rockspaz
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2014
Posts: 6
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Post by rockspaz on Oct 21, 2014 12:22:19 GMT -5
Hey, I work at a place that deals rocks etc and just got my first tumbler. It's got 2 3lb barrels. I had not done much research. In one I put river rocks I had collected. These are now in the polishing phase, started last night but I checked them today and they're whitish? Not sure what's going on but put em back for more. The other one has a bunch of Indonesian copal amber, and despite what I've been reading, these are actually turning out quite nicely! They're in prepolish mode, starting to clear up from the previous grinds. I have sooooooo many rocks to polish, so much to learn
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Post by snowmom on Oct 21, 2014 17:49:32 GMT -5
welcome to the forums. We love pictures! Looking forward to seeing how that amber comes out! (subtle, huh?)
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rockspaz
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2014
Posts: 6
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Post by rockspaz on Oct 21, 2014 18:21:58 GMT -5
I can't wait either! I did 2 weeks of medium grit (from Thumbler's Tumbler Grit Pack #300), 6 days fine, and now it's pre-polishing, with a ton of plastic pellets. I guess I got lucky (so far) with the copal...Really shocked at how much the river rocks shrank!I tried finding advice about tumbling copal but couldn't find much at all, word on the street seems to say it's too soft.
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Oct 26, 2014 11:36:13 GMT -5
Watch the hardness on the river rocks; lots of stuff looks good but is too soft. Look up the Moh's Scale and do simple, easy hardness testing. Or make life simple and start tumbling with easy stuff like agate. Not a quick tumble but generally cheap, pretty, and takes a killer polish.
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