stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 15, 2016 17:15:54 GMT -5
Its been 10 days in the coarse stage. I am fairly pleased but in all honesty I have no idea how much these will change from Stage 1 (wet look) to completion of Stage 4 polish. (after further thought am going to put a lot of these back into Stage 1 until I like all of their shapes- I may even grind a few edges) I removed all of the rocks and put the slurry in a plastic jar for later use (if needed). Here are a few pictures after 10 days. Quite a few of them are not ready however a lot of them are. I had added some rough rocks halfway through the coarse stage to thicken up the slurry. These rocks still have pits and a few edges and they will not make it to Stage 2. I have some Quartz in there that have fractures that I want to put into Stage 2. I do not have pellets nor do I have a rock store around here. I am going to use the search function to look for local options but anyone have suggestions? Ok here are some pics (wet). Thanks for stopping by Rinse Here are some of the larger ones. The one large agate has one corner that has a indention. If I am 100% sure I can get all of the abrasives out of the pit is it okay to continue with it to Stage 2? Here are some medium sized ones. A lot of these will not go to Stage 2 (first 3 in row 1 for example). Some of them I added after day 5 to try and help thicken the slurry. The one with big pits are obvious. Smalls- Lots of quartz and some jaspers and a few that I don't know what they are that I added to fill in the spaces between the larger rocks. Think some of them shrank a lot. Also some rough rocks that won't make it into Stage 2 right now.
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ubermenehune
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 293
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Post by ubermenehune on Aug 15, 2016 18:07:09 GMT -5
I wouldn't worry about making mistakes or strict adherence to protocols. Mistakes will be made and you'll learn from them. Even the most experienced tumblers get cracked and undercut material. Those are the ones that go back into the Stage 1 pile.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 15, 2016 18:21:47 GMT -5
I wouldn't worry about making mistakes or strict adherence to protocols. Mistakes will be made and you'll learn from them. Even the most experienced tumblers get cracked and undercut material. Those are the ones that go back into the Stage 1 pile. I'm definitely not worried about making mistakes. Just do not want to make easily preventable ones.
I'm debating taking a few of them to a grinder then putting them back in to coarse grind. What is your thoughts to that?
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ubermenehune
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 293
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Post by ubermenehune on Aug 15, 2016 19:56:42 GMT -5
I've never used a grinder on my tumbles, but it's certainly a faster way to get to the shape you want or grind out imperfections. No harm is giving it a go and seeing if you like the results. Stage one can be maddeningly slow.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Aug 15, 2016 20:03:53 GMT -5
'I do not have pellets nor do I have a rock store around here. I am going to use the search function to look for local options but anyone have suggestions?'
I don't know why you couldn't use airsoft bb's if you have a quartz load you are trying to cushion.
When I am in doubt whether a rock is ready to move on, it's definitely not ready. When I think it's ready, I throw it back in for another week. Take your time, it'll be worth it.
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ubermenehune
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 293
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Post by ubermenehune on Aug 15, 2016 20:17:18 GMT -5
I've used stuff like pieces of leather and chopped up wooden dowels for cushioning in my barrels.
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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 Aug 16, 2016 0:03:54 GMT -5
I use airsoft pellets to about 20% of the load in 220 and 600, consider it very worthwhile as a cushion. Leather chunks for polish.
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Post by accidentalrockhound on Aug 16, 2016 0:04:38 GMT -5
Nice start! I am working on my first tumble also, look forward to the updates!
