69beeper
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 377
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Post by 69beeper on Dec 1, 2004 14:26:59 GMT -5
Finally finished a second batch. Not as much improvment as I had hoped, but I think this batch did come out better than my first.  I started with all amethyst, but ended up adding a few other stones as filler along the way.      Thanks for looking! Jimmy |
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Post by krazydiamond on Dec 1, 2004 14:38:54 GMT -5
 wow, you nailed the shine on that amethyst! looks like an excellent batch to me...! that last photo lookes like the Lake Superior agate....is it? i just finished prepping a load of amethyst, hope it comes out as good as that! KD
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Post by rockyraccoon on Dec 1, 2004 14:39:20 GMT -5
jimmy i think they turned out really, really nice. i can't see what it is you don't like about them. they look great!
kim
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Post by Cher on Dec 1, 2004 15:54:32 GMT -5
Great shine!!! Love the amethyst, looks like there's hardly any fractures in it at all. That last pic looks like it might be some kind of agate but not Lake Superior, there's no banding to it. What was your recipe? I have some amethyst in the polish now, did a week in AO and now have it in Cerium.
Cher
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Post by sandsman1 on Dec 1, 2004 16:32:44 GMT -5
hey jimmy you did a hell of a job on that amethyst great shine and it looks like you got a nice bunch of it too i dont see any fractures great job man
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Dec 1, 2004 16:57:05 GMT -5
I went back and looked at your first batch (on page 7). You did a great job on those too, so hey, there wasn't really a whole lot of room for improvement!
Great batch, that amethyst is remarkably free of fractures, they all look good.
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Post by cookie3rocks on Dec 1, 2004 17:29:31 GMT -5
Youve taken on some stones that are really tough to get through the full cycle without fracturing and have done a wonderful job. I have a batch of amethyst that I've been waiting to do untill I am a little more confident, haven't been happy with th ones done so far. You did a great job. Did you use pellets and , if so, at what stage and how much? Think that's where I'm going wrong.
cookie
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Post by stoner on Dec 2, 2004 1:40:23 GMT -5
Hey Jimmy. Excellent job. Everyone is right about the amythest being a difficult stone to polish without fracturing. Where did you get the rough material from? And were they listed as amythest crystals, rather than just amythest?
Keep 'em coming,
Ed
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Dec 2, 2004 7:59:25 GMT -5
WOW! Those amethyst are beautiful! You did a great job on them.
What are the other rocks? I really like the ones on the left.
They are all very pretty, but the amethyst and the reddish colored ones really caught my eye.
llana
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donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Dec 2, 2004 9:30:05 GMT -5
Wow nice job Jimmy! That is some of the prettiest amethyst I've seen, great shine, Don
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69beeper
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 377
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Post by 69beeper on Dec 2, 2004 15:32:25 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! ;D ;D ;D Sorry, didn't mean to sound unhappy. Tried a new recipe and was hoping for just a little bit more of a shine, thats all. I am real happy with this batch!! The Amethyst came from the Rock Shed. They have it labeled as "Amethyst Crystal". I started with 2 lbs, and minus 4-5 pieces, this is the end product. There are actually lots of fractures throughout, they just photogragh well, heheh. If you look, you'll notice they are separated into two piles, the stones on the right had less fractures than the left. They are also more clear. Almost a 50/50 ratio. I know all you pros caught this, you're just being nice.  The reddish stuff is Prairie Agate also from the 'Shed. That would have been my next batch, but after 5 weeks of 60/90 I stopped. They are one of the hardest things I've tumbled to date and seem to give the Botswana a run for the money in that department. You will probably be seeing these spead out over my next few batches. The other two piles are local quartz. The white stuff is used for filler. The dark pieces (quartz?) were laying in the driveway and I just wanted to see what they would look like. Recipe: #60/90 - 3 weeks (or longer) (4 tbsp per wk) #120/220 - 1 week (4 tbls) #500 - 1 week (4 tbls) #1000 AO - 1 week (6 tbls) CO polish - 1 week (6 tbls) Water: I add water to half the rock level (or less) for the first 3 stages. For the #1000 stage I fill the water to the bottom of the top layer of stones, maybe a hair less. For polish I add just enough water to cover all the stones. Pellets: None for the 60/90 stages. The amount of pellets will depend on how much rock is in the barrel. I always try and have at least a 1/2 barrel of rock and add just enough pellets to fill the barrel 3/4 full (after grits/polishes). Now what to do?? I have a partial batch of Tiger Eye finishing up in #500 today. Do I use the #1000 AO or try the Tripoli? And then which polish to use, AO or CO?? ...lol Thanks again, Jimmy |
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wow, you nailed the shine on that amethyst! looks like an excellent batch to me...!
