textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
|
Post by textiger on Nov 11, 2005 16:52:58 GMT -5
Got the new 33B in this week and finally got a chance to open it up this morning. Then I had to decide what to fill the barrels with. Hmmm. The sodalite I ordered with the tumbler? The agates I've been collecting around town. The coffee can full of red jaspers? Actually, it wasn't a hard choice at all. When I got the box o' rocks, I pulled a bunch of stuff out, including some of the tigerstone from Kim. A little later, I sent her a pm asking what I could tumble it with. She asked whether I had enough for a full barrel. Not so long story short, she wound up sending me the following (pictured wet, of course, with scaling tool) Kim said I could test-drive the Tigerstone and see how it tumbled and polished. So, one barrel is filled with this: And I've been waiting forever to have an empty barrel to fill with some of the pet wood I collected with Pho and elsewhere. I have tumbled a piece or two, but this load is all pet wood. The waiting begins.
|
|
|
Post by Cher on Nov 11, 2005 17:32:46 GMT -5
Oh man you are going to be so excited when it gets done. That tigerstone is beautiful, can't wait to see how it turns out. Great pics too.
|
|
|
Post by rockds on Nov 11, 2005 17:50:07 GMT -5
I do like tiger eye but that pet wood is nice as well, do keep us posted as you progresss.
robert
|
|
|
Post by LCARS on Nov 11, 2005 17:56:33 GMT -5
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
|
Post by Sabre52 on Nov 11, 2005 18:00:57 GMT -5
Can't wait to see how that tigerstone turns out. Looks like it will be fantastic. Make sure and post a pic or two as it progresses......Mel
|
|
|
Post by xenaswolf on Nov 11, 2005 18:50:45 GMT -5
Is tigerstone and tigers eye the same? Looks the same but wasn't sure
|
|
|
Post by Cher on Nov 11, 2005 19:48:46 GMT -5
Xena, no, it's totally different. There's some tiger eye pics that were posted not too long ago if you want to look.
|
|
|
Post by parfive on Nov 11, 2005 22:05:28 GMT -5
For the record, Textiger, none of my rocks are on a low sodium diet.
Now I'm thinkin - how about salt in the barrel if you run out of Borax?
Both batches look to be sure winners, fine lookin' rough.
Rich
|
|
|
Post by joe on Nov 11, 2005 23:00:18 GMT -5
Go Tiger go!! That rough looks great.
|
|
|
Post by rockyraccoon on Nov 11, 2005 23:43:21 GMT -5
oh i can't wait to see what it does matt! such a beautiful stone and hard as nails to bust or cut. did you have a hard time busting it? i kept looking at it and thinking what a gorgeous sphere it would make but how would anyone ever get it cut into a block to sphere it. this is the stone i could not cut in my saw without it binding up.
xena it has ironstone (the brown), thin bands of tigerseye, and hematite. big mix of moh here. wonder what it will do?
that pet wood is going to be a great batch!
kim
|
|
textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
|
Post by textiger on Nov 12, 2005 0:10:17 GMT -5
Kim,
Thanks again for your amazing generosity.
It took more than a few blows sometimes to break a chunk off. I was using my shorthandled 4-lb sledge. Boy, did it feel good to break that rock up, though like you, I wish I could have found a way to get it sliced. I need to check the barrels when I go home tonight. I was so excited, I probably overloaded them.
I'm pretty excited about that pet wood, too. I've got a couple pieces headed to pre-polish tomorrow from another barrel and it's looking pretty good.
matt
|
|
|
Post by stoner on Nov 12, 2005 0:46:52 GMT -5
You're well on your way now. That is some nice looking stone.
Ed
|
|
textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
|
Post by textiger on Nov 18, 2005 15:15:40 GMT -5
One week update: Pet wood didn't form much of a slurry and, thus, didn't get very far. A bunch of grit was just sitting in the bottom of the barrel. I think I overloaded with either rocks or water--i'm leaning toward rocks. I took a couple of the larger ones out. I'm just too anxious to have larger shiny rocks. Still, I can see where it's going and it will be good. No pix and I've already recharged and set it rolling again. The tigerstone on the other hand got busy. I opened the lid to find a sorta golden slurry -- somewhere between yellow and babys#&* brown. That's interesting, I thought. When I rinsed them off, I got this: Closeup of a few, wet,: It's pretty obvious this stuff is going to shine. But I can see a shaping problem. Let's see what week 2 does.
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
|
Post by Sabre52 on Nov 18, 2005 15:51:53 GMT -5
Wow, that stuff is really looking pretty already...Mel
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Nov 18, 2005 16:09:43 GMT -5
They're coming along! They'll look great out of polish
|
|
|
Post by joe on Nov 18, 2005 21:37:28 GMT -5
Those look real good to me
|
|
|
Post by Bikerrandy on Nov 18, 2005 21:47:27 GMT -5
Wow, that's just after one week? Those already look great, they seem to be taking shape quickly too!
|
|
|
Post by rockyraccoon on Nov 18, 2005 22:11:51 GMT -5
the colors are great matt. what is it doing shapewise?
kim
|
|
|
Post by rockds on Nov 18, 2005 22:19:27 GMT -5
WTG Tex, that rock has great patterns, keep us posted
robert
|
|
textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
|
Post by textiger on Nov 18, 2005 23:20:25 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't think shine is going to be a problem. But the shaping kind of threw me. It's really pretty hard rock. I realize it's only been a week, but it struck me that they look a bit like rocks that have gone threw a vibe--edges have been rounded, but the stones retain much of their original shape. Given the banding and the way it broke, that could be problematic. I'm probably just too much of a worrywart. It may just be that it needs a lot of course to shape up. I also took a couple pieces out to lower the level a wee bit.
On the pet wood, I've decided I simply put too many big pieces in the barrel and that prevented better tumbling. What little grinding has occurred is revealing some nice colors and grains already, though.
matt
|
|