Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Mar 23, 2021 23:38:18 GMT -5
Boy, that is what I call prep of a rock. I've never seen anything like this! Now that I have my lapidary saw set up and working, my next project is my 8" wet arbor for grinding. I can't wait to be able to do what you have done. You probably just saved 6 months work of my usual method which takes forever. You should see the number Rob ( Jugglerguy) did on his before tossing it in the barrel. One could definitely burn through big stones left and right that way.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 24, 2021 4:10:45 GMT -5
This is the way. Grinding the trash off should give killer results. Tiger eye is a beautiful rock - show off it's stuff ! Step 1 should be a breeze.
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Post by orrum on Mar 24, 2021 6:05:14 GMT -5
Great Video Jugglerguy I missed your original post.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 24, 2021 12:59:52 GMT -5
That rock is going to be amazing. The prep you did reminds me a lot of the work I did on that big chunk of unakite. I think yours will turn out great.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Mar 29, 2021 1:18:49 GMT -5
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 29, 2021 18:05:58 GMT -5
I'd probably use a screwdriver or chisel to attempt to take that corner off. I wouldn't worry about creating more fractures, because the rock will want to break at the weak spot that's already there. I do this with smaller rocks quite often.
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Post by Bob on Apr 2, 2021 11:48:42 GMT -5
I've been through this, and have spent up to a year getting the last fractures out. There is some frustration at times, because this material is kind of weird. There have been times when I've had fractures show up in 220 when I could have sworn they were not there before 220 started. Probably I had not let the rock dry completely and got fooled.
There have also been a few times that I thought some fractures might have propagated deeper during tumbling, but I suspect they don't and that my thoughts on it were wrong. My best grinding on my largest piece of tiger eye polished thus far, was with other rocks golf-ball to lemon-size but only other rocks that no longer had any corners. Also thumbnail size smalls were in there too.
I would bite the bullet, show no mercy, and saw or cleave to get pure material, even if it meant sawing the whole thing in half due to that longitudinal fracture in the middle of one side. But that's just me. Whether that one fracture goes deep or not isn't apparent to me from these photos. But with tigers eye, it seems the fracture almost always goes further which is frustrating.
One fun thing about this material is it's beautiful, and in my opinion very unique, yet it's not expensive to get rough. The golden version is the one I've done the most, like this one. Right now the last of my red and blue is nearing completion in 600, 1,000, and polish. I've about given up on it as nearly every single piece of the red and blue has issues.
Some pieces of golden I've done near lemon-size will be perfect, but in 220 or 600 I will see a thin crack in one side of one layer, perfectly aligned with the layer. I will find this only by holding the rock just right, and using a lamp to reflect. Then I'll lick that line to examine the reflection again to make doubly sure whether it's truly a open crack or a silicified one. If open, I'll take that tiger eye and put it all the way back in 80 or 220 even after 1,000 or polish. That's how sick I am!
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Apr 5, 2021 0:22:35 GMT -5
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Apr 5, 2021 8:30:59 GMT -5
I always have a little hesitation breaking any rock that I like apart in any way, but this does look like the correct decision! Now, I can't wait to see next weeks progress.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 5, 2021 13:16:05 GMT -5
I think that was a good move.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Apr 5, 2021 14:12:39 GMT -5
I think that was a good move. Yup, agreed
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Apr 6, 2021 4:03:25 GMT -5
Yep
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Apr 10, 2021 2:19:07 GMT -5
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 10, 2021 5:51:03 GMT -5
That’s looking much better since you took the hammer and chisel to it. From here it doesn’t look like it needs much more coarse grinding.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Brian on Apr 10, 2021 7:43:58 GMT -5
That is looking great! Those softened facets should give it a very pleasing shape when it’s done. And those patterns appearing on the bottom surface are fun!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 10, 2021 9:37:26 GMT -5
It's looking real good! I have a feeling this is going to be one amazing big tumble once it's done.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Apr 19, 2021 21:28:07 GMT -5
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thebeef
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2020
Posts: 62
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Post by thebeef on Apr 21, 2021 9:52:51 GMT -5
Week 4: 36 SiC. 2019g. Wabi Sabi, going to medium. I think about those aesthetics sometimes with my stones. Maybe in a couple decades I'll have enough to make a tea garden.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Apr 26, 2021 16:29:17 GMT -5
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 26, 2021 20:51:01 GMT -5
This is getting good. I'm starting to eat my popcorn faster.
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