alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 6, 2020 13:44:10 GMT -5
Hi folks
So I am currently doing my first ever rock tumble using the National Geographic Hobby Rock Tumbler kit. I am tumbling the set of rocks that came with it, plus an additional 100g of Aventurine and 100g of Jasper Chita. The barrel was exactly half full with stones.
Here is how I plan to do this, and my question to you guys is how to run the final polishing stage.
I am using the grits that came with the set, plus I purchased some cerium oxide, and ivory soap.
Stage 1: coarse grit, packet #1. Currently on day 4 now. NG recommend to run this stage 3>5 days. I plan to run all 5 days.
Stage 2: grit pack #2. Recommended to run 6>8 days. I will give it all 8 days.
Stage 3: pre-polish pack #3. Recommended to run 6>8 days. I will give it all 8 days.
Now here is where I want to ask for advice. Everywhere seems to report if I simply stick to using the NG kit grits and polish, the end result will be very poor and the rocks will come out looking very dull with no shine. I want to avoid that, as this is for my daughter who is 8, if it all goes wrong she will loose interest fast. Get it right with some beautiful shiny gemstones at the end and she might be a tumbler for life.
I have this idea on how to finish the batch, and I would appreciate some input if this sounds like a good plan:
Stage 4: forget the NG pack #4 polish, and go straight to using the cerium oxide, tumble this for 10 days.
Stage 5: tumble with just water and ivory soap shavings for 6 hours.
What do you folks reckon. Does this sound like a good plan, or would I be better using the NG polish at stage 4, then stage 5 cerium oxide, then stage 6 water and ivory soap. Or can anyone suggest a better way to finish them off?
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Post by greig on Nov 6, 2020 15:32:14 GMT -5
Prior to stage 4, make sure the rocks and barrel are really clean (no grit from earlier). Plus remove any broken rock that might scratch the others. Either polish that you have ought to be fine. 14+ days will likely be better than 10. Adding some tumbler media so the barrel is up to 3/4 full (ceramic or plastic beads) will help stop the rocks from crashing. Show us your pics when done. Good luck!
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 6, 2020 15:56:45 GMT -5
Thanks Greig, advice noted and appreciated. I have ordered some plastic tumble beads. One question, will it make much of a difference if i use ivory soap shaving as the final stage, apparantly this improves the final shine?
I recognise you from your thumbnail. I have been warching some of your YouTube videos these past few months. Keep up the good work.
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Post by greig on Nov 6, 2020 20:01:47 GMT -5
Thanks Greig, advice noted and appreciated. I have ordered some plastic tumble beads. One question, will it make much of a difference if i use ivory soap shaving as the final stage, apparantly this improves the final shine? I recognise you from your thumbnail. I have been warching some of your YouTube videos these past few months. Keep up the good work. It wont hurt to burnish and will probably help. You can tell if you rub one of the rocks aggressively on a soft cloth. If The shine gets better, then for sure burnish. After burnishing, use hot water to remove the soap and the warm rocks will dry faster. Hope your daughter "takes a shine" to tumbling. 8 is a wonderful age. My girl turns 18 next week. She is no longer much interested in rocks. Now, she wants a Mustang. ;-)
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 6, 2020 20:19:51 GMT -5
alistair - I was talking with Daniel over at the Rock Shed a couple weeks ago. The subject of these kind of kits came up. One of the things he said is these kind of kits usually get filled with some of the worst rocks (low grade) which oftentimes equates to extreme difficulty in acquiring a premium shine. Like greig mentioned, be very aware of what you're moving onto the next step in the tumbling process. As I'm sure you've read on here...garbage in equals garbage out. Just be real selective.
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 7, 2020 4:17:24 GMT -5
Thanks Greig, advice noted and appreciated. I have ordered some plastic tumble beads. One question, will it make much of a difference if i use ivory soap shaving as the final stage, apparantly this improves the final shine? I recognise you from your thumbnail. I have been warching some of your YouTube videos these past few months. Keep up the good work. It wont hurt to burnish and will probably help. You can tell if you rub one of the rocks aggressively on a soft cloth. If The shine gets better, then for sure burnish. After burnishing, use hot water to remove the soap and the warm rocks will dry faster. Hope your daughter "takes a shine" to tumbling. 8 is a wonderful age. My girl turns 18 next week. She is no longer much interested in rocks. Now, she wants a Mustang. ;-) Thanks Greig, thats good advice, i will try that.
