tumbleburger
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2022
Posts: 4
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Post by tumbleburger on Jan 23, 2022 18:11:32 GMT -5
New member here - grandparents gave my 6 yo one of the larger (2lb) National Geographic tumblers for Christmas. In search of the most bang for the time involved I ordered a couple pounds of African and Mexican Agates from a reseller but of course they came as mostly whole nodules 2-4 inches in size, much too large for the barrel.
Has anyone had success quartering agate nodules like this by notching them with a tiny 2 inch Diamond cutting wheel +/- using a chisel on them after? More generally has anyone had success cutting stones with this sort of thing?
The nodules don't seem to have any cracks in them and attempts I made with a 20 oz hammer and chisel were not successful. Had more luck putting nodules in a burlap sack and swinging against concrete but as noted in other treads on this site the nodules tend to just shatter/explode into tiny pieces that are also not optimal size. I am hesitant to commit any more tools or space to this new hobby of ours as we live in a small condo.
Would appreciate any advice from experienced folk.
Dan
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 23, 2022 18:25:11 GMT -5
I don't know about your rocks but Just wanted to mention that the Nat Geo tumblers don't come with true Polish Grit Needs to be ordered separately
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brybry
Cave Dweller
Enter your message here...
Member since October 2021
Posts: 1,220
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Post by brybry on Jan 23, 2022 18:28:36 GMT -5
Get a super cheap ( affordable ) 4"-7" tile saw and cut away.
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tumbleburger
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2022
Posts: 4
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Post by tumbleburger on Jan 24, 2022 16:53:48 GMT -5
I don't know about your rocks but Just wanted to mention that the Nat Geo tumblers don't come with true Polish Grit Needs to be ordered separately Yeah I fortunately discovered this before the polishing stage of our first batch and got some aluminum oxide oxide and a bunch of other polishing media from The Rock Shed.
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