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Post by arghvark on Jul 13, 2018 20:14:35 GMT -5
Welp, "finished" a small batch of wonderstone (a rhyolite) and the results are "less than spectacular". 3lb barrel, some time with 60/90, some time with 120/220, some time with 500. 15 days with 4 tbsp of Raybright. About 4 hours with a bit of ivory soap after a good rinsing. (Sorry for the lack of details.) In retrospect, I did pretty much everything wrong for such a soft stone. For polish and burnish, the barrel was only about half full, and did not put in nearly enough plastic beads. There were also a few small pieces of jasper, agate, and even some of my "garbage" in there. The jasper and agate are lovely, the garbage looks great, and the wonderstone is highly varied with most of it not polished. Here are a few representative photos. The first two are jasper that was in the same batch. The third and 7th are wonderstone that took at least some polish. The rest are representative of what most of it looks like. flic.kr/s/aHskBmyxyZMy takeaways from this follow. I'd love any advice and/or comments, as this stuff is real purty and I'd love to get some good shine. Don't mix with _anything_ else. Use a LOT more plastic to cushion. (It even seemed to me that the water from the burnish was surprisingly grey, indicating material was being removed?) Pay a lot more attention to fill level. I've got some more that I'll be roughing in a 6lb barrel, then going to the Lot-o. What do you think, throw this stuff back in at the 500 step? Does anyone have experience with this? Is a good shine doable? Seems wonderstone around here varies a lot in hardness and texture, and the really purty stuff with multicolored bands is the softest? :/
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Post by fernwood on Jul 13, 2018 20:46:48 GMT -5
Did you clean/burnish between each stage? There could have been some grit remaining on stones. I have seen a lot of Wonderstone that polishes nicely. Yes, the hardness varies a lot. I would check each stone for hardness. Only tumbles that are the same together. You should be able to add other stones of the same hardness. Some people use small pieces of leather for cushioning. Cannot remember if that works in a vibe/Lot o, as I have a rotary.
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Post by victor1941 on Jul 14, 2018 10:10:55 GMT -5
If the stones that were pictured came from the same batch I would definitely say you have a difference in hardness issue. I use a vibe to tumble-(ceramic media) and sometimes have an issue with some stones undercutting or soft material not getting a high luster polish. However, if you are shaping the stones before tumbling the cutting or ease of rock removal is also a good indicator of hardness. You can also scrape with a nail or file for relative hardness. I cut cabs and look for smoothness (blade polish) on the slabs as one indicator for polishing in the vibe.
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Post by arghvark on Jul 14, 2018 12:03:57 GMT -5
If the stones that were pictured came from the same batch I would definitely say you have a difference in hardness issue. I use a vibe to tumble-(ceramic media) and sometimes have an issue with some stones undercutting or soft material not getting a high luster polish. However, if you are shaping the stones before tumbling the cutting or ease of rock removal is also a good indicator of hardness. You can also scrape with a nail or file for relative hardness. I cut cabs and look for smoothness (blade polish) on the slabs as one indicator for polishing in the vibe. Yep, all from the same batch.
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sactorick
having dreams about rocks
gemfield
Member since October 2017
Posts: 67
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Post by sactorick on Jul 20, 2018 7:50:40 GMT -5
I've found that some Wonderstone is more porous than others. You can even see it in the rough. The more porous probably won't produce a high polish, more like a mat finish. It's not you. It's the rock.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 20, 2018 9:17:03 GMT -5
I have pounds of Wonderstone, that I will never tumble.. Just not worth my effort, for what it looks like when finished.. Yes, it is the rock...
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