doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Sept 23, 2020 19:33:28 GMT -5
I will confirm what another poster said earlier: the white stuff are bruises which happen a lot with tigers eye, which trends to be a relatively delicate material. Try re-tumbling with more small stones / filler to create a more gentle tumble. Tigers eye is a tougher material to tumble for this reason.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Sept 5, 2020 8:12:41 GMT -5
Very cool, thanks for sharing your story here. I've tried tumbling big rocks but I've learned I really hate how long it takes and how it bruises the other rocks, so these days I really try to keep it under 8 ounces. Tumbling a piece for years is really an exercise in patience.
I've seen Australians bring huge 20 pound tumbled mookaite to the rock shows selling for a few hundred dollars, although they are not tumbled to the point where they are well rounded, just generally smoothed. I'm not sure you can ever really make money selling tumbles because you're competing with huge operations like the ones in Africa where they use highly efficient tumblers with capacity that is over a ton, and labor that is really cheap.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Mar 29, 2020 18:16:17 GMT -5
Personally I've never found there to be a problem with too much water in a vibe (I use a UV-18). I pour half a cup of water in there which lasts more than 3 days..enough to finish the whole stage. Supposedly using too much water might prevent the grit from sticking to the surface of the rock..however, I've never run into an issue with the amount of water I use and the result I get. How about you set up and experiment where you DO pour 2-3x more water in your vibe and watch what happens. Please inform yourself so you know what not to do in the future. There can be indeed too much water! The movement tends to halt and they just chatter around when too much water is used. At that point grit movement is moot. I guess I mean you can put a decent enough of water in there so you don't need to add water everyday, which is quite convenient. I put in quite a bit of water each time and never fail to get ta great polish.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Mar 29, 2020 12:39:00 GMT -5
Personally I've never found there to be a problem with too much water in a vibe (I use a UV-18). I pour half a cup of water in there which lasts more than 3 days..enough to finish the whole stage. Supposedly using too much water might prevent the grit from sticking to the surface of the rock..however, I've never run into an issue with the amount of water I use and the result I get.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Mar 19, 2020 12:34:00 GMT -5
I have always been able to wheel and deal with them in person. I like to go through their barrels. That's why everyone else's stuff is just so-so ... Billy has been rooting through the barrels grabbing all the good stuff Seriously though I've bought rough from them six times. My first four orders I was very pleased with - cold mountain t-eggs, agua nueva agate, kambaba jasper, and mushroom rhyolite. My last two orders were some sci-fi jasper which was just kind of meh, then some natures paintbrush that was complete garbage. All together I've been mostly pleased with product and customer service. This is exactly the problem with ordering rough from them online. The rough has probably been picked through and you're getting the left overs. I ordered several pounds of 1st grade Laguna rough from them for $35 / lb. The material I got was really only $4/lb material and not a single one could cut a specimen that was worth anything. I guess I could have made use of their generous return policy or what seems like their good customer service, but I just ate the cost myself since they didn't do anything wrong. But I would never buy rough from them again, especially not online. I have seen them at shows and they are selling the same rough that you can pick through, along with high end specimens cut from the same rough. I have also purchased specimens from them in person and gotten fair prices. The problem is never buy the rough from them online because it has probably been picked thru hundreds of times as they are selling the same rough at shows. Also certain kinds of rough, like expensive Laguna or Condor, or Agua Nueva (the kinds I like to buy) is very susceptible to being picked through because you can see the quality of the banding from the broken parts of the agate.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Feb 5, 2020 13:03:07 GMT -5
What kind of corals are those? They look great!
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 21, 2020 13:06:08 GMT -5
I also started doing some minor shaping with a dremel and diamond burrs. I do my shaping with the burrs under water, to control the dangerous rock dust. However, I'm worried about the risk of electrocuting myself. From what I've read, it seems the the risk of electrocution should be very low, considering that 1. I am using a GFCI circuit, 2. the motor in the dremel is well above water, 3. these power tools typically have electrified components well insulated to reduce the risk of electrocution in different weather conditions.
I'm wondering if others have some experience with this situation..
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 20, 2020 11:50:11 GMT -5
Wow! You really brought out the beauty of that stone!
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 17, 2020 14:48:56 GMT -5
You can leave the water and grit in there. Once you run it again everything should mix again.
I don't own a HF tumbler, I've heard that they are usable, albeit lower quality at a lower price compared to Lortone or Thumbler.
All tumblers need a reasonably level surface or you will get more wear and tear on one side. So your issue might occur with another tumbler as well.
A machine like the Lortone 33B will run about 2 to 3 years of non stop use before the motor needs to be replaced. The thumbler model B has parts that need to be replaced every year.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 6, 2020 15:26:28 GMT -5
I'm not sure that is OJ, I think that is sea jasper, from the same area and sometimes sold as OJ. However, my experience with the material is that it lacks most of the colors of OJ and also under cuts. Its all together a far worse material.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Dec 16, 2019 10:23:35 GMT -5
Not a professional tax person but here is some advise for you.
