johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 7, 2016 16:59:01 GMT -5
Just received some pretty cool Selenite material… a few "wands" that I'm just going to give to my daughter as is, and a large slab of it. I know they are very soft (2 on the Mohs scale, I believe), but I have seen them looking as if they had been tumbled. Can they only be rounded on a grinding wheel? If I broke up the large slab and threw it into my 3lb barrel, would I end up with nothing but tiny shards and flakes? About 8" long, 6" tall and 1½" thick… a little over 4lbs.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 7, 2016 17:06:25 GMT -5
I have been experimenting with tumbling some of the red selenite I dig up. I have has some success using a very fine grit and some of the mud the selenite is found in to thicken up the solution in the barrel. Have not done a polish stage yet. Mostly polishing pieces on the cabbing machine.
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 7, 2016 17:20:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, James! I will take your suggestion and use my finest grit, but I will have to create my own mud. Also, I just got done reading that some people shape them by hand using wet/dry sandpaper. I don't own a cabbing machine (YET!), so polish will be my issue. Thanks again!
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es355lucille
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2016
Posts: 194
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Post by es355lucille on Apr 7, 2016 23:36:11 GMT -5
Looks like a big chunk of ice! Nice!
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geezer
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2016
Posts: 338
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Post by geezer on Apr 8, 2016 0:01:32 GMT -5
If your daughter doesn't mind, sacrifice one of the wands to play with in the tumbler. Should be able to cut it with a jeweler's saw or a hack saw, then rough shape it with sand paper. This way you would have a pretty good idea what will happen during tumbling. If it doesn't work out too well, you still have the big chunk intact as a neat specimen.
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