anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 10, 2018 10:51:24 GMT -5
I recently started tumbling Ruby and sapphire with a hardness of 9. I bought grit that is in 6 stage the first being 40. I plan on tumbling it for two weeks each stage, but, will that be enough? If anyone can tell me how long I should tumble this please let me know. Thanks
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Post by gmitch067 on Feb 10, 2018 11:43:45 GMT -5
Unfortunately... The Silicon Carbide tumbling grit is also a Mohs-9 hardness, and will only succeed in knocking any dirt and grime from the outer skin of the rubys and sapphires. The size of the grit (example: 40-grit and 80-grit, etc) is only the size... not the hardness... they are all Mohs-9 in hardness for Silicon Carbide) (Note: the scrabble called corundum is a mix of ruby and sapphire.)
When I started tumbling just over a year ago I bought all three from Amazon - $$$ - I tumbled them for a couple of months before realizing their appearance would not get any better. Oh well... We learn...
Those members who use the cabbing machines with grinding and polishing wheels use diamond grits and polishes, and they can get a nice shine on these stones.
I have since used the smaller pieces of the ruby and sapphire corundum as a sort of heavy grit in stage-1 to wear down and shape the harder agates. After over a year, they are still going strong... they have worn down some, and have a nice satiny look. I still have a few pounds of the larger stones and might tumble off the outer dirt and use them as planter bling. LOL!
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anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 10, 2018 13:36:55 GMT -5
Does the combo of Ruby and sapphire (The Corundum) you spoke of. Is it below moh 9?
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Post by gmitch067 on Feb 10, 2018 20:53:57 GMT -5
No. As I understand it, Ruby, Sapphire, and Corundum are all the same - all around Mohs-9. Now, Before I purchase from Amazon, I google it on the Internet. If you search on "<stone name> tumbled stones" you might see what they are supposed to look like after tumble them. Then I go to www.minerals.net , www.gemselect.com , or www.geology.com to check out their characteristics (very helpful if you are planning to tumble a bunch of different rocks together).
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anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 13, 2018 7:04:39 GMT -5
I decided to buy some Boron Carbide mesh F 180. I hope that will so the job I'm not sure what the grit size is though. Do you think that will work? My only other choice is diamond powder which I can't afford. Thanks for all of your help.
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Post by vegasjames on Feb 13, 2018 7:39:05 GMT -5
I decided to buy some Boron Carbide mesh F 180. I hope that will so the job I'm not sure what the grit size is though. Do you think that will work? My only other choice is diamond powder which I can't afford. Thanks for all of your help. Boron carbide abrasive is about 9.5 on the Moh's scale.
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Post by gmitch067 on Feb 13, 2018 9:10:40 GMT -5
It seems that Boron Carbide grit would work... But... also seems way more expensive than I am comfortable in paying for tumbling grit. sandblastingabrasives.com/boron-carbide-abrasive-powders-order-page-grits-60-through-1500-5lbs-or-more-783.html(The prices from the above supplier is per-pound with a 5-pound minimum!!!) If you were to consider regular rotary tumbling Silicon Carbide grit sizes per stage and the equivalent Boron Carbide prices: Stage-1 80-grit (...run numerous times) - $19.99/lb ... (or about $100 for 5 lbs!) Stage-2 220-grit - $20.99/lb Stage-3 600-grit - $29.99/lb Stage-4 (maybe???) 1000-grit - $34.24/lb Polish.. Diamond??? $$$!!! Is a 3-6 lb Corundum tumble which takes x-months with numerous replenishing grit worth it??? Also... I do not know what the physical breakdown dynamics for Boron Carbide is during a rotary tumble. Silicon Carbide breaks down over time to a finer grit as it tumbles with hard stones... which allows you to jump over some grit sizes (80 to 220 to 600 etc...). I am not sure if that applies to Boron Carbide. Glenn
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anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 14, 2018 22:16:28 GMT -5
I decided to buy some Boron Carbide mesh F 180. I hope that will so the job I'm not sure what the grit size is though. Do you think that will work? My only other choice is diamond powder which I can't afford. Thanks for all of your help. Boron carbide abrasive is about 9.5 on the Moh's scale. OK, Boron Carbide is 9.5 and Ruby Sapphire is 9 how long would I need to tumble 3 lbs. of stone in the mesh F 180 (still don't know what grit size that is)?
