|
Post by Starguy on Sept 29, 2022 0:12:00 GMT -5
Starguy Nice tumbles. Years ago we used to keep a large pile of tumbled agates, many of which were Botswanas and Lake Superiors, on our dining table lazy Susan. When family would visit from out of town we’d sit at the table until late into the night while everyone admired the rocks and chatted and listened to stories. There was no room for spices or condiments on the table, just rocks! 🤓 Thank you. I’ve never been a big believer in the metaphysical side of rocks. Their relative age amazes me. I have a lot of rocks I can look at for hours.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 28, 2022 23:15:09 GMT -5
jasoninsd ashley. You guys are funny. Shortly after I posted these photos, I started 2022 batch 10 at 220 grit. I’m guaranteed 10 three pounders polished this year. I don’t think the coarse grind will carry me for two more batches.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 28, 2022 16:39:21 GMT -5
This is my ninth 3 lb batch finished this year. There’s an outside chance I could get to 12 batches this year. The whole batch on the obligatory ugly towel. There were quite a few bots in this batch. A few small lakers. My favorites.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 27, 2022 20:10:35 GMT -5
Nice slabs congrats on the Grandbaby. Enjoy the visits. My latest is in Florida and I'm in California. 3 months old with phone video visits. It'll be at least a couple more months till we can meet him in person. rockbrain video visits are cool. I’m so lucky to live within two hours of my entire immediate family.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 27, 2022 20:07:31 GMT -5
(*Disclaimer - that was a joke. My wife makes pretty good meatloaf! LOL) I love meatloaf.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 27, 2022 19:50:16 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 27, 2022 15:37:24 GMT -5
Starguy Thats some awesome slabs! Congratulations on the grandbaby!! Thanks Ashley. We got to see her over the weekend. She’s a really happy baby.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 27, 2022 12:32:02 GMT -5
Here’s a photo of one of the middle slabs. vance71975 and a slice of meatloaf for Patty liveoak . Gotta bring your own ketchup. They took roughly 20 minutes per slice.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 21:59:09 GMT -5
jasoninsd. We got our second grandchild. She’s beautiful. I knew you would get it about the two grabs on one rock. Auto feed saws are fun, and productive. The increased complexity adds a PITA factor. I think you need one. Talk to me first though. Sincerely, Brent.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 21:17:23 GMT -5
LOL jasoninsd . I thought about that too. It’s just average Brazillian on the inside, but each slab is probably worth what I paid for the rock. I was kind of proud I only clamped it twice. I got a slab grabber from TRS. It works pretty good for the middle slab. There are 10 good slabs there, some tumbler fodder on the end pieces. I’ll cut a lot with the glass cutter and throw them in the tumbler. It was a 4 lb rock. Probably closer to 3lb now. Stay tuned for some nice glass cutter tumbles.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 21:02:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 20:58:07 GMT -5
I don't use ceramics at all either, and wouldn't use any in in rough stage because a lot of grit would be used up grinding the ceramics up. I start soft material like sunstones {mohs ~5} in 220 and pad with camo colored air soft pellets, the camo ones being slightly heavier than water. I use the pellets dedicated for each grit on all rock kinds until polish, then pad with pieces of leather. This for rotary tumbling, and it works very well for me; also end up a lot cheaper than ceramics. I use corn starch as a thickener when needed. I fill a little more than Starguy , at least 3/4 full. Everyone has their own recipe, fiddle around with it and find yours, have fun. I agree about 3/4 full. 2/3s is minimum for me.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 20:47:03 GMT -5
Here’s a Brazillian I cut up. It cooperated for the most part. I only clamped it two times. The middleish slab is kind of wedge shaped but not too bad. For scale, the slabs are less than 1/4” thick on average.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 19:36:04 GMT -5
vance71975 My tumbles lately have been almost 100% agate/jasper. I don’t use any ceramic media or plastic pellets in any stage. My tumbling is strictly rotary. I think the need for ceramics can be offset by adjusting the ratio of sizes of rocks in the barrel while making sure the tumbler is 2/3 full. Every type of rock can be different and every lapidary has a different tumbler recipe. So If you were going to run say Lapis, or Obsidian, or anything under 6 mohs would you use media? I wouldn’t but that’s just me. I’ve tumbled a lot of different rocks over the years but never any ceramic. Sometimes I’ve used plastic pellets for later stages with delicate rocks. They can help pad rocks like obsidian in rotaries. I have no vibe experience.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 26, 2022 17:08:04 GMT -5
vance71975My tumbles lately have been almost 100% agate/jasper. I don’t use any ceramic media or plastic pellets in any stage. My tumbling is strictly rotary. I think the need for ceramics can be offset by adjusting the ratio of sizes of rocks in the barrel while making sure the tumbler is 2/3 full. Every type of rock can be different and every lapidary has a different tumbler recipe.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 24, 2022 20:11:00 GMT -5
ashley. My stage 1 is long. My wife etches the glass bottles after I cut them. She makes vases and drinking glasses with them.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 23, 2022 20:38:55 GMT -5
Nice! ashley. Some of those must have taken a while to cut. I know the sore thumbs/hands feeling. Your Gambiri agates look a lot like the ones I had. They have some cool colors. Are you prepping them for tumbling? I have some smalls that need to be sawed. I’m not looking forward to sore hands. My wife wants some bottles sawn so I have double incentive to set up the 8” saw. Yours look great. I can’t wait to see their progress.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 23, 2022 15:35:46 GMT -5
ashley The fifth rock really jumped out at me too. Nice polish. Are some of your Gambiri agates pictured as well?
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 23, 2022 10:36:16 GMT -5
Awwww, thank you, Jason jasoninsd ! Sending HUGZ back at you! Couldn't find a hugging photo that would work (only black couples or two males or two females hugging), and still having issues with sending GIFs, LOL! So, just consider yourself hugged back! jasoninsd Congrats on the 10k cabs, and posts too. Thanks my friend! However...the 10k "cabs" was not true...I said I "would" have that many if I had made one for every post on here! LOL I really don't have a count...but I do figure it's got to be somewhere near 1500-2000 by now. LOL! I knew you weren’t quite to 10K cabs yet. The post count is impressive though. It made me think about how long it would take to make that many. At an average of one cab per day, it would take 27.4 years.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Sept 22, 2022 21:12:16 GMT -5
Let us know how it worked ashley.
|
|