First Feldspar (+ Opal) Tumble: Polished and Very Imperfect
Mar 5, 2020 21:33:43 GMT -5
RocksInNJ and ppolska02 like this
Post by reynedrop on Mar 5, 2020 21:33:43 GMT -5
Wanted to keep this separate from the chalcedony tumble, but also wanted to document this! Like the chalcedony, I'll update title with most recent "status" when I do cleanouts + photograph them. These have been tumbling for two weeks total in coarse grit. I've got pink opal, peach moonstone, rainbow moonstone, and labradorite in this one. This is technically my first tumble (not counting my first failure from 1 week of coarse grit when I got my first tumbler- I haven't done anything with those rocks again). Yes, I know these are softer rocks and thus more difficult to tumble. I realize I'm gambling a bit on this.. I do learn best this way and figure I need to start tumbling these sometime!
I'm not 100% at all about how these ones look, but I'm also worried about the moonstone chipping. These were, IMO, inexpensive rocks, and I'm wondering if many of these just weren't "good" stones. I also may have messed tf up. Last week (after one week in coarse), I cleaned out the barrel while very exhausted and dumped all the rocks out in the rocks by my front door (easiest place for clean outs). Today, I found two rocks that I wasn't sure about, and as I don't have photos prior to today, I'm wondering if these are two of the landscape rocks.
Pink opal:
This first piece (first two pics) has a ton of little scratches/mini-gauges on the surface. I did use a toothbrush to scrub out all the grit; the black on this is impurity in the opal itself. In the second piece (photos 3+4), you can see the same impurities, but there are fewer overall. And the third piece (#5) is almost perfect. Last week I had wanted that bit of black impurity completely ground off, but honestly I'm just too impatient.
Peach moonstone:
The first stone (#1 and #2) has a bit of a chip on it. I honestly can't remember if it was there before or if this is new. It could take some more grinding but again: I'm impatient. And okay with this. Second piece (#3 + #4) is almost perfect shaped IMO but... well, you'll see the little split. The third (#5=#7) and fourth (#8)) stones have some interesting banding and fracture or impurity or something in them. I actually pulled out earlier... I think last week. Maybe was a mistake. I thought they looked nice then, but this is a lesson in not working on rocks when exhausted. In general, I find these have a lot of
Rainbow moonstone:
These are the ones I'm worried most about. They don't seem to be any smoother or less fractured than last week, and I'm worried they are actually fracturing MORE. The ones with more of the black impurities (matrix) look harshest. First piece (#1 + #2) seems to be wearing down to show MORE of the black bits, and that first photo looks like an angry face. Second piece (#3+#4) would look much better if I could wear down that black cavity, but that will take a long time just based on how it's progressed so far. I'm okay with it. Third piece (#5+#6) is really nice, though it's so occluded that I think there are probably numerous microfractures throughout. I want to keep this one for myself (some of these will go to Best Friend and a guy she's dating). Fourth piece (#7+#8) is very fractured. I believe #8 and #9 are the same piece (fifth), and I KNOW I pulled that one (or two) out earlier (last week?), but I really need to keep better records.
Labradorite:
Overall, these are much smaller, and I can't remember if they were ALWAYS smaller or if they are grinding away faster. I'm really enjoying the flashes/labradorescence on these, even though they're not the strongest. First piece: #1+#2. Second = #3. Third(so far my favorite) is only #4. Fourth piece (#5) has a massive weird cavity but I think I'll just have to deal with that one (I think if I try to tumble it out, I'll just be left with chips). Fifth piece (#6+#7) didn't photograph well (sorry it's so blurry). I'm not sure if #8 and #9 are the same piece or two pieces, either (note to self: next time have an identifying mark in photo too). I'm fairly certain last two photos are of the last piece (maybe seventh, maybe eighth); one edge is so fractured, but the other edge catches light well enough.
The mystery rocks:
These two are kind of mysteries to me because they don't look anything like my other pieces. As I said earlier, I'm curious if these are rocks from the landscaping by my front door. My initial thought was to test their hardness. They didn't scratch anything I tried it against (rose quartz, peach moonstone, pink opal), though I think part of that is how smoothed out they are. I did try to use the rose quartz to scratch these rocks... I thought I saw a scratch. They also have a bit of translucence to them, which makes me question my theory about being landscape rock.
And some mixed chips:
Some of these were present last time I checked. Some of them are new. They were not intentional but rather pieces that chipped off. Mostly rainbow moonstone, but there are two tiny pieces of peach and one piece of the pink opal.