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anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 14, 2018 22:27:55 GMT -5
Is a 3-6 lb Corundum tumble which takes x-months with numerous replenishing grit worth it??? You know, after reading your post I realized you are absolutely right, it's not worth it, even for experimentation. So now I have 2lbs. of Ruby-Sapphire tumbling in first stage silicone carbide for the last week. If it where you. Would you abort that tumble and go on to something else? Thanks.
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Post by gmitch067 on Feb 15, 2018 0:27:48 GMT -5
Well... I lasted a little bit longer than a week (I never was a fast learner...) before calling it a waste of time and moving on. I had dreams of fame and riches that were sort of dashed. Lol! As I said... we learn from our mistakes and move on. I am still moving, and understand where you are at. Oh well...
I still have about 4-5 lbs of Ruby Corundum from my purchase a year ago. The rocks are too big for use as grit, so I guess I might tumble them for a week to knock off the dirt and bring out some color... then use them as bling for my indoor planter box. Maybe the Basil and Rosemary will taste better.
As to your other question about F150 Boron Carbide. The 150 denotes the physical size of the grains - as sifted through screens. The coarser the grit the more severe the grind. As stated in my previous post, the usual tumbling cycle starts off using a coarse 46/70, 60/90, or 80 grit. The course grits are used to tumble the rocks until they are shaped the way you like (well rounded or just enough to knock off the rough edges). A rock usually looses around 25-30% of it's mass at the end of Stage-1. The Stage-1 run could be anywhere from a week (soft stones), to a month or more (for harder stones). Because the grit breaks down, it is usual to stop after a week to clean/inspect the stones and return them to another Stage-1 run with fresh 80-grit. Continue this until you like their looks and shape. Then progress to the next stage... 220-grit. (NOTE: Because of the need to repeat Stage-1 numerous times, you will need to purchase more coarse grit from the store than the other size grits.)
It might take 3-5 months in a Stage-1 tumble of Corundum with Boron Carbide before moving to the next Stage.
The Stage-2 220-grit run(s) are used to smooth out the scratches left by the 80-grit runs. The stones will loose another 2-3% of their mass.
The finer grits are used to smooth out scratches left from the previous stage... Stage-3 600-grit, an extra Stage 1000-grit (for softer stones mainly), and Stage-4 polish, which is around 14,000 grit.
I hope this helps.
Glenn
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anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 15, 2018 4:04:54 GMT -5
That helps a whole lot. Thanks for taking the time to give me the details. Best of luck to you.
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anubis63
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 23, 2018 12:23:36 GMT -5
I hope you all get this. I am posting pictures of the Ruby,Sapphire after 1 month of tumbling using 60/90 Grit Silicon Carbide changing the grit after two weeks and tumbling for a another two weeks and this is what it looks like after stage 1. I think it looks pretty good. Attachments:
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Post by fantastic5 on Feb 23, 2018 13:08:13 GMT -5
Its really rounding out nicely, especially for only 1 month. You may be on to something!
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anubis63
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Member since February 2018
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Post by anubis63 on Feb 23, 2018 15:32:16 GMT -5
Yes, I was very surprised with the outcome especially using silicon carbide I thought I was going to have to use boron carbide and as I said I was surprised of the outcome.
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joyb
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Post by joyb on Oct 12, 2018 21:35:24 GMT -5
I'm so glad I found this post. Those are beautiful anubis63. I have 2 stones I found in the NC mountains that I was told are star rubies. I mixed them with some quartz, jaspers, agates, etc and tumbled in 60/90 silicon carbide. They have gone 2 weeks so far, in different batches of mixed stones, and I was ready to give up on the ruby color actually coming out. I have renewed hope 😊
Question: Should I be mixing these in with other stones that range 5-7 on Mohs?
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