denversue
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 160
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Post by denversue on Nov 8, 2021 9:07:45 GMT -5
On my computer now. Right now I am tumbling crazy lace agate. They are varied in size and do not have any major cracks. Most of them are on the small side. After 10 days in the polish stage, there are no signs of polishing at all. Most people have said that's due to the Nat Geo grit being substandard. What are saw scraps?
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Post by knave on Nov 8, 2021 9:23:56 GMT -5
denversueSaw scraps. If you cut a cabochon shaped “preform” say an oval shape, from a rectangular slab of agate, the scraps or corners are what is left after sawing. Perfect for filler material.
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electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 333
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Post by electrocutus on Nov 8, 2021 11:14:44 GMT -5
Once I get the filler and some better polish, can I tumble rocks that have been sitting around for months, that didn't get shiny the first time? Absolutely you can Yes, and that's the beauty of rock polishing. I have been tumbliong for just over a year, and I also started with the Nat Geo "Pro" tumbler. I still use it but have also purchased a Lortone. Both tumbler work well as long as you use good quality grit and are patient. Now that I am getting better at it, I am starting to go back to my first batches and re-running the polish stage on the ones I am pretty sure can get better the second time around. One major change I have been doing to get better results is to get a higher quality polish-stage Aluminum Oxide polish, and I leave the rocks in the final stage for minimum 2 weeks before I take a look to see if they are good and often end up leaving them longer. the 1 week suggested by Nat Geo is definitely not enough.
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electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 333
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Post by electrocutus on Nov 8, 2021 11:16:58 GMT -5
On my computer now. Right now I am tumbling crazy lace agate. They are varied in size and do not have any major cracks. Most of them are on the small side. After 10 days in the polish stage, there are no signs of polishing at all. Most people have said that's due to the Nat Geo grit being substandard. What are saw scraps? How smooth were your rocks before you started the polish stage? It could be that the polish grit is not very good (the Nat Geo is too coarse), but it could also be that your stages 2 and 3 might not have smoothed the stones enough. Good luck!
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heathervee
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 57
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Post by heathervee on Nov 8, 2021 13:31:09 GMT -5
On my computer now. Right now I am tumbling crazy lace agate. They are varied in size and do not have any major cracks. Most of them are on the small side. After 10 days in the polish stage, there are no signs of polishing at all. Most people have said that's due to the Nat Geo grit being substandard. What are saw scraps? I think the Nat Geo grit 1-3 is ok. I did the same thing you did and bought the refill without knowing, and now I use it as a backup when I run out of the Polly Plastics brand. To get a real polish, you need aluminum oxide in the last stage, which is white. The Nat Geo stage 4 is dark and is probably finer grit - if you want to use it up, you can probably run Nat Geo stages 1-4, then add a 5th stage with aluminum oxide. In the future, you'll want to make sure the grit you buy has the coarseness listed on the bottle/bag for each stage (which NG does not do) because you might not want to use standard 60/90 first stage on very soft rocks. I like the NG tumblers a lot, but the grit is disappointing. Side Note: The husband bought me a vintage NG tumbler that came with a packet of aluminum oxide as the last stage, so they must have changed it at some point. The good thing is, you can always toss your rocks back into the tumbler at any stage and keep going until you get the results you like. it takes millions of years to make a rock - you aren't going to screw it up in 10 days!
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CLErocks
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 342
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Post by CLErocks on Nov 8, 2021 14:22:45 GMT -5
Can I just say how much I love this Forum?!? As another Newbie to rock tumbling the amount of information here, and the politeness and ease that all you long-timers share your knowledge, is astounding! And so appreciated!
Thank you all! and thanks to all the other "newbies" for asking good questions, and ANSWERING all the other questions asked. So helpful!
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denversue
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 160
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Post by denversue on Nov 8, 2021 18:56:29 GMT -5
I am having difficulty replying to individual posts, can't figure out how to do it. I wanted to thank everyone who gave me information, thank hypodactylus for the video, to tell electrocutus that my rocks were quite smooth before Stage 4, and to tell susand24224 that I sent you a private message. If there's a way to respond to individuals right underneath their post, please let me know
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Post by Son Of Beach on Nov 8, 2021 19:22:38 GMT -5
I am having difficulty replying to individual posts, can't figure out how to do it. I wanted to thank everyone who gave me information, thank hypodactylus for the video, to tell electrocutus that my rocks were quite smooth before Stage 4, and to tell susand24224 that I sent you a private message. If there's a way to respond to individuals right underneath their post, please let me know Or...you can @ ( ie. Son Of Beach) anyone's user name and it will notify them or if you click "reply" on the right side and then on the toolbar there is a little blue guy with an @ symbol you can search individuals names out. If you need more info here is the walkthru.
