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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 8:27:43 GMT -5
Overall, I guess I am happy with my lot-o results, but I haven't seen any stage 2 results in person. I think they are ready to go on to final polish. 25 preforms went in: There were a few disappointments, a few surprises and a few fails. I knew when I put some in that they wouldn't tumble well, but I had to find out for myself. They were experiments, so I wasn't concerned about them. The 2 surprises were the bloodstone and the lapis. Neither took a polish that I expected.
They are both grainy and the lapis is pretty damn flat. I would certainly expect more from a bloodstone. The surprise was this willow creek. Obviously a preform was stuck to it in the first stage. I didn't notice it first time around and it wasn't like that going in. Took a nice polish, though.
Most were ok. Here are just a few: sponge agate Mexico
morrisonite tiger tail Montana Some undercut real bad. I expected most of them, but the Indonesian palm root was a surprise.
Rainforest
moss agate palm root- I actually REALLY love the look! A couple were flat out ugly Eww. Burro Creek beccia
And... the worst Blue lace agate with matrix... very soft matrix apparently. LOL!
So, should I move on?
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 14, 2019 9:13:05 GMT -5
I think they look pretty good! As you can see, you lose a lot of control tumbling vs. cabbing. Undercutting on some and difficulty getting a shine on others is inevitable with some of the more difficult materials. I like to see a shine forming on anything I'm tumbling before they go into polish, by the pics it looks like you are there.
From first hand experience, Lapis can be pretty tough to get great results from in a tumbler. I have run it in mixed batches a bunch of times and the results are always just "OK". It is on my list of things to run on their own and really baby them.
I'd move them on and see how happy I was after a couple of days. The nice thing about a vibe is if you have to back up a stage you are not losing weeks.
Al
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Post by fernwood on Jun 14, 2019 9:54:27 GMT -5
A great learning experience. Things will get better with more time and practice.
I love the look of the undercutting on the palm and moss. Recently had someone ask me to do something very strange that these would be perfect for. They asked if I could use an "agate" to make a flat pendant. Grind out some of the lace patterns. Then use a gold or silver fine point sharpie marker on the lines. Spray with a clear coat.
The pendant would need to have a hole drilled and I would add the bail. Hmmmm. I could also see doing some type of inlay on the undercut areas to highlight them. Gold powder on the palm root? Specular Hemetite powder on the moss?
OK, I am being very inspired by your undercuts, lol.
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Post by miket on Jun 14, 2019 10:14:41 GMT -5
I actually like them, Tela! Kind of inspiring me to do pendants... Like I need something else to do. Anyway, I don't find any of them ugly- but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say. Nice work, I can't wait to see the final results.
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MommaGem
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2019
Posts: 312
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Post by MommaGem on Jun 14, 2019 11:30:00 GMT -5
Those look really lovely! I'm enjoying your results so far!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 14, 2019 11:58:17 GMT -5
I had a bad feeling about that Lapis when you mentioned it in a previous post. Figured you would live and learn a little with the variety in this batch. As I have said before I do not usually tumble any pendants that are not solid hard materials like Agates and Jaspers. I sure wish I could tumble every cab but some materials are just better suited for wheels. With this load having a high percentage of ceramic filler the Lapis will be about as good as it gets. If the load was mostly rock and little filler I think it would be worse.
You have some good ones in the mix though and you will learn quickly what works and what does not. I hope the bloodstone works out. Bloodstone should have a mirror polish with the lot-o so that one may be the canary in the mine as far as how your process was. What you consider grainy might be what I consider frosted on the bloodstone right now. Are the radius shiny but the large flats not shiny?
Chuck
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Post by aDave on Jun 14, 2019 12:02:57 GMT -5
I say move them on. How many days in 500?
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 15:26:21 GMT -5
A great learning experience. Things will get better with more time and practice. I love the look of the undercutting on the palm and moss. Recently had someone ask me to do something very strange that these would be perfect for. They asked if I could use an "agate" to make a flat pendant. Grind out some of the lace patterns. Then use a gold or silver fine point sharpie marker on the lines. Spray with a clear coat. The pendant would need to have a hole drilled and I would add the bail. Hmmmm. I could also see doing some type of inlay on the undercut areas to highlight them. Gold powder on the palm root? Specular Hemetite powder on the moss? OK, I am being very inspired by your undercuts, lol. Yeah, I kinda like them myself. Very organic.
