yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Feb 24, 2010 12:16:37 GMT -5
Hi all, I wanted to share my notes and result photos from my first ever tumbling batch. Feedback is totally welcome and much appreciated. I received a Lortone 33B kit without tumbling rough and selected 2 items, MOHs 7, purchased from therockshed.com. - 1lb. Turritella Agate - 1lb. Amethyst Crystal This first batch started it's run on February 11th. At the 24 hour inspection the slurry was too watery so I added more grit and let it run another 24 hours to inspect again. All was good and I ran it 'til the 23rd. (A tad overdue but I couldn't get to it until then). The entire set of photos for the process thus far are located here at Flickr. I am posting the more relevant photos here to thread. Batch 1 - Phase 1 ----------------------- After rinsing the slurry, the mixed batch of Amethyst and Turritella: Before and after phase 1:1lb of Amethyst Rough Amethyst Phase 1 Result (Wet) 1 lb of Turritella Agate Rough (These pieces were rather large and I broke them down) Turritella Agate Phase 1 Result (Damp) -- For phase 2, pellets were added to the barrel with #220 grit. I am hoping this phase will be done on March 1st. The other items that came with this kit for the next phases are #600 grit and Cerium Oxide polish. Comments and suggestions are most welcome. If you have experience with the Turritella especially, I'm wondering if there is anything different or special to do with polishing or burnishing? Thanks for looking!
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Post by Toad on Feb 24, 2010 14:18:38 GMT -5
I would have gone at least one more time in the rough grind to smooth out the shapes a bit more - but they are your rocks, so shape is up to you. But those pits/crevices left from the first stage could affect your polish at the end. Over all they shaped very well for just being run one time in rough grind.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 24, 2010 14:23:18 GMT -5
Those are shaping up nice! For polish, I've always used the aluminum oxide from the Rockshed with great results. I've never tried CO. The only advice on polishing that I can give from experience is to run them in the polish until you're satisfied that they are what you expected. The longer you run them, the shinier they will get. Once you've reached that point, rinse them off really good and run them in Borax for a few hours (with plastic pellets). Be sure to use new plastic pellets for the polish stage. The pellets that you used in the coarse grit should be placed in a ziplock and labeled "coarse stage only". Same goes for the other pellets "fine grit" and "polish only". The "polish only" pellets can also be ran in the burnish stage. If you're using the same barrel for the polish that you did the grit stages in, be sure to thoroughly scrub it before starting the polish stage. If you have a separate barrel for the polish stage, then you're already ahead of the game. Keep us up to date on your progress, good luck! One more thing.... also run a burnish stage before the polish stage. (one before and one after)
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Feb 24, 2010 14:30:32 GMT -5
Thank you!
I was more or less expecting to get a more rounded look out of the first phase of tumbling and thought that most of the shape I was seeing was based on how well or how badly I broke them down.
My inexperience has it that I don't know just how much is too much before wearing the rock down to nothing hoping to get a shape I may never end up with, if that makes sense?
At this point, I wouldn't mind running the batch with 80 grit again to see what the difference would look like. They are currently running in #220 with pellets.
Should I wait for that stage to complete in a few days and then start over with #80? Or would you recommend just stopping the process now, or is it altogether too late and I should just go with what I've got and see how that ends up.
I appreciate the feedback. Hope to get more tips. TY!
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 24, 2010 14:35:49 GMT -5
You can always go back a stage (or as many stages as you wish) and start over. As the rocks wear down to the roundness that you're happy with, remove them and replace how ever many you removed with fresh ones. Keep doing this until you have enough round ones to move on the the next stage. Rough grit recharge should be done once a week. By then, the grit has broken down to the point that it's not grinding any more.
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Feb 24, 2010 14:53:28 GMT -5
Okay, thanks Randy!
I think what I will do is complete the full cycle of this stage of tumbling; and then after that I will go back and run them through the first stage again. I really would like to see them much more well rounded, and I am also curious to know how much of a difference there is between stage 1 and 2 while I have the opportunity to do it.
Thanks again for the guidance and info!
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Post by rockrookie on Feb 24, 2010 19:06:42 GMT -5
good looking batch . patience is KEY . when i started , i went crazy and very religiously changed grit every 7 days to the hour . 2weeks in 60-90 then one week in each stage . now i use 60 -90 for 4 to 6 weeks up to 4 months --while adding fresh grit occassionallly .then i just use judgment calls wheather or not , i skip stages or not. -- paul
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Post by llana2go on Feb 24, 2010 22:57:02 GMT -5
I run mine in 60/90 until I am happy with the shape. And I NEVER check them every 24 hrs! Heck, mine are lucky if I check them once a week - it's usually after about 8 to 9 days. Just sometimes have too much going on to spend hours going through the barrels and picking out the ones that are ready to move along to the next stage. Agates, quartz, jasper, etc. I may run for weeks in 60/90 - changing the grit every week + a few days or so. I've run some rocks in 60/90 for two months or more before I was happy with them. It's hard to do when ya' first start tumbling because ya' just can't wait to see them finished, but having the patience to let them run in 60/90 long enough to get all the pits, cracks and such out definitely pays off.
It's definitely better to have a barrel just for polish too.
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Feb 24, 2010 23:41:55 GMT -5
Hi and thanks!