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Post by knave on Nov 8, 2021 19:39:45 GMT -5
It’s not like FB or Insta where you can directly reply to a certain post. It’s more like a group conversation. You can tag ppl using the @ symbol, you can “quote” them and then reply under what they wrote. Hope this helps, knave.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,071
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Post by dshanpnw on Nov 13, 2021 9:22:42 GMT -5
Hello denversue, I've heard good things about the National Geographic tumblers, and a lot of bad things about their polish. So, listen to what folks have posted here and follow the instructions from rocktumbler.com like knave suggests and the other websites and videos and you should do much better. Good luck!
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 15, 2021 3:39:03 GMT -5
I have two of the Nat. Geo. 3-lb tumblers (and a third that I recently replaced the motor on, which now runs slower than the other two). My general stage 1 recipe (for Mohs 7 rocks) is to fill the barrel 3/4 full, water below the top level of rocks (this amounts to just over halfway up the barrel), 6 tablespoons of 60/90 grit, 3 teaspoons of Old Miser grit carrier kingsleynorth.com/old-miser-lapidary-grit-carrier.html, and run for 7 days at speed 3. I repeat this as many times as necessary, pulling out smooth rocks & adding more rough each week. I've gotten really picky about this & only let the smoothest rocks proceed to the next stage. Absolutely no sharp edges or pitting. When you rub the wet rock between your fingers, there should be absolutely no rough spots. When I have enough rocks ready for stage 2, I fill the barrel 3/4 full & add about 10% ceramics (compared to the volume of rocks) - this may get me to 80% full, but I don't worry about that. I'll shake the barrel a bit to get the ceramics to settle between the rocks. Water to below the top layer of rocks. Add 6 tablespoons of 120/220 grit & 3 teaspoons of Old Miser. Run for 7 days at speed 1 (all steps from here on are at speed 1). Pull out the smoothest rocks for stage 3 & put any that are not as smooth back in for stage 2. Any broken rocks go back into stage 1. If I don't have enough stage 2 rocks for a full barrel, I will often run some more batches in stage 1 until I do. In a pinch, I will add more ceramics to the stage 2 rocks to keep the barrel 3/4 full. For stage 3, I fill the barrel 3/4 full, including 10-20% ceramics (or lots of little rocks that are ready for stage 3). Water to below the top layer of rocks. Add 4 tablespoons of 500 grit (I use AO for this stage). Run for 7 days. Any broken rocks go back into stage 1. So far, I have noticed that almost all of the rocks I've tumbled only need a week in stage 3. I still check every rock to see that they feel very smooth - almost as smooth as polished rocks. For stage 4, I like to have the barrel about 80% full with rocks & ceramics. Any ceramics that I add for stages 3 & 4 should have already been tumbled to at least stage 2 or 3. I'm not too picky about this, since I often just grab a handful from a container of pre-tumbled ceramics. Just don't use any new ceramics past stage 1 or 2. Water to below the top layer of rocks (maybe even a little bit lower). Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of polish (I alternate between Aluminum Oxide & Cerium Oxide). Run for 7 to 9 days at speed 1. Any rocks that still don't come out perfectly shiny get set aside for the next polish batch, in which I will usually use a different kind of polish (AO or Cerium). For all of the stages, after I've closed the barrel, I turn it around a few times in my hands to get the water & grit to mix before I set it on the tumbler base. For softer & more fragile rocks, I add ceramics in stage 1 (maybe up to 50%). What he said in this and his later post. I own that tumbler also, and his advice is good. The only thing I would add is that I don't have any problem with the stage 1, 2, and 3 grits from Nat Geo. It's their polish that is the problem. The 3 pound tumbler works great if you do what RedWingTumbler suggests and use an aluminum oxide polish.
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Post by holajonathan on Nov 15, 2021 3:40:31 GMT -5
Everything you need to know:
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LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 550
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Post by LazerFlash on Nov 15, 2021 19:49:34 GMT -5
I am having difficulty replying to individual posts, can't figure out how to do it. The others have given you good advice. Let me add my 2¢:
If you wish to respond to a specific post, including quoting the person's post in your reply, click on the 'Quote' button at the top right of their post. This will start a "Create Post" editor session at the top of the thread, but below the forum graphics, headers, tabs, and ads. (You may have scroll down a bit, depending upon the size of your display and browser settings. FWIW, I don't like this behaviour, but it's the way they've set it up here.) Once you finish your post, click the 'Create Post' button in the lower right corner of the editor and the forum does the rest. Good luck!
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denversue
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 160
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Post by denversue on Nov 17, 2021 13:30:42 GMT -5
Thank you
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