NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Apr 25, 2019 10:30:53 GMT -5
Wow. You found them like that? They look like they've spent time in some AO 500. Hehe. You are lucky to be able to pick up nice material like this. Wow, I'd be out there every day!
It was probably fate. They were both hanging out in a place where ultimately you would come by some day and see them. They knew that you would be just the one to polish them!
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 25, 2019 14:19:22 GMT -5
-Well, they weren't TOTALLY like that. If you look, I wrote that I "...manually polished them to a dull shine". When I found them, they were kinda floury and absolutely matte, so I sanded them a bit (just with sandpaper) that the colorful bands started to showing more obviously. If you're speaking about the shape - well yes, pretty much. That's what river does with its gravel, makes it all nice and rounded. LOL, so now you think that stones gather up and assemble where they know I'll walk past?! Riiiight.
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Post by rmf on Apr 25, 2019 15:42:32 GMT -5
Kai It does not look like the one that split will polish. The basalt type stones will not get a pleasing polish (at least to me). Have you found any ECLOGITE? It is composed of kyanite, garnet, omphacite. It looks interesting. Not sure where in Solvenia it is from. I am thinking that might tumble. The Kyanite and Omphacite may be too soft, but it would be worth a try. Take a look on ebay and search for Eclogite.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 26, 2019 12:41:56 GMT -5
Hello, Thanks for the advice about the polish. I'm not sure this thing I found is Eclogite, but that bandy polished-by-hand flat stone certainly isn't. I'll paste a pic below. The geology says it's from the eastern part of the country, which is the part furthest away from me, but that doesn't really mean much because Slovenia is so tiny it's all in a couple of hours drive anyway I only ever found these two chunks, though. This is it: The red crystals look quite realistically garnet-wannabe, but the background stone is rather milky green compared to examples in books and online, those look much darker...
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Post by rmf on Apr 26, 2019 15:00:16 GMT -5
Possibly, when rocks get smaller they weather more completely. Try tumbling it and see if it polishes.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 26, 2019 16:48:59 GMT -5
Hello, Thanks for the advice about the polish. I'm not sure this thing I found is Eclogite, but that bandy polished-by-hand flat stone certainly isn't. I'll paste a pic below. The geology says it's from the eastern part of the country, which is the part furthest away from me, but that doesn't really mean much because Slovenia is so tiny it's all in a couple of hours drive anyway I only ever found these two chunks, though. This is it: The red crystals look quite realistically garnet-wannabe, but the background stone is rather milky green compared to examples in books and online, those look much darker... It does not look like egoglite. I found some ecoglite near here but don't know where I put it to get a pic. Ecoglite is a deep Earth mineral that forms in the same zone as diamonds, which is why it is one of the indicator minerals for diamonds. It contains dark reddish brown garnets in a greenish basaltic like matrix that can contain other minerals including amphibioles.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 27, 2019 5:24:50 GMT -5
Thank you, vegasjames . As I said, the reddish crystals could theoretically pass as garnet in a room with bad light, but the background (it's called matrix? I'll remember) certainly the correct one. I'll try to tumble one of them with my next batch like rmf suggested. Are both the (supposed) garnet and the matrix vaguely the same hardness, can I just put the entire stone in or do I need to prepare it in any way? Thanks!
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 27, 2019 6:33:33 GMT -5
Thank you, vegasjames . As I said, the reddish crystals could theoretically pass as garnet in a room with bad light, but the background (it's called matrix? I'll remember) certainly the correct one. I'll try to tumble one of them with my next batch like rmf suggested. Are both the (supposed) garnet and the matrix vaguely the same hardness, can I just put the entire stone in or do I need to prepare it in any way? Thanks! I have not used tumbling to polish rocks. I use my tumblers to help clean up rocks and smooth them out so I am not a good person to ask about tumbling.
