LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
|
Post by LazerFlash on Nov 12, 2021 18:54:30 GMT -5
I bought these off of Amazon. And, of course, there were no tumbled pictures, just wet and dry rough. They were in my very first batch and as I indicated in my 'I'm new here...' post, they didn't do well. They simply just kept getting rounder and smaller, but never took a shine. (You can kinda see the size difference by looking closely at the size of the stamping on the paper towel background.)
My initial investigation seemed to indicate that this was a Mohs 6-6.5, but I've since researched it a bit more, and I'm thinking it's probably lower - maybe closer to 5 or less.
I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with this kind of rock?
My tumbled results:
Examples of my rough, both wet and dry:
Pictures from Amazon Seller's Listing:
And, lastly, here is a picture from an Etsy Seller's site showing polished stones. I have sent her a message inquiring about her process, (I suspect lacquer spray), but have heard nothing back after more than a week:
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Nov 12, 2021 19:39:06 GMT -5
I've seen this material listed and have been wondering about it...so I'll be paying attention to any replies. I think I saw it listed as "Elephant Toenail" among other names in one spot...
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Nov 12, 2021 20:02:03 GMT -5
One question LazerFlashAre you only tumbling them or is there other rocks such as agate in the batch. With softer rocks such as rhyolite, (wonderstone) I’ve had some success tumbling only the softer rock with nothing else in the batch to beat them up. Plastic pellets in fine through polish may help cushion sensitive rocks too. Some rocks you just need to live with a matte finish. Yours are still really cool looking. Good luck, Brent.
|
|
CLErocks
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 342
|
Post by CLErocks on Nov 12, 2021 20:17:05 GMT -5
Don't know what this is...but still cool. Sorry if it's not what you expected. I've been collecting softer quartz pieces I want to tumble together. gonna be a while before I have enough. and not sure where to start.
Maybe a grinding before tumbling?? Some other newbie was looking at using a Dremel with cut-off wheels suggested by someone with WAY more experience than me.
I have sodalight in 90 grit I'm gonna try to grind, and re-do stage one based on this suggestion.
?? Maybe?? worth a try?
|
|
|
Post by rmf on Nov 12, 2021 20:26:00 GMT -5
Elephant toe nail should be a particular oyster fossil from Mex. Cobra jasper is what I have seen the above stone called. It has several names. The above stone having more Iron that the devils toe nails. Both are probably limestone base coquina with one having more iron. Probably tumble like petoskey stone. Several on the forum have petoskey stone recipes.
|
|
|
Post by Son Of Beach on Nov 12, 2021 20:45:48 GMT -5
I've been finding a variation of this in front of my shop in the landscape rocks. Not that anyone would just look thru landscape rocks in their free time...
I think I will try tumbling this with my septarians and keep a close watch on them.
|
|
|
Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 12, 2021 21:01:19 GMT -5
Cobra jasper, Arabic Writing stone, Miriam stone, Script stone -- all the same stone.
The yellow is much softer than the red part, so lots of undercutting. It takes a semi-shiny gloss finish if you futz with it enough. I don't tumble, but I would think it would be really difficult to tumble.
|
|
|
Post by Rockindad on Nov 13, 2021 9:33:08 GMT -5
I bought these off of Amazon. And, of course, there were no tumbled pictures, just wet and dry rough. They were in my very first batch and as I indicated in my 'I'm new here...' post, they didn't do well. They simply just kept getting rounder and smaller, but never took a shine. (You can kinda see the size difference by looking closely at the size of the stamping on the paper towel background.)
My initial investigation seemed to indicate that this was a Mohs 6-6.5, but I've since researched it a bit more, and I'm thinking it's probably lower - maybe closer to 5 or less.
I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with this kind of rock?
