richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 11, 2016 13:49:07 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback, I feel a lot better now. The thing that was making me really worry was that when I cut the crazy lace with the tile saw the surfaces were smooth and now they are becoming pitted. I guess some of the softer material is just going to do that no matter what.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 11, 2016 11:43:16 GMT -5
There are variations in the quality of some material called "Crazy Lace". I've seen some really good material and some with a lot of the soft stuff you seem to have. Even Kingsley North can ship some pretty mediocre stuff on occasion. Having said that, i also use 60/90 as my first coarse run, and sometime run that for a month to achieve to acceptable shape. KD Thanks for your feedback. You don't happen to know any sources of high grade material do you?
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 11, 2016 11:41:13 GMT -5
Wow those came out great. When it's time for my next clean out I will take a couple of photos to share. By all means. Crazy lace are eye candy. Just posted a couple of photos on the Rock Tumbling Photos page.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 11, 2016 11:37:33 GMT -5
I finally had some time to check my tumbler and get another look at my Mexican Crazy Lace and Green Tree Agate that have been undercutting. This time I took a couple of photos of what is going on with them in hopes that some of you here might be able to offer some advice on how to proceed. All of these rocks have been in the tumbler (HF 3lb) for three weeks. For the first week they got 46-70 grit SiC and the second two weeks they got 30 grit SiC. The only rocks in the tumbler barrel were Mexican Crazy Lace (started with about 1.5lb) and the pieces of Green Tree Agate you see here. The rest of the space was filled with large ceramic (non-abrasive) media. Any thoughts?
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 10, 2016 17:11:24 GMT -5
Guess I'll just have to dream and drool over the photos. That stuff looks fantastic but my budget is tiny. That ocean jasper was $15 for two pounds. Higher than I want to pay for rough, but certainly didn't break the bank. It was worth it to try something different and I've spread it over a few batches, so it's lasted a while. If I can find some ocean jasper for that price I will definitely pick it up. That stuff looks really cool. For some reason I'm starting to feel like I have a special talent for messing up rocks. Another one that is driving me nuts is a piece of green tree agate that I got in a bag of tumbling rough when I got my tumbler. It is undercutting as well. I will definitely share some photos in hopes they might shed some light on why I am getting the results I am.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 10, 2016 17:06:11 GMT -5
Wow those came out great. When it's time for my next clean out I will take a couple of photos to share.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 8, 2016 20:06:00 GMT -5
I loved watching the video. My mom saw it and said if I collected that many rocks I would have to sell them because she thinks my rocks are just a bunch of clutter.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 8, 2016 12:24:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback. Yes the undercutting is happening in specific bands. I thought I was done purchasing grit for a while but maybe I do need to get some 60-90 and give it a try.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 7, 2016 22:54:57 GMT -5
I was making a fuss a few weeks ago about some photos here of some Mexican Crazy Lace Agate and a friend surprised me with two pounds of it from Kingsley North. I assume the quality of the rough is good as Kingsley North seems to have quite a good reputation here.
I started out using the tile saw to cut the pieces of stone to shapes I thought would tumble well then I started running them with large ceramic media and 46-70 grit SiC in my HF rotary tumbler. After a week I checked the material and noticed that pretty much all of the pieces had started undercutting.
I was a little concerned but I figured one week wasn't much tumble time so I started them again, this time with some 30 grit SiC also purchased by my friend from Kingsley North.
It has been running for two more weeks with two clean outs with the SiC 30. I have noticed that the SiC 30 has pretty well broken down after a week so it looks like I am getting good efficiency in the tumbler. The problem is that the undercutting is getting worse and worse with time, not better.
Is undercutting just a normal challenge with Mexican Crazy Lace?
Any help is appreciated.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 5, 2016 19:46:19 GMT -5
These are so fantastic. Can you tell me what 8 are. I definitely want to buy some of that to tumble. Ocean Jasper, extinct in the wild. Readily found in the USA on eBay and other venues. Open your wallet wide... Sabre52 can you name #11? Guess I'll just have to dream and drool over the photos. That stuff looks fantastic but my budget is tiny.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 5, 2016 19:43:52 GMT -5
I'm jealous! I want a Lot-O and your pile of rocks looks awesome!
