vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 18:31:41 GMT -5
We are still very new to this hobby. We have bought some grit from Rockhound.com as well as some grit from other places on Amazon.com. Is there a difference in grit provided? How does one know what to look for? Thank you in advance.
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 17:36:56 GMT -5
OK, we are leaving for Ohio tomorrow morning, so I had to make a decision. I took inbtb's advice and put the rocks back in the rotary tumbler with FINE grit, but also because the batch is so small now, I took Wooferhound's advice and made sure to fill the tumbler to 3/4 full with plastic pellets. Hopefully, when we return from Grandma's house, we can move to the polishing stage again. Thank you all for your advice and support.
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 14:11:51 GMT -5
Is that all the stones in the batch ? Need more stones to make polish work. And plenty of plastic bits I hope. These are stones from a 1 lb rotary tumbler, and yes, when they were original, they filled the tumbler 3/4 full, so for stages 3 and 4, I used plastic pellets to get the tumbler 3/4 full. I do not have any other stones ready to add to this batch as the others we have are at coarse and medium stages.
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 14:10:14 GMT -5
How long did you have them in pre-polish? How long in polish? The little black stone did take a shine at least it looks it in the picture. You can always go back and rerun your last step. I would go back to step 3 and run for another week, then the polish for a week. I would leave out the little black stone it looks done to me and no sense losing the shine on it. These were in coarse grit for two weeks, medium for one week, fine for one week and then polish for one week. The tiny black stone is not really shiny, it was just still wet when I took the picture.
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 11:36:32 GMT -5
The rocks finished their polish stage, but when we unloaded them, cleaned them off and let them dry......they are actually LESS shiny than they were after the FINE stage. Any ideas what we may have done wrong? Is there any chance of running them through another polish stage to help? 1488903601539 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Mar 6, 2017 20:02:55 GMT -5
I think this is a wonderful idea. Once our polishing stage is done on the rocks that my daughter picked up from her playground at school, I will definitely do something similar when she takes the rocks for "Show and Tell".
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 26, 2017 18:51:44 GMT -5
So......if I POSSIBLY put too much of the polish in my tumble, will this cause a problem?
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 26, 2017 17:03:53 GMT -5
Hey Wizzy. You and I are kinda in the same boat. My 8 year old daughter has been bringing home rocks in her pockets since she was probably 5. We got her a rock tumbler of Christmas (the Nat Geo version) and we (Daddy big time) were hooked immediately. I get my grit from the rockshed.com, but at this early stage, my daughter and I enjoy hunting for new rocks (rockhounding) almost as much as the tumbling process. For us, seeing what can come from the rocks she finds around the house or her playground at school is most of the fun. Granted, we don't have a lot of "beautiful" rocks here in central Virginia, but for now at least, they suffice for her and isn't that all that really matters? Just so you know, I ended up buying a 2nd tumbler based on some recommendations from this site, a Lortone 33B and it is a very nice tumbler. Everyone here is crazy helpful and I recommend you just keep asking questions, as I have yet to have a question go unanswered. Welcome to the hobby!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 26, 2017 16:39:23 GMT -5
After stage 3, when they are wet, they should have a shine to them but when they are dry they will still have a matte finish to them. You may see a slight polish finish to them but they won't look as dull as they did after stage 2. I honestly never paid much attention to them after stage 1. Once they were shaped in stage 1, it was a week in stage 2, a week in stage 3, and a week in polish. Like always, just make sure you clean them off really well and get any grit that may be trapped in cracks and pits. Carry over of stage 3 grit into the polish stage will leave your rocks looking hazy. Jake Thanks for the advice, Jake. We did our clean outs today and while I already know this first batch will not be perfect as there are still some crevices in a couple of the rocks, (patience, patience), we went ahead and moved on to the polishing stage. I remember reading somewhere on here that Borax is added at one of the stages, but cannot seem to find that reference anymore. When do you add Borax?
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 25, 2017 18:51:24 GMT -5
I can't thank all of you enough for all of your advice so far. So, tomorrow will be the clean out for the rocks that have been through 5 weeks of tumbling. This last week, they were in a mixture of "fine" grit along with plastic media. I really need to get this right for my daughter. Before moving on from this last stage to the possibly polishing stage, what should I look for? How do we know that they are ready to move to the polishing stage? Thank you all in advance!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 18, 2017 17:06:00 GMT -5
I do not know how to tell by looking at the rocks, if it is time to move onto the next stage, but after 10 days in Medium grit, we transferred to Fine grit and hoping for the best!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 20:29:14 GMT -5
Thanks, Jake. Those are awesome looking rocks!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 20:08:38 GMT -5
Your rocks are amazing!!!!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 20:00:47 GMT -5
Also, what does the Borax do?
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 19:37:44 GMT -5
Again.....WOW!!!!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 19:35:10 GMT -5
WOW!!!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 19:33:35 GMT -5
Where do you get your rocks from?
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 19:29:50 GMT -5
My daughter would like to know where you got these rocks? We have some that look like a few of yours, but the blues, reds and greens....not so much!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 12, 2017 19:21:50 GMT -5
Holy cow!!! Those look amazing. Great job!
|
|
vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
|
Post by vayank5150 on Feb 11, 2017 19:31:21 GMT -5
OK, so my daughter picked this up on a hike today. I think it is probably some form of quartz, but would like your opinion on what it might be. Thanks in advance. 20170211_192032 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr
|
|