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Jun 14, 2019 15:28:15 GMT -5
rockjunquie Good to see you've got your first Lot-O load done. Yes, it takes the perfect stone to tumble. Montana Moss is the best example. Flats don't get such a great shine. If you grind a dome like normal, you'll see better results. Lynn
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 15:28:52 GMT -5
I think they look pretty good! As you can see, you lose a lot of control tumbling vs. cabbing. Undercutting on some and difficulty getting a shine on others is inevitable with some of the more difficult materials. I like to see a shine forming on anything I'm tumbling before they go into polish, by the pics it looks like you are there. From first hand experience, Lapis can be pretty tough to get great results from in a tumbler. I have run it in mixed batches a bunch of times and the results are always just "OK". It is on my list of things to run on their own and really baby them. I'd move them on and see how happy I was after a couple of days. The nice thing about a vibe is if you have to back up a stage you are not losing weeks. Al Thanks! The lapis was a polished slab. But, the color layer was too thin to cab. I was hoping it would tumble OK. It would have been a simple solution.
I went ahead and put them onto polish... we'll see Sunday.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 15:30:15 GMT -5
I actually like them, Tela! Kind of inspiring me to do pendants... Like I need something else to do. Anyway, I don't find any of them ugly- but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say. Nice work, I can't wait to see the final results. These should be quick and easy once I have a schedule. I'm working on the next load already.
You should do it.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 15:34:14 GMT -5
I had a bad feeling about that Lapis when you mentioned it in a previous post. Figured you would live and learn a little with the variety in this batch. As I have said before I do not usually tumble any pendants that are not solid hard materials like Agates and Jaspers. I sure wish I could tumble every cab but some materials are just better suited for wheels. With this load having a high percentage of ceramic filler the Lapis will be about as good as it gets. If the load was mostly rock and little filler I think it would be worse. You have some good ones in the mix though and you will learn quickly what works and what does not. I hope the bloodstone works out. Bloodstone should have a mirror polish with the lot-o so that one may be the canary in the mine as far as how your process was. What you consider grainy might be what I consider frosted on the bloodstone right now. Are the radius shiny but the large flats not shiny? Chuck
I knew some of these would be duds. I had to see it with my own eyes to digest it. I did think the lapis and bloodstone would turn out better, though.
I think the radius on the bloodstone was shiny. I think ALL of them were.
I'll figure this out. It'll just take a few runs.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 15:35:43 GMT -5
rockjunquie Good to see you've got your first Lot-O load done. Yes, it takes the perfect stone to tumble. Montana Moss is the best example. Flats don't get such a great shine. If you grind a dome like normal, you'll see better results. Lynn Not quite done... almost there. Sunday the last stage will be done. I'm pretty excited.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 14, 2019 15:36:54 GMT -5
I say move them on. How many days in 500? I did end up moving on. They were in 500 for 3 days. But, some of that time was trying to get it right.
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Post by pauls on Jun 14, 2019 16:23:13 GMT -5
Hang in there with the bloodstone, I have been so dissapointed in the look of bloodstone that it has gone in the garden, a piece that slipped through polished up fantastic so then I had to crawl around finding the pieces I tossed.
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 14, 2019 17:29:19 GMT -5
Hang in there with the bloodstone, I have been so dissapointed in the look of bloodstone that it has gone in the garden, a piece that slipped through polished up fantastic so then I had to crawl around finding the pieces I tossed. Now that is pretty damn funny Al
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jun 14, 2019 21:19:07 GMT -5
I think they look pretty good, but I've never tumbled anything, either.
Looking forward to Sunday to see how they come out.
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Post by victor1941 on Jun 14, 2019 21:33:30 GMT -5
Rockjunquie, I tumble hard material with some being flat on both sides and have found in a UV-18 that extra time will allow for a good polish on any flat side if at least 50% of the mix is media. I run 2 cycles on grit, 2 days on 500, 2 days on 1000, add DE to 1000 for 1 day, and finally at least 3 days for 14,000 for polish. All stages have borax added to the mix for hopefully better surface adhesion.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Jun 14, 2019 21:38:39 GMT -5
Don't be discouraged by the Lapis. It isn't a stone that tumbles easily, or well. The bloodstone, however, should be glossy by the time it runs thru polish.
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Post by aDave on Jun 14, 2019 21:44:06 GMT -5
Don't be discouraged by the Lapis. It isn't a stone that tumbles easily, or well. The bloodstone, however, should be glossy by the time it runs thru polish. rockjunquie Agree with Randy's statement. Bloodstone is one of my favorite materials to tumble, as it usually produces a glassy shine. That's even with a rotary. Not meaning to steal from your thread, but here's an example from a rotary batch:
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