alexandrite
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2010
Posts: 4
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Post by alexandrite on Jul 13, 2010 21:27:35 GMT -5
;D I finally got my rock tumbler- a Lortone 45! I have been asking for one for years and my dear sweet husband got one for my birthday. I go mining a lot in NC on vacation with my family and I have years worth of rocks to tumble. My kids are excited too. I might even make some jewelry when its done. My first batch has been through its coarse grind and looks great. I can't wait to see what it looks like when its done. :help: I've been lurking around reading the message boards for tips and trying to re-identify some of my stones. My kit came with coarse and fine grit and Tripoli but from what I've read... Tripoli is more of a prepolish. Do I need to purchase some polish like aluminum or cerium oxide and if so which is better for quartz/hard stones? I have native NC stones and non native. I also have a lot of sapphire/garnet/ruby. I've had a lot of it cut/cabbed in the past but its expensive to do and to set in jewelry so I thought I would just clean it up and tumble it. Has anyone ever done this and will it work? Its a 9 on the Mohs scale. Last but not least, I have some kyanite and quartz points and slighty softer stones. Will they get pulverized/messed up if I run them with harder stones? Should I run the kyanite in the finer grit only? Any helpful suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!
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Post by jakesrocks on Jul 13, 2010 22:17:37 GMT -5
A friend of mine tumbled a batch of sapphires a while back. Cerium oxide wouldn't put a polish on them. He had to go with a diamond slurry to get them polished. I wouldn't run those super hard stones with softer stones. Always try to run stones of the same hardness. Don
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Post by drocknut on Jul 13, 2010 23:30:42 GMT -5
Hi alexandrite, welcome to the forum. I don't have any answers for you about tumbling although I would agree with Don that soft and hard stones definitely don't do well together in the tumbler.
You might want to post your questions on the rock tumbling section, might get a better response since some of the members don't really check this section very often.
Happy Tumbling!
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alexandrite
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2010
Posts: 4
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Post by alexandrite on Jul 14, 2010 16:51:56 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the response. I'll try the other board for tips. I don't have a lot of the softer stones so I wasn't sure how to go about doing them, and kyanite has two different hardnesses on the Mohs scale. Confusing! I do appreciate the info on the sapphires, etc.
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Post by rockrookie on Jul 15, 2010 18:20:47 GMT -5
welcome to RTH !! --paul
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Post by Toad on Jul 17, 2010 15:52:44 GMT -5
gOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW TUMBLER - AND HAVE FUN (sorry, caps lock stuck)
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Post by montanamuskrat on Jul 19, 2010 0:30:21 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. Debby & Tom
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