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 7, 2020 4:19:30 GMT -5
alistair - I was talking with Daniel over at the Rock Shed a couple weeks ago. The subject of these kind of kits came up. One of the things he said is these kind of kits usually get filled with some of the worst rocks (low grade) which oftentimes equates to extreme difficulty in acquiring a premium shine. Like greig mentioned, be very aware of what you're moving onto the next step in the tumbling process. As I'm sure you've read on here...garbage in equals garbage out. Just be real selective. Thanks Jason, points noted. I would post a picture of what went in, but i dont seem to have any option available for posting pictures on this forum? I live in Poland now, but get back home to Scotland each year. I have been doing my research and i'm aware now our beaches in Scotland have plenty of jaspers, agates and the likes to be found along the shorelines, so next time we are back home we will be doing some rock hounding for sure, and hopefully we can collect some good quality specimens for tumbling. My daughter has her heart set on turning our tumbled gemstones into jewelry, it sounds like this current batch might not quite meet the standard we are hoping for, but lets see.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 7, 2020 9:38:58 GMT -5
Follow the instructions exactly (it takes a little time) but then you should be able to upload pictures without a problem right from your computer.
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 9, 2020 10:43:41 GMT -5
Here are the rocks that went into the tumbler. I believe i have identified each rock correctly, but there may be one or two mistakes, i'm no expert with rocks: This is what they look like after 5 days tumbling on grit number 1 They are now back in the tumbler with grit number 2, and the plan is to tumble them for 8 days. My main concern here is the rocks had shrunk in size considerably, and the tumbler is now barely 1/3 full. My plastic tumbling beads have still to arrive, so could not pack it out with those, and to anxious to wait for them, it is now running like this. Hopefully this wont impact too negatively on the results we get from this step in the process? At the start i had strong hopes for the Aventurine, but i must say after grit 1 it is looking very poor. Very milky and not nice looking at all. Hopefully this will improve as the tumble progresses. The jasper chita has reduced in size considerably, it is looking the best of the bunch, but i am concerned it might disintegrate into nothing by the end of the final tumble. We had big hopes for the large sodalite at the start, but now not so much, it is very milky in appearance and on one complete side covered in very ugly dark brown material. The hematites look poor at this stage. The agate also. Both the red jasper and the rose quartz are nothing to be impressed by. I appreciate it is still very early in the process, but i am starting to think Jason is onto something regarding the quality of the rocks supplied in these sets. I will post more photos as the tumble progresses.
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Nov 10, 2020 7:53:52 GMT -5
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 10, 2020 8:34:48 GMT -5
Yes i think you are correct, i probably should have removed the Jasper Chita and the other very small stones in the batch, added some plastic tumbling beads as filler material, and tumbled with grit number 1 for considerably longer. I think it will be next week before my plastic beads arrive though, and if i am honest, i did not have the patience to stop the tumble process for 2 weeks. At the start i did consider breaking the agate with a hammer, and also the tiger eye, as i did not like their shapes and was unsure how they would come out at the end. I decided it would be a learning process and chucked them in as they were. I have a question ref grits, for my future tumbling projects. I have ordered this set of grits/polish from Manchester Minerals: www.manchesterminerals.co.uk/acatalog/GRIT-POLISH-PACK--Beginners--19_015.html#SID=121 It comes with grits in 80, 220, 400, and cerium oxide for polishing. I questioned the supplier if 400 grit was enough for pre-polish stage, as online many places seem to recommend at least 600 grit be used. They told me i should be able to get just as good results with the 400 grit, then move onto using cerium oxide for polishing. I'm wondering what you folks on here think about that?
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Post by As I in does tries! on Nov 15, 2020 21:29:57 GMT -5
Greetings Alistair, why are you importing from the UK if you are in Poland?, as for 400 SC grit it is ok just run it longer than the usual, here is two online Lortone vendors that are within Netherlands (Holland), which won't cost an arm and a leg after Jan 1. www.bodemschat.nlHengelo, Overijssel www.mtn.nlGeithoorn, Steenwijkerland, Overijssel
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 16, 2020 10:43:20 GMT -5
Greetings Alistair, why are you importing from the UK if you are in Poland?, as for 400 SC grit it is ok just run it longer than the usual, here is two online Lortone vendors that are within Netherlands (Holland), which won't cost an arm and a leg after Jan 1. www.bodemschat.nlHengelo, Overijssel www.mtn.nlGeithoorn, Steenwijkerland, Overijssel Only because I could not source a local company in Poland supplying rock tumbling materials like grits, polishes, beads etc. Thanks for those links.
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mgfiest
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Member since October 2020
Posts: 4
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Post by mgfiest on Nov 16, 2020 21:23:33 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread but has anyone used Aluminum Oxide Blasting Abrasive as a polishing grit. I can locally get it and would save me heap.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Nov 16, 2020 22:03:59 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread but has anyone used Aluminum Oxide Blasting Abrasive as a polishing grit. I can locally get it and would save me heap. It should work just fine. It's aluminum oxide after all. If you procure the grit you're after, it will do the job you expect it to. Unless it contains something else it is not advertised to contain.
