Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Aug 26, 2004 14:31:02 GMT -5
Don't see flint for sale online. So does anyone have suggestions on what mineral I should use that would not give me any "non-standard" things to be concerned with? What would be good a good rock for a novice?
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 26, 2004 16:48:42 GMT -5
well, i haven't tumbled a rock i didn't like...but i know what you mean. i am fond of a lot of the jaspers, thos some don't take a good of a shine as some of the agate. i love the mexican lace agate. some of the prarie agate i tried had a lot of fractures as did the adventurine, amethyst and citrine i first tried. rose quartz has a lot of fracturing too....all the above took a great shine, however, so your end use may determine what you decide to try.
i had great luck with the sodalite, even tho it was soft. i like the utah wonderstone, but it didn't take any shine at all. same for the stichtite. i am tumbling a batch of tiger eye right now that looks fabulous after a week and a half in coarse....ah, so many rocks to tumble, so little time!!!!
i haven't really been very helpful, have i? i guess you just have to take the plunge and try different kinds til you find something that gives you "bang for the buck"?
let us know what you decide to try next! KD
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scooterin73
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2004
Posts: 10
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Post by scooterin73 on Aug 26, 2004 17:22:31 GMT -5
hello Mazanec Are you looking for rock to tumble or are you talking about sometime to knapp Arrowheads from? I know Chert is alot like flint and I have seen some on ebay forsale in chunks. check out my post in Members Photographs titled "my weekend rock finds". the very first picture I have on there is a large chunk of Chert. hope this helps -scott
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Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 26, 2004 18:37:49 GMT -5
The first wet shiney batch I ever turned out was a jasper mix. It was like glass. I hade blue lace agate in there too and it took a great shine, but was cracked. Just a thought cookie
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Aug 28, 2004 8:13:20 GMT -5
Tumbling/polishing, not arrow heads. My sodalite did not polish as well as the flint I got locally, and the aventurine has cracks, so maybe I will try jasper. But first, is there anything I should know (like aventurine's cracking, which I learned too late, or hematite's "bleeding", which I learned of in time)?
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 28, 2004 14:25:31 GMT -5
there are so many different types of jasper out there that i am sure they don't all tumble alike. some of the stuff i've done so far doesn't take a shine as well as some of the others.....i'm still experimenting with polishes, too.
good luck! KD
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Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 28, 2004 19:00:01 GMT -5
The jasper I've done was not prone to cracking at all, but takes a while to shape. Even though I got a great shine, wish I would have left then in coarse one more week to smooth out the crevices a bit more.
cookie
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 29, 2004 19:33:02 GMT -5
the more i tumble, the more i tumble longer, especially after getting hooked up with ya'll..................to see what can be accomplished......
ok, so i want the Holy Grail of James, but i am willing to accept "ok-ness" for the jewelry i am doing at the moment....
i got some jasper ready to come out on monday for a days worth of burnish in muleteam....
i was SO expecting great shine with this one, but i think i am doomed.........i did a week in the Aluminum Polish and wasn't satisfied and then this is another week in Tin Ox and they still don't wet shine..........
i got more coming up so, we'll see..thanks for being out there, rock buddies..
KD
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Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 29, 2004 21:04:16 GMT -5
KD, I'm using plain ol' cerium oxide. Didn't work well with quartz or adventurtrine, but the jasper and agates did great. My father said the red jasper looked so much like chocolate candy, he wanted to bite it I don't even know what kinds of jasper I had, other than red, it was stuff I got in trade, but it all did well. Good luck, Mazanec ;D cookie
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