felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by felrock on Jul 22, 2021 19:13:23 GMT -5
I'm gonna share to you a picture of my 2/5 full barrel. My question here is if i should add rocks in there right now as in the first stage. Or if I should just keep it this way. Will having low volume in the barrel make the process go faster? Or it's just not worth it and it will break the rocks more? So should I add more rocks? If so, could you tell me which type of rock goes well in a tumble for agates. Because I have barely any agates left and there's some that I want to keep in rough form. So I don't have other agates, so what type of rocks would work with these agates?
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Post by manofglass on Jul 22, 2021 19:20:24 GMT -5
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 22, 2021 20:25:14 GMT -5
Stage 1 grinding will be faster The tumbling will be more aggressive But the last 2 stages need to be at 2/3 or 3/4 full or more.
A small river near me has tons of Brown Chert, I collect that just to use as filler It is very hard and will last forever, and the brown color differentiates them from the target rocks plus they are free . . .
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felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by felrock on Jul 22, 2021 22:16:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the great mohs scale site, it's a new bookmark for me now. Since agate is 6.5-7 mohs, could I tumble my Quartz inside it as well? Or it'll eat up my agates since quartz is 7mohs?
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Post by manofglass on Jul 22, 2021 22:21:54 GMT -5
You can even put in some obsidian if you want I run everything together but then I separate it for the vibe
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felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by felrock on Jul 22, 2021 22:41:57 GMT -5
It's a plan!! I managed to find some hidden agate somewhere in between nooks and crannies in my house. So I've just got a bit of those, some type of jasper conglomerate, I added some Calcite even if I know it's gonna break down to pieces I have a lot of it. I thought that some quartz would be easy to add in there, as well as some Sodalite. I'll see what it does. After all, it's only for a few days/ weeks and if the softer stuff is ready before my agates, I'll just remove them. But my prediction is that they will all be done together since my agates are almost ready themselves.
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RedWingTumbler
having dreams about rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 65
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Post by RedWingTumbler on Jul 22, 2021 23:08:49 GMT -5
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felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by felrock on Jul 22, 2021 23:24:21 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing this!! It's really good to know that I've chosen to add some rocks and make my barrel 2/3 full instead of 1/3. I really have 2/3 now since my barrel measures 3inches of height and there's 1inch left of space in the barrel. I started it up now and they sound like they're having a good run now.
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Post by Starguy on Jul 22, 2021 23:33:55 GMT -5
felrock I’m glad to hear that you are listening to your tumble. You can tell a lot by the sound especially after you get a little experience. 2/3 - 3/4 full will give you the most efficient tumbling. A good mix of rock sizes helps a lot too. I always try to keep a good mix of small medium and large rocks. If the rocks are all the same size, it really reduces your grinding efficiency. Smaller size rocks can be hard to come by. Collecting your own takes forever. I try to purchase small agates whenever I come across them. A coupe big handfuls really makes the shaping go a lot faster.
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catskillrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,270
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Post by catskillrocks on Jul 23, 2021 21:32:57 GMT -5
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Post by manofglass on Jul 23, 2021 22:06:19 GMT -5
Family farm and home stores for my gravel
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Post by Bob on Jul 25, 2021 20:31:52 GMT -5
felrock. what kind of rocks are those? They look shockingly like a type of chert that is common in northern Texas and western Oklahoma. Except for a couple of bright white ones.
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afterburnt
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2021
Posts: 152
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Post by afterburnt on Jul 26, 2021 23:31:07 GMT -5
My first stage never stops as per "Micigan Rocks" I pull rocks out as they are ready for stage 2 and add more as I subtract. I do run a vibe for everything after stage 1 though.
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afterburnt
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2021
Posts: 152
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Post by afterburnt on Jul 27, 2021 0:37:01 GMT -5
My first stage never stops as per "Micigan Rocks" I pull rocks out as they are ready for stage 2 and add more as I subtract. I do run a vibe for everything after stage 1 though.
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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 Jul 27, 2021 8:43:23 GMT -5
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felrock
starting to shine!
Done with the agates, now onto some Quartz!?!?
Member since July 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by felrock on Jul 28, 2021 0:09:15 GMT -5
felrock. what kind of rocks are those? They look shockingly like a type of chert that is common in northern Texas and western Oklahoma. Except for a couple of bright white ones. Well they do look like chert, but I can assure you that they are agate since most of them all come from a big piece of crazy laced agate I bought from a mine. I broke them down a bit. Although the only thing that was surrounding the agate was some pieces of brecciated jasper. In the picture I shown as a reply to my thread, there are a lot more rocks since I decided to go with the idea of adding rocks. So I added what I could find. So in there, there's agates, brecciated jasper, quartz, smoky quartz, orange Calcite and some Sodalite. None of it is chert to confirm, I do know and can clearly identify by myself all the rocks in there. As they show lots of characteristics of the rocks I've listed above. Plus, that those we're all separated from the beginning and never was planned to be together.
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Post by Bob on Jul 29, 2021 16:15:59 GMT -5
It was just the size, color patterns, and look were very much like a material I tumble a lot. Just a coincidence apparently.
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