Hello