rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on May 27, 2005 1:09:57 GMT -5
This is pretty common stuff, orthoclase (a potassium feldspar), but it's free when you find it yourself, so what the heck, I tumbled a bunch to see how it would turn out. The lighter-coloured material is usually salmon coloured, I'm not sure if the photos captured that, and it often has quartz mixed in with it. Anyway, here's a photo of mixed orthoclase/quartz:  This is pure orthoclase:  And here is orthoclase mixed in with various amounts of quartz. It can grade all the way to almost pure quartz, but that stuff I tumble with other quartz materials to try and match the hardness.  And here is some stuff that I think is still orthoclase, just redder (it can vary from white to red in colour), but I'm not 100% sure this is still orthoclase. I prefer these reds to the salmon colours.  And finally, here is a close up of mostly red stuff. That wild swirly one might not be orthoclase, cool whatever it is.  Thanks for looking. |
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deepsouth
fully equipped rock polisher
He who rocks last rocks best
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,256
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Post by deepsouth on May 27, 2005 4:03:02 GMT -5
Lovely rocks Roll. , Good shine too , Hmm Yum Yum
Thanks for showing us
Jack
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Post by americanbulldogsnj on May 27, 2005 6:17:17 GMT -5
Roll, I like the red as a matter of fact I have some tumble stuff that looks exactly the same just a bit more finer grained and but the red is the same, some of it has larger chuncks of white like yours do. I picked them up in a parking lot at my local supermarket because I thought they looked cool lol. If I ever get the hang of drilling holes I'll post some jewlery
Marian
ps
My brother is a landscaper he uses the same type of rock he calls it river rock, but he has no idea what river lol...
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Rose
Cave Dweller 
Member since November 2004
Posts: 875
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Post by Rose on May 27, 2005 6:27:24 GMT -5
Those look great, very nice colours
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tinman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 197
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Post by tinman on May 27, 2005 6:50:02 GMT -5
I love the orange one in
the last pic
Tinman
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phoenix1647
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 186
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Post by phoenix1647 on May 27, 2005 7:30:28 GMT -5
ain't freebies nice...they sure did shine up good..
Pho
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Post by Alice on May 27, 2005 8:02:21 GMT -5
they look great rollingstone!
I like that swirly one in the last picture
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Post by Tweetiepy on May 27, 2005 8:32:03 GMT -5
I have some similar to the 3rd picture that my son emptied out of his pockets.. I have a container at the front door where he can put all the stuff for "mommy's machine"
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Post by Cher on May 27, 2005 9:58:50 GMT -5
That stuff takes an amazing shine doesn't it. Very nice job!! That swirly one looks really cool, awesome colors in it. I find a lot of stuff that looks similar to the salmon colored stuff you have up. Thanks for the pics, it will help in identification of some of mine.
Cher
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on May 27, 2005 10:58:57 GMT -5
I love Orthoclass
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Post by krazydiamond on May 27, 2005 17:08:49 GMT -5
whatever the heck ortho-stuff it is, you sure got a GREAT shine on those! excellent shape, too! did i miss it, what polish did you use on that batch?
wtg, rollin'
KD
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fatrichie
has rocks in the head
Member since July 2004
Posts: 651
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Post by fatrichie on May 28, 2005 0:42:52 GMT -5
Great Stuff, I find simillar rock on the Oregon coast. What was your recipe, you know, what polish, for how long etc...
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Post by rockyraccoon on May 28, 2005 20:36:31 GMT -5
you did a nice job on those! you have one in there that reminds me of the binghamite.
kim
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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 May 29, 2005 3:49:33 GMT -5
Thanks for all the kind comments!
Sorry, I forgot to post my recipe, and several people have asked about it.... this was a 5 stage process (60/90, 120/220, 500F, Tripoli, CPP polish). They ran about a week in every stage after 60/90. I'm a bit unsure how long they went in 60/90 because the final batch was made up of a few stones from each of many coarse grind batches spread over about a year... I'm thinking 3 weeks straight-out would be typical for most of the stones if they had been run that way. I know some went a fair bit longer, but I think on those I was trying to see if I could grind some stubborn pitting stones smooth, and I think I eventually gave up on most of those stubborn ones and tossed them away.
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Post by puppie96 on May 30, 2005 3:05:19 GMT -5
It really looks beautiful. I've picked up quite a bit that looks like that. Some of the darker reds look like jasper? I'll have to post a few that I have questions about, maybe it is orthoclase.
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Post by creativeminded on May 31, 2005 10:09:34 GMT -5
Those swirls are beautiful, you did a great job tumbling those.
Tami
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Post by connrock on Jun 1, 2005 17:45:59 GMT -5
You did a great job on these rocks!!
It's difficult to get a shine as good as you got with material that has so many cracks!!
Thanks,,,,,
Tom
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Jun 1, 2005 20:47:00 GMT -5
Really great stones! I just bought some blue and some orange Feldspar. Haven't done anything with it yet. It's softer than the usual Agate or Jasper, isn't it. Gotta get some broke up and tumbling.
Trish
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Debs
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2005
Posts: 1,252
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Post by Debs on Jun 1, 2005 20:55:29 GMT -5
Those are some really cool rocks. What a shine! I love the way the colors swirl throughout the stones. Really neat colors too!
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