fmelvis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2010
Posts: 235
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Post by fmelvis on Jul 27, 2011 13:53:02 GMT -5
Hi all,
well, I'm 1 week into the final polish of my first tumble. I am thinking about letting it go for another week.
Also thinking about the burnish stage and want to make sure I got it right.
I have read that you can use the same barrel and plastic beads of the polish stage ( after a good rinse ) to do the burnishing.
Fresh water and two spoon fulls of borax and go for a day.
If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks
frank
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 27, 2011 14:10:32 GMT -5
If a 3 lb. barrel, yes. If you are in a hard water area you might use distilled water.
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Post by susand24224 on Jul 27, 2011 14:14:09 GMT -5
I use Ivory Soap shavings, although I used to use borax until it destroyed the shine I had on fluorite. It worked fine on everything else, so it should work fine for you. There are several additions I would make:
1. I burnish, often, for a week. Particularly when there are slabs, I find the extra burnish time very helpful. I've had slabs that were "mottled" coming out of polish that were perfect after four to seven days of burnish, but one day wasn't enough.
2. I also cover the rocks, etc. with water. If there is only half a barrel or so, I more than cover them with water, usually about an inch short of the top.
3. I rarely use plastic pellets, so can't speak to that. I guess the safest course would be to use new ones, but I doubt it is necessary. I'm not as "cleanliness" oriented as other members here, though, so perhaps someone will disagree.
Susan
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Jul 27, 2011 22:56:11 GMT -5
Tried plastic pellets in a burnish run, noted it caused sliding and crashing in the barrel. This in a 12" dia. barrel. The rocks were likely rolling on the pellets. In a smaller barrel or with lighter mtl., this may not happen; listen carefully when you start it up.
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