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Post by rmf on Apr 27, 2019 9:16:04 GMT -5
Kai to answer your question to vegasjames "Are both the (supposed) garnet and the matrix vaguely the same hardness, can I just put the entire stone in or do I need to prepare it in any way?" I would like to offer a quote from the late Wernher von Braun. "Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing." I hope you have fun researching this. Garnet is H=7 Kyanite is H=7 in one direction and H=5 @ right angles to that. omphacite is H-5-6. The matrix may be even softer if more weathered. I would say nothing ventured nothing gained but then you are doing all the work and bearing the cost.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 27, 2019 10:00:07 GMT -5
Haha, brilliant quote! Thanks, I'll do that with my next batch, then.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 28, 2019 3:07:54 GMT -5
A little bit of help, please: I was searching around the forum, but it's GIGANTIC, so I didn't really find what I was looking for: is there any topic discussing the problem of rocks "disappearing" in the tumbler, that is being so soft that after 1 week in the first stage they are simply not there anymore, or they are a few millimeters wide? It's annoying having to do the checks too often, meaning having to open the drum every day and go through all that mess with slurry and grinding agent and all that...
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 28, 2019 9:33:31 GMT -5
A little bit of help, please: I was searching around the forum, but it's GIGANTIC, so I didn't really find what I was looking for: is there any topic discussing the problem of rocks "disappearing" in the tumbler, that is being so soft that after 1 week in the first stage they are simply not there anymore, or they are a few millimeters wide? It's annoying having to do the checks too often, meaning having to open the drum every day and go through all that mess with slurry and grinding agent and all that... I mainly tumble my rocks and scrap cuts to clean them. Gives me a better idea of what I have as things like desert varnish of iron oxide coatings get worn off. It also wears away a lot of the softer material so less grinding. This way I can also see what what looks usable for cabs or set aside to maybe someday actually polish them the rest of the way. I also find some nice pieces for cabbing from my scraps I throw in. They may look like worthless crap when I throw the scraps in but once some of the softer material grinds away I sometimes find a jewel in the mix. Anyway the reason I mention this is I do this without any grit. I simple throw a bunch of rocks in the tumbler with the same hardness range and let them tumble in some water for two days then open the barrels and separate out the garbage from what can be used for cabbing or other ideas. Saves on grit in case the scraps are garbage and the stones do not get overly ground in the couple of days. Just cleaned up and smoothed out some. Might be a good idea to try with this until you can get a better idea of what you have and easily or hard it will be to tumble.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 28, 2019 11:22:08 GMT -5
No grit, leave for two days. That's a really interesting suggestion, thank you!
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Post by rmf on Apr 28, 2019 12:42:22 GMT -5
You could also put in some regular sand and soap to the mix. soap to break down any oil and sand which is cheap and readily available to add just a bit of abrasion if required. If you use grit for two days and wash out over a bucket you get most of it back. BTW vegasjames is suggesting Autogenous grinding. Which is a process of grinding ore in a rotating cylinder, using large pieces of the same ore. Autogenous mills operate mechanically like ball mills; however, the media used for grinding differs.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 28, 2019 13:14:31 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice.
I read an article about Autogenous grinding, but it seems that the mill needs to be different, larger and modified for bigger pieces of ore. Keep in mind I only have one tiny little Thumler's drum and that's it.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 28, 2019 19:01:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice. I read an article about Autogenous grinding, but it seems that the mill needs to be different, larger and modified for bigger pieces of ore. Keep in mind I only have one tiny little Thumler's drum and that's it. I bought a double 12 pound barrels tumbler so I can do larger stones and larger batches all at once.
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on Apr 28, 2019 23:23:55 GMT -5
I bought a double 12 pound barrels tumbler so I can do larger stones and larger batches all at once. Well, good for your I guess...
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Kai
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2018
Posts: 331
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Post by Kai on May 8, 2019 14:11:39 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2019 15:31:36 GMT -5
Aragonite? Very pretty specimen!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 8, 2019 21:39:58 GMT -5
That's really pretty! I would have kept it, too.
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