vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 7, 2017 17:38:06 GMT -5
Are you referring to the tutorial on identifying rocks for noobs?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 7, 2017 14:55:07 GMT -5
I'm just curious, as I haven't read it anywhere, but how many rpm's is your barrel turning at, and is it the 2 lb barrel? Dave I cannot find any specs for the original tumbler we got for her from National Geographic, so I am attaching a pic. It is a 1 lb barrel. rock_tumbler_hobby_3 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr Our other tumbler is a Lortone 33B with two 3lb barrels.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 7, 2017 14:50:57 GMT -5
Here is a picture that shows a pretty good selection of the types of rocks we have been finding in my immediate area, and are trying to tumble. I have no idea what any of them are, but would suspect at least some of them to be granite. Hopefully, one of you can tell me if some of our troubles are due to rock selection? IMG_2631 by Michael Aldrich, on Flickr
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 6, 2017 18:13:35 GMT -5
OK, my daughter and I have been tumbling rocks since we got her first tumbler for Christmas 2016. To date, we have been unable to produce a single shiny rock. Based on multiple posts and respondents here, this hobby is NOT as simple as Steps 1-4 as first laid out in the Nat Geo instruction manual that came with the tumbler. So, I would like to ask the following: 1) What grits are recommended for tumbling stages? I have bought grit from multiple vendors, so this seems to be one area where I can control stages. Who do you recommend for buying grit from and what grit , i.e. "150/220", for each stage? 2) How many real stages are their? Based on my limited knowledge, I only know of "Coarse", "Medium", "Fine" and "Polish". However, from these boards, I have learned that there could be a "pre-polish" stage as well as a "Borax" stage or stages.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 6, 2017 6:49:40 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I found a post somewhere on these boards that recommended running Borax for 3 days, so......being the noobs that my daughter and I are, that is what we did. I am VERY hopeful that this polish stage will produce at least SOME polished rocks. My question now is, how long should I run these rocks in the polish stage? In a rotary, a week is the standard prescribed duration. At the very least, it might be a good point to open up the barrel and see how your stones look and run longer if necessary. Your stones may still look a little hazy after they dry, until you burnish with borax for a few hours to remove any residue. So....you run them in Borax again AFTER you polish? Good to know. I wasn't aware of that step!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 6, 2017 6:36:38 GMT -5
The initial post said you moved the stones back to fine grind, then 3 days in borax, now to polish.... what about pre-polish? If by "fine" you mean size 500 grit then that's good, but fine usually means 120/220 grit, and there's no way rocks should go from 120/220 directly to polish or they will never shine up well. As for borax/ivory, I use the soap, about 1 Tb in a 6 lb barrel, but 45 minutes is all that's needed as it's just to loosen up and remove residual slurry and stuck grit before moving to the next stage. Ruh roh....with the way I buy grit, I have bought from multiple sources. Some are marked Coarse, Medium, Fine and Polish. The bags do not say anything other than that. No numbers. Some do have numbers....like "Coarse-60/90", "Medium-150/220", "Fine-500 grit". However, I do not see any that are marked "pre-polish", so I have assumed all along that polish follows "Fine"?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 5, 2017 17:36:34 GMT -5
Three days of straight borax with no grit just seemed a bit excessive. I don't use borax anymore, but when I did, I only ran it for 4 hours or so after the polish stage. I agree wholeheartedly about the three days...hence, my use of Borax for only a few hours. Dave Thanks guys. I found a post somewhere on these boards that recommended running Borax for 3 days, so......being the noobs that my daughter and I are, that is what we did. I am VERY hopeful that this polish stage will produce at least SOME polished rocks. My question now is, how long should I run these rocks in the polish stage?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 5, 2017 16:29:53 GMT -5
OK, gang. We moved from Borax stage to polish stage. I believe we have done everything "right" this time, other than being ignorant of the MOHS profile for our rocks as we do not exactly know what all of our rocks are. From what I have seen, tumbling harder rocks with softer rocks is a 'no-no", so if this batch still comes out dull from the polish stage, I am not sure what I will try next.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 4, 2017 19:05:19 GMT -5
