richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 30, 2017 21:54:38 GMT -5
Really neat stuff, I love it!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 24, 2017 15:42:30 GMT -5
Wow your thoughts are so close to mine I could have made the same post!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 22, 2017 22:39:14 GMT -5
That's some very interesting material and the photos look great. I know all about tumbling Swiss cheese, it seems like that is a magnet to my hand when I am rock hounding.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 22, 2017 22:34:43 GMT -5
That's a lot of really sharp material, so much fun exploring each photo!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 22, 2017 22:28:04 GMT -5
Great shine and interesting material. That's how I want my next batch to look. The photography is quite nice!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 22, 2017 22:24:25 GMT -5
Wow, great post. I especially like how you identified the source and left some comments on how they were to tumble. I have been really curious about that bubblegum and wow it is cooler looking than I had imagined. So far I haven't had very good luck buying rough through the mail. It seems like it is hardly ever how I expect it to be. I've really been struggling with the sea Jasper myself so I feel a little better that I'm not the only one. I really enjoyed studying every photo!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 22, 2017 22:13:21 GMT -5
Wow, really beautiful material there. I love the shapes too.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 22, 2017 22:06:04 GMT -5
Nicely done! I have a little of this material that I have really been struggling to get a shine on. Count me impressed.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 14, 2017 20:38:47 GMT -5
That is some neat looking material. Some of it looks to my untrained eyes like granite. I personally haven't had good luck so far getting a good mirror shine on granite so far. Sounds like you are making progress. It took me a while before I got any of my tumbled to have a mirror shine when dry. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 14, 2017 13:04:52 GMT -5
It was OK. Lots of pits and fractures. Gets shiny. It has been going in coarse since January. I bought I think 3 pounds and just now am finishing the last of it. I got some offical ocean jasper from rocktumbler.com that was underwhelming. No real nice pieces. If I was going to buy more, I think I would try the tumbling or medium grade from this page thegemshop.com/collections/rough-rock-1?page=10 . I really appreciate the suggestion. I too had gotten some ocean jasper from rocktumbler.com and like you I didn't get any good pieces. The nicer looking ones were tiny fragments. It looked like some left over scraps that didn't really have any interesting color or orbs... I did just receive some of the medium grade material from thegemshop.com and it looks pretty much exactly like the sea jasper that therockshed.com is selling. The color and patterns look exactly the same, just the pieces are a little bigger. I guess that is why they still have it in stock. Still looking for some nice material but starting to accept that there just isn't any around anymore.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 13, 2017 23:01:53 GMT -5
Lots of neat looking material here. I really like 19 quite a bit. Great job
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 13, 2017 22:58:26 GMT -5
The material looks good to me in terms of size and mix of sizes. I would suggest lower fill age of the barrel, especially for the first stage. I personally don't usually fill more than half full. By the way, I have the same tumbler as you.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 13, 2017 22:51:25 GMT -5
Thank you so much!! I think your way looks better. So are you running Borax mixed with the 500 through polish? Or are you using it to just clean up between stages? My experience is pretty limited but I have been doing some playing around with a Raytek TV-5 vibrating tumbler and so far I'm not seeing the benefit of adding the Borax. Again my tests are limited but so far I can't see a difference in shine between runs with borax and ones without. I personally prefer to avoid borax since it is toxic to plants and makes disposal of slurry more of an issue. So far I have tried it in the 500 grit ALO and polish and also just in the polish stage.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 5, 2017 23:55:33 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. I got some from rock tumbler.com and didn't really get any pieces like I was looking for. Some of it has some orbs but I had really hoped for something more like I have seen others post here. I guess that's the chance you take when you buy a random selection. I know they at least sometimes have some nice pieces because I have seen others post here. At some point I will have mine finished and will share some photos. I think some of mine is almost done with the coarse stage. If only I had a Lot-O!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 5, 2017 21:58:06 GMT -5
I just posted this in another thread where you asked the same question. I'll copy it here too. I have both a QT66 and 33B. The QT66 is louder because the rocks tumble farther. There's more clunking from the big one. However, the big one grinds rocks a little faster because there's more weight on the rocks as they tumble. I've had my smaller tumbler running for five years nonstop. The larger one has been going for four years. Both have had some minor repairs along the way, but nothing big. I'd definitely buy another if something happened to either. Here's my message from the other thread: The Rock Shed is a great place to buy a tumbler. You get a discount on rough rock and grit with the purchase of a tumbler, so stock up now. I'd suggest either a Lortone 33B or a Lortone QT66 as a first tumbler. You get two barrels with each of those machines, so you can either have twice as much rough tumbling, or have two different stages going at the same time. A two barrel machine doesn't cost twice as much as two separate machines because you're only buying one motor. Consider picking up an extra barrel for the polish stage while you're at it. As you said, the key is taking your time with the first stage. Don't be surprised if it takes a couple months for all of them to get done. Each week when you do a clean out, just remove the rocks that are done and add more rocks to the barrel. The rocks will not all be ready to move on at the same time. That is a pretty glowing endorsement for the Loretone. I have been running my harbor freight for exactly a year now. I had a motor burn out, had to replace the belt several times and replace the bushings twice. I have also had to patch the boot gasket on the lid and patch a hole that wore in the bottom of the barrel. I've had to use spray adhesive on the outside of the barrel to keep it from slipping and now the barrel is worn so thin that I can barely get the lid on without the barrel totally collapsing. It has been quite a task keeping the HF rolling. I so wish I had a Loretone after reading this!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 5, 2017 21:35:31 GMT -5
Is that "sea Jasper" from the rock shed I see in the photo? If so, what do you think of it? I was thinking of trying some because I'm having trouble finding ocean Jasper and it sounds like that might be similar.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 5, 2017 21:33:16 GMT -5
It would be a better ad for Craigslist! This baby was listed for 2 weeks before I found it. 2 barrels of vibrating action for the low price of 100 dollars. WOW I'm soooo jealous. One day I will have one of these. Great job!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 2, 2017 18:15:47 GMT -5
Does anyone know of a good place to buy some quality Ocean Jasper rough? I have gotten some from rock tumbler.com and it looks like some decent stuff but I would really like some larger pieces. Maybe madagascarminerals. (Sorry I have not figured out cut and paste on this chrome book.) They call it orbicular jasper. I have not ordered orbicular jasper, just not my rock, looks like a disease to me. I did purchase some desert jasper from them. I was pleased with the larger sized tumbling rough. If you decide to order, make a phone call. I talked to an exceptionally pleasant lady by the name of Lucy. As soon as I have an address at our new digs, I will be in touch with her again. Thanks. I will check them out.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on May 1, 2017 21:25:14 GMT -5
Does anyone know of a good place to buy some quality Ocean Jasper rough? I have gotten some from rock tumbler.com and it looks like some decent stuff but I would really like some larger pieces.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Apr 16, 2017 12:52:19 GMT -5
I would try running them for an hour or so with some dish detergent then rinse them off really well afterwards.
During the brief time that I had a vibe tumbler I let my polish step run too dry and had a condition that sounds very similar to yours. I had to do three or four cycles of dish soap then rinse to get all the dried polish out of the cracks.
|
|