Red
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2003
Posts: 12
|
Post by Red on Sept 16, 2003 2:06:33 GMT -5
Hello all. Yes, another newb question…bear with me . I had some leftover travertine after I tiled my bathroom, so I broke some of the marble into smaller shards to tumble. Just completed a hopper full with 220 and now have lots of nice smooth rocks with grit embedded into the pores; after a few baths in soapy water the surfaces are ready to continue, but the holes (pores) are still filled with lovely, gray sludge. Other than pulling out my trusty Dremel (always a fun tool to play with ), is there a good way to remove the remaining grit? Although Dremels are by far the coolest tool in the shed, I am not about to work many hours on a pile of rock that I look at every time I take a bath (the bathroom project left me a little weary of travertine—it does look quite nice thought). Any help is appreciated. -Red
|
|
WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
|
Post by WilliamC on Sept 16, 2003 13:11:14 GMT -5
Greetings All,
Howdie Red and welcome to the group! I don't know how smooth the pieces of tile you started with are, but if they had broken or jagged edges then you might want to think about doing a coarse grind with 80 or 60/90 grit first to smooth out the roughness and round off the sharp edges, this should also smooth out the surface considerably. Other than that all I can think of is using an old toothbrush under running water and just scrubbing the grit out. But as long as the rock is homogenous then rough grit should smooth any pits or crevises out. The latter grit stages just successively smooth the surface prior to polishing and might not be abrasive enough to get rid of the surface flaws.
Hope this helps!
WilliamC
|
|
Red
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2003
Posts: 12
|
Post by Red on Sept 17, 2003 20:58:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome William. I was thinking of a toothbrush, but am not quite sure if it will reach all of the little nooks and crannies that are inherent to travertine, and am a little worried that some hidden grit will come loose in the 500-pollishing stages. The pits/holes are quite deep, sometimes all the way through the rock. As for coarse grit, I tumbled the marble in a vibratory tumbler--120/220 being the coarse stage (it does a fantastic job if your goal is to keep the original shape of the rock). I’ll give the rocks a brushing tonight…I suppose a water-pick might do the trick if the brush does not…I’ll have to keep an eye out at garage sales!
-Red
|
|
WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
|
Post by WilliamC on Sept 18, 2003 14:03:14 GMT -5
Greetings All, Well Red, it sounds like the travertine is not going to be very cooperative. A quick google search turned up this link www.artistictile.net/pages/Info/info_travertine.htmlwhich reallly doesn't say much except to verify that the rocks are composed of layers of limestone. I'm guessing that the composition of the layers is such that some are of different hardness than others, in other words the rocks are non-homogenous. Therefore, when you tumble them the softer layers wear down faster than the harder layers and you get holes or pores that you mentioned. SO, it might be that this material is unsuited for tumbling, since the formation of the pores is inherent in the rock and not anything you are doing The only other recommendation I would have is to run the stones without grit but in water and ivory soap (since ivory does NOT have detergents in other soaps that can damage rubber barrels) and maybe do this 2 or 3 times for a day each to flush out any embedded grit. If anyone else has any other insight please chime in. WilliamC
|
|
Red
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2003
Posts: 12
|
Post by Red on Sept 18, 2003 21:02:45 GMT -5
Hello William, I think the toothbrush did the trick; however, I think I will take your advice again and wash for a couple of days (I only washed for about 3 hrs after the 220). If the travertine does not work out in the end, it’s no loss, as it was extra from the remodel to begin with —it’s also a good learning exercise…and I suppose it can claim to be the instigator of my involvement in this forum! I have some agates from the Oregon coast in the tumbler right now and will continue to work the marble once the cycle is agates are finished. Cheers, -Red
|
|