December Batch

[jimaz]

Finished these a couple of weeks ago, but have been busy and didn't get pictures taken.  Overall, I think they came out pretty good.  This is my first batched finished.  Consists of desert jasper and locally found items for filler.  Tumbled in 45c for all steps.



























interesting that the red layer is courier and did not polish as well



Almost looked like a pre-form cap when finished tumbling, interest metallic threads running through material




















Thanks for looking.

[beefjello]

That's a fine batch! You definitely achieved a liquid shine

[mossyrockhound]

Great job! Really like that last one.

[jimaz]

I was very pleased with the level of polish I was able to achieve. There was a lot of good info on the website that helped a bunch. Some of the softer material didn’t polish as well, but that was expected. I wasn’t completely happy with some of the shaping that was achieved through tumbling. I currently don’t have anything to help with preshaping but am considering getting a tile saw in the future.
I was surprised that I had what appears to be bruising on some of the stones. I’m unsure if it is actual bruising, or structure of the stones. My tumbler was about 80% full with about 1/3 agate type quarter inch aquarium gravel. Some of the local stones had some pitting that was obvious after rough or second step, but I decided to leave them as I think I would have lost too much material to get rid of the pits.

[Toad]

I would have spent more time in step one, but you got a great polish anyway. Plus more interesting shapes! Really nice.

[jimaz]

Thanks for the input. This was my first batch going to completion and I was a little impatient to get done. Some of the stones were already getting on the small side and more time in step one would have likely destroyed them. I like some of the more organic shapes, but think some of the larger stones may go back for some additional shaping in the future. I hope this may help with what appears to be bruising on a few stones. I did learn a lot from going through the steps and gathered some good experience. Re-examining my stones I did find a couple with some scratches, so I think there was some carryover grit that I need to be careful of in the future.

[TheRock]

Looking good!  

[rockcat11]

To help with the bruising you should add plastic beads to cushion in the pre and in the polish stage.