rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jun 30, 2005 1:41:44 GMT -5
I mentioned in another thread recently that I have a fascination with trying to tumble oversized stones, so here are a few. This is agatized petrified wood. In the coarse grind stage I kept things to one or two big chunks of pet.wood in a barrel with a bunch of smaller stuff, but once I moved past coarse grind I ended up with 4 big pieces in a 6 lb barrel. I included small stones (like the Botswana chips I posted pics of a few days ago) plus plastic pellets, but one of the big pieces still had the snot beat out of it and began chipping, with the chips getting progressively worse as it moved along towards polish, so I'm excluding that one. The 3 remaining pieces did okay -- they didn't achieve the level of perfection that I was dreaming for them, but I knew I was unlikely to achieve that lofty goal, and overall I'm pretty happy with them. The recipe was: 60/90 - 8-10 weeks 120/220 - 1 week 500F - 2 weeks CPP polish - 10 days I only remembered to take pics of one of them before coarse grind, but I did take some pics fairly early on for all of them. So here is the first chunk, after 8 days in coarse grind (quarter used for scale): And here it is polished: Second chunk after 10 days in coarse grind: And after polish: Third (and best!) piece as rough: And after polish (I love the banding on this one): Here's a group photo to show the variety between the pieces: And in my hand: Thanks for looking.
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Post by Cher on Jun 30, 2005 3:43:56 GMT -5
WoW, those are soooooo nice! You did a great job on them and just a stunning shine. My vote's for number 1, love the color in that. Was this stuff you found yourself or ...
Cher
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Post by Original Admin on Jun 30, 2005 3:47:01 GMT -5
KD has sent me some pet wood - if I can get it looking like that when its done I'll be over the moon.
I'll put pics up when it comes and show the progress - I dont think I can get away with tumbling rocks of anykind as large as that though (I have tried).
Nice jobby.
Mark
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Post by puppie96 on Jun 30, 2005 4:09:06 GMT -5
Wow, is that ever beautiful stuff. Breathtaking. I am in awe.
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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 Jun 30, 2005 5:29:25 GMT -5
What size tumbler do you have and or use
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Post by Alice on Jun 30, 2005 6:18:54 GMT -5
those are Great!!! I'm with Cher... I like the first one too.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 30, 2005 9:16:56 GMT -5
WOW wood chunks! Nice shine on some BOULDERS!!!!!
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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 Jun 30, 2005 9:19:01 GMT -5
Excellent shine on those......great job. Pho
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Jun 30, 2005 12:13:13 GMT -5
Great job on those! I like the first one the best csroc
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 30, 2005 13:03:10 GMT -5
WHOA! those are superb, Rollingstone!! amazing shine on those honkers. what are you planning to do with them now?
MArk, the stuff i sent you isn't "agatized" like that, but i'm hoping it will turn out great anyway.
KD
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agatenut
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 127
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Post by agatenut on Jun 30, 2005 15:54:42 GMT -5
Awesome polish on those pets!!! My favoriteis that last one. ralph
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Jun 30, 2005 17:34:52 GMT -5
They Turned out GREAT! All three of them are fantastic. Nice Job! I know I shouldn't post this here..but...can you tumble larger rocks in the little 3lb barrels? Lets' say just a couple bigger pieces with lots of smaller ones mixed in. Anyone? Steve
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Jun 30, 2005 17:53:21 GMT -5
TRULY GORGEOUS! I'm attempting some fairly large chunks of wood, myself. Hope they turn out half as nice as yours. Susan
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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 30, 2005 22:23:18 GMT -5
Those are really beautiful! I do love the Pet. Wood. I seem to be writing the same thing in every post. I guess I just love every rock I see! Gets to be a problem. I want them all. I've tumbled quite a bit of the Pet. Wood and it always turns out so pretty. Trish
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jun 30, 2005 23:52:38 GMT -5
i can't decide which one i like best. they are all beautiful!
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 Jul 1, 2005 2:12:28 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for the comments.
I'm surprised that most people favour the first stone. My wife does also. It's my least favourite. I guess I'm a pattern-guy -- I like seeing the banding in pet.wood and thinking about how that relates to ancient tree rings and that kind of thing.
What size of tumbler do I run? I have two single-barrel 6 lb Lortones.
Can you do this in a 3 lb barrel? I would say yes. When I used to have a 3 lb Lortone I did successfully polish a big chunk of quartz that was about the same size as these big pieces of pet. wood, probably even bigger. Use lots of smaller stuff, and particularly small stuff that won't get too bashed up when it gets hit by the big rock. That means filling the rest of the barrel with something like agates. Don't use material that is often internally fractured such as quartz, amethyst, rose quartz, pet. wood, etc, as the fractured stuff will probably get chipped or broken. (In this load, I filled up the rest of the barrel with agates only, as they can usually tolerate some good bashing). You can also overfill the barrel a bit to slow down the action, and/or add lots of plastic pellets, even early on.
What do I plan to do with them? I don't have a lot of big rocks, but I like to display them individually, often just scattered about on the windowsill or elsewhere in my home-office. They can stand by themselves, unlike the standard-size polished rocks which I think look best in a bowl with a bunch of their friends.
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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 Jul 1, 2005 2:23:20 GMT -5
Wow Rolling , you did us all proud with that supershine. I love mostly all petwood . Some I tumble some I don't. Some pieces are just nice in their natural form/state. Excellent job
Jack
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Rose
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2004
Posts: 875
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Post by Rose on Jul 1, 2005 10:40:25 GMT -5
Wow they look great. I have to add pet wood to my shopping list
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Post by driftwood on May 17, 2006 22:44:00 GMT -5
Those are cool, and a heck of a polish. Great job all around !
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Post by Condor on May 18, 2006 7:50:29 GMT -5
.......................................... .......................................... ..........................................
Condor (Please note that my lack of words means I am speechless. Those are absolutely incredible!)
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