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Post by tims on Aug 29, 2021 16:41:46 GMT -5
Rolled these in a mixed 12# load. I always expect fractures with these and am happy they stayed intact.
only kept this because it reminds me of fried egg
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 29, 2021 17:36:46 GMT -5
It's cool to finally see some tumbled Teepee Canyon Agates! Thanks for posting the pics!!! I wonder if there's a way to cushion these more during tumbling? Like a high percentage of smalls (ceramics) to rock ratio... You said it was a mixed batch, out of curiosity, what did you roll these with?
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Post by tims on Aug 29, 2021 19:00:08 GMT -5
It's cool to finally see some tumbled Teepee Canyon Agates! Thanks for posting the pics!!! I wonder if there's a way to cushion these more during tumbling? Like a high percentage of smalls (ceramics) to rock ratio... You said it was a mixed batch, out of curiosity, what did you roll these with? Rolled them with Black Hills jaspers, jasp-agate and some misc hills agate, from ~ .5" to 2" diameter mixed. Most of these were very rugged looking going in and they got no prep at all, and the load was all rock / no filler. I've tried cushioning with ceramics / marbles / plastics before in different batches ... a couple loads it seemed to lessen the fracturing, while a couple ended up with severe chipping and breakage. Running a thicker slurry with cat litter in stage 1 seems to help the most from what i've tried. The matrix seems especially prone to damage.
I've got some better teepee tumbles, but i attribute those to better / more solid material going in than to the different methods i've tried while rolling them.
Here's a before / after of the best looking (to me) piece of the batch, and it had apparent fractures going in. Most of the fracturing in these was there before i tumbled them so i knew they'd come out with fracs, but i still like to tumble them as the patterns are at least more apparent tumbled than when rough.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,687
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 4, 2021 9:29:29 GMT -5
Very nice..
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 4, 2021 21:13:35 GMT -5
It's cool to finally see some tumbled Teepee Canyon Agates! Thanks for posting the pics!!! I wonder if there's a way to cushion these more during tumbling? Like a high percentage of smalls (ceramics) to rock ratio... You said it was a mixed batch, out of curiosity, what did you roll these with? Rolled them with Black Hills jaspers, jasp-agate and some misc hills agate, from ~ .5" to 2" diameter mixed. Most of these were very rugged looking going in and they got no prep at all, and the load was all rock / no filler. I've tried cushioning with ceramics / marbles / plastics before in different batches ... a couple loads it seemed to lessen the fracturing, while a couple ended up with severe chipping and breakage. Running a thicker slurry with cat litter in stage 1 seems to help the most from what i've tried. The matrix seems especially prone to damage.
I've got some better teepee tumbles, but i attribute those to better / more solid material going in than to the different methods i've tried while rolling them.
Here's a before / after of the best looking (to me) piece of the batch, and it had apparent fractures going in. Most of the fracturing in these was there before i tumbled them so i knew they'd come out with fracs, but i still like to tumble them as the patterns are at least more apparent tumbled than when rough.
I could have swore I responded to this! What the heck! I have noticed there being a difference in matrix...it's NOT all the same. I believe I can tell the matrix that would be difficult to tumble, but I didn't know if it was impossible. I like the cat litter idea! My wife is the one who suggested this...and I haven't tried it yet. The "gumbo" clay we have out here - like at Railroad Buttes and out at Fairburn - might be a great addition to the tumbles. It would thicken slurry and cushion (I believe) pretty well. I'm going to try it one of these days.
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Post by tims on Sept 4, 2021 22:26:47 GMT -5
I could have swore I responded to this! What the heck! I have noticed there being a difference in matrix...it's NOT all the same. I believe I can tell the matrix that would be difficult to tumble, but I didn't know if it was impossible. I like the cat litter idea! My wife is the one who suggested this...and I haven't tried it yet. The "gumbo" clay we have out here - like at Railroad Buttes and out at Fairburn - might be a great addition to the tumbles. It would thicken slurry and cushion (I believe) pretty well. I'm going to try it one of these days. Any visible fractures in the matrix pre-tumble generally get much worse, in the actual agate not so bad. If you've got solid chert in the matrix it polishes up nice.
And i bet your gumbo would work great for slurry. We have bentonite shale here that i'm tempted to run, it's almost identical to the cheapo unscented cat litter i use if not quite as pure. I also think you're right that i should be padding out the later stages better ... i'm hating plastic beads, may try to find some good pea gravel as the last bag i bought was garbage.
Off topic but do ever see coral where you hunt? I ran across a handful of specimens and had a little broken chunk i tossed in the tumbler that is colorful and took a polish. Just a heads up if you see any coral it might be agatey.
editing in a pic:
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 4, 2021 22:36:27 GMT -5
I could have swore I responded to this! What the heck! I have noticed there being a difference in matrix...it's NOT all the same. I believe I can tell the matrix that would be difficult to tumble, but I didn't know if it was impossible. I like the cat litter idea! My wife is the one who suggested this...and I haven't tried it yet. The "gumbo" clay we have out here - like at Railroad Buttes and out at Fairburn - might be a great addition to the tumbles. It would thicken slurry and cushion (I believe) pretty well. I'm going to try it one of these days. Any visible fractures in the matrix pre-tumble generally get much worse, in the actual agate not so bad. If you've got solid chert in the matrix it polishes up nice.
And i bet your gumbo would work great for slurry. We have bentonite shale here that i'm tempted to run, it's almost identical to the cheapo unscented cat litter i use if not quite as pure. I also think you're right that i should be padding out the later stages better ... i'm hating plastic beads, may try to find some good pea gravel as the last bag i bought was garbage.
Off topic but do ever see coral where you hunt? I ran across a handful of specimens and had a little broken chunk i tossed in the tumbler that is colorful and took a polish. Just a heads up if you see any coral it might be agatey.
editing in a pic: I would think you're right about the Bentonite! It's worth a shot. I find a lot of horn coral out at Railroad Buttes. Some have had some color to it...one even had a lavendar tint to it. However, I've found some decent sized pieces of colorful coral along the Cheyenne River south of Fairburn. I still have decided what I'm going with those just yet. Of course, my first thought is slab and cab. LOL Good looking piece there!
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