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Post by captbob on May 2, 2015 15:57:09 GMT -5
Rotary tumble of mahogany obsidian is possible, it just takes time. Lots of time. I started this batch the last week of September (yeah...) and finished it today. 7 months!Could have definitely done it in 5, but the beauty of a rotary tumble is that the rocks don't care if you leave them run. And, obviously, neither did I. I don't have a picture of the beginning rough, or if I do I'm not going to bother to find it, but this was mostly golf ball sized or better and super jagged pieces. Nothing pre-trimmed or sawn. Rough. I probably also have pictures from cleanouts along the way, but how interesting is that? Started with two 15 pound barrels of material and ended up in a 12 pounder. Culled probably half the load along the way to have rocks from each step. Once I get a better camera (on my list) I may do a thread with all those rocks included showing the progress in each step, but most of you have seen similar pictures if you were following jamesp's obsidian tumble threads a few months back. GOOD finished tumbles pictures were a bear to take. The rocks reflect all points of light and my camera is for poop. Took a few dozen pictures and these are about all the usable ones from the whole lot. There are no white spots all over the rocks like in the pics (other than a couple snowflake obsidian type spots), just too much reflection I guess. Couldn't work around them. Tried sun, shade, and inside. Is what it is... Enough of that. While my electric bill may have benefited from using a vibe, I'm not sure that the rocks would have. But, I don't have the time or desire to babysit a vibe. And, I don't pay the electric bill. Thanks for lookin'
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 2, 2015 16:42:14 GMT -5
great looking tumble Bob. I would not have guessed those were done in a rotary unless you told me. Obsidian is a chore to get good photos of. This is a good picture. Looks like outside on a sunny day but in the shade. I have good luck taking photos under those conditions. Chuck
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Post by orrum on May 2, 2015 16:47:04 GMT -5
Way to shine Capnbob!!!!
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Post by rockpickerforever on May 2, 2015 16:52:44 GMT -5
My, what patience you have. Seven months??!! Hate to think what the electricity to run a 15 lb tumbler for 7 months would cost me.
Nice batch, worth waiting for.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on May 2, 2015 18:23:52 GMT -5
Wet shined in a rotary. Hat's off to captbob. Those are off the chart and a trophy batch. Passive approach worked just fine for you. You never seemed worry about em, just let them alone.
Photos show the shine plenty well. Are those birds in the sky ?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on May 2, 2015 18:49:43 GMT -5
Mahogany,my favorite Obsidian! Great job and what a shine-HUH!!!! Thumbs up
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on May 2, 2015 20:24:20 GMT -5
A wonderful batch of ob.7 months,too much patience for me.Got a batch of ob slabs rolling now.
snuffy
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
Posts: 452
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Post by Henry on May 2, 2015 20:29:57 GMT -5
Where are my sunglasses? Nice!!!
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riverrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2010
Posts: 1,395
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Post by riverrock on May 2, 2015 21:20:18 GMT -5
Ahh man I just finshed cutting some up for my tumblers . I hope it does not take me 7 months to get them to look like that. Thats some shine.
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junglejim
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2014
Posts: 344
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Post by junglejim on May 2, 2015 21:39:03 GMT -5
Very nice batch. 7 months!!!! I don't have that much patience but those were worth it.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,339
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Post by quartz on May 2, 2015 22:23:10 GMT -5
Great batch, proved it can be done in a rotary.
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Post by snowmom on May 3, 2015 4:10:33 GMT -5
those are literally slick! beautiful shine, and you are a shining example of patience and persistence, a great role model for those of us who hate to wait even for a vibe. Thanks for the post, awesome tumble!
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on May 3, 2015 9:10:30 GMT -5
Yowzers Captain Rotary .... Very nice batch. Enjoyed seeing these a lot.
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Post by iant on May 3, 2015 11:16:03 GMT -5
Awesome shine on those Captain!
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 3, 2015 12:11:28 GMT -5
Those look perfect, Bob. I don't know if I'm more jealous of your rocks or the leaves on the trees.
