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Post by Rockindad on Oct 31, 2021 7:52:56 GMT -5
Contest InfoPurpose: To identify which method of vibe tumbling was used on each of these stones. Why: Just for fun Open to: EVERYONE- You do not need to know anything about tumbling to take a guess! Prize: A SFRB of Material that suits you. Want tumbling material, slabs, slabettes of hard stuff for a tumbler, a combination....We'll send whatever material suits your needs. When: Contest runs from today when I make the second post in this thread to Sunday, November 7, 2021, 5:00PM EST. Contest Rules
-One entry per participant per day -Guesses for the method can be the same as another members, guesses on the weight have to be unique and the first person to post a particular weight gets it. -Most correct guesses on which tumbling method was used wins. The tiebreaker will be to guess the weight of the chunk of Obsidian in picture 15. This must be in GRAMS. If there is still a tie, then there will be two winners! -One post=one entry. Will not combine your weight guess from one post with your picture guesses from another. -See sample post below for how to format guesses. Some Background-All of this material was run with SiC in rotary tumblers to achieve their shapes. From there we ran one batch using only 80AO with Borax for four days in a Lot-O vibe tumbler, this load was cleaned out and set aside. A second batch was then run in the Lot-O using a more traditional approach using 120/220 SiC, 500AO and finally 1000AO. This was then cleaned and set aside. None of these stones have been through a polish stage yet. Your job is to guess which batch each stone came from, your answer will be "80" or "1000". Originally I was going to post these after each batch had gone through a polish stage, but after seeing them side by side I am convinced there would be no detectable difference. Curious to see if there is any difference at this point that any of you can pick up on. A Note On the Pictures
-All pictures were taken with the same camera, same settings, same lighting.......No work done after the fact other than cropping to give a better view to the contestants and to get rid of some background. No color, exposure, etc. manipulation used. Sample 1  Sample 2  Sample 3  Sample 4  Sample 5  Sample 6  Sample 7  Sample 8  Sample 9  Sample 10  Sample 11  Sample 12  Sample 13  Sample 14  15. How Much Do I Weigh In Grams?  Sample PostPlease post your guesses like this: 1. 80 2. 80 3. 80 4. 80 . 13. 1000 14. 1000 15. Weight: 1234 grams (Hint: this is a four digit number) GOOD LUCK!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,618
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Post by jamesp on Oct 31, 2021 8:56:11 GMT -5
1,3,5,7,8,9,11,12,13 are 80
2,4,6,10,14 are 1000
Biggun weighs 1100 grams.
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Post by Rockindad on Oct 31, 2021 9:08:08 GMT -5
1,3,5,7,8,9,11,12,13 are 80 2,4,6,10,14 are 1000 Biggun weighs 1100 grams. Sorry everyone contest is over, James nailed it........... Just kidding, we are officially underway, let me know if I missed anything above or if there are any questions. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,618
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Post by jamesp on Oct 31, 2021 9:12:00 GMT -5
Lol. You had me for a second.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Oct 31, 2021 9:18:05 GMT -5
1. 80
2. 1000
3. 80
4. 1000
5. 1000
6. 1000
7. 80
8. 80
9. 1000
10. 1000
11. 80
12. 1000
13. 80
14. 1000
Weight 1350g
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Post by oregon on Oct 31, 2021 11:00:38 GMT -5
hmm interesting, my list is pretty similar without looking
1. 80
2. 1000
3. 80
4. 1000
5. 1000
6. 1000
7. 80
8. 80
9. 1000
10. 1000
11. 80
12. 1000
13. 1000
14. 1000
15. 3123 gms
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brybry
Cave Dweller
Enter your message here...
Member since October 2021
Posts: 1,221
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Post by brybry on Oct 31, 2021 18:49:59 GMT -5
1- 1000
2- 80
3- 80
4- 1000
5- 1000
6- 1000
7- 1000
8- 80
9- 80
10- 1000
11- 80
12- 80
13- 1000
14- 80
15- 2120 grams
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 2, 2021 15:03:12 GMT -5
*bump* I offer no guesses. I pretty much suck at these games. LOL!
