oscarz7
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2018
Posts: 1
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Post by oscarz7 on Jul 24, 2018 7:51:18 GMT -5
Hi, My name is Lisa and I am new at this whole tumbling adventure. I am glad there is a form like this to read and learn from and to find like minded people ( Rock and Rollers !!) . I bought a tumbler and a batch of a variety rock mix. I have read a lot about tumbling and that I should put rocks of the same hardness together for best results. Here is my problem... How do I determine in my mix batch or rocks which are the same hardness? I am not quite sure how to identify the rocks. I am dying to get started ! Thank you for any advice.
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Post by vegasjames on Jul 24, 2018 8:28:20 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Lisa. I am not a tumbler but there are a lot of them here that should be waking up shortly and can help you.
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Post by MsAli on Jul 24, 2018 9:58:24 GMT -5
Welcome Lisa! The first thing would be to identify what you have Where did you buy them from? Do you have pictures?
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Post by manofglass on Jul 24, 2018 10:01:02 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from Michigan
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Post by Peruano on Jul 24, 2018 10:26:23 GMT -5
You can probably find a book on rock tumbling in your library and certainly can find out about rock hardness tests in rock and mineral guides. Basically for tumbling purposes you can break them into three categories. A soft rock is one that can be scratched with a pocket knife. You may need to look at it with a magnifying glass to see if it is a scratch or a trace of metal left on the rock. A next harder category of rock is one that can be scratched by a metal file or other very hard steel. And finally the very hard rocks won't be scratched by either. For tumbling purposes you want to keep the soft rocks apart from the others. You can run medium and hard rocks together but if you know you have differences, you might pay attention to how they shine. Softer rocks usually don't shine well when run with harder material. The best plan is to start rolling and pay attention . . . and don't be discouraged if you don't produce diamonds of your first run. Welcome.
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Post by gmitch067 on Jul 24, 2018 13:20:21 GMT -5
Welcome to the Forum Lisa from Northern California! I use two methods to determine the hardness of the rocks I tumble… research the name for it’s characteristics, or perform scratch tests using a set of pen-like scribes (picks) that are graduated by hardness. If I buy a particular stone from a vendor (like The Rock Shed, or Amazon), I go on the internet to Geology.com (Minerals or Gemstones menu pages) and read up on the stone’s name and characteristics (which has hardness listed). The Rock Shed (TheRockShed.com) and many other vendors also list the hardness of the stones they sell and in some instances give tumbling recommendations. (Note: It is also fun to Google the name of the stone and open some of the pictures to see some finished products.) The hardness scribes I use were purchased from Amazon.com (...also shown on the Geology.com web site at geology.com/store/collections/hardness-kit.shtml ). Each pen-like scribe has a point that is tempered to a certain hardness. Depending on whether the pen can or can-not scratch the stone allows you to get a ballpark idea of how hard it is.
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mgrets
spending too much on rocks
Member since February 2011
Posts: 321
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Post by mgrets on Jul 24, 2018 18:43:20 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from Ohio!
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goatgrinder
spending too much on rocks
Make mine a man cave
Member since January 2017
Posts: 368
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Post by goatgrinder on Jul 24, 2018 19:01:28 GMT -5
Hey Lisa and welcome to the Forum from sunny Georgia.
My brand of help falls under a separate category, as in throw everything into the barrel and after a week see what is ground to a nubbin and what is nice and round. The nubbins are not going to ruin your finances and you will swiftly learn what is what. You only have to do it once, and all of us have made that mistake somewhere. Get through all stages of your tumble and have some very nice shiny stones to show for it. Smile big and then look for more of the stones that turn up shiny.
Mistakes are great teachers. Have fun.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 28, 2018 10:19:40 GMT -5
Welcome Lisa!
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Post by TheRock on Aug 1, 2018 3:08:39 GMT -5
Howdy oscarz7 to RTH Forum from Duke in SW Michigan ~Duke
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