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Post by gingerkid on May 3, 2015 13:14:16 GMT -5
Gorgeous shine on your mahogany obsidian tumbles, captbob! 7 months is a long time, but definitely worth the wait. Will you please share your secret recipe with us?
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Post by captbob on May 3, 2015 16:26:19 GMT -5
No secret recipe Jan - other than time and lots of cushioning. jamesp had gone on and on about his obsidian being bruised, so I took his experience into consideration and did my best to mitigate that concern with an over abundance of plastic pellets in the latter stages. Helps to be anal obsessive to a fault when tumbling (in my experience). The second note card is kinda confusing because I was combining two 15 pound barrels somewhere in there. 60/90 was roughly 3 months for enough material to be finished to move on to a single 15 lb barrel of 120/220. Although, my idea of "finished" 60/90 is probably a bit further along than most folks'. Every rock must be prefect before moving on, thus the culling and the time. 120/220 ran about 3 weeks. Lost a few more rocks here due to spalling (slight chips) so I upped the cushioning (ceramics). 320 ran about 10 days at which point I dumped in some 500 grit with no clean out. which ran another 10 days or so before moving the batch to a AR-12 barrel. I consider the AR-12 a "softer" barrel than the 15 lb Model B. Switched to plastic pellets from ceramic media either on 320 or 500 - don't recall. There is NO method to my madness. Don't really care enough to follow any set recipe or "normal" plan or schedule. Rocks are pretty predictable. Let 'em roll and deal with them when you have the time or feel like it. They don't mind being neglected in rotary with a well cushioned load. Did 3 weeks with 500 grit and Tripoli - more Tripoli than 500 because they really didn't need the 500 step. A month with Tripoli and 1000 grit. More 1000 than Tripoli here*. LOTS of plastic pellets. *Tripoli is somewhere around 800ish grit I believe. Again, I wasn't really interested in micro managing them = let them roll. I don't pay the electric bill! (I get the cable/phone/internet - I'm not a bum! She wants A/C = she can pay the electric! I'd rather have the house open.) After almost a month in 1000 grit (sure I could have cut that down some, but... didn't care) moved on to AO polish which ran about 2 weeks before (duh!) I recalled Tin Oxide worked better for obsidian. ADDED Tin Oxide to the AO - no cleanout. Plastic pellets to within an inch of the top of the barrel. Ran another 3 weeks with the combined polishes. Cleanout and about 15 hours in a borax burnish - pellets and water right to the top of barrel. Not sure the final burnish made any difference. Pull a biggie out before the burnish and couldn't tell a difference between burnish and no burnish. And voila - done. Most likely could have skipped a step or two or shortened the time spent on any of them after 60/90, but I'm simply a set it and forget it type of tumbler. Culling the less than perfect rocks on each clean out may be the most important aspect to my "method". More effort went into trying to get decent pictures than tumbling the rocks. Secret to obsidian? Making sure each rock is perfect before moving on - or pull it out of the game. (More rocks were pulled than made it to the end.) Cushioning in latter stages. Sorry, that's all I've got. Next stupid trick? I'm working on a Stone Canyon Jasper batch where I am using only 60/90 (or 80 when I run out of 60/90) from start to finish. (might take awhile) Not sure how it will turn out polish wise, but I've got the time.
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Post by gingerkid on May 3, 2015 19:26:24 GMT -5
Many thanks, captbob, for sharing your obsidian tumbling method with us! I noticed you added pellets the 2nd time in 60/90 grit and wanted to ask if these were the plastic beads or ? that were in the mix? LOL @ your comments about the electricity bill.
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Post by captbob on May 3, 2015 22:05:03 GMT -5
Jan it was ceramic "pellets" media in the 60/90. Might not have needed them, but all the rocks were pretty big at that point with no smalls, so I figured the ceramic couldn't hurt and might even help. I dunno... Switched to plastic in 320 or 500.
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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 May 3, 2015 22:43:32 GMT -5
beautiful stones!
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