AgateChaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 167
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Post by AgateChaser on Apr 7, 2006 17:04:51 GMT -5
I wanted to save on shipping so I went to my LOCAL guy. Local for us was a little over an hour drive but, not too bad. I got a great price on my Lortone 33B and grits. The only thing I'm a little disappointed with is something I just found out a month after my purchase. It seems as if Gary's prices are reasonable but...and this is a BIG but... make sure you know exactly what you are buying before you make a purchase. I explained to Gary that I was brand new to tumbling and he got me all set up. That wasn't the problem. I was looking at polished Malachite and told him that I wanted some rough to run through my tumbler. Instead of selling me Malachite...he sold me rocks with Malachite Crystals. I couldn't understand why they weren't all green but, I figured he knew what he was talking about. After weeks of tumbling in 60/90...they are smoother but still black with stripes of Aquamarine running through them. Oh well! I'll chuck it up to being a newbie. My point is that, as long as you know for sure what you are buying, I wouldn't reccomend buying from this store. If my info is incorrect in some way...please, let me know. I'll post pics of my stuff soon. www.garysgemgarden.com |
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inflight22
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2006
Posts: 710
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Post by inflight22 on Apr 7, 2006 21:08:48 GMT -5
Is it possible that Gary was trying to steer you away from the malachite because it's a bit more difficult to get a good polish on, and this other stuff will ultimately polish better? I'm not sure myself, just wondering. I would think that if a newbie walked into my fictional shop, I'd try to get them to try something a little more easy than malachite. Just wanting to keep an open mind about this, and I could totally be wrong.
jj
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Post by rockyraccoon on Apr 8, 2006 11:43:27 GMT -5
i'd like to see what he did sell you. can you post pics?
kim
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inflight22
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2006
Posts: 710
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Post by inflight22 on Apr 8, 2006 13:01:45 GMT -5
Yes, post pics, and let the experts give their opinions.
jj
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slim7309
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2006
Posts: 116
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Post by slim7309 on Apr 10, 2006 16:45:07 GMT -5
yea but how much did he charge you-he gave you a specimen an you wanted tumbling rough-if it was me i'd talk to that boy after you spent big money an now he gives you something else to his likeing. Slim
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AgateChaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 167
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Post by AgateChaser on May 10, 2006 21:21:54 GMT -5
Is it possible that Gary was trying to steer you away from the malachite because it's a bit more difficult to get a good polish on, and this other stuff will ultimately polish better? He may have been trying to steer me away but, if he was, he should have told me. I was very specific about wanting Malachite and not just crystals. |
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AgateChaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 167
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Post by AgateChaser on May 10, 2006 21:24:41 GMT -5
Yes, post pics, and let the experts give their opinions. jj Thanks...I would appreciate it. Here they are...  Before tumbling...  A piece after three weeks of tumbling. I even tried tumbling the pieces with other harder rocks to no avail. So...What do you think? |
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inflight22
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2006
Posts: 710
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Post by inflight22 on May 11, 2006 0:35:43 GMT -5
Well, he didnt' sell you malachite. That might be malachite running through the stones, but if you asked for malachite, that doesn't appear to be what you got at all. I'll bow to the experts on this, but I have tumbled real malachite before, and this bears little resemblance to me.
jj
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on May 11, 2006 4:12:29 GMT -5
I'm not sure what that is either. But it isn't malachite. After several weeks of 60/90, malachite would be... well... gone. It is incredibly soft material. Some folks here have succeeded in polishing it with polishing belts and such, but I don't believe anyone has succeeded at getting it to shine in a tumbler, and I've been around this board for 2 years. Hate to say it, but Gary did you a favour by not selling you malachite to put in a tumbler, though it sounds like communication could have been much better, certainly to at least make it clear what he was selling to you.
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on May 11, 2006 5:40:48 GMT -5
AgateChaser, I live in NJ. So I called him to get a price. After talking to him i just ordered off the internet. Just didn't like they way he sounded.
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AgateChaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 167
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Post by AgateChaser on May 11, 2006 7:40:33 GMT -5
Thanks everybody. I just got received some real Malachite from AZ and I'm not sure what to do with it now.
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greenmann
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2005
Posts: 325
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Post by greenmann on May 15, 2006 22:42:46 GMT -5
Like JJ, I wonder if he didn't sell you sometting with malachite in it that will be easier to tumble, and more likely to give you a good finished product. Yeah, he should have made it clear what you were getting was something other than straight up malachite... but for what its worth, what you show in your picture looks pretty neat to me! If you don't like it, send it my way! I'll trade ya for some rather pretty common opal? lol... (which is almost as hard to tumble as the malachite, btw, or so I'm told. I haven't finished a batch yet to say for sure.)
I believe a few people have put up the recipes they were using for malachite. Most said they started with 200 if I remember correctly, rather than the usual 60/90 coarse, as the malachite would wear down too fast with the coarser grits. Even so, check your barrels at half the usual time you would for harder rocks like agate and jaster. I've also heard a few local experts say they have done the polishing stages of malachite dry with a mix of dry polishing powder and rolled oats for cushioning, but I have not tried this myself. At any rate, I hope you have enough malachite for a full load on its own. Its way too soft and difficult to mix with anything else from what I have heard.
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