rocksy
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2021
Posts: 3
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Post by rocksy on Apr 26, 2021 13:32:49 GMT -5
Hello, I have a question in regards to the polishing stage. I am about to enter the 4th stage (polish) and the book I have says to take a damp terry or leather cloth and put some polish on and rub for 15 seconds and I should see a slight shine. And if I don't they are not ready for the polish stage. It has been 11 days and still no shine. Is this a correct way to determine this?
Thanks again,
Excited to be here!!!!
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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 26, 2021 13:53:55 GMT -5
Welcome!
I have not heard of a test like that, which certainly doesn’t mean such a test doesn’t exist.
We haven’t been tumbling for long, but our rocks going into polish look like they are already taking a pretty good shine. We are using a 5-step process (60/90 silicon carbide, 120/220 silicon carbide, 500 aluminum oxide, 1000 aluminum oxide, and then aluminum oxide polish from Rock Shed, which is reported to be 14,000 grit). By the time they come out of the 500 grit, the rocks are already looking like they are starting to shine a little, and by the end of the 1000 grit stage, they are looking pretty good with just a slightly-smudged-not-quite-wet-when-dry look.
Do you know the grit of your stage 4? Sometimes that information is hard to find if it came in a kit.
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rocksy
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2021
Posts: 3
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Post by rocksy on Apr 26, 2021 15:26:53 GMT -5
Thanks for your reply, Unfortunately it does not say anything about grit. And there were only 4 stages. They are not looking shiny at all. Very smooth, but no shine. So I will leave them in the stage 3 (prepolish) for a while longer and hope some shine comes...lol
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Apr 26, 2021 17:32:04 GMT -5
11 days is not long enough. I run pre polish for 3 weeks and polish for 3 weeks. I use plastic pellets to cushion the load
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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 27, 2021 8:44:27 GMT -5
Hello, I have a question in regards to the polishing stage. I am about to enter the 4th stage (polish) and the book I have says to take a damp terry or leather cloth and put some polish on and rub for 15 seconds and I should see a slight shine. And if I don't they are not ready for the polish stage. It has been 11 days and still no shine. Is this a correct way to determine this? Thanks again, Excited to be here!!!! Hello and welcome to the forum rocksy!! What tumbler and size tumbler are you using? Where did you get the grit/polish? What are the grit sizes, does it have any numbers on the packaging? What book are you reading?
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rockfrog
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2021
Posts: 114
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Post by rockfrog on Apr 27, 2021 9:32:47 GMT -5
My instruction booklet said the same thing and I also tried to rub them to get a shine but couldn't, I ended up moving them on anyway and they got shiny so I wouldn't worry about it. I'd say finish 14 days in pre-polish and then move on but you could always run them longer if you'd like.
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