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dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305
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Post by dottyt on Aug 16, 2016 0:43:12 GMT -5
I have successfully tumbled rocks with deep, but small holes in them. You just have to clean them out *very* well so there is no grit contamination. I used a brush that looks like a super mini bottle brush. For some cracks you can use toothbrushes, but this probably would not with the agate that has the 2 rocks in its mouth. Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing how things go! Lots of them look very nice already.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 16, 2016 0:45:13 GMT -5
'I do not have pellets nor do I have a rock store around here. I am going to use the search function to look for local options but anyone have suggestions?' I don't know why you couldn't use airsoft bb's if you have a quartz load you are trying to cushion. When I am in doubt whether a rock is ready to move on, it's definitely not ready. When I think it's ready, I throw it back in for another week. Take your time, it'll be worth it. Yeah I decided I am going to grind a couple of them and then reload stage one. If I have stones in there that I feel are done with stage one should I just leave them out when put the rest back into the coarse stage? (Mostly the small quartz) then reintroduce them back into stage 2 when I get there.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 16, 2016 0:47:46 GMT -5
I have successfully tumbled rocks with deep, but small holes in them. You just have to clean them out *very* well so there is no grit contamination. I used a brush that looks like a super mini bottle brush. For some cracks you can use toothbrushes, but this probably would not with the agate that has the 2 rocks in its mouth. There are products made for filling holes too. Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing how things go! The hole in the agate with the two rocks in it has widened and the two rocks are out of it. I think I am going to split that into two pieces and grind a little of the rough edge the break creates and put it back into the coarse stage for another week.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 16, 2016 0:49:41 GMT -5
I use airsoft pellets to about 20% of the load in 220 and 600, consider it very worthwhile as a cushion. Leather chunks for polish. Great tip with the air soft bb's guys/gals. I will definitely be doing that.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 16, 2016 0:51:31 GMT -5
I've never used a grinder on my tumbles, but it's certainly a faster way to get to the shape you want or grind out imperfections. No harm is giving it a go and seeing if you like the results. Stage one can be maddeningly slow. Don't think I want to grind any shapes out but maybe some bad imperfections.
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dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305
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Post by dottyt on Aug 16, 2016 0:55:30 GMT -5
I'm not an expert, but I would say if you are happy with a rock as is, you do not want it to get any smaller!
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 16, 2016 1:01:55 GMT -5
I'm not an expert, but I would say if you are happy with a rock as is, you do not want it to get any smaller! That's what I was thinking.
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dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305
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Post by dottyt on Aug 16, 2016 1:10:31 GMT -5
The hole in the agate with the two rocks in it has widened and the two rocks are out of it. I think I am going to split that into two pieces and grind a little of the rough edge the break creates and put it back into the coarse stage for another week. Some day I will learn to read all the posts before responding, but that sounds like a good plan. I love these step by step posts, especially when they have a lot of photos! Thanks.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Aug 16, 2016 6:48:39 GMT -5
'I do not have pellets nor do I have a rock store around here. I am going to use the search function to look for local options but anyone have suggestions?' I don't know why you couldn't use airsoft bb's if you have a quartz load you are trying to cushion. When I am in doubt whether a rock is ready to move on, it's definitely not ready. When I think it's ready, I throw it back in for another week. Take your time, it'll be worth it. Yeah I decided I am going to grind a couple of them and then reload stage one. If I have stones in there that I feel are done with stage one should I just leave them out when put the rest back into the coarse stage? (Mostly the small quartz) then reintroduce them back in stage 2 when I get there. Yes, take out any that are ready to move on. Then you can move more in to start stage one. Maximize your stage 1 loads because it takes so long. Start a container of rocks ready for stage 2. When that fills up, start you a barrel of stage 2. Those will all move on together from there. If you have multiple barrels, or tumblers, you can leave that stage 1 barrel going in perpetuity. If you only have one barrel, put the stage 1 rocks that aren't done yet in a container to restart when your are done polishing the others.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 25, 2016 12:10:36 GMT -5
I decided I didn't have enough quality rocks to go to Stage 2 so I decided to start another Stage 1. I didn't have enough variety of sizes so I also have airsoft pellets in with them. I also forgot to take pictures of before so these have been in for 2 days and I took them out, rinsed them to take pictures...here they are...
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Post by accidentalrockhound on Sept 3, 2016 13:05:43 GMT -5
Stonedape, I ran into the same problem with not enough material for the next stage so I also had to start some more stage 1, looking good!
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Sept 12, 2016 17:27:35 GMT -5
Well I have come to realize that I have been putting to many rocks into my tumbler and it has been restricting the action. I loaded the barrel half way and added some small filler beads and left it in stage one for 5 days while I was in Florida. Came back and in 5 days they look better than my first stage one rocks that I had in for almost 2 weeks.
So if this is your first tumble and you are reading this thread don't go fill more than 50-60% of the barrel.
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