My tumbled results:
Examples of my rough, both wet and dry:
Pictures from Amazon Seller's Listing:
And, lastly, here is a picture from an Etsy Seller's site showing polished stones. I have sent her a message inquiring about her process, (I suspect lacquer spray), but have heard nothing back after more than a week: It is of a mixed hardness and prone to undercutting. That being said the finish that the Etsy seller got is nothing special. If this is your first batch and you are following advice/recipes designed for agates/jaspers that is likely your problem. You will need to learn how to minimize the undercutting. Without knowing your setup at all, I'll just say there are steps you may want to take your time on and others you may want to minimize or skip altogether. Keep experimenting!
|
|
LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
|
Post by LazerFlash on Nov 13, 2021 11:41:53 GMT -5
One question LazerFlash Are you only tumbling them or is there other rocks such as agate in the batch. They were in my first batch, which was a mix including red jasper, bahia agate, green opal, moss agate, a couple of pieces of amethyst crystal, and small smallish river stones from our yard. Typical newbie stuff.
Even though not an ideal mix, several pieces came out okay. It did spur me onward and outward, and ended up here.
I don't really have enough of it to tumble by itself - even in my Harbor Freight 3 pounder. Once I get a more solid idea of where the hardness actually is, I will try mixing it with similar stuff. I do have some sodalight, so maybe there'll be enough of that to mix with the Sanskrit.
|
|
LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
|
Post by LazerFlash on Nov 13, 2021 11:46:40 GMT -5
Don't know what this is...but still cool. Sorry if it's not what you expected. Oh, I'm not completely disappointed. They turned out pretty cool just smoothed out!I have sodalight in 90 grit I'm gonna try to grind, and re-do stage one based on this suggestion. ?? Maybe?? worth a try? I don't have enough of it to tumble by itself. I do have some sodalight and I was thinking of adding that to the mix with the Sanskrit.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Nov 13, 2021 12:16:54 GMT -5
LazerFlash Another thought I had is that you need a mix of sizes in a rotary tumbler. I’ve never tried a vibratory tumbler so I have no way to comment on that. It looked like a lot of your tumbled batch was pretty similar in size. In my 12 lb Lortones I will include a few larger rocks but at least 1/3 third is medium (~1”) and 1/3 is small (1/4” or smaller). I believe this helps the rocks slide in the tumbler instead of rolling down the face and clattering into each other. The Etsy photo may be due to lighting and photography skills as much as anything. That being said, I feel like you should be able to improve the polish. As hummingbirdstones said, it may take some futzing, (great term Robin. I didn’t know anybody futzed anymore). Good luck. Looking forward to more photos. Brent.
|
|
LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
|
Post by LazerFlash on Nov 13, 2021 17:39:00 GMT -5
LazerFlash Another thought I had is that you need a mix of sizes in a rotary tumbler. I’ve never tried a vibratory tumbler so I have no way to comment on that. It looked like a lot of your tumbled batch was pretty similar in size. In my 12 lb Lortones I will include a few larger rocks but at least 1/3 third is medium (~1”) and 1/3 is small (1/4” or smaller). I believe this helps the rocks slide in the tumbler instead of rolling down the face and clattering into each other. LOL This is actually the first lesson I learned from this forum! That said, the first batch did have a decent size mix, although probably not as many in the small range as there should have been and the hardnesses were too varied.
|
|
LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
|
Post by LazerFlash on Nov 13, 2021 18:19:49 GMT -5
It takes a semi-shiny gloss finish if you futz with it enough. As hummingbirdstones said, it may take some futzing, (great term Robin. I didn’t know anybody futzed anymore).
Yet another good old Yiddish term that has found its way into the common-use parlance! I love it!
Although I'm not even close to being fluent in the Old Country language, I do have a passing familiarity with many Yiddish terms and phrases and have been known to sprinkle them liberally within my conversations. For both my wife and I, ours is a second marriage, so we are a blended family that is also a blended religious family. I am Jewish and my wife is Catholic. Not to go into the lonnnnnnng story, my step-daughter and our grands lived near us and actually moved in with us for quite a few years while they were growing up. (They're 18 and 20, now.) Of course, like all kids do, they heard us say things that they ultimately repeated. It was really quite hilarious to me to hear these little girls of mixed race (one of their grand-mothers was Filipino), who went to Catholic Mass periodically, telling their friends things like: "We can't play until we clean up all this schmutz"; or "Momma doesn't want us just futzing around"; or "Ethan is such a klutz"; or "Oy, vey! I'm so hungry I could just die".
