Should I give up on these?

[Dave_in_WA]

I bought some red tiger's eye online. I've tumbled gold as well as red before with really good results using ceramic media in Stage 1 and throughout, but these have been in Stage 1 for 7 weeks and still have deep fissures and holes. Not really cracks, but like the "fiberous" part of the stones just isn't sealed together or something. That's probably a dumb way to say it, but that's what it feels like. Wondering if I should waste any more time on these or just set them aside. Pics are just a few out of a 2 Lb. batch.






 

[lordsorril]

If you want perfect specimens then toss them-you won't be able to grind those flaws out.

If you don't mind some imperfections (I personally don't): Then you can still smooth them out and polish them up.
If so: I would start using Aluminum Oxide #120/220 for a week or two to smooth them out, and then #500 AlOx prior to a polish run.

[HankRocks]

I understand that most red tiger eye is gold tiger eye that has been heat treated. The heat can cause the material to have lots of fractures and may not be the best candidate for tumbling.

[Mark K]

I have had crappy tiger eye like that too. Never was able to make it work. I would move on to something else.

[stefan]

Difficult call. I personally would rerun it in course without the ceramics. You really can't do more damage. If you need a filler try tossing in some round quartz aquarium gravel.

[Rockoonz]

Typically in the rough, with "red" tigereye if you don't see a band of hematite at the edge of the fibrous part, it is heat treated.
If that material was offered specifically as tumbling rough, I doubt I would return to that vendor.

[Dave_in_WA]

Thanks all for the replies. I think I will toss these in a box and forget about them for a while. I have other stuff to tumble and only have one Lortone 33B, so I need the empty barrel.

[dshanpnw]

Unfortunate about the poor quality of Tiger's eye. I think you put it in a good place. Looking forward to your next choice. Thanks for sharing.