 3/4 inch thick and some are as big as 3 inch x 3 inch, some smaller. Any tips are much appreciated.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2016 18:31:08 GMT -5
I would give it a swift whack with a ball peen hammer or rock hammer.Not whale on it,just some stern smacks.you will enevitably be left with many small bits but that is good for your barrel filler.i don't think a chisel would be necessary because I am doubtful it would break in a straight line.hope this helps.more will chime in. Dave
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Post by radio on Mar 16, 2016 18:45:43 GMT -5
Do you have access to a trim saw? If not, put a piece or two at a time in an old sock and give it a good whack. Gloves and eye protection still recommended
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Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
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Post by Intheswamp on Mar 17, 2016 7:25:03 GMT -5
Should there be a mention of asbestos and keeping the rock wet when breaking/grinding? Being a newbie I may very well not know what I'm talking about, too. Just a thought....
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Post by Peruano on Mar 17, 2016 18:34:04 GMT -5
Should be no real asbestos risk to real tiger eye. The asbestos fibers have been bounded/converted to silicates. Its the blue version in which the asbestos has not been totally silicified. Don't breath any sharp rock particles, but hammers don't produce dust like grinders. Just speaking what seems common sense. Tom
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Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
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Post by Intheswamp on Mar 17, 2016 22:10:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Tom. No worries with the golden colored tiger eye. Cool.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 18, 2016 6:47:07 GMT -5
Yep, Tiger eye is actually one of the easier rocks to break up for the tumbler. I tumble quite a lot of it as the kids love the tumbled stones. Tends to break up pretty chunky without hitting it very hard but the chunks tend to be kid of wedge like. Tumbling note: Tiger eye tends to bruise and get little micro fractures on the edges when you tumble it so the rounder you get the stones in the initial rotary coarse grind cycles and the less edges you have, the better your results in final polish. In my experience, a vibe is bad for coarse grinding tiger eye as it does not change stone shape enough and rounds the stones poorly. You need a good percentage of smalls or ceramic to keep stones from knocking together in the rotary. I do my final stages in a vibe with a ton of small rounded polished stones from previous runs so there is good surface to surface contact and the tiger eye stones do not knock together and get bruised....Mel
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Mar 19, 2016 18:05:32 GMT -5
I'm also new to tumbling and about 2 weeks ago I got a pretty nasty injury while breaking down rocks. Besides safety glasses, definitely wear gloves and put the rock(s) in an old t-shirt, denim, etc. About two weeks ago, while breaking up some Turritella (without gloves), a shard of it broke off and became lodged into my finger. The pain wasn't too bad at the time, but anytime I even slightly bumped that finger into something, the pain was blinding. I don't know why it hurt so much, but I'm guessing it hit bone and bruised it (or maybe even chipped a bit of bone off). It's finally feeling better after nearly two weeks.
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Post by krazydiamond on Mar 19, 2016 18:51:47 GMT -5
yes, we all occasionally draw blood in this hobby, but that does look nasty, johnnymac1969. I've been know to take some clear garbage bags and a sledge hammer out to a concrete pad to make big rocks smaller for tumbling. I wear glasses, so i don't always add extra safety glasses...not saying i am right.
One of the reasons i got a trim saw was to maximize good quality material instead of hammering it into dust and useless pieces. Having said that, you can only saw so much with a 6" trim saw, too.
good luck tumbling your tiger eye, Sage, and your Turitella, Johnnymac!
KD
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