Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Nov 30, 2019 4:41:35 GMT -5
Always a challenge to get the glossiness to show up, but it is nice to get the colors captured nicely! I don't know what you call this stuff... maybe the bottom left would get labeled a peg. It's like quartz, feldspar, and mica all jammed together. Pretty, but not a tumbler-friendly material, so I always get a kick when some comes out looking decent.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 30, 2019 5:49:14 GMT -5
Nice pink granite. And not an easy rock to tumble polish because of the mix of hardnesses - yes mica,felspar and quartz. Not bad for a rotary dry run. I thought people used the vibe for dry tumbling.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Nov 30, 2019 22:47:47 GMT -5
Wow those look amazing for a rotary. What did you use in each of the stages? I’ve been considering trying some dry runs for my crappy soft rocks to see how they turn out.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Dec 1, 2019 17:34:05 GMT -5
6 lb barrel. A few weeks of 60/90 SiC until I was satisfied. Then 1 week each of 120/220 SiC, Al2O3 prepolish (stuff that comes in the 5-lb-of-each-grit kit from therockshed), Al2O3 polish (wet).
I wasn't particularly happy with the polish from the wet run. From that whole batch I've been picking out 7 rocks (lucky #7) at a time and running them in the dry polishing step for a week, again in a 6 lb barrel. It's hard to capture it on camera, but I have stones of the same type from wet and dry rotary polishes and can say the dry polish is very much an improvement.
Edited to add that during 120/220 that I added a mix of big and small ceramic media. In prepolish and polishing steps there was also ceramics, but also I dumped in a ton of sugar to help thicken the mix. I used to have a lot of issues with chipping and cracking in polish and prepolishing steps and found that adding sugar helped to further cushion the rocks. My general approach with that is to add the rocks to the barrel, then the grit, then the sugar before adding water. A lot of cooks consider sugar to be a wet ingredient because of how well it dissolves in water. So, under that idea, I add the sugar first so I don't go over on the water level.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 1, 2019 21:29:07 GMT -5
What did you use for the dry polish and how long?
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Dec 1, 2019 22:35:46 GMT -5
Dry polish used a few tablespoons of the aluminum oxide polish with the barrel nearly full of ground corncob. The handful of rocks I put in I ran for a week.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 1, 2019 23:22:57 GMT -5
Dry polish used a few tablespoons of the aluminum oxide polish with the barrel nearly full of ground corncob. The handful of rocks I put in I ran for a week. Ok cool. I figured it was probably corncob. I plan on trying that myself sometime soon with my softer rocks, though I was thinking of trying all the stages except the 60/90 stage with corncob and see how that works? Have you ever tried that? I’m curious as to what the results would be.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Dec 2, 2019 2:16:33 GMT -5
I have not tried any of the more abrasive stages with corncob. I'm not sure how well that'd work. The rocks are buried in the corncob and don't move around very much, they sort of wiggle in place cushioned away from one another. My initial gut feeling is that you would see very, very little shaping done at all.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 2, 2019 6:55:46 GMT -5
I have not tried any of the more abrasive stages with corncob. I'm not sure how well that'd work. The rocks are buried in the corncob and don't move around very much, they sort of wiggle in place cushioned away from one another. My initial gut feeling is that you would see very, very little shaping done at all. Hmmm, ok good point and many thanks for the input. I wonder if doing something like 1/2 rocks or more and half corncob would help? My problem is that most of the rocks that I find are soft and I have a lot of problems with undercutting. I find some interesting things that I think would look nice, but they either disintegrate or seriously undercut. Another problem i deal with is a lot of fractures and I’m such a perfectionist, that I refuse to send a rock on to the next stage if it has the slightest lip, pit, crack or rough spot, and then wind up with a pebble about half the size of a dime or so.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Dec 2, 2019 9:20:30 GMT -5
Watching, eating peanuts and drinking RC cola Dry tumblers at work.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Dec 2, 2019 9:36:49 GMT -5
Watching, eating peanuts and drinking RC cola Dry tumblers at work.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Dec 2, 2019 9:50:51 GMT -5
Watching, eating peanuts and drinking RC cola Dry tumblers at work. Yes Robin, that's the right icon. Easy to copy - ( p o p c o r n ) There is a saying in Georgia:
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Dec 2, 2019 20:00:34 GMT -5
jamesp I am an RC fan. Used to drink it for breakfast back in my younger days. Don't drink any soda anymore, but sure did love my RC.
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Post by TheRock on Dec 2, 2019 20:03:20 GMT -5
Nice pink granite. And not an easy rock to tumble polish because of the mix of hardnesses - yes mica,felspar and quartz. Not bad for a rotary dry run. I thought people used the vibe for dry tumbling. Nice Batch. James I do use a Vibe For Dry Polish. See My Dry Petoskey's Here, @jugglerguys recipe.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Dec 3, 2019 5:44:38 GMT -5
Hat's off to Jugglerguy for figuring out a way to tumble such a soft rock. I remember that petosky journey Rob made TheRock. And to you for repeating it. (icon of large audience standing applauding). I noticed your petosky's Bob
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Dec 3, 2019 5:55:19 GMT -5
jamesp I am an RC fan. Used to drink it for breakfast back in my younger days. Don't drink any soda anymore, but sure did love my RC. Much better than a RC and a MoonPie. A young lady, an RC and a MoonPie ! Ha, relegated to an occasional diet Dr Pepper these days Robin.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Dec 7, 2019 4:22:36 GMT -5
Another handful of CO rock dry polished. Enjoy!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 7, 2019 11:30:51 GMT -5
You really have the process down pat for those rocks. They look great! It’s so fun experimenting and trying to figure out what works best for different rocks.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Dec 8, 2019 2:35:41 GMT -5
Thanks! These type of rocks have been the holy grail of trying to dial in the process. The different materials wearing away at different rates, combined with their tendency to chip has made them quite the challenge. I hope to keep improving the process. The combination of colors and contrast, especially the deep reds and dark blacks is really neat. So yea, hoping to keep making them better and better!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 8, 2019 3:09:54 GMT -5
Keep us updated if you do. I’m very interested, because I have a lot of the same kind of rocks here in New Jersey, and am all to familiar with the undercutting and how quickly some of them disintegrate.
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