showet
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2015
Posts: 65
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Post by showet on Jun 22, 2015 16:32:18 GMT -5
I am completely new to tumbling and to this forum and so I have a question for the experts.
After sorting and cracking a large number of quartz geodes I have several small ones (1" to 3") that I am reasonably sure are solid, or nearly so.
I am wanting to try and tumble these because there is very little use for small solid geodes otherwise.
Does anyone have any experience or suggestions? (even if the suggestion is "Don't do it").
Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I look to learning from this forum.
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Post by captbob on Jun 22, 2015 16:43:02 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum showetHow large is your tumbler? I've never even considered what you're wanting to do, so I'm not exactly sure what you would end up with if you do tumble them. Interesting idea though! Someone that has been there done that ought to be along soon.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 22, 2015 17:14:26 GMT -5
Welcome showet You've come to the right place to learn, there's many educated and knowledgeable persons here to direct you in the right direction. As for tumbling geodes, that's a cool idea! I'm sure its possible when done cautiously depending on the size tumbler you're going to use.
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showet
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2015
Posts: 65
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Post by showet on Jun 22, 2015 17:17:24 GMT -5
I just have a double 3 pounder. I would be willing to upgrade if this works. I am sure I can get enough 1" to 2" geodes to fill a barrel.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 22, 2015 17:48:02 GMT -5
This question pops up every now and again. Check the link below for a previous discussion. I know this was just asked recently but I couldn't find the thread. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/1705Chuck
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showet
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2015
Posts: 65
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Post by showet on Jun 22, 2015 17:56:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply.
I looked at this thread previously, this person was hoping to tumble a geode with the hopes of retaining the crystals inside. They were told that the geode would likely crumble or at least break the crystals. I know the geodes I will be tumbling will have no crystals because they are solid, so the results should be different I would think. What I would expect would be more like tumbled quartz.
HOWEVER, I am guessing at the results as I have never done this.
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Post by orrum on Jun 22, 2015 19:58:37 GMT -5
Ok I just took a small tegg out that I tumbled forever. It looks like a small septarian. Roundish and real shiny with lightning strikes of clear to milky in a reddish brown. It's cool looking. Started Out Half Again As BIG As A Golf ball, ended up Size Of A golf ball. Why does my typing do that! LOL I tumbled it almost a year in a rotary 60 90 grit.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Jun 22, 2015 20:42:14 GMT -5
I am completely new to tumbling and to this forum and so I have a question for the experts. After sorting and cracking a large number of quartz geodes I have several small ones (1" to 3") that I am reasonably sure are solid, or nearly so. I am wanting to try and tumble these because there is very little use for small solid geodes otherwise. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions? (even if the suggestion is "Don't do it"). Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I look to learning from this forum. Here's the story of some thunderegg mini's I did recently: thunderegg mini in Chicago rotary tumbler
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showet
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2015
Posts: 65
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Post by showet on Jun 22, 2015 20:47:33 GMT -5
OK, I guess I will just try and see what happens. I hope I will be able to show the results before a year has passed!
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amyml
starting to shine!
Member since February 2015
Posts: 30
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Post by amyml on Jun 23, 2015 17:00:40 GMT -5
I tumbled a bunch of thundereggs (mostly broken ones) earlier this year. I posted about it somewhere. A lot of them still have some of the outer matrix, but I am impatient and kind of like the way it looks.
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Post by adam on Jun 23, 2015 17:58:55 GMT -5
Well, tumbling whole small geodes is no problem, but if there are large fractures in the geode then there's a chance that it can break open while tumbling. Anyhow, the geodes will take a fine polish. Just tumble them for at least 10 days in coarse grit to make sure the pits are reduced. Aluminum polish can reside in pits and cracks.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jun 24, 2015 9:52:59 GMT -5
Solid ones are called nodules. I've seen them tumbled and they come out great. You basically run them in coarse until all the outer matrix is removed and then move on through the other steps. You should be able to run a few 1" nodules in a 3 lb tumbler along with smaller pieces or media.
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showet
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2015
Posts: 65
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Post by showet on Jun 24, 2015 10:08:09 GMT -5
By "media" do you mean ceramic or just other stones? (I told you I am new at this this, hopefully learning!)
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Post by adam on Jun 24, 2015 15:12:19 GMT -5
Smaller stones of the same hardness or sometimes plastic pellets to cushion the larger stones, basically is the media. I think there a difference in grit and media in this case.
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Post by pauls on Jun 25, 2015 1:28:18 GMT -5
I occasionally do it quite accidently, I tumble lots of smaller agate nodules, they are generally tear drop shaped and vary in size from 1 inch to 2 inches long, half to 1 inch wide, I just throw them in as they are, after 3 or 4 months in the rough grit all the pits are gone or getting that way and occasionally all the thin outer layer of Agate has gone on some too, if they are just a blob of Quartz I flick them into the garden, if they have a thin veneer of Agate showing with the white Quartz underneath they can be very attractive so go on with the rest to eventually get polished. I have sometimes had small geodes that have turned out to be hollow, these are very nice when polished and are keenly sought after, but are a lot of extra work as when they break through you have a large cavity that can carry coarse grit contamination through the stages and ruin everything, so scrupulous washing between stages, I try to save them up so I have a whole load that way its only one load with potential trouble.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jun 25, 2015 12:14:56 GMT -5
Yes, usually ceramic media. Any small stones or pea gravel would work too. You need a mixture of sizes.
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Post by 1dave on Jun 25, 2015 14:34:23 GMT -5
When talking about "geodes" remember there are four different entities included under this label. 1. Creatures died millions of years ago - During the Mississippian Period - possibly because of oxygen shortage in large lakes (volcanic eruption replaced oxygen with carbon dioxide?) - No scavengers survived to nibble on them. They were buried in mud and filled with decomposing gas. Later, Agate and amazing other minerals crystallized in them and you have: www.mindat.org/mesg-17-253403.htmlWords can't describe how wonderful they are! 2. Voids in sedimentary rocks that have been filled by various sedimentary processes. 3. Gas bubbles in basalt and some andesite lavas. 4. Thundereggs - began as spheroids in highly silicious magma flows such as obsidian and rhyolite. This should allow you to look at the exterior and visualize interior possibilities. This specimen shows it's spheroid ancestry better than most, and the interrupted fill sequence allows easier investigation into what has happened to this point.
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Post by adam on Jun 26, 2015 7:01:24 GMT -5
I tumble with the coarse grit now for around 10-14 days and all the other stages about 6-8 days. I tumble petrified wood that I find in the creek beds, broken agate geodes(I won't be breaking em' anymore), small jaspers with their matrix, and anything that I buy from internet. I wouldn't have patience to smooth out all the pits and cracks, and plus the stone would wither away. They all take good final polish but definitely aren't perfect. I just use the basic 3lb capacity Lortone tumbler. I broke up 2 nodules of chalcedony, one was smoky color with tiny black spots throughout and one with a very light blue hue and they tumbled excellent.
Anyhow, throwing in whole geodes or nodules less than 2 inches is fine. Any bigger than that they make it harder for other stones to tumble, although I don't always follow that rule. Good luck, mate.
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