petrifried
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 100
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Post by petrifried on Aug 25, 2015 23:26:25 GMT -5
Howdy! I'm 8 days into my first tumble and am switching to stage 2 right now. After cleaning and inspecting the rocks I pulled out a handful that had pits or cracks that might carry grit and now the 12lb barrel is just over half and probably under 2/3 full. I don't have any ceramic or plastic media, but I do have a bunch of pea to marble sized agates that I was wondering if I could use as filler in this step tell I get some plastic media? They are not water worn...
Also, is the petrified wood safe in there with the agates? The lady at the rock shop and the lortone book said agates, jasper, and wood are good to tumble together, but I can't help but worry about the wood because it feels softer and seems to be grinding down faster.
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boutoo
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by boutoo on Aug 26, 2015 1:08:11 GMT -5
Not sure about putting the wood in with the other stones, but a tip I picked up here is that if you clean the stones by tumbling them in borax between stages (I think it was jamesp who posted the recipe), it helps keep the grit out of the pits & yes you can add the tiny stones to help make up your load. The borax mix should be a non foaming type (I tried using machine detergent yesterday & it got very messy) & you only need a little bit. I used 30ml in a 2lb barrel, but I know you have a much bigger one...perhaps try 15ml for 4 hours & see how they clean up?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Aug 26, 2015 6:43:10 GMT -5
This is a matter of personal preference, but I think you'll be a whole lot happier with your results if you spend much more time in stage one. Agates are a good first choice to tumble because they're easy to get a shine on. Easy doesn't mean quick though. My rocks usually spend months in the first stage. The only exception is softer stones or stones that were already worn smooth on a beach. Each week when I clean out my barrels, I remove only the rocks that have no cracks or holes left in them. In the first few weeks, that usually means I don't remove anything. I replace those rocks with other rough rocks to bring the volume back up to 2/3 to 3/4. You could use your small agates as replacement rocks. You should have some small rocks in there anyhow. Your rocks will lose a lot of volume if you run them until they're perfect, so you should probably get some more rocks that you want tumbled. Only move to stage two when you have accumulated enough rocks to fill a barrel again.
As for your pet. wood, I haven't tumbled lots of it. For most rocks, mixing hardness in the first stage isn't a big problem. Pet. wood should be good through all stages. The thing I've found with pet wood is that it tends to have fractures along the grain. If the fractures or soft areas go all the way through, no amount of tumbling will remove them.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Aug 26, 2015 7:50:18 GMT -5
Like Rob said. Some pet wood and jaspers softer than others. Usually not. Georgia pet wood soft and not worth tumbling.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Aug 26, 2015 9:05:27 GMT -5
Petwood can indeed be tumbled with agate and jasper. Like the other guys said some wood does better than others depending on its individual flaws or cracks.
Some rocks will shape faster than others even if the same hardness. Most jaspers I've done shape much faster than agate. I would guess that this is related to crystal structure.
I'm like Rob, most of my rocks go weeks to months in stage 1. Again individual taste. If you have enough smalls to tumble with your "rejects" that might be the way to go. Save the good ones until you have enough roughed out for a full load.
Patience is a tumblers best friend. I know it's hard to wait on a first batch. Been there.
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petrifried
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 100
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Post by petrifried on Aug 26, 2015 9:29:37 GMT -5
Awesome, thanks! I'm going to add more rocks to get the barrel up to 3/4 again then soap tumble them with ivory flakes and re-clean everything before I move on to stage 2. The rocks I'm using for this first batch are already smooth beach or river rocks, so I think I am ready for the medium grit. They are looking sweet and I am especially liking the wood! I have noticed that the highly agatized wood is harder and grinding a lot slower that the opalized wood. So much to learn. Thanks everyone
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