All went into medium grit tonight. I wouldn't say I have a good mix of sizes, and I am worried about fracture. They have overall lost maybe 3-4 oz total from their initial weight (roughly 1lb, but I didn't write it down so I'm not sure if it was just above or just under). I decided for the medium grit to add in some plastic pellets too. I've read some people do for medium grit and many do not; I'm just worried about how delicate the moonstone seems to be. I also turned down the tumble speed. No idea on RPMs, but the small tumbler they're in has speeds 1-3. I was tumbling on 3 for coarse and have switched to 2 for medium (this is what they recommend in their instruction book, but of course this is for their "tumble mix" of quartz and chalcedony). Speed 2 is still faster than my Lortone 33B
Update: So far, have done two weeks coarse + one week medium. See below.
I'm not 100% at all about how these ones look, but I'm also worried about the moonstone chipping. These were, IMO, inexpensive rocks, and I'm wondering if many of these just weren't "good" stones. I also may have messed tf up. Last week (after one week in coarse), I cleaned out the barrel while very exhausted and dumped all the rocks out in the rocks by my front door (easiest place for clean outs). Today, I found two rocks that I wasn't sure about, and as I don't have photos prior to today, I'm wondering if these are two of the landscape rocks.
Pink opal:
This first piece (first two pics) has a ton of little scratches/mini-gauges on the surface. I did use a toothbrush to scrub out all the grit; the black on this is impurity in the opal itself. In the second piece (photos 3+4), you can see the same impurities, but there are fewer overall. And the third piece (#5) is almost perfect. Last week I had wanted that bit of black impurity completely ground off, but honestly I'm just too impatient.
Peach moonstone:
The first stone (#1 and #2) has a bit of a chip on it. I honestly can't remember if it was there before or if this is new. It could take some more grinding but again: I'm impatient. And okay with this. Second piece (#3 + #4) is almost perfect shaped IMO but... well, you'll see the little split. The third (#5=#7) and fourth (#8)) stones have some interesting banding and fracture or impurity or something in them. I actually pulled out earlier... I think last week. Maybe was a mistake. I thought they looked nice then, but this is a lesson in not working on rocks when exhausted. In general, I find these have a lot of
Rainbow moonstone:
These are the ones I'm worried most about. They don't seem to be any smoother or less fractured than last week, and I'm worried they are actually fracturing MORE. The ones with more of the black impurities (matrix) look harshest. First piece (#1 + #2) seems to be wearing down to show MORE of the black bits, and that first photo looks like an angry face. Second piece (#3+#4) would look much better if I could wear down that black cavity, but that will take a long time just based on how it's progressed so far. I'm okay with it. Third piece (#5+#6) is really nice, though it's so occluded that I think there are probably numerous microfractures throughout. I want to keep this one for myself (some of these will go to Best Friend and a guy she's dating). Fourth piece (#7+#8) is very fractured. I believe #8 and #9 are the same piece (fifth), and I KNOW I pulled that one (or two) out earlier (last week?), but I really need to keep better records.
Labradorite:
Overall, these are much smaller, and I can't remember if they were ALWAYS smaller or if they are grinding away faster. I'm really enjoying the flashes/labradorescence on these, even though they're not the strongest. First piece: #1+#2. Second = #3. Third(so far my favorite) is only #4. Fourth piece (#5) has a massive weird cavity but I think I'll just have to deal with that one (I think if I try to tumble it out, I'll just be left with chips). Fifth piece (#6+#7) didn't photograph well (sorry it's so blurry). I'm not sure if #8 and #9 are the same piece or two pieces, either (note to self: next time have an identifying mark in photo too). I'm fairly certain last two photos are of the last piece (maybe seventh, maybe eighth); one edge is so fractured, but the other edge catches light well enough.
The mystery rocks:
These two are kind of mysteries to me because they don't look anything like my other pieces. As I said earlier, I'm curious if these are rocks from the landscaping by my front door. My initial thought was to test their hardness. They didn't scratch anything I tried it against (rose quartz, peach moonstone, pink opal), though I think part of that is how smoothed out they are. I did try to use the rose quartz to scratch these rocks... I thought I saw a scratch. They also have a bit of translucence to them, which makes me question my theory about being landscape rock.
And some mixed chips:
Some of these were present last time I checked. Some of them are new. They were not intentional but rather pieces that chipped off. Mostly rainbow moonstone, but there are two tiny pieces of peach and one piece of the pink opal.
All went into medium grit tonight. I wouldn't say I have a good mix of sizes, and I am worried about fracture. They have overall lost maybe 3-4 oz total from their initial weight (roughly 1lb, but I didn't write it down so I'm not sure if it was just above or just under). I decided for the medium grit to add in some plastic pellets too. I've read some people do for medium grit and many do not; I'm just worried about how delicate the moonstone seems to be. I also turned down the tumble speed. No idea on RPMs, but the small tumbler they're in has speeds 1-3. I was tumbling on 3 for coarse and have switched to 2 for medium (this is what they recommend in their instruction book, but of course this is for their "tumble mix" of quartz and chalcedony). Speed 2 is still faster than my Lortone 33B
Update: So far, have done two weeks coarse + one week medium. See below.