enchantedrox
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2004
Posts: 1
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Post by enchantedrox on Feb 8, 2004 20:06:25 GMT -5
Hello, everyone....I just joined this list yesterday. It seemed appropriate since I got my first tumbler for Christmas and on Saturday finished tumbling my first batch of rocks! I have always been a rockhound, but now I can really have fun playing with my 'finds'. For my first batch, I tumbled mostly stuff that I've picked up while wandering around the desert where I live. However I didn't have quite enough of the right sized rocks to fill the tumbler to the correct level (a 4.5 Lortone) so I purchased a pound of tumbling rough from a local rock store. When I added those to the barrel, it came out just right. No "profound" question here - just wanted to ask if you all tumble 'found' or 'bought' stones, generally? Cuz my SO (he who gifted me with said tumbler) teased me about how I was 'cheating' by using 'bought' rough!! He was really just trying to give me a hard time, not being serious about it. But it started me wondering about what others do? After all, everyone can't be 'lucky' enough to live in the stark, barren, rock-filled hinterlands like I do...! Just wait til he sees what I have in mind...I'm going to order some rough; so I can get full batches of rose quartz, amethyst, and lace agate for my jewelry and other projects...! That's the only way for me to get larger quantities of the same stones - and it's cheap enough to make it worthwhile. Really just wanted to check in, say hello, and tell you that I've already learned a lot from reading the previous posts. I'm sure I'll have more pressing questions as I sink deeper into the slurry of tumbling addiction.....meanwhile, happy rocking.
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Banjocreek
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2003
Posts: 1,115
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Post by Banjocreek on Feb 8, 2004 20:33:35 GMT -5
Welcome aboard enchantedrox! I myself do a little of both. I live in Arizona, so I have an abundant supply of rocks, but every so often I see something that I'm never going to find here, so I buy it. When I am out looking for rocks, I usually bring home 'way too much', so no problem filling a barrel. I learn alot about rocks from the rocks I might buy, or the pictures that get posted here, or rocks that get sent to me in exchange for sending some of what I have to them etc. It just works out, that you don't ever have ONLY what you went out and hunted yourself. People find out I started tumbling, and employees at my job even bring stuff in for me. It's just a lot of fun- Banjo
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Feb 9, 2004 0:09:03 GMT -5
This is America and you can do what you want (as long as it is legal) I don't think that the rocks will revolt and want to be segragated, I don't think they care. btw Welcome
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 9, 2004 1:26:37 GMT -5
I've got years' worth of beach stones from Cape May from my childhood, many of them are Cape May Diamonds, they have been really handy to put in as filler in my batches. I just started last sept - oct and my first batch was awesome -- it was a mix of found rocks from various places and a bag of bought tumbler rough. I'm not sure which is which, at this point, except for the Cape May stones, which are distinctive. Oh, also my mom gave me some amethyst rough in matrix that she picked up on a trip, and I've been tossing in appropriate amounts all along to fill out loads and it's been coming out great! Much of what I've picked up and bought is essentially quartz; chert and jasper and Cape May diamonds and the amethyst -- so why not toss it in together, the hardnesses have to be about the same. I love this board!
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Post by sandsman1 on Feb 9, 2004 1:38:09 GMT -5
hey puppie my family has a house in capemay bout 5 mins from the sunkin cement ship on the island is that where you got the capemay diamonds from. i catch alota fish around that ship i can go there and try my luck maybe get some nice stones thanks for reminding me hahaha ok seeya john
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Feb 9, 2004 9:54:30 GMT -5
Welcome enchantedrox! Always happy to see someone else doing found rocks. You have a whole new set of problems than when doing full loads of one type of rock. The only purchases that I have done are Ruby and Emerald, the rest is from my yard. Hardness is the most important. The tighter you keep the hardness variation, the better your results will be. If you run a batch and some of the rocks don't polish, they are usually softer than the rest. Remove and add to a later batch of softer stones and most will polish. I accumulate those rocks and when I have a small load, I throw them in together and most polish nicely. I would love to see some pics of some of those Arizona rocks!
Ron
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Justme
starting to shine!
Member since March 2003
Posts: 38
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Post by Justme on Feb 9, 2004 19:46:51 GMT -5
Howdy enchantedrox I am new to tumbling too so to avoid the hardness or identification issues I purchased some rocks to run through till I learned some of the tricks of the trade. Besides, tigereye, amethyst, aventurine, and bloodstone doesn't grow here on my farm. However, I am constantly picking rocks that catch my eye and store them away till I get to them. Good thing that rocks don't spoil ;D
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blueangele
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since December 2003
Posts: 86
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Post by blueangele on Feb 9, 2004 20:14:28 GMT -5
welcome, I buy mine, there is nothing around my area to do, well, I shoudn't say nothing, lots of boring old river rock and road gravel, but nothing that interests me, although i live in Colorado, its not the pretty part!
