|
Post by miket on Feb 12, 2019 15:39:08 GMT -5
Here's some of the less-than-spectacular Fairburns that I have tumbling in course grit. I'm trying to decide how long is too long. Keeping them as specimens (for now) so they don't need to be perfectly smooth but I don't want to lose the bands. I realize that it's my call to make- however, I would appreciate anyone's input. Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 12, 2019 16:36:23 GMT -5
I treat this on a rock by rock basis. Cheap common rocks I do not mind just letting roll until ready for the next stage regardless of rock loss. Expensive rough or rough that is important to me I will rough until they look like what you posted then I will grind the left over imperfections on an 80 grit wheel followed up by another week in stage one. Then there are the rocks like Lakers which go down in value based on weight/size loss. For those I may leave a few flaws if they are not in a feature area to maximize size and weight.
You could always move them along right now and then if your not happy later go back and work on them some more. I will often pull rocks out of my finished batches and rework them if flaws were missed or popped up in the later stages.
I am tumbling a whole bunch of Botswana and Brazilians halves right now and every week during my stage one clean outs I pull at least a pound of them out to grind on.
Chuck
|
|
|
Post by greig on Feb 12, 2019 16:49:53 GMT -5
Complex question. Simple answer is "it depends". All I know is that you can tumble rocks again (that you are unhappy with), but you cannot reverse the "damage" to any rocks that are smashed, broken, cut, sliced or ground down in a tumbler. I like the look of your fairburn. It has some pretty colours.
|
|
|
Post by miket on Feb 12, 2019 16:52:00 GMT -5
I treat this on a rock by rock basis. Cheap common rocks I do not mind just letting roll until ready for the next stage regardless of rock loss. Expensive rough or rough that is important to me I will rough until they look like what you posted then I will grind the left over imperfections on an 80 grit wheel followed up by another week in stage one. Then there are the rocks like Lakers which go down in value based on weight/size loss. For those I may leave a few flaws if they are not in a feature area to maximize size and weight. You could always move them along right now and then if your not happy later go back and work on them some more. I will often pull rocks out of my finished batches and rework them if flaws were missed or popped up in the later stages. I am tumbling a whole bunch of Botswana and Brazilians halves right now and every week during my stage one clean outs I pull at least a pound of them out to grind on. Chuck Thanks Chuck. Fairburns are valued on both size and the banding from what I've read. Also most collectors want them not tumbled. These probably aren't worth a lot I think I may leave them in for another week and cross my fingers.
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 12, 2019 17:14:50 GMT -5
Lakers are the same way. When they are over one ounce or have good character the value usually goes down after tumbling them. That does not stop me though. Once they are in my possession I get to determine what will make them more valuable to ME. I have about 25 pounds of nice lakers now that I have probably de-valued by painstakingly tumbling them to perfection.
Chuck
|
|
|
Post by fernwood on Feb 13, 2019 6:01:13 GMT -5
It is all about how you want them to look when done. I prefer to preserve any crystal pockets in my rocks. This does require careful cleaning between stages to remove any grit. I like Chuck's advice.
|
|
|
Post by fernwood on Feb 13, 2019 6:01:37 GMT -5
It is all about how you want them to look when done. I prefer to preserve any crystal pockets in my rocks. This does require careful cleaning between stages to remove any grit. I like Chuck's advice.
|
|
|
Post by miket on Feb 13, 2019 10:41:10 GMT -5
Lakers are the same way. When they are over one ounce or have good character the value usually goes down after tumbling them. That does not stop me though. Once they are in my possession I get to determine what will make them more valuable to ME. I have about 25 pounds of nice lakers now that I have probably de-valued by painstakingly tumbling them to perfection. Chuck Touche. Much to my family's dismay, I really have no desire to sell the Fairburns that I've collected. That's why I decided to tumble them, they weren't that great of specimens the way that they were and I wanted to see what (if anything) would develop. I believe I'll let them roll. Thanks Chuck.
|
|
|
Post by miket on Feb 13, 2019 10:43:11 GMT -5
It is all about how you want them to look when done. I prefer to preserve any crystal pockets in my rocks. This does require careful cleaning between stages to remove any grit. I like Chuck's advice. Thank you Beth. Yes, I like the crystal pockets also- and Chuck's advice. My only trepidation is losing any (or all) of the patterns. Maybe that comes from being new to this, I don't know.
|
|