dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,577
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Post by dillonf on Mar 27, 2022 18:57:33 GMT -5
This is my 3rd run I've ever done tumbling (rotary). Previously, I did a tumbling mix that came with the tumbler (came out real bad), and some chert collected from local streams (nice shine). Sea JasperOn this batch I tried to follow the "Michigan Rocks" process, but I did not follow it perfectly. I had several issues that were described by ejs in his post about the challenges of ocean jasper. I tumbled the rough for 3 weeks with 60/90 SiC (refreshed every 6-7 days), but there was no end to the druzys and pits that appeared in the stones. I was afraid of tumbling them off to nothing so I moved on to the next stage. I did 2 weeks at 220 SiC with added ceramic media (refreshed after 7 days). Then I did one week of AO pre-polish with ceramic, one week of AO polish with plastic pellets, followed by 4 hours of burnishing with Ivory and Borax. Results are what you see above. Shine is not the best - still a bit matt, and there are several pits and druzys in most pieces. Even though I wasn't too impressed with the stones my daughter loved them. She carried them around in a bucket for half the day, and named about half of them - that's all that really matters! I'm gonna focus on some agate for the next run and may come back and try to run these again??? This time with a 1000 AO stage and maybe 2 weeks of polish with a borax run between each stage to see if they get a better shine. Working at it . . . Cheers, Dillon
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 766
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Post by lordsorril on Mar 27, 2022 19:18:40 GMT -5
Clearly it is obvious you had some 'super rough' material to start with. I don't see any way of getting around losing a ton of mass on those to 'clean them up'. Mind if I ask where you got them? (so I can avoid--lol)
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nursetumbler
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Post by nursetumbler on Mar 27, 2022 19:34:47 GMT -5
Clearly it is obvious you had some 'super rough' material to start with. I don't see any way of getting around losing a ton of mass on those to 'clean them up'. Mind if I ask where you got them? (so I can avoid--lol) Yes please dillonf. A friend suggested jasper because it's more forgiving. I have 7# of ocean jasper. Hope mine is better rough.
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 27, 2022 19:45:50 GMT -5
I know those aren't the results you were hoping for...
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,577
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Post by dillonf on Mar 27, 2022 19:50:24 GMT -5
jasoninsd Yeah that's ok. It's all about the journey. The fact that my daughter loved em made it all worth it!
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 27, 2022 19:51:58 GMT -5
jasoninsd Yeah that's ok. It's all about the journey. The fact that my daughter loved em made it all worth it! I actually should have commented on that. Your description of your daughter's "joy" in those tumbles put a smile on my face.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,577
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Post by dillonf on Mar 27, 2022 20:00:24 GMT -5
Clearly it is obvious you had some 'super rough' material to start with. I don't see any way of getting around losing a ton of mass on those to 'clean them up'. Mind if I ask where you got them? (so I can avoid--lol) Yes please dillonf . A friend suggested jasper because it's more forgiving. I have 7# of ocean jasper. Hope mine is better rough. I sent a private PM on the vendor to those that asked. I only had a pound of rough to work with - I'm sure you'll have some real beauties in your 7 pounds! Can't wait to see them!
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Prov
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2020
Posts: 116
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Post by Prov on Apr 11, 2022 18:18:52 GMT -5
I also bought some sea jasper - Rough tumble - lot of bad material. I did still get some decent pieces out of it though.
I've heard (Read on here somewhere) that Sea Jasper is not currently mined anywhere (or something to that effect) so most of the stuff on the market is low quality rough that's been leftover over the years.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Brian on Apr 12, 2022 13:31:52 GMT -5
I’m a little late to this thread, but I have some of that same sea jasper rough. I’m guessing it is from the same vendor.
I’m fairly confident that it is not jasper. Or has so little jasper in it that it should never be named as such. My daughter kept wanting to tumble it even though it never comes out that nice. If you are lucky, you may get a solid piece that polishes up, or at lease one with a crystal pocket that is pretty enough to distract from the rest of the rock.
Long story short, it isn’t a good tumbling material and I wouldn’t change any of your process based on those results. I’d suggest trying something that is a true agate or jasper and you will probably be much happier.
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nursetumbler
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Member since February 2022
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Post by nursetumbler on Apr 12, 2022 14:08:31 GMT -5
Can someone tell me if sea jasper and ocean jasper from Madagascar are the same material???