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Post by stephan on Nov 16, 2020 23:03:30 GMT -5
alistair be aware that sodalite is brittle prone to chipping. Tigers Eye, too, but not as badly. Follow the instructions for cushioning, and hopefully you’ll be OK.
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Post by As I in does tries! on Nov 17, 2020 23:05:46 GMT -5
[alistair]: I notice that you bought a tumbler kit on ebay without checking that it would be compatible with the 230v/50hz and you needed a transformer, anyway you can get upto 2kw transformers both up and down for around £20, also crystaline Quartz gets pretty banged up and gets frosted edges in a tumbler. [mgfiest] and [EricD]: Sand blasting grit is normally something in the 60 - 80 fixed grit range, however can be upto fixed 600 grit, therefore you can treat it as a replacement like for like instead of Silicon Carbide, however once AO fully breaks down each grain resembles a sphere that begins to act as a pre-polish. I would not buy Sand blasting AO as a direct replacement instead of a AO polish which has an average grain size see below. For example: A 80 grit(312 micron) is cappable of making upto 3mm (0.12 inch) deep scratches! Coarse 60 grit = 426 microns 80 grit = 312 microns Pre-polish 500 grit = 50 microns 600 grit = 40 microns Polish 14,000 grit = 1.75 or 1 micron printing error! 200,000 grit = 0.125 micron. [mgfiest] Is there a reason that you want to use any AO grit as a polish? Here is my old Vendors World wide list, since it has not been updated in over five years, you are likely to find broken web-links.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Nov 18, 2020 8:37:54 GMT -5
I think we've done a very good job of derailing this thread now, maybe we should carry on elsewhere?
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Post by greig on Nov 19, 2020 10:59:44 GMT -5
Yes i think you are correct, i probably should have removed the Jasper Chita and the other very small stones in the batch, added some plastic tumbling beads as filler material, and tumbled with grit number 1 for considerably longer. I think it will be next week before my plastic beads arrive though, and if i am honest, i did not have the patience to stop the tumble process for 2 weeks. At the start i did consider breaking the agate with a hammer, and also the tiger eye, as i did not like their shapes and was unsure how they would come out at the end. I decided it would be a learning process and chucked them in as they were. I have a question ref grits, for my future tumbling projects. I have ordered this set of grits/polish from Manchester Minerals: www.manchesterminerals.co.uk/acatalog/GRIT-POLISH-PACK--Beginners--19_015.html#SID=121 It comes with grits in 80, 220, 400, and cerium oxide for polishing. I questioned the supplier if 400 grit was enough for pre-polish stage, as online many places seem to recommend at least 600 grit be used. They told me i should be able to get just as good results with the 400 grit, then move onto using cerium oxide for polishing. I'm wondering what you folks on here think about that? FYI - If you are impatient waiting on the mail, you can get plastic beads from a used (beanbag style) stuffed animal.
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alistair
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by alistair on Nov 19, 2020 11:37:39 GMT -5
Yes i think you are correct, i probably should have removed the Jasper Chita and the other very small stones in the batch, added some plastic tumbling beads as filler material, and tumbled with grit number 1 for considerably longer. I think it will be next week before my plastic beads arrive though, and if i am honest, i did not have the patience to stop the tumble process for 2 weeks. At the start i did consider breaking the agate with a hammer, and also the tiger eye, as i did not like their shapes and was unsure how they would come out at the end. I decided it would be a learning process and chucked them in as they were. I have a question ref grits, for my future tumbling projects. I have ordered this set of grits/polish from Manchester Minerals: www.manchesterminerals.co.uk/acatalog/GRIT-POLISH-PACK--Beginners--19_015.html#SID=121 It comes with grits in 80, 220, 400, and cerium oxide for polishing. I questioned the supplier if 400 grit was enough for pre-polish stage, as online many places seem to recommend at least 600 grit be used. They told me i should be able to get just as good results with the 400 grit, then move onto using cerium oxide for polishing. I'm wondering what you folks on here think about that? FYI - If you are impatient waiting on the mail, you can get plastic beads from a used (beanbag style) stuffed animal. Thats a good idea actually, as i am still waiting for the beads/grits/polish to arrive. They were dispatched from UK two weeks ago, taking ages. Convincing my daughters to let me rip open one of their teddy bears might not be so easy! Regarding plastic beads, i have seen people say the same beads should always be used with the same classification of grit, so if i put beads in with 220, i should not use those same beads at polishing stage with cerium oxide. What is the reason behind this, is it impossible to completely clean the plastic beads to a level where they could be reused at polish stage? I
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