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 10, 2004 3:46:59 GMT -5
Sandsman, Wow! I can't believe you've gotten this addiction and forgot about Cape May. I first remember seeing tumbled rocks and really starting to get the beginnings of the eventual addiction at the Rock Shop right there at Cape May Point. They were selling a tumbler and a friend bought one once on impulse but didn't have very good luck with it. It scared me off from trying it for a while but glad I finally decided to try! Anyhow, though, back to Cape May Point, I've been picking up stones from there since I was a kid, but never really knew I'd want 10 times as many as I have once I started tumbling. If you can find Cape May diamonds (the transparent colorless quartz pebbles) they polish beautifully and look like little drops of water. There are loads of colored stones, too, a huge variety. I wish I could go there right now! I read enough tumbler directions and advice before my first batch that I knew the Cape May stones didn't need a rough grind, so I put them in at the later stages as fill when the load was shrinking. This worked out really well and I wish I had buckets full of them to use as "fill." Much of the "fill" is prettier than the batch!
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Post by sandsman1 on Feb 10, 2004 8:10:41 GMT -5
now ya got me thinkin guess ill go down in the next couple weeks for acouple days and look around wile its still quiet yea i guess it would be great for fill i remeber when my daughter was little i usta give her a little bucket and she would sit for hrs and pick them out guess its my turn hahaha ok seeeya ---john
ill let ya know what i get
ya know the more i think about it i cant walk far and i sure cant carry to much weight im gonna need a helper hahahaha ill get my daughter to come with me ill just buy her something good hahahahahaha
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 11, 2004 5:43:30 GMT -5
Cool! low tide is best for finding cape may diamonds.
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Post by sandsman1 on Feb 11, 2004 6:23:45 GMT -5
im tryin to remember you know where the nude beach is do the stones go all the way up to where the ferry is or are they just at the cement ship ?? like if you where standing on the beach looking at the ship and started walkin to your right down the beach that was the nude beach till you got near the jetty and the ferry up there if theres stones all the way to there im gonna need a truck hahahaha seeya john
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Feb 11, 2004 11:53:02 GMT -5
I got a small bag of rocks when I bought my tumbler, but haven't done them. I also bought a 30 lbs. of stones, which I haven't received yet.
I have been having so much fun doing the rocks that I have found, I don't know when I will have a tumbler empty so that I can do some of the bought ones.
I have river rocks in my 3# tumbler and some feldspar that looks a whole lot like dalmation stone in one of my 6# barrels.
Have a load of flint I have collected ready to go in when I get the extra barrels I have ordered. I also have a dozen or more WalMart bags full of quartz, granite and llanite I have collected.
It's time for me to build one of those truck tire tumblers!!
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IslandGirl
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2004
Posts: 19
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Post by IslandGirl on Feb 11, 2004 12:41:41 GMT -5
I have tons of beach rock waiting to be tumbled...some of which I think is granite, which looks a lot like the dalmation stone in the pictures. Could it be the same? If it is granite does anyone know how well it will polish?
I started my first batch of beach rock yesterday...the wait is now killing me! When should I notice a difference?
Thanks for any info. This is a great board!
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Feb 11, 2004 13:12:09 GMT -5
I haven't tumbled any granite yet, but have seen polished pieces at the rock shop. It is really pretty.
We have alot of granite architecture and tombstones around here because the Llano uplift is granite and it is so abundant. When new, it all has a high shine to it. I have always wondered how they polish and shine such huge pieces of granite!
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 12, 2004 5:12:32 GMT -5
John, the main place to pick up stones is right at cape may point at the end of the road where the concrete ship is. BTW I haven't been there in years but I've been watching it deteriorate over the years -- there must not be much left, right? But there are just endless stones and every breaker carries up a new batch. I guess it's that the river stones coming down the Delaware Bay get caught up at the point -- not sure. I recall the whole beach area where you are talking about as being kind of stony, but the real deal is the point. I have absolutely no recollection of a nude beach.
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 12, 2004 5:14:55 GMT -5
Hey, is altering the subject in a thread considered unacceptable here? I was going to add, at Cape May point be careful of the jellyfish, they wash up with the breakers and they hurt like hell.
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Post by sandsman1 on Mar 10, 2004 1:00:03 GMT -5
hi all hey puppie just got back from capemay sunday i went to the point and after about 45 min i had about 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket i cant carry any weight so thats why it took so long i had two small buckets that i filled and brought back to truck and dumped in big one made two trips couldent do a third hahaha back said thats enuff dumb ass hahaha but it was great nobody around except a few bird watchers and i found a spot that was about 8 inches deep of just rock in a long strip so i didnt have to sift out the sand nuttin but rocks i guess the rock gods where watchin and took pity on me hahahaha took me longer to walk back to truck then to fill buckets and you been there its not that far to parkin lot. there are alotta dif rocks like ya said and most are ready for second stage allready ground smooth i think ill just do a batch of them when i get a grind barrel free i was pokin around in the top of bucket and found like 5 diamonds right on top so maybe ill get some more as i go . im allready thinkin bout gettin more when i go back ok seeya i had a pic of the ship whats left all frozen in this winter prob coulda walked out and touched it but pic didnt scan well ok seeya ---john
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 10, 2004 1:09:34 GMT -5
Wow, I'm so jealous, I'd love to have some buckets of Cape May stones, diamonds or not, don't care, they are all pretty. Here's what I just did, this is a weird coincidence, I have one glassful of Cape May stuff mostly along with some other found stones, I've had these since I was a kid, some of them, all all these stones were so smooth that the other night I decided to thrown them all into a polish and see what happens. They have been in 6 days. I'll let you know!
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