ontherocks
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2017
Posts: 76
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Post by ontherocks on Apr 25, 2018 6:51:00 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay. Here is the rough: Here are a handful I just took out of 220. The small black one at the bottom is a Turritella Shell I have polished previously, but as you can see the rough from the rock shed is bigger and more tan/red than I was expecting. I am pretty sure the smooth one at the top I stuck in the rotary for a week - it grinds away fast. I can't wait to see what they look like polished. Hope this helps!
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Post by gmitch067 on Apr 25, 2018 8:02:59 GMT -5
Thank you ontherocks ... This has helped me a lot. I think that I will start out with AO-500 in my Lot-O first - bypass 220 grit. ...No rotary tumbler for me on this one. What were you using as filler in the Lot-O? What ratio... shells to filler? Glenn
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Apr 25, 2018 10:25:46 GMT -5
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Post by rockpickerforever on Apr 25, 2018 10:33:43 GMT -5
One down, only a boat load more to go, lol.
You've got some Purdy rocks in that tumble, John, thanks for re-uploading the photos and fixing links!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Apr 25, 2018 10:37:04 GMT -5
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Apr 25, 2018 19:03:56 GMT -5
These are very tough and take a high polish with ease.
500 AlO in the vibe then polish. They're small, so I used them as smalls, to tumble a bunch of bigger stuff.
Really cool and unusual stuff.
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ontherocks
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2017
Posts: 76
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Post by ontherocks on Apr 25, 2018 19:14:51 GMT -5
Thank you ontherocks ... This has helped me a lot. I think that I will start out with AO-500 in my Lot-O first - bypass 220 grit. ...No rotary tumbler for me on this one. What were you using as filler in the Lot-O? What ratio... shells to filler? Glenn I just put them in the vibe with a bunch on other miscellaneous agates and jaspers. There was a handful or two of ceramics, but not much filler.
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Post by gmitch067 on Apr 25, 2018 20:29:56 GMT -5
Just received my order of Turritella shells from The Rock Shed.
First thing I did was sort through the 5 lbs of shells for "keepers" to use later in projects or to give as gifts... 2 lbs. (shells should be at least 75% intact, edges well defined... the sharper the better, and minimal otherworldly contamination) The rest went into a ziplock bag for future tumbling fun... 3 lbs. Took some pictures for comparison posting later.
I split the "keepers" into two loads.. one went into the Lot-O and the other went into the Mini-Sonic-4 (at medium speed - a little faster than mid-rheostat position).
The filler to both was the same... 60% very small pea gravel and 40% mix of well used small & large ceramics (I ran out of the pea gravel.. Oh well...) Polish = 1 TBS AO-500 Thickener = 1 TBS Borax
I will sample the loads daily to see how they are progressing, and get back here with updates.
Glenn
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Post by gmitch067 on May 1, 2018 17:57:32 GMT -5
Comparison time. Here are the 5 lbs rough Turritella shells direct from The RockShed: I skipped 220 and went directly to AO-500 for 2x2-days (the second running was intended to see if some of the shells would clean-up better... but didn't make any difference. The Lot-O put a shine on the shells after the first AO-500 run of 2-days... the Mini-Sonic, after the same time, did not: Then... after 2 days in AO-14000 polish... Both look good but the Lot-O batch had more of a luster and richer color. Here is the mixed media I used: The rest (3 lbs) are going into the Lortone UV-18 at 220 grit - to polish - for general Kid-Picks. Glenn
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Post by fernwood on May 1, 2018 18:13:59 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing. Looks like many kept the sharp edges you were shooting for.
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Post by taylor on May 1, 2018 19:03:49 GMT -5
Those are sooo cool!
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Post by gmitch067 on May 1, 2018 20:28:32 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing. Looks like many kept the sharp edges you were shooting for. My fav (out of 5 lbs) is the one hidden amongst the mixed media pic (see above the 5.5 cm mark on the ruler). ... looks just right for a 30x40mm oval cab backing. Glenn
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Post by fernwood on May 2, 2018 4:32:49 GMT -5
That is a nice one.
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Post by gmitch067 on Dec 8, 2018 22:10:24 GMT -5
Used one shell to decorate an Aventurine cab (heavy in mica inclusions):
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Post by fernwood on Dec 9, 2018 6:40:05 GMT -5
gmitch067 The bolo is wonderful. Your turritella tumbling has been an inspiration to me. I am using the rotary, 1 lb barrel, for a test run of Rock Shed shells, mixed with Petoskey and other fossils/volcanic materials. Waited a long time for these to be back in stock. Chose some of the so-so ones to start. So far, so good. Now in AO 14,00 for the duration. I really appreciate this thread and your sharing of processes. Gave me the confidence to try this. Thank you.
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