MoonStone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 202
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Post by MoonStone on Sept 1, 2004 2:48:42 GMT -5
Hello! ;D I was just trying to search for amber in here with no luck:'(. I've always liked amber and even if it's not a rock, I will like to know if it could be tumbled well. If it tumbles well, I will also like to know how easy is it to find it naturally, or to buy it in chunks. Any ideas???
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Post by Harry on Sept 1, 2004 7:15:03 GMT -5
Hello. You may want to take a look at this site: www.minerungems.com/SPECIALS.htmI have not tried to tumble amber, but it looks interesting. I do hope this helps you.
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Sept 1, 2004 7:49:05 GMT -5
Hello Moonstone, The only way I have ever finished Amber, was by hand. I used to use silicon carbide sand-paper (from your local auto parts store - used with preperation of painting vehicles). I used 220, and then 600 grit paper and then hand polished with Turtle Wax auto polish. They turned out just fine! Tumbling would be much less labor intensive With a hardness of 2 - 2.5 it may be a little tricky? I would wait for more info from others who have more experience in tumbling. Good luck and keep us posted to your progress. John
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Sept 1, 2004 8:36:48 GMT -5
My son Matt had an amber ring that was set in Silver. We've found that Amber is VERY delicate. It can literally melt if the jeweler isn't careful.
He wore this ring for several years and the band broke. I had to practically beg the jewelers to fix it. They pretty much said they wouldn't be responsible if the amber was damaged. (Something about preheating the Silver may damage the stone) They did manage to fix it...but said it probably wouldn't last.
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Post by mrbrett on Sept 1, 2004 12:23:39 GMT -5
I have one piece of amber in the tumbler right now. Grinds quick. I'm not sure how it is going to turn out. I got a question for some of you. I have a box that weighs about 50# and I have found amber in it and also there are alot of chunks that look like amber but when I put in on the grinder with 100 grit itstarted to glow with tiny sparks comming from it. This stuff is weird. It doesn't have a "rock" shape to it. They look like something that was squeezed out of something and then kind of collected onto something. Im going to try and take pics tonite. This stuff has been bugging me for a while
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MoonStone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 202
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Post by MoonStone on Sept 2, 2004 0:36:31 GMT -5
Thanks to all of you for your postings, links and tips!;D It looks like polishing amber is going to be quite a challenge! I'm going find more info on amber, then I will get some inexpensive amber and a small extra barrel for my tumbler. I'm going to experiment with it as soon as I finish my current batch. Let's see what happens! Thanks again! :-) P.S. Brett, that amber-like material that glows with tiny sparks comming from it seems really strange, but very interesting!
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MoonStone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 202
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Post by MoonStone on Sept 6, 2004 18:26:36 GMT -5
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