rockbrain
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,217
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Post by rockbrain on May 9, 2024 8:59:08 GMT -5
You could check out joining your local rock club and using their equipment. Also, if you add your location to your avatar and info someone nearby might be willing to help.
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nolasean
having dreams about rocks
Member since March 2024
Posts: 58
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Post by nolasean on May 13, 2024 22:25:14 GMT -5
So I broke down the big rock. I used a combination of a cold chisel with a hammer and yes... a hand sledge. I estimate that I lost about 10 - 15 percent of the rock in the process. I split the rocks between my barrels in the 33 and started tumbling on Sunday. I will post pictures as they move along..  |
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Post by pebblesky on May 13, 2024 22:36:59 GMT -5
Looks good!
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nolasean
having dreams about rocks
Member since March 2024
Posts: 58
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Post by nolasean on Jun 12, 2024 20:13:31 GMT -5
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nolasean
having dreams about rocks
Member since March 2024
Posts: 58
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Post by nolasean on Jun 12, 2024 20:15:50 GMT -5
Here are the pictures of the finished rainforest jasper. I call the rock in the 2nd photo "raindrop jasper." They did take an extra few days of polishing but overall I am happy with the result.
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titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 513
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Post by titaniumkid on Jun 12, 2024 20:56:19 GMT -5
Those are great results for such a relatively quick tumbling time. Did you only use rotary tumblers? The raindrop jasper is interesting and very nice.
I just finished some rainforest jasper yesterday after many months of tumbling. Some was great but half of it broke the remaining living sliver of my otherwise dead heart. The offending pieces are full of cracks that only appeared in polish and are now back in coarse. My favourite one has a small thunder egg in it, and the weird thing is the polish stage has made it crack around the thunderegg, like it is trying "hatch" out of the green rhyolite matrix.
It's such an interesting material.
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nolasean
having dreams about rocks
Member since March 2024
Posts: 58
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Post by nolasean on Jun 12, 2024 21:05:45 GMT -5
I did stage 1 in the rotary tumbler. The last 3 stages were in my home-built vibratory tumbler. There are cracks in some of the rocks. I was afraid that any more rotary would cause them to split so I moved them forwards to try and prevent it. But they are some really cool rocks.
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titaniumkid
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 513
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Post by titaniumkid on Jun 12, 2024 21:14:41 GMT -5
I did stage 1 in the rotary tumbler. The last 3 stages were in my home-built vibratory tumbler. There are cracks in some of the rocks. I was afraid that any more rotary would cause them to split so I moved them forwards to try and prevent it. But they are some really cool rocks. That makes sense. My rocks had a lot of fractures and cracks too, and they weren't obvious until it was too late. The rotary really brought the cracks out, so using a vibe was a good idea. The only good thing to come of it is polish got stuck in the cracks, which will help show if they get tumbled enough when I redo them. |
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Post by pebblesky on Jun 12, 2024 22:54:18 GMT -5
I really love the small thunderegg nodules (are they?) in the rhyolite. You did a great job in balancing keeping the size and removing the cracks!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 13, 2024 0:22:06 GMT -5
Good job! This one is particularly cool!!  |
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nolasean
having dreams about rocks
Member since March 2024
Posts: 58
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Post by nolasean on Jun 14, 2024 17:33:35 GMT -5
Thank you. I appreciate everyone's comments
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Maybe you can post some pictures here