Thank you ALL! So....our Borax tumble will have concluded it's 3rd day tomorrow. From there, to polish, right?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Apr 3, 2017 17:31:59 GMT -5
Hey gang,
Since our initial go at polishing my daughter's rocks didn't turn out so good, we have backed it up and re-run the "fine" stage for a week. We just did a clean out and put them into a Borax tumble for three days. I have read that some people use Ivory soap shavings after the Borax stage, before moving on to the polish stage. I am wondering if Ivory soap is required and if so, how much for a 3lb tumbler, and for how long? Thank you all so much in advance.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 26, 2017 17:42:08 GMT -5
So, the rocks have spent another week in FINE grit and are ready to move on. However, we did skip a "cleaning" step last time before putting them into POLISH. I now have some Borax and was wondering how much of this I should put into a 3 LB Lortone 33b tumbler and for how long? Thank you all in advance.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 22, 2017 19:26:49 GMT -5
Some rocks won't polish but that doesn't explain why they were starting to shine after pre polish and were dull after polish. What polish did you use? Sounds like you are keeping barrel full enough which is the most common problem with newbies. It could be the tiny tumbler needs longer runs to accomplish success as there could not be much rock movement. I secnd the easier batch to start. Try the Rock Shed for an agate tumbling mix. Being quite the novice at this hobby, and also being an Amazon.com kinda guy, I bought grit (including polish) from www.twinpinestradingpost.com. The bag of polish is labeled as "The Fundamental Rockhound: Rotary Tumbler: Step 4: Alumina Tumble Polish". Does anyone know if this is what I should be using?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 20, 2017 19:47:01 GMT -5
Thank you all for your input. While my daughter's initial "amazement" at rock tumbling came from the fact that she could claim these were all just rocks she found laying around.....I may go ahead and try to find/buy some easy ones that will take a good shine, just to keep her interest.
In the meantime, with our existing rocks, we decided to take a couple of steps back and put the "polished" stones back in medium grit for a week, then we added some of "medium" grit stones we had tumbling to the Lortone 33B barrel and added "fine" grit to the bunch. We will let them run for another 7 days. Hopefully by next weekend, we can move them on to the polish stage and we may just have to accept the results we get as I cannot see anything we are doing wrong. We are cleaning our barrels and rocks with a toothbrush between stages, so I do not believe cross contamination is an issue, but if there is a special barrel brush out there that I should invest in, please let me know!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 19, 2017 17:28:19 GMT -5
I am no geologist, so I truly do not know. They are rocks that she has picked up around the house and around her playground at school here in Virginia.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 19, 2017 16:39:56 GMT -5
OK...I am losing my daughter's interest as our rocks simply will not get a shine on them. Can anyone tell me based on my original pictures if perhaps these rocks simply will never shine? I think some are granite and some are a form of agate, but at this point, we are at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 8, 2017 18:48:21 GMT -5
I guess my question really is, is there someone everyone trusts to provide quality grit?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 8, 2017 18:41:10 GMT -5
Also, I don't know where grandmas house is but don't waste too much time looking for cool rocks in Ohio because you may not find any. Granite, Quartz, very colorful flint if your in the right area and digging. HA! That figures, as there is NOTHING else in West Liberty either!
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 19:04:47 GMT -5
OK...I only have rotary tumblers, so maybe I don't need to add Borax?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 18:43:24 GMT -5
I have a question. Why, and when do you add Borax?
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vayank5150
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2017
Posts: 118
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Post by vayank5150 on Mar 7, 2017 18:32:41 GMT -5
Did you use pellets in stage 3? If so I hope you didn't use the same pellets in stage 4. Use separate pellets for each stage. Yes, we did use pellets in stage 3, but thanks to advice from this forum, we knew not to transfer those pellets to stage 4.
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