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brybry
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Post by brybry on Apr 12, 2022 15:20:27 GMT -5
Can someone tell me if sea jasper and ocean jasper from Madagascar are the same material??? I believe it's same same.
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
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Post by nursetumbler on Apr 12, 2022 16:23:19 GMT -5
Can someone tell me if sea jasper and ocean jasper from Madagascar are the same material??? I believe it's same same. Thank you brybry
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allbetzoff
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2020
Posts: 77
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Post by allbetzoff on Apr 13, 2022 9:43:48 GMT -5
I've had the same issues. They polished fine but all those wholes and such! Super annoying. Maybe the best part of the batch was the small handful that I knew wouldn't tumble well but look pretty cool on my shelf of small treasures.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Brian on Apr 13, 2022 9:56:34 GMT -5
Can someone tell me if sea jasper and ocean jasper from Madagascar are the same material??? If it is the same, then I would say that sea jasper is the lowest grade of ocean jasper. I bought our sea jasper from Gems by Mail. It was far cheaper than any ocean jasper I’ve ever seen and bears very little resemblance to ocean jasper. Sea jasper has a lot of quartz in it. Based on our experience with it, I would say it is very low grade and generally not worth tumbling unless you like a good challenge. Ocean jasper, on the other hand, is beautiful stuff and can get very pricy. It also seems much more solid and willing to take a fine polish. Based on what I have seen, I believe someone came up with the name sea jasper simply due to the similarity to the name ocean jasper. If anything, they may come from a similar location as well, but the similarities between the two do not extend much further.
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dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
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Post by dshanpnw on Apr 14, 2022 10:42:22 GMT -5
It's good to know there is a difference between the two, sea jasper and ocean jasper. I would have guessed they were the same, but now I know they probably aren't. I have seen some very nice ocean jasper before but never thought of buying any. dillonf, I hope your next tumble turns out great! Thanks for posting.
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brybry
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Post by brybry on Apr 14, 2022 15:04:48 GMT -5
www.crystalvaults.comOcean Jasper vs Sea Jasper If you love crystals or are an avid collector, you've likely run across and wondered what the difference was between Ocean Jasper vs Sea Jasper. The answer is, Ocean Jasper and Sea Jasper are very similar. In fact, they're pretty much the same mineral. It's just that one has a trademarked name and the other doesn't. To break it down a litter further, Ocean Jasper is the trademarked name for a mineral that comes from a mine near Marovato on the Ambolobozo Peninsula of Madagascar that is owned by Paul Obenich. Sea Jasper is similar to Ocean Jasper but is collected from the Madagascar Minerals mines found in the same area, just a short distance away. orb-struct-ocean-jasper (1) Both are a spherulitic variety (spherulitic or spherulites is the name for the small, rounded formations you see on these crystals) of Chalcedony with Quartz and Feldspar forming the spherical (orbicular) structures. Background colors may be green, brown, cream, white, red, pink, or yellow, with orb-like inclusions in various colors and combinations. That is the technical definition but what it boils down to is that the composition and metaphysical properties of both crystals are the same. There ya go. Overlook the new age bits. This was the clearest definition i could find.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,577
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Post by dillonf on Apr 14, 2022 21:11:19 GMT -5
Thanks. I appreciate that advice and encouragement!! Sorry you got a bad batch of rough as well! I’m a little late to this thread, but I have some of that same sea jasper rough. I’m guessing it is from the same vendor. I’m fairly confident that it is not jasper. Or has so little jasper in it that it should never be named as such. My daughter kept wanting to tumble it even though it never comes out that nice. If you are lucky, you may get a solid piece that polishes up, or at lease one with a crystal pocket that is pretty enough to distract from the rest of the rock. Long story short, it isn’t a good tumbling material and I wouldn’t change any of your process based on those results. I’d suggest trying something that is a true agate or jasper and you will probably be much happier.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,577
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Post by dillonf on Apr 14, 2022 21:12:20 GMT -5
Thanks once my next batch is done I'll post some pics. It's good to know there is a difference between the two, sea jasper and ocean jasper. I would have guessed they were the same, but now I know they probably aren't. I have seen some very nice ocean jasper before but never thought of buying any. dillonf, I hope your next tumble turns out great! Thanks for posting.
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