quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
|
Post by quartzilla on Jan 8, 2021 20:56:27 GMT -5
Has anyone ever tried tumbling smaller nodule/thunder eggs that have been halved to polish the face? I know ordinarily you would use a flat lap and I obviously don’t have one. So my theory is throwing 4 or 5 thunder egg halves in a rotary with the rest of the load smalls of quartz and jasper/agate.I don’t care what happens to the smalls only the halved eggs, the idea being the smalls would do the same work as the flat lap. This sound possible?
|
|
|
Post by parfive on Jan 9, 2021 2:37:08 GMT -5
Absolutely, Scott. Here’s a video clip that Drummond Island Rocks posted a few days ago. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/post/1142626Your eggs might not clean up as well as his aggies if the outer matrix doesn’t wear evenly with the center but don’t let that stop you. If your cut halves are kinda ragged lookin’ to start (saw marks) you could help ‘em out a bit and try hand lapping with some 60/90 grit on a piece of glass.
|
|
Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
|
Post by Brian on Jan 9, 2021 7:30:15 GMT -5
That is a great question and I’m glad you already got a good answer. I plan on doing something very similar with some thundereggs, too! I saw the post by [mention]iloverocksalot [/mention] and thought that would be an excellent way to finish up some of those little guys.
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Jan 9, 2021 9:11:44 GMT -5
If you decide to go for it, any chance you could post some before and after pics? That would be really interesting to see the results. I'd like to know if the faced edge would maintain the flat surface, or if the rotary would create any "waves" in the surface.
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jan 9, 2021 9:21:48 GMT -5
Absolutely, Scott. Here’s a video clip that Drummond Island Rocks posted a few days ago. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/post/1142626Your eggs might not clean up as well as his aggies if the outer matrix doesn’t wear evenly with the center but don’t let that stop you. If your cut halves are kinda ragged lookin’ to start (saw marks) you could help ‘em out a bit and try hand lapping with some 60/90 grit on a piece of glass. brian jasoninsdThe matrix on the mexican nodules was much more solid then the thundereggs. I have done a bunch of thunderegg halves but they can be a bit of a pain. I did them in a vibe tumbler with just a couple of the halves and the rest ceramics. The matrix is very crumbly so I ended up with crumbs of matrix scattered in my ceramic media. In between each stage I sorted and removed those crumbs from the media. Chuck
|
|
quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
|
Post by quartzilla on Jan 9, 2021 9:30:00 GMT -5
If you decide to go for it, any chance you could post some before and after pics? That would be really interesting to see the results. I'd like to know if the faced edge would maintain the flat surface, or if the rotary would create any "waves" in the surface. . I will for sure do pics if I decide to do it. I got loads going right now so it will be in the Queue. After looking at Drummond’s pics I’m thinking I will go for it.
|
|
Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
|
Post by Brian on Jan 9, 2021 9:34:36 GMT -5
Thanks for chiming in [mention]iloverocksalot [/mention] ! I like the looks of the results you got.
I’m in the same equipment-limited boat as [mention]Quartzilla [/mention] so I would just be hoping to get a polish on the face. I will only speak for myself here, but I wouldn’t be too concerned with the matrix and how the other surfaces finish up.
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Jan 9, 2021 9:55:10 GMT -5
Absolutely, Scott. Here’s a video clip that Drummond Island Rocks posted a few days ago. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/post/1142626Your eggs might not clean up as well as his aggies if the outer matrix doesn’t wear evenly with the center but don’t let that stop you. If your cut halves are kinda ragged lookin’ to start (saw marks) you could help ‘em out a bit and try hand lapping with some 60/90 grit on a piece of glass. brian jasoninsd The matrix on the mexican nodules was much more solid then the thundereggs. I have done a bunch of thunderegg halves but they can be a bit of a pain. I did them in a vibe tumbler with just a couple of the halves and the rest ceramics. The matrix is very crumbly so I ended up with crumbs of matrix scattered in my ceramic media. In between each stage I sorted and removed those crumbs from the media. Chuck Thanks for posting the pics of these Chuck! Great pics showing the faced side as well as the backside. I wasn't sure I'd like the results when the question was first asked, but your results are fantastic! I do like the looks of how these turned out.
|
|
quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
|
Post by quartzilla on Jan 9, 2021 14:40:31 GMT -5
brian jasoninsd The matrix on the mexican nodules was much more solid then the thundereggs. I have done a bunch of thunderegg halves but they can be a bit of a pain. I did them in a vibe tumbler with just a couple of the halves and the rest ceramics. The matrix is very crumbly so I ended up with crumbs of matrix scattered in my ceramic media. In between each stage I sorted and removed those crumbs from the media. Chuck Thanks for posting the pics of these Chuck! Great pics showing the faced side as well as the backside. I wasn't sure I'd like the results when the question was first asked, but your results are fantastic! I do like the looks of how these turned out. . I agree, your pics have convinced me to give it a try. It looks like a couple busted in the process? Or did you pre- cut them so they would have “windows”? I considered trying to chop them down but I like the polished face/rough back side appearance of the typical way thunder eggs are usually polished.
|
|
|
Post by greig on Jan 9, 2021 14:45:31 GMT -5
An alternative to a flat lap is automotive grade wet sandpaper. I have done quite a few rocks in an old cookie sheet with water and sandpaper. It goes faster if you have multiple grades and move from coarse to fine, starting with 100 end ending with at least 1500, but consider 3000 or 5000+. However, I have noticed much difference at 7000.
|
|
|
Post by 1dave on Jan 9, 2021 16:03:05 GMT -5
An alternative to a flat lap is automotive grade wet sandpaper. I have done quite a few rocks in an old cookie sheet with water and sandpaper. It goes faster if you have multiple grades and move from coarse to fine, starting with 100 end ending with at least 1500, but consider 3000 or 5000+. However, I have noticed much difference at 7000. Hand to hand combat the old fashioned way !
|
|
|
Post by victor1941 on Jan 10, 2021 10:51:20 GMT -5
Quartzilla, I didn't want to keep the egg shape and cut my Richardson Ranch into slices, trimmed, and shaped on a 36 grit flat lap to remove most of the non-agate area and then polished in a UV-18 vibe. The slices turned out like the others shown but had considerable cracking in the opalized area. My end use may be cabs and not slices.
|
|