tyandnan
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2014
Posts: 96
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Post by tyandnan on Feb 25, 2015 20:45:15 GMT -5
Well, after reading a lot on this site and trying to gather intel on the art of rock tumbling, I attempted my first batch. I decided to run it 2 days in 120/220, 2 days in 500, and 4 days in polish. I have a two barrel tumbler, so the first barrel takes four days to go through the first two grits, so the second barrel, reserved for polish, just runs the four days to keep the tumbler balanced.
This first pic is after the 500. I was a little worried as there was next to no shine on these rocks.
But, I pressed ahead, as I wanted to experience how things worked for myself, content to fail if necessary in the pursuit of hands-on understanding.
After four days in the polish:
I was flabbergasted by my success! Most rocks took a glorious liquid shine. Some of the flat surfaces and softer materials struggled a bit to fully shine up, probably due to an imbalance of large and small media. Most curved surfaces took a superb polish.
One thing I did note, is that despite my efforts, some cracks still had grit/polish left in them. Would a borax burnish step help pull that out, or is it just more scrubbing?
With batch one under my belt, batch two was already underway. Here is how it finished up:
Also a glorious liquid polish, and the flats seemed to do a little better. Maybe I had a better ratio . . ?
Some of my faves:
Pigeon Blood from the Floy area near Green River.
An agate from somewhere near Green River
A cool limb cast (not self collected):
And some awesome jasper from around Green River as well:
I am loving my lot-o!
Advice welcome. . .
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megalotis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2009
Posts: 226
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Post by megalotis on Feb 25, 2015 20:57:54 GMT -5
Some beautiful stones there! I love the pigeon blood and that last jasper is sweet!
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 25, 2015 22:12:54 GMT -5
Wow, you did really well, especially for your first time. Those are super shiny!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 25, 2015 22:49:57 GMT -5
Very nice!!!
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Post by iant on Feb 26, 2015 2:43:17 GMT -5
Superb shine on those - great job!
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Post by snowmom on Feb 26, 2015 5:21:30 GMT -5
well done! from here the tumbling world is your oyster! Looking forward to seeing lots more pretties from your deptarment.
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tyandnan
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2014
Posts: 96
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Post by tyandnan on Feb 26, 2015 8:16:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words. I really am enjoying the shiny treasures.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 26, 2015 8:44:12 GMT -5
Its always great to see people posting their first tumbles and the excitement that it brings. Nice shine in that second picture too.
Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Feb 26, 2015 8:57:05 GMT -5
Good on you. So many people get frustrated starting out with a rotary tumbler from rolling the rocks for a long time and do not get a polish. Any one starting out should purchase some slabs to throw in and do a short rough, and then move on to the final stages. That save the long coarse grind and lets them get a quick finish, or not get a good finish and find out what went wrong. The beauty of a vibe is that it is fast. You nailed a polish, got confidence, and if you want to run them in a rotary to round them better you can.
Take notes and record your polishing success, knowing that anything you may want to shape in a rotary will most likely get a polish.
I started out with easy to polish hard agates and succeeded first time with a rotary. Kinda set me on fire.
You are probably hooked now Tyson. I am getting into pre-grinding and paying more attention to lessor but better tumbles by manually shaping them. Grinding efforts worth the effort if they are stones that are easy to polish, big rewards in the end.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 26, 2015 9:44:09 GMT -5
Nice shine on those babies. Good job and congrats on your success with batch number one.
Polish that dries is a bear to clean up. I put my rocks (and media) in clean water immediately after rinsing the polish off. Put everything back in the vibe and run a borax burnish for a couple hours. Rinse and into clean water again. From there scrub the ones that may have a crack or whatnot. Keeping them wet until you get a chance to clean is the key I think.
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rodeodan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 213
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Post by rodeodan on Feb 26, 2015 12:15:08 GMT -5
Great job, looks a lot better than my first batch.
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azgnoinc
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 484
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Post by azgnoinc on Feb 26, 2015 16:39:23 GMT -5
Great job on both of your batches, for a first timer that shine is fantastic!! Looking forward to seeing your future batches!
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junglejim
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2014
Posts: 344
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Post by junglejim on Feb 27, 2015 13:42:52 GMT -5
Wow, what a huge difference in the shine between the 500 and the polish. I wouldn't have expected that much shine from looking at the first picture. Fantastic first batch !!!
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tyandnan
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2014
Posts: 96
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Post by tyandnan on Feb 27, 2015 18:43:49 GMT -5
Thanks, guys! I would love to get a rotary some day to coarse grind. For now it is on a wheel or not at all.
Thanks for the thoughts on the burnish and cleaning, rocks not preformed require a lot of cleaning.
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Post by gingerkid on Feb 27, 2015 19:12:42 GMT -5
Beautiful shine on your first 2 batches, tyandnan! Really like your limb cast and the reds in your tumbles. Keep up the good work!
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delo
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2014
Posts: 134
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Post by delo on Mar 2, 2015 17:55:46 GMT -5
Nice work! That material from around green river is awesome, especially that pigeon's blood! thanks for sharing!
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amyml
starting to shine!
Member since February 2015
Posts: 30
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Post by amyml on Mar 2, 2015 22:43:10 GMT -5
Fantastic shine!
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tyandnan
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2014
Posts: 96
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Post by tyandnan on Mar 3, 2015 13:09:10 GMT -5
Thanks to all of you. I spend a lot of time looking at my rocks . . .
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