Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Jan 19, 2020 3:03:33 GMT -5
Similar to the giant quartz experiment, I thought I'd document the weekly journey towards tumbling up a fairly big chunk of tiger's eye. There's something about seeing weekly progress that's fun. So many stones go through the process and you have the finished product, which is great and all, but having a before picture is often an afterthought. A second 12 pound barrel has entered the mix thanks to Shawn's clearance rack, so now I can do 2 big pieces at a time. Week 0: 1043g - I'm going to see how 46/70 SiC works on this. Getting some dims on this thing for a sense of scale May as well grab width while we're at it Side images to see that cat's eye Another side And another side And yet another for good measure Top And bottom Picked up a handful of rough carnelian, clear quartz, and amethyst from a local shop. They'll be coming along for the journey and hopefully turn out nice as well. I'm liking the rich purple on this amethyst compared to some I've done before. The rest of the barrel is loaded with chunks of smaller quartz I've found locally, most of which falls in the 3/8" to 1-1/4" range. More quartz material is on standby for topping the barrel up next week. I'm hoping for 2 things: 1) this doesn't break in half. 2) that it being an inch thick means being able to see the cat's eye effect from the top and bottom of the rock as it grinds down.
|
|
|
Post by knave on Jan 19, 2020 6:30:05 GMT -5
This is going to be fun! What a slab of tigers eye. Thank you.
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Jan 19, 2020 12:48:29 GMT -5
BenathemaThat’s a cool experiment. I haven’t seen too many people take on a big chunk like that. Here is a large specimen tumble that I found interesting.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 19, 2020 13:02:37 GMT -5
Okay Starguy ... you win the internet today! Super job on that monster tumble of crazy lace!!
|
|
|
Post by RocksInNJ on Jan 19, 2020 15:31:18 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Starguy on Jan 19, 2020 23:11:16 GMT -5
captbob. That wasn’t me. I wish it was.
|
|
whyofquartz
spending too much on rocks
So, Africa is smaller than I expected...
Member since December 2019
Posts: 316
|
Post by whyofquartz on Jan 22, 2020 9:04:11 GMT -5
I would like to follow this adventure, so I'll leave a reply
|
|
Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Jan 25, 2020 3:56:58 GMT -5
Week 1: 46/70 SiC. 971g. Running total mass loss: 6.9% Another view with its friends Half tempted to try to pry some of that brown capstone off. That's looking like it wants to go anyways. All corners are rounded, so it is seeing decent tumbling action. I have a feeling the flats are going to be what takes forever with this one. Definitely throwing it back into 46/70 for another week, but pondering it over for the night to decide if I'll do anything with it before I do.
|
|
|
Post by RocksInNJ on Jan 25, 2020 6:13:17 GMT -5
I’d probably try to chisel it off little by little to at least get some of it off.
|
|
Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Feb 1, 2020 0:05:30 GMT -5
Made pudding... that was a mess... Had to rack my brain to figure out why... OH YEA... I ADDED KITTY LITTER LAST WEEK! Maybe not put so much of that in this time? Update photos soon
|
|
|
Post by miket on Feb 1, 2020 0:43:45 GMT -5
Um, I must be doing something wrong or you're doing something right. That's how mine usually looks- and I don't thicken my slurry. 😀
|
|
stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
|
Post by stewdogg on Feb 1, 2020 0:54:37 GMT -5
I was going to ask what it supposed to look inside the barrel like if not like that? I'm checking mine again tomorrow and now I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,422
|
Post by Wooferhound on Feb 1, 2020 1:39:12 GMT -5
Made pudding... that was a mess... That is how a Stage 1 tumble should look after a week or two tumbling .
|
|
Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Feb 1, 2020 2:12:28 GMT -5
I guess I'm not used to my barrels generating such a thick slurry. Usually when they do, I wonder what poor stone I lost. I mean, if that thick doesn't hurt anything, alrighty then. I was hearing some clanking coming from the barrel and rocks were glued to the bottom and the lid.
|
|
Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Feb 1, 2020 2:42:13 GMT -5
Week 2: 46/70 SiC. 922g. Running total mass loss: 11.6% Coming along!
|
|
|
Post by RocksInNJ on Feb 1, 2020 4:09:10 GMT -5
That seems a bit thick to me. I mean if the rocks are sticking to the lid and barrel, then they’re not getting tumbled or even serving much purpose as a filler.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2020 4:30:40 GMT -5
Fast slurry creation is normal when rolling a big rock with smaller rocks. The big rock increases wear on the surrounding rocks making a faster slurry. Consider backing off of the kitty litter doses. Sooner clean outs. That is a large amount of wear on the amethyst and carnelian for what 12 days ? The tiger eye too. This batch is a machine !
|
|
|
Post by RocksInNJ on Feb 1, 2020 4:34:57 GMT -5
Heh, you shoulda seen what I did to amethyst in 7 days of rotary and 2 days vibe. There’s hardly anything left and they were some decent sized chunks. I’ll never figure that one out.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2020 5:38:54 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by miket on Feb 1, 2020 5:59:46 GMT -5
The Tiger's Eye is coming along great!
|
|