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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 21, 2023 14:04:25 GMT -5
rocknewb101 I think I was tumbling agate and rhyolite together for a while. It seemed like neither polished well combined but both did well when separated. That made me think that the rocks themselves must be contributing to the polish. The couple times I ran coarse batches and forgot the grit kind of reinforced that thought. I’m wondering if Rick gemfeller has any thoughts about this topic. Doesn't vegasjames tumble without grit quite frequently...or am I having a "senior" moment? LOL
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,330
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Post by rocknewb101 on Jun 21, 2023 14:29:19 GMT -5
rocknewb101 I think I was tumbling agate and rhyolite together for a while. It seemed like neither polished well combined but both did well when separated. That made me think that the rocks themselves must be contributing to the polish. The couple times I ran coarse batches and forgot the grit kind of reinforced that thought. I’m wondering if Rick gemfeller has any thoughts about this topic. I wonder if the softer stones are breaking apart and this is cause for the less-than-stellar polish? I'm not sure that makes sense for all softer stones though...it's an interesting theory and i'd be interested in hearing others thoughts too.
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Post by vegasjames on Jun 21, 2023 15:38:11 GMT -5
rocknewb101 I think I was tumbling agate and rhyolite together for a while. It seemed like neither polished well combined but both did well when separated. That made me think that the rocks themselves must be contributing to the polish. The couple times I ran coarse batches and forgot the grit kind of reinforced that thought. I’m wondering if Rick gemfeller has any thoughts about this topic. Doesn't vegasjames tumble without grit quite frequently...or am I having a "senior" moment? LOL Yes, I am a rebel.
Keeps more of the natural shape instead of rounding and still gives a nice high polish, especially the candy rhyolite. I run the stones for a month in just water in a 12 pound tumbler, then put them in the UV18 for a week.
Just cleaned up the latest batch, will try to get a video or pics. Here is my last ones though of the candy rhyolite done this way.
Pic
Video
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 21, 2023 15:43:01 GMT -5
Doesn't vegasjames tumble without grit quite frequently...or am I having a "senior" moment? LOL Yes, I am a rebel.
Keeps more of the natural shape instead of rounding and still gives a nice high polish, especially the candy rhyolite. I run the stones for a month in just water in a 12 pound tumbler, then put them in the UV18 for a week.
Just cleaned up the latest batch, will try to get a video or pics. Here is my last ones though of the candy rhyolite done this way.
Pic
Video
Those results are insanely amazing!! I remember seeing pics before...but the video really shows the high gloss!!
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Post by vegasjames on Jun 21, 2023 15:49:49 GMT -5
Yes, I am a rebel.
Keeps more of the natural shape instead of rounding and still gives a nice high polish, especially the candy rhyolite. I run the stones for a month in just water in a 12 pound tumbler, then put them in the UV18 for a week.
Just cleaned up the latest batch, will try to get a video or pics. Here is my last ones though of the candy rhyolite done this way.
Pic
Video
Those results are insanely amazing!! I remember seeing pics before...but the video really shows the high gloss!! I have done the same with some jaspers and colorful chacledonies, but the candy rhyolite does the absolute best with this process. The jaspers tend to have a rougher surface to begin with, so maybe if I run them an extra month in the rotary first I will get better results with the other stones.
I do prefer the more natural shapes though as opposed to the rounding of the stones with using grit.
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Post by vegasjames on Jun 21, 2023 16:01:13 GMT -5
interesting!! I wonder what polished the rocks without grit - I've seen that the grit just breaks down more and more if you let it go, but without grit...I guess the rocks make their own - that makes sense as I talk it out lol...I love love love quartz when it works out - but more often than not i struggle with it. I did send some back that were in a barrel that blew a hole in the lid - they were banging on each other, no liquid. ugh. I do this all the time. I use all my chips from breaking up the rock as my "grit", which is more so the small sharp pieces help clean our the nooks and crannies of crap like caliche common on a lot of our rocks. The chips polish up beautifully, then I save them for crafts or put them in vials.
The chips also replace ceramic media for cushioning. I fill my barrels most the way so there is still some, but not a lot of movement. Then I run the stones in 12 pound barrels for a month with just water, which gives a pretty good polish. Then after rinsing them good I put them in a UV18 tumbler, again, almost completely full for a week. Posted a pic and video of candy rhyolite done this way in this thread.
