nchillbilly
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2018
Posts: 212
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Post by nchillbilly on May 13, 2018 21:08:40 GMT -5
Well, not that I'm terribly proud of them, I finished (sort of) a batch of unakite this evening. I'm posting only because I hope someone can look at these and possibly tell me what I'm doing wrong. This is the second time I've run them, and although they're a little better this time, not by a whole lot. They have a decent shine, but if you look close, you can see a not so perfect finish. Any suggestions are appreciated.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on May 13, 2018 22:15:28 GMT -5
J.T.......They don't look that bad...for Unakite.
Your results look a lot like my first couple of batches.........It was one of the first stones I ever tried to tumble polish, as it was recommended as a good beginner stone to work with.....I believe most shops that sell this rough consider it a 5.5 to 6Mohs.......My first mistake with it was processing with a 7Mohs Jasper mix through all of the stages. Resulting in needle point pitted semi-gloss rounded stones.
My second mistake with it (another batch all 6Mohs) was not vibe grinding it long enough in the intermediate stages with ceramics (400, 600 or 800)....and forgetting that it needs a good pre-polish cycle like Sic 1000-1200, then pre-polish/polish with CO in the vibe.
A buddy owns a couple of Lot-O's, when I first purchased Unakite from the RS, I gave him half and we both started our cycles at the same time. Both of us roughed 1st cycles in rotary, then everything else in vibes........his batch was also a mix of 6 to 7Mohs, but he remembered the high grade Sic step........results were very glossy with a few that had the mico-pitting. Needless to say, I was set-back some, but it convinced me that Lot-O's are great vibes......even a bit quicker than our bowl tumblers but at 2.5 times the purchase expense......lol
I have only processed Unakite one other time (as properly as I know how now), never even bothered to photo it (boring)..........75% of it turned out great, but The RS variety did not have the color spectrum I expected....(unless of course you use a magnify glass to examine)......Have not touched the stuff since (I still have about 3lbs of RS rough left, some place around here)......lol
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nchillbilly
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2018
Posts: 212
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Post by nchillbilly on May 14, 2018 16:59:41 GMT -5
This was my second go-round with this batch. Originally, shaped them in the rotary, then in the vibe 3 days in 120/220 sic, 2 days in 500 sic, 2 days in 1000 a/o, and 2 days in 14000 a/o. Heavy load of ceramic cyls and spheres. Came home from work last day of final polish to find my slurry had thickened up quite a bit and most of the rocks were congregated together just vibrating against one another. Needless to say, not an optimum outcome. I decided to run them again, starting with the 120/220 sic in the vibe. Let them run 3 days again. Then ran in 500 a/o for 2 days, 14000 a/o for 2 days. They looked awesome when wet, but when dry, less than stellar. I may try them again at some point, but I'm moving on to something a little less frustrating. To say I'm getting aggravated with some of these trouble stones is an understatement. I want to turn out something interesting that's not gonna work me to death. I'm not the type to give up easily, but damn. I've got a pile of agates, jaspers, and pet wood that's almost guaranteed to put a smile on my face. I'll save the trouble rocks for sometime when I'm really bored.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on May 20, 2018 7:53:40 GMT -5
I don't think they look too bad either. Unakite with the varying materials often has a less than perfect finish. Nature of the beast so to speak.
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on May 20, 2018 8:20:34 GMT -5
pretty much looks like the best I've been able to do with the stuff. The material I've been finding here in northern Colorado has a lot of fractures it's just really hard to get a good shine. It helps to have a lot of cushioning material like plastic or ceramic beads.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on May 21, 2018 7:56:58 GMT -5
Jugglerguy gave me some Great Lakes unakite that was hard and had nary a fracture that tumbled about as well as agate. To have fine tumbles you have to have fine rocks, simple as that. Great job on what can be a real tricky tumble nchillbilly.
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 21, 2018 10:19:54 GMT -5
I didn't comment on this before because I have only tumbled Lake Superior Unakite. It looks slightly different from the African? stuff, so I don't know how it tumbles in comparison. I don't do anything special with mine, I just tumble it like anything else. The green epidote does better than the red parts in my experience. The red tends to undercut a little more.
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nchillbilly
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2018
Posts: 212
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Post by nchillbilly on May 21, 2018 16:53:23 GMT -5
I didn't comment on this before because I have only tumbled Lake Superior Unakite. It looks slightly different from the African? stuff, so I don't know how it tumbles in comparison. I don't do anything special with mine, I just tumble it like anything else. The green epidote does better than the red parts in my experience. The red tends to undercut a little more. Supposedly this stuff is from Brazil. I didn't experience a lot of undercutting of the red material, but it did seem to be more prone to chipping, during the polish stage of course. My load had probably 65%-70% ceramics in a vibe, and I even adjusted the slurry to slow the action so as to not be too violent, still a couple of pieces chipped. It's a neat looking stone, but a PITA to shine. I'm gonna work on some stuff I can count on to turn out well for a while, just to make myself feel good about the time investment. I normally don't shy away from trouble stones, but I'm tired of pulling my hair out (so to speak).
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 21, 2018 17:34:51 GMT -5
I've never had any problems with chipping or shining. I use a Lot-O with more like 25 or 30 percent ceramics. I don't think more ceramics is ever a problem.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on May 21, 2018 19:12:09 GMT -5
I've never had any problems with chipping or shining. I use a Lot-O with more like 25 or 30 percent ceramics. I don't think more ceramics is ever a problem. That's how my Buddy's Lot-O batches turned out.......(minus the pre-shaped goodies).......the Lot-O is a great vibe.
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Post by Psycho on Jun 12, 2018 7:58:42 GMT -5
Nice reds always make unakite look better in mho. Great job!
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