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osuguy0301
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 203 
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Post by osuguy0301 on Nov 5, 2021 9:44:35 GMT -5
1.1000
2.80
3.80
4.80
5.1000
6.80
7.1000
8.80
9.1000
10.1000
11.1000
12.1000
13.80
14.80
15.1362g
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,359
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Post by quartz on Nov 6, 2021 23:02:36 GMT -5
1. 1000
2. 80
3. 1000
4. 1000
5. 80
6. 1000
7. 1000
8. 1000
9. 80
10.1000
11. 1000
12. 1000
13. 80
14. 80
WT: 1422g
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Post by Rockindad on Nov 7, 2021 17:36:08 GMT -5
Congratulations to jamesp and his keen eye for edging everyone else out with 10 correct selections. With 9 correct entries Son Of Beach earns honorable mention. Three others had 8 making this pretty darn close. Thanks to all for participating, I was very surprised that there were not a lot more entries but it sure made checking the results a lot faster. jamesp I'll send you a PM to see what you would like your prize to be. The answer key:  Not that it was needed, but for those curious:  |
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Post by Son Of Beach on Nov 7, 2021 17:41:49 GMT -5
Grats jamesp !! This was a neat idea. So based on the results, do you feel like your theory that there is little discernible difference stands? |
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Post by Rockindad on Nov 7, 2021 18:20:59 GMT -5
So based on the results, do you feel like you like theory that there is little discernible difference stands? Honestly my mind was made up before the contest. The "80AO" batch of Obsidian here was actually only run for 3 1/2 days and it is pretty comparable with the 1000 batch. Of course I have the advantage of seeing them up close, can hold them, etc. While most of the 80 pieces are not quite as refined as the 1000's, some are every bit as good and I would not be able to tell the difference unless we kept them in different containers. Two other observations based on our experiences: 1) 100% convinced that if each of these batches were run in a polish stage it would be impossible to tell them apart. 2) We have since let batches run in 80AO go for 4 1/2 to 5 days, this has made a large enough difference that we may stop running a polish stage altogether. We would not consider this if we felt there was any drop off in the quality of the finish at all. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 7, 2021 19:44:04 GMT -5
Congratulations jamesp!  Rockindad - Al, I want to apologize for not putting an entry in for this contest. I opened this thread in a new tab numerous times over the last week in order to list my guesses, but got distracted by something every single time. This was a fantastic idea for a contest...and a VERY desirably prize! Thank you for putting this contest together! |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,618
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Post by jamesp on Nov 8, 2021 2:57:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the congrats everyone. The quality of say a desk lamp's reflection as in Rockindad's photos in pre-polish level finishes is an accurate way to measure 500-1000-3000 category finishes. The only way IMO unless you have a high quality microscope or electron microscope. If a tricky rock like obsidian can be run in AO 80 and then gets a high polish in the polish run it spells success. If that recipe will polish obsidian it will produce a really killer polish on harder rocks like agates and jaspers. What is cool is that Rockindad made these two findings: "1) 100% convinced that if each of these batches were run in a polish stage it would be impossible to tell them apart. 2) We have since let batches run in 80AO go for 4 1/2 to 5 days, this has made a large enough difference that we may stop running a polish stage altogether. We would not consider this if we felt there was any drop off in the quality of the finish at all." Not to mention he has managed to use AO 80 in a Lot-O to attain a polish ready pre-polish or even a high polish by extending the AO 80 run. What's the big deal about using AO 80 ? This - An AO 80 run allows taking rocks out of the rotary after running just the coarse SiC 30-46-60-80(take your pick) with out messing with the 120-220 steps. A step skipped works. Life is short. |
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Post by Rockindad on Nov 8, 2021 6:49:04 GMT -5
Congrats Son Of Beach! jamesp has chosen to forgo his prize and you are the beneficiary. I will send you a PM to work out the details. |
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Post by Son Of Beach on Nov 8, 2021 7:29:19 GMT -5
That's very generous on both counts, thank you.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Nov 8, 2021 9:15:52 GMT -5
Very cool contest, Al! I made the same mistake as Jason by continuing to visit but forgetting to enter.
But honestly, I was more curious to see what the other guesses were and how they match up with the results you got. I want to get away from using SiC in the Lot-O and can’t say how much I appreciate seeing the results of your experiment. SiC in the Lot-O leads to more frustration than any other stages. Once I hit the AO steps, everything just runs better which makes me think the Lot-O may just be better attuned to AO.
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Post by knave on Nov 8, 2021 9:38:52 GMT -5
The loto can’t deal with the removed material from 180ish grit unless you clean it out at least 1x/day.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,618
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Post by jamesp on Nov 8, 2021 11:10:33 GMT -5
The loto can’t deal with the removed material from 180ish grit unless you clean it out at least 1x/day. A shame about the Lot-O. Great machine but lacks hp to roll thick slurries. Rockindad tuned his to roll AO 80. AO 80 sheds a lot of rock mud like SiC. A shorter vibration stroke(like the Lot-O's) with lots of power to maintain said short stroke + thick slurry is/will be the way to pre-polish/polish of the soft ones(and also do the Mohs 7 stones). IMO PS It is a step backwards to do clean outs with coarse AO, it takes a few days for it to round off coarse AO and wear it down to polish sized AO. Great ! Reduces clean outs, abrasive usage and slurry additives if used. But water still has to be added as needed to prevent overly thick slurry through out the AO wear down though. |
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