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Post by vegasjames on Jun 21, 2023 16:10:54 GMT -5
rocknewb101 I think I was tumbling agate and rhyolite together for a while. It seemed like neither polished well combined but both did well when separated. That made me think that the rocks themselves must be contributing to the polish. The couple times I ran coarse batches and forgot the grit kind of reinforced that thought. I’m wondering if Rick gemfeller has any thoughts about this topic. Keep in mind that rhyolite varies a lot in composition. It is a silica rich lava with feldspar, but the amount of silica and alumina can vary a lot depending on the rhyolite. I have some dense green rhyolite I can scratch a pure quartz crystal with, and some rhyolites that feel lightweight so you would think they are soft. But they are just as hard as jaspers and agates cabbing. Another rhyolite I have is a bit softer. Still polishes nice, but as high gloss as some of the other rhyolites. I think this is one of the reasons why the candy rhyolite works so well for tumbling with water only. A high silica and high alumina content.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,330
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Post by rocknewb101 on Jun 22, 2023 7:08:05 GMT -5
interesting!! I wonder what polished the rocks without grit - I've seen that the grit just breaks down more and more if you let it go, but without grit...I guess the rocks make their own - that makes sense as I talk it out lol...I love love love quartz when it works out - but more often than not i struggle with it. I did send some back that were in a barrel that blew a hole in the lid - they were banging on each other, no liquid. ugh. I do this all the time. I use all my chips from breaking up the rock as my "grit", which is more so the small sharp pieces help clean our the nooks and crannies of crap like caliche common on a lot of our rocks. The chips polish up beautifully, then I save them for crafts or put them in vials.
The chips also replace ceramic media for cushioning. I fill my barrels most the way so there is still some, but not a lot of movement. Then I run the stones in 12 pound barrels for a month with just water, which gives a pretty good polish. Then after rinsing them good I put them in a UV18 tumbler, again, almost completely full for a week. Posted a pic and video of candy rhyolite done this way in this thread.
I just started doing this for my chips too! I got little corked 'honey' jars from amazon and have been filling them with the polished littles. I'll usually move my chips along, unless they are visibly breaking apart and would cause issues in later stages - then I just keep them in course and they end up helping the process.
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 915
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Post by ashley on Jun 22, 2023 18:13:46 GMT -5
Such a beautiful batch Brent!
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Post by Starguy on Jun 22, 2023 18:43:30 GMT -5
Such a beautiful batch Brent! Thanks Ashley. I had relatively thick slurry at 220 and at 500. The polish is better than my usual. Occasionally everything kind of comes together right. I picked out quite a few for the “premium” bin.
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 915
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Post by ashley on Jun 23, 2023 12:56:55 GMT -5
interesting!! I wonder what polished the rocks without grit - I've seen that the grit just breaks down more and more if you let it go, but without grit...I guess the rocks make their own - that makes sense as I talk it out lol...I love love love quartz when it works out - but more often than not i struggle with it. I did send some back that were in a barrel that blew a hole in the lid - they were banging on each other, no liquid. ugh. My theory is that the rocks being tumbled are actually doing a large part of the polishing. In my pea-brain, the polish is acting as a very thin spacer between rocks. The polish lets the rocks come into contact enough to let them shine each other but spreads the weight at higher loading to prevent microscopic scratching/gouging of the surface. It’s only a theory but it’s based on quite a few finished 3 lb batches. Last year the 33b polished 11 batches. If you figure an average of 2-3 polished three pound barrels per year over 30 years, we’ll, you get the idea. The theory started because I was wondering why the polish is better when all of the rocks are the same hardness/type of material. It seems if it was strictly abrasive action, all rocks in a batch should have roughly the same polish regardless of their hardness and durability. You and ashley among others are running vibratory tumblers. I’d be interested to know if you think this is the same in the vibes. In general, it looks like a gentler action in a vibe compared to what I imagine is going on in a rotary. That makes sense and you have way more experience than I do! I do know that all tumblers call for way too much grit, you don’t need nearly as much.
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 915
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Post by ashley on Jun 23, 2023 12:57:52 GMT -5
Such a beautiful batch Brent! Thanks Ashley. I had relatively thick slurry at 220 and at 500. The polish is better than my usual. Occasionally everything kind of comes together right. I picked out quite a few for the “premium” bin. They are all pretty premium looking to me!
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