Sounds like your documentation of expenses is pretty thorough. Just having a separate business bank account for your business goes a long way if you are ever subject to audit. Ideally you have some sort of receipt for all expenses but it is reasonable to have some cash expenses without receipts so your personal documentation should be enough (I don't think pictures are necessary), but having too many expenses without receipts may generate suspicion.
It does raise potential warning signs with the IRS if you continue to generate losses in your business. If you operate a true business and not a hobby, you can deduct losses from your regular income to lessen your taxes. However, in this situation it seems like the IRS will treat it as a hobby and may not allow you to deduct lapidary related losses from your regular income. As long as you are generating a profit from this activity, IRS scrutiny should be much less than if you are reporting a loss.
Note that when you are paying your self an income at $10/hr, you are still obviously required to pay regular income taxes on that amount, federal and state, including self employment tax. So it may make sense to pay yourself less income if you are already generating a loss on the business level.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Sept 15, 2019 23:31:25 GMT -5
Ah, I guess you have already made your purchase, but I've owned the Lortone 40lb tumbler and have had it running non stop for about 1.5 years now. So far no problems and no part needs replacing. I guess time will tell how durable it is but it does seem quite a bit more durable than the Thumbler Model B's that I own.
It is obviously louder than the model B's but quieter than a 18 lb Thumbler vibe. I would say it tumbles the same rock maybe 50 to 75% faster than a 15 lb model B with a high speed motor and probably 150% faster than the regular speed model B.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jul 18, 2019 12:55:12 GMT -5
Nice looking polychrome jasper. I've purchased that material in similar sizes as yours, and I find it tends to be rather fracture free. That's a good thing but it will make it hard to break down with a hammer. And you are right, it will create fractures that will show up after tumbling. There's not really an easy solution to tumbling those. A saw is a lot of work even if you had one, and the shapes it creates don't look very organic.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jul 3, 2019 9:54:33 GMT -5
Just because it is mass produced in a low cost country doesn't mean its not impressive though. Something like that still takes a ton of time and craftsmanship.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jun 19, 2019 8:44:41 GMT -5
I started with the 3 lb barrel, then moved on to the 15 lb barrel, then the 40 lb tumbler. The 3lb tumblers quickly fell out of favor given the processing power of the large tumblers.
But today the small tumbler has actually become my favorite, because it is perfect for polishing agate nodules around 3 to 4 inches in size, which tends to bruise and become damaged in the larger barrels if you put in any other larger stones.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on May 9, 2019 14:15:07 GMT -5
Yeah I agree with you. I'm an agate collector myself and I've purchased many specimens but its nice to to tumble some of the specimens to see the natural shape and polished look of the nodule. I've tumbled a bunch of condors as well and the backs look pretty gnarly. On the other hand, I've tumbled Chinese Fighting Blood Agates and their nodules tend to be very round and smooth.
I do stay away from tumble polishing any of the high end specimens, however, for fear of diminishing their value.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on May 9, 2019 13:31:48 GMT -5
Good stuff, thank you for posting your photos!
I've been tumbling some of my faced nodules as well, since I don't have the equipment to polish a flat face. However, it seems like the established way to polish high end specimens is to face polish and keep the back natural. I'm wondering if most collectors consider it a significant detriment to the value of the piece to tumble polish high end specimens?
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Feb 13, 2019 14:37:14 GMT -5
The dark red one in the second pic is definitely a laguna.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 12, 2019 13:23:16 GMT -5
Some of the reasoning is availability. I have not seen graded 60 grit advertised at the rock shed or kingsley north. I have tried graded 80 grit for stage one and did not like it. Stage one grit also depends on barrel diameter. Larger diameter barrels break down grit more effectively. 60/90 works good in lortone 3 pound barrels and 46/70 works good in lortone 6 and 12 pound barrels. With the 46/70 much like the 60 in 60/90 the 46 is not sold in graded. The mixture of sizes work pretty well together. Edit: I do see graded 60 at Kingsley north. Could be worth a try. As long as no unspent grit is seen during your clean outs then it should be fine. Chuck Chuck, can you elaborate why you didn't like the graded 80 grit?
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 11, 2019 12:28:24 GMT -5
I'd vote to just accept the holes and learn to live with the imperfections. The hole looks like a druzy cavity which occurs naturally on this material and doesn't look bad, unlike the fractures.
I've tried tumbling a lot of big crazy lace / laguna lace as well, and they tend to have a lot of these deep fractures or softer spots that under cut. I think your piece is already pretty nice and very fracture free. I think you'll just have to learn to live with these cavities and more can appear if you keep tumbling.
Part of the fun of tumbling this big crazy lace is that its really hard to get a good big piece with nice patterns and no flaws.
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