rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 14, 2022 13:45:16 GMT -5
Still working with yard find stones, but here is the first batch Lortone. It's been 7 days with the 60/90. I think it's amazing how this stuff changes. I cleaned them up so I could photograph them. But they went back in for a little longer, I'm thinking that it'll be another week. The bigger stones still have a few "dimples" I'd like to try and smooth down. I am also running a batch of quartz and will add those pictures in a bit. But here is the before and after.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2022 15:25:42 GMT -5
Looking good! Excited to see them finished!
|
|
dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 892
|
Post by dshanpnw on Sept 14, 2022 17:20:06 GMT -5
They are coming along just fine.
|
|
markb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
|
Post by markb on Sept 14, 2022 17:34:14 GMT -5
rob58Here's something I learned from the more experienced folks around here. When you find a pit or hole in a rock and you want to tumble it out, the rest of the rock will have to reduce in size enough to reach the bottom of the pit, for it to be gone. If you think about that, it makes sense, even though we'd prefer the rock to stay the same size overall and we just get rid of the pit. The lesson I drew from this was "garbage in, garbage out". Thus, I've had to become much more picky about what rocks I choose to tumble. If they are full of pits or other gnarly areas, I can't expect them to tumble out perfectly. I've spent a fair amount of time trying to prove this wrong, but in the end I only wasted grit and time. Keep going, things are coming along.
|
|
rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 14, 2022 18:17:31 GMT -5
rob58 Here's something I learned from the more experienced folks around here. When you find a pit or hole in a rock and you want to tumble it out, the rest of the rock will have to reduce in size enough to reach the bottom of the pit, for it to be gone. If you think about that, it makes sense, even though we'd prefer the rock to stay the same size overall and we just get rid of the pit. The lesson I drew from this was "garbage in, garbage out". Thus, I've had to become much more picky about what rocks I choose to tumble. If they are full of pits or other gnarly areas, I can't expect them to tumble out perfectly. I've spent a fair amount of time trying to prove this wrong, but in the end I only wasted grit and time. Keep going, things are coming along. Thanks for your input, I understand what you're saying. Being new to this, I am experimenting with these tumbles, so I can actually see what is happening to the rock. These are just rocks from the driveway and yard. I find something kinda interesting and just want to see what's going to happen. I know I'm going to use up a little more grit with these first few batches I do, but I'm ok with that. I think this will give me a better understanding of what to look for and possibly how to deal with it in the future. I will probably invest in some dremel bits (already have the tool) that I can use to shape or smooth out defects without making big rocks small. The other option will be to cut the rock down to a smaller size and eliminate the issue. I'm reading a lot of good info out here and I'd like to think some of it is sinking in. I have a batch in a 1lb tumbler I'm running just on the "standard"(if there is such a thing), time frame of 1 week per grit level change, just to use as a comparison. So thanks again for the comments and look forward to seeing what happens. But the most important thing is, I'm having fun and I'm glad I'm part of this group.
|
|
rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 14, 2022 18:26:44 GMT -5
Here is the quartz I'm running, forgot to do a before picture, gotta get better at that.
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Sept 14, 2022 22:10:49 GMT -5
Love seeing the progress pics Rob! Thanks for posting these!!
|
|
rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 19, 2022 10:07:02 GMT -5
Well I ran these for another week at stage 1, things got a little smoother, so we're on to the next step. I pulled a couple of them out and will throw those back in when I start another new batch. They looked pretty good, but still needed a little more time in the rough grit. Figured they would get beat up a little more with a new batch of rough rocks. I'm definitely getting hooked on this. It's really interesting to see the changes in the rocks. The color and characteristics of the stones are amazing. The stuff I'm seeing, that wasn't there when I started is great. I know these aren't anything really special, but what I see out of these and what I'm expecting to see when I start tumbling the good stuff, well, all I can say is I'm really looking forward to it. I remembered to put a quarter in for size reference this time.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,396
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Sept 19, 2022 11:26:01 GMT -5
I totally agree with you - it is so much fun!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2022 19:37:43 GMT -5
Those are looking great! I love all the character and colorful quartz is one of my favorites.
|
|