And, unfortunately, I didn't relish correcting the older one, when at around 7 or 8, she told my wife and me that she was telling all her friends she thought that her gym teacher "was such a schmuck".
|
|
|
Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 13, 2021 19:53:26 GMT -5
LazerFlash Another thought I had is that you need a mix of sizes in a rotary tumbler. I’ve never tried a vibratory tumbler so I have no way to comment on that. It looked like a lot of your tumbled batch was pretty similar in size. In my 12 lb Lortones I will include a few larger rocks but at least 1/3 third is medium (~1”) and 1/3 is small (1/4” or smaller). I believe this helps the rocks slide in the tumbler instead of rolling down the face and clattering into each other. The Etsy photo may be due to lighting and photography skills as much as anything. That being said, I feel like you should be able to improve the polish. As hummingbirdstones said, it may take some futzing, (great term Robin. I didn’t know anybody futzed anymore). Good luck. Looking forward to more photos. Brent. Guess I'm showing my age a bit.
|
|
rewdownunder
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 357
|
Post by rewdownunder on Nov 24, 2021 13:35:12 GMT -5
I've been finding a variation of this in front of my shop in the landscape rocks. Not that anyone would just look thru landscape rocks in their free time...
I think I will try tumbling this with my septarians and keep a close watch on them. Growing up in Minnesota Heaven was a day at the local gravel pit looking for agates. To this day I always give landscape rock a close look. Have found some great stuff over the years.
|
|
|
Post by stephan on Nov 24, 2021 14:05:44 GMT -5
I got some a few years ago, under the "Cobra jasper" name. I became quite frustrated with the undercutting and lack of polish (it's definitely a mud-stone, not a jasper -- the red probably varies from 3-5), but every piece I've ever cabbed and listed sold very quickly. One of those, "we're our own worst critics" lessons. Just one of those where a satin finish is going to be as good as it gets, and you have to appreciate it for what is is, or move on. You might try scouring the forum for recipes others have used for tumbling softer/multi-hardness stones. I suspect jamesp has some ideas. With the variability that seems to occur, there are probably some differences in what is possible. The Etsy seller's results might be legit. It doesn't look like lacquer to me.
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Nov 24, 2021 23:55:51 GMT -5
I got some a few years ago, under the "Cobra jasper" name. I became quite frustrated with the undercutting and lack of polish (it's definitely a mud-stone, not a jasper -- the red probably varies from 3-5), but every piece I've ever cabbed and listed sold very quickly. One of those, "we're our own worst critics" lessons. Just one of those where a satin finish is going to be as good as it gets, and you have to appreciate it for what is is, or move on. You might try scouring the forum for recipes others have used for tumbling softer/multi-hardness stones. I suspect jamesp has some ideas. With the variability that seems to occur, there are probably some differences in what is possible. The Etsy seller's results might be legit. It doesn't look like lacquer to me. I was going through some totes of slabs last night...and ran across a piece of this I got from you. Nothing else to add...just thought it was a weird coincidence! LOL
|
|
eccman
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2021
Posts: 93
|
Post by eccman on Dec 7, 2021 21:47:02 GMT -5
They are still pretty cool looking.
|
|
brybry
Cave Dweller
Enter your message here...
Member since October 2021
Posts: 1,199
|
Post by brybry on Dec 10, 2021 13:21:42 GMT -5
Has anyone tried fortifying it like turquoise and then polishing? The best I got on those is a matte finish.
|
|
LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
|
Post by LazerFlash on Dec 10, 2021 19:17:49 GMT -5
Has anyone tried fortifying it like turquoise and then polishing? Not sure what this process entails...?
|
|