waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Jan 28, 2022 10:31:16 GMT -5
Now that I have my Lot-o, I'd like to try my hand at tumbling a softer rock than the typical mohs 7 agates, jaspers, and quartz that I've been doing. But for my first go at it, I want to try something that's not super difficult to work with. I'm thinking maybe Sodalite. Would like some opinions though from some of y'all that have experience with softer rocks.
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Post by perkins17 on Jan 28, 2022 11:04:50 GMT -5
Soft stones are very hard to tumble. I would NOT recommend tumbling opal or obsidian. I've never had success with those. I pretty much exclusively tumble quartzes, agates, and other hard stones. I've tried granite before, which is softer. You could try that, but be aware of undercutting. It is hard to get an even surface so it can be an issue. Hope that helps! Tumbling sure is great.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 467
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Post by hypodactylus on Jan 28, 2022 11:46:01 GMT -5
The only softer rocks I have tumble polished are obsidian. They turned out nicely in the end and took a good shine. I only have rotary tumblers, so I can't really give you any tips on the Lot-O.
General tips for softer rock: -Do not take them out of stage 1 until they are completely smooth; no cracks, pits, holes, or rough spots. -Use lots of tumble media after stage 1. When I say a lot, I mean more media than rock. -Use a gentler tumbler (lower rpm, smaller barrel diameter) -Clean well between stages.
If you are interested in obsidian, I can post a 'recipe' that I put together from my experience. Also, some types of obsidian (like snowflake obsidian) are much more difficult to polish than others (like plain obsidian).
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Post by greig on Jan 28, 2022 11:50:36 GMT -5
Calcite or dolomite with silver or nickeline would be my first choice if I had a Lot-O to make nuggets, followed by apatite (because I can collect these here). I would probably also try garnet which is supposed to be 7.5 mohs, but didn't do especially well for me in a rotary ... I made clay. But I would love to vibe turquoise which is 5-6 mohs and the rotary is too rough on it.
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brybry
Cave Dweller
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Member since October 2021
Posts: 1,220
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Post by brybry on Jan 28, 2022 18:54:34 GMT -5
Howlite would be a good one.
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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 28, 2022 20:44:14 GMT -5
If you can polish Glass , then go ahead and try to polish the softer stones .
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Post by Rockindad on Jan 30, 2022 9:35:19 GMT -5
Now that I have my Lot-o, I'd like to try my hand at tumbling a softer rock than the typical mohs 7 agates, jaspers, and quartz that I've been doing. But for my first go at it, I want to try something that's not super difficult to work with. I'm thinking maybe Sodalite. Would like some opinions though from some of y'all that have experience with softer rocks. We do a fair amount of softer tumbles, got the UV-10 loaded with a mix of them now. My take: 1) Differentiate between "soft" rocks: For example, Sodalite is composed of minerals of mixed hardness which presents challenges vs. materials like most Obsidians, Dalmation Stone, etc. With mixed hardness materials you will need to contend with undercutting. 2) Our opinion over here is that most Obsidians are a very easy tumble. It shapes fast in rotaries, cuts/grinds easy, polishes nicely. I know this goes against the grain of what is written here often but after running many batches of various Obsidians I stand by it. None of the pieces in this thread were run through a polish cycle when it was posted, all run in a Lot-O: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/97004/spot-obsidian-contest-ways3) Some of the softer materials are not going to get a stellar shine like an agate can due to their porous makeup, doesn't mean they are not worth doing. All we are doing in this hobby is cleaning up what nature has already produced to bring out its inner beauty.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Feb 1, 2022 12:01:22 GMT -5
After the responses saying to do obsidian I googled it a bit. I found this video of Jugglerguy and now I think mahogany obsidian is what I want to do. That stuff looks amazing. I haven't found anywhere selling it yet though. I've found Midnight Lace Obsidian and Apache Tears, but no mahogany. Why is it so hard to find useful stuff? Like 90% of my search results are about the healing properties of obsidian... ugh. EDIT: I bought some rough on Etsy... seems like a weird place to buy rough rock but I couldn't really find it anywhere else.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 467
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Post by hypodactylus on Feb 1, 2022 16:10:18 GMT -5
Haha. Etsy is just another storefront, like eBay. The first time I bought from Etsy probably felt a bit strange for me as well; it definitely didn't seem like the first place I would go looking for rough (based on my pre-conceived notions of Etsy shops). However, I have obtained some nice rock from Etsy shops; including a local seller that I like a lot.
Good luck!
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