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 5, 2016 19:42:21 GMT -5
Those are beautiful, I see why they won!
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 5, 2016 19:36:33 GMT -5
Wow, fantastic work! What an inspiration.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Sept 3, 2016 19:48:05 GMT -5
I am also using a HF 3lb tumbler and yes stage 1 takes forever. I'm using the same 46-70 grit and I find that it has pretty well broken down after three days as long as I don't overfill it with rocks and I don't put too much grit in.
I have found so far that I get best results (grit breaks down faster and rock mass decreases faster) if I fill the barrel 3/4 of the way with rocks of various sizes and add three tablespoons of grit and fill the barrel with water to the half-way mark (after the rocks and grit have been added).
I find that there is no course grit left after three days but have been running four days just to be sure that I am not wasting grit. I'm not finished with my experiment yet but so far is looks like the extra day isn't adding much to my process.
At the end of the 3 or 4 days I dump everything through a strainer and rinse thoroughly. I pick out any rocks that look like they might be ready for stage 2 and replace them with fresh rocks then start stage one again.
This method seems to work better than anything else I have tried.
I didn't have a good experience with the bench grinder. The worst part was that I kept cutting my hands and almost always in really painful places. I also wore down the wheels REALLY fast. That made my cost per rock go way up. Finally it took what felt like forever to get rocks close tot the shape I wanted. Finally it made a gigantic mess with all the dust.
I obtained much better results with a tile saw that was laying around the garage. I haven't cut my hands on it yet and it makes the pre shaping process go much faster. It is still messy but not as bad as the bench grinder.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Aug 27, 2016 20:38:47 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. I think the crazy lace is the one I'm most excited about. The ones with all the little circles. Those look so cool.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Aug 27, 2016 17:22:40 GMT -5
These are so fantastic. Can you tell me what 8 are. I definitely want to buy some of that to tumble.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Aug 25, 2016 23:14:25 GMT -5
Those look really nice!
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Aug 25, 2016 23:07:26 GMT -5
I had similar problems with my first batch and tried a bunch of different things and the only thing that worked was going back to the 120-220 grit stage. Now my success was limited, a few rocks got a wicked nice shine and several still looked dull. What I observed was that the ones that came out really smooth at the end of the 120-220 grit stage ended up taking a good shine at the end. The ones that weren't nice and smooth at the end of the 120-220 stage didn't. At the end of the 500 grit stage the ones that went on to take a nice shine already looked somewhat shiny. The polish just took them from somewhat shiny to glossy.
I'm not sure why some came out smooth at the end of the 120-220 stage and some didn't but my guess is that the ones that failed were softer but that is just a guess.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Aug 22, 2016 23:34:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips on the Lot-O. I've printed them and will save them for when I get it.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Aug 22, 2016 18:21:15 GMT -5
You're maybe expecting a wee bit too much from your rocks and your tumbler. Tumbling isn't really meant to produce vast quantities of stones that are perfect in every way. Most people will look at a batch of nicely polished tumbles and LOVE them; they'll never see the flaws you're worrying about. I figure a few really cool ones out of a ten pound batch is pretty good. Not meaning to be contrary here, but I have to strongly disagree. (I only rotary tumble even though I have a UV 10 vibe) Expect more. A very high percentage of your batch should end up as "perfect in every way". Others not seeing flaws doesn't concern me. If I see them is the problem. If I only got "a few really cool ones out of a ten pound batch" I'd throw my tumblers to the curb or list them on eBay. I don't have the time to post How Tos here, it's already all been posted here before. Expect 90+ percent perfect stones. (90% would still piss me off!) TIME - quality (rotary) tumbles take time. Months. Don't worry so much about perfection, just have fun with it. Have fun AND expect perfection! ETA:Oh, rationally, I totally get that my expectations are out of whack, but emotionally is a whole different matter. Your expectations are NOT out of whack! Now get back to work. That's encouraging and definitely what I want to hear. I am afraid I am getting a little gunshy about leaving the rocks tumbling for too long. Maybe I am off here but longer residence time seems like there is more opportunity for the rocks to bang into one another and chip. By the time I get to the 500 grit stage I have so much invested that I am downright paranoid about leaving them in for too long.
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