Post by fosterz on Oct 19, 2014 20:17:26 GMT -5
Thanks to all the advice here, the links and support, my son and I have tumbled our first batch of rocks from our rock-hounding trip to North Carolina.
Our second batch is getting ready for polishing.
The tumbles out of our humble Harbor Freight two-drum tumbler can't compare with some of the fabulous tumbles here, but we’re pleased. Our first batch was mixed quartzes -- amethysts, citrines, aquamarines, rose quartz, smoky quartz and a black beryl thrown in just because. We added in a mix of different sized tile spacers to prevent cracking and only lost a few specimens (the tiny tip of the little beryl cracked in the polishing stage). We’re debating a burnishing run – we’ll decide by the light of day.
Our second load is softer stuff ---“ite”- stones: fluorite, apatite, sodalite, amazonite, unakite and even a few pieces of kyanite. We pulled the kyanite out after the rough stage as it was shaped nicely, smooth and still intact. We used large-sized tile spacers and almost everything came out whole. Will the kyanite survive a polishing stage or should we just hold it out and burnish it at the end?
We have pounds of Betty Rubble-looking garnets that we clawed out of the ground ourselves that my son is begging to tumble, but I’m not sure how it will work with all the crust around them. We had one cut and it came out beautifully and my son was thrilled to see the transformation. I’d love to be able to tumble some of our finds.
What a great family activity – identifying the specimens, researching the hardness of the rocks and deciding on the make up of a tumbling load, then watching the transformation over time. It’s also perfect for a time-pinched family: for weeks there’s just the whir of the tumbler when you get in and out of the car to remind you that you’re doing something really cool!
Again, many thanks for all the guidance.
Our second batch is getting ready for polishing.
The tumbles out of our humble Harbor Freight two-drum tumbler can't compare with some of the fabulous tumbles here, but we’re pleased. Our first batch was mixed quartzes -- amethysts, citrines, aquamarines, rose quartz, smoky quartz and a black beryl thrown in just because. We added in a mix of different sized tile spacers to prevent cracking and only lost a few specimens (the tiny tip of the little beryl cracked in the polishing stage). We’re debating a burnishing run – we’ll decide by the light of day.
Our second load is softer stuff ---“ite”- stones: fluorite, apatite, sodalite, amazonite, unakite and even a few pieces of kyanite. We pulled the kyanite out after the rough stage as it was shaped nicely, smooth and still intact. We used large-sized tile spacers and almost everything came out whole. Will the kyanite survive a polishing stage or should we just hold it out and burnish it at the end?
We have pounds of Betty Rubble-looking garnets that we clawed out of the ground ourselves that my son is begging to tumble, but I’m not sure how it will work with all the crust around them. We had one cut and it came out beautifully and my son was thrilled to see the transformation. I’d love to be able to tumble some of our finds.
What a great family activity – identifying the specimens, researching the hardness of the rocks and deciding on the make up of a tumbling load, then watching the transformation over time. It’s also perfect for a time-pinched family: for weeks there’s just the whir of the tumbler when you get in and out of the car to remind you that you’re doing something really cool!
Again, many thanks for all the guidance.