I don' mind the wait. I can be patient about that. I think it's more of an issue that I don't know what I'm looking for exactly to know whether or not a batch is really ready to go forward.
However...after talking to you guys and seeing some pro-style photos around the forum, I have a much better idea.
The tumbles I have in my collection range from pretty nice to complete garbage as it turns out. So it is nice to come here and get a look at what really is a consistent, quality look.
As soon as this #220 wears down a bit I am going to put them back in phase 1 with #80.
I'll keep posting photos of the progress, and still, comments and hints are completely welcome. <3
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Post by susand24224 on Feb 25, 2010 1:15:28 GMT -5
Hi! You have made a good start on those rocks. When you take them out of the next 80 batch, first grab the ones that are not as round as you like and put them back in for a repeat of 80. I do this with an opti-visor, but my eyesight sucks. If you have just a small flaw, 220 might get it out--and you can always go back to 80 if it doesn't.
Another word of caution. The amethyst is a rather brittle stone, i.e., subject to fracture. Banging around with the agates may not be to its liking. If you start to see too many fractures, chips, or "frosting" on the edges, you may want to separate the two types. If you don't have more rocks to add, adding extra cushioning may do the trick. Some people like the fractures and frosting--this is a question of personal taste.
When you reach a more advanced stage of addiction, you will have a coarse grind tumbler running constantly (or two or three), and once every week or so you will simply open it up and remove the ones ready to go on to the next stage. This method aids with patience and also gives you a better method of comparison.
Susan
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NorthShore-Rocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,004
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Post by NorthShore-Rocks on Feb 25, 2010 10:29:07 GMT -5
That's a great looking first batch! You are also getting some great advise on strategy. Keep us up to date and welcome!
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Post by montanamuskrat on Feb 25, 2010 22:48:06 GMT -5
First batch looks good, the amethyst is shaping good. We have never tumbled turritella but it looks good also. Show more pics and the more rock through the barrels the better you get. Debby & Tom
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Feb 28, 2010 16:39:11 GMT -5
Hi all, I had the batch running in #220 grit since Feb 23rd; plan being to rinse them out today and go back a step. I am going to tumble them again in #80 for at least a week to round them out a little better. I got a couple of photos of today's result. Not much difference in the photos I guess, but the way they felt in my hand was different than when they were out of phase 1, and the difference on the surface was especially noticeable on the Turritellas. Here's the batch rinsed out of the 220 this afternoon, photographed wet. And me inspecting one of the pieces, photographed wet. Next Sunday at about this time I'll be checking on them again and hopefully they will have a lovely roundness to them where I can move them along into phase 2, but this time with the goal to get from 2 to 3! I hope you all had a great week!
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Mar 8, 2010 15:11:15 GMT -5
Hi all, I hope your week was a fine one. This morning I went to go check on my batch. They were tumbling in #80 grit last week. The result from this morning: Turritella Agate The Turritellas are still not as rounded as I would like to see them, however they really are shaping up decently. The embedded fossil is becoming more visible and marbling up the surface quite beautifully.. The photos didn't come out unfortunately, but once polished, if I get it right will be just gorgeous. The Amethysts tumbling in this batch are also still not as rounded as I would like to see them. The photos just don't look that much different from the previous week so I don't have much in the way of pictures. All stones are going to tumble for another week week in #80. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will surrender and start rounding out by next Monday. lol Cheers!
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 8, 2010 21:19:20 GMT -5
Sometimes stones take many months in the first stage in order to get a perfect batch. As you're losing rock volume, are you adding more rock to make up for it? This will also help the grinding process.
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Mar 27, 2010 0:39:48 GMT -5
Hi Randy, sorry to take so long to reply. Yes, more rough is being added to the barrel as these are wearing down. They have lost quite a bit of volume! The latest photos: and These photos are what they look like after 5 weeks of tumbling (photographed wet), and they are back in phase 1 with #80 grit again for week #6. Whew! The orange highlight is a few specimens that I am keeping my eye on that have been in there for the entire 5+ weeks. On those, the fossil on the surface has really good density and will be a couple of my faves out of this batch if they polish up really nicely.
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Post by susand24224 on Mar 27, 2010 0:48:12 GMT -5
Wow--your patience has really paid off; you have a great looking group there.
Susan
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 27, 2010 17:14:05 GMT -5
Those are looking great!!
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yaygems
starting to shine!
Member since February 2010
Posts: 41
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Post by yaygems on Apr 15, 2010 20:13:44 GMT -5
Photographed damp on April 6th: After the photo they tumbled in 600 grit for 7 days. After that they took a 48 hour tumble with some ivory soap. What a difference! They photographed dry with a nice looking gloss to them! I am very happy actually that they are looking *almost* as shiny while dry as they were when wet. I have them tumbling with Cerium Oxide polish as of yesterday and will check on them again in just over a week. I kept my amethysts in for the ride the whole way with the agates and they appear fine. (No fractures/cracks, etc.) They were ready to be on their own a long time ago to progress ahead and keeping them with the agates has unfortunately ground them down a LOT! More pictures soon!
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Post by rockrookie on Apr 15, 2010 20:18:27 GMT -5
nice looking !!! i can't wait to see the finished product !! --paul
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