schnur07
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2016
Posts: 12
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Post by schnur07 on May 12, 2017 18:12:43 GMT -5
I tried to post a photo but apparently there isn't any room in this forum to post any. If there's another way to post one, please let me know. My 11 year old daughter is extremely excited to tumble our first batch of rocks. We collect them locally here from the Willamette River in Oregon in the Salem area. We bought the cheapo Harbor Freight 2-3lb barrel model. Hopefully I can make modifications to it along the way to keep it rolling for a while. I just want to have our first batch be as successful as possible. I bought a combo grit package from Amazon - 60, 180/220, 500 silicon carbide and 1200 aluminum oxide. My question is about the varying rock sizes and types of rocks. I wish I could post a photo of the rocks my daughter picked out to tumble. I had her add a bunch of small ones to the ones she picked out but I'm not sure if this will work or not. Her largest one is about 2 inches in diameter. I tried to do my best to test them for hardness and they all seemed to be in the 5-8 range (assuming I know what I'm doing). Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. thx!
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Post by morerockspleaz on May 12, 2017 18:49:47 GMT -5
Hi from Texas. You will need to go to a photo hosting website like photo bucket and set up a free account, there are more sites for photo's but I don't remember the others. There is a good tutorial for posting pictures on here. You do need various sizes of rock. The first stage you are just shaping in the course grit. That takes patience. There is a great tumbling tutorial also, lots of great inf. Looking forward to seeing your rocks.
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Post by spiceman on May 12, 2017 20:35:25 GMT -5
Yes, stage 1 removes the rough edges, bad spots whatever. If they are not rounded and shaped nicely then don't move them to stage 2. Redo stage 1 until they are ready. Remove the rocks from stage one that are ready. Go to stage 2 when they are all ready.
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Post by manofglass on May 12, 2017 21:16:39 GMT -5
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schnur07
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2016
Posts: 12
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Post by schnur07 on May 12, 2017 23:18:22 GMT -5
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Post by pauls on May 13, 2017 0:09:46 GMT -5
Yes they look good, don't expect to have them all nice and round and shaped in a week of stage 1 though. It looks a decent mix, you should get some really nice tumbled gems out of them.
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Post by tims on May 13, 2017 1:22:12 GMT -5
Looks like a nice mix of sizes and some pretty material. I can't imagine tumbling with a kid, my own impatience is trying enough
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schnur07
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2016
Posts: 12
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Post by schnur07 on May 13, 2017 19:06:40 GMT -5
Yes they look good, don't expect to have them all nice and round and shaped in a week of stage 1 though. It looks a decent mix, you should get some really nice tumbled gems out of them. If we don't care about the roundness of them but just want them polished, does it matter how long we do stage 1? My daughter said she likes the shape the rocks are in now but just wants them polished.
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Post by rockjunquie on May 13, 2017 19:35:12 GMT -5
Can't help with tumbling. Just popped in to admire the rocks and say welcome.
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Post by spiceman on May 13, 2017 21:47:05 GMT -5
The grit may get packed in the rough spots. Clean that area real good, then do it again but better. It might help in later stages.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on May 13, 2017 22:58:26 GMT -5
The material looks good to me in terms of size and mix of sizes. I would suggest lower fill age of the barrel, especially for the first stage. I personally don't usually fill more than half full. By the way, I have the same tumbler as you.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on May 14, 2017 6:32:47 GMT -5
Time's a wasting. Throw em in the barrel and roll them. You should have a good idea after 2-3 weeks and adding coarse grit at least every week.
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Post by vegasjames on May 14, 2017 15:41:35 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. By the way you may find Flickr better than Photobucket. I gave up on Photobucket a while ago, could not stand all the pop up ads.
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Post by morerockspleaz on May 14, 2017 16:49:32 GMT -5
Nice group of rocks, nice variety. Do you have them tumbling yet?
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lookatthat
Cave Dweller
Whatever there is to be found.
Member since May 2017
Posts: 1,360
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Post by lookatthat on May 14, 2017 20:19:35 GMT -5
Um, that pointed brownish stone next to the quarter kinda looks like an artifact from here. You might want to take a closer look, maybe post a few pictures on the "artifact" section for ID to be sure it's NOT an artifact before turning it into a 50 cent tumbled stone.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on May 14, 2017 21:48:06 GMT -5
Roll away-looks pretty good with the variety of rock.....
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vera
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 259
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Post by vera on May 15, 2017 23:54:49 GMT -5
I think you have a nice mixture of sizes. I also think you will have some really pretty stones when they are done. You may want to tell your daughter that if the rocks have pitted places in them the polish will not do a very good job. Have her look at them and perhaps look at some pics of rocks here on the site with her to show her how good they will look if she lets them tumble longer. Then ask her if she would prefer to make them VERY shiny even though they will take a little longer. You could also take them out sooner and after she has had them a while ask her if you could put a few of them back in a little longer to get a better shine. There are lots of ways to get kids to do things they really are not interested in doing! Oh and you can always move back and redo any stage, so smoothing the rocks more later is not a problem. Sorry - sometimes my degree in special ed comes out when it comes to kids. ;-)
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schnur07
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2016
Posts: 12
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Post by schnur07 on May 16, 2017 20:53:59 GMT -5
I think you have a nice mixture of sizes. I also think you will have some really pretty stones when they are done. You may want to tell your daughter that if the rocks have pitted places in them the polish will not do a very good job. Have her look at them and perhaps look at some pics of rocks here on the site with her to show her how good they will look if she lets them tumble longer. Then ask her if she would prefer to make them VERY shiny even though they will take a little longer. You could also take them out sooner and after she has had them a while ask her if you could put a few of them back in a little longer to get a better shine. There are lots of ways to get kids to do things they really are not interested in doing! Oh and you can always move back and redo any stage, so smoothing the rocks more later is not a problem. Sorry - sometimes my degree in special ed comes out when it comes to kids. ;-) Thank you so much for your thoughts. I think those are very helpful - providing her some information to help her make some informed decisions. It's also good to know we can just throw them back in the mix at a later date - totally makes sense.
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Post by spiceman on May 16, 2017 21:09:27 GMT -5
I think you have a nice mixture of sizes. I also think you will have some really pretty stones when they are done. You may want to tell your daughter that if the rocks have pitted places in them the polish will not do a very good job. Have her look at them and perhaps look at some pics of rocks here on the site with her to show her how good they will look if she lets them tumble longer. Then ask her if she would prefer to make them VERY shiny even though they will take a little longer. You could also take them out sooner and after she has had them a while ask her if you could put a few of them back in a little longer to get a better shine. There are lots of ways to get kids to do things they really are not interested in doing! Oh and you can always move back and redo any stage, so smoothing the rocks more later is not a problem. Sorry - sometimes my degree in special ed comes out when it comes to kids. ;-) First...Vera Don't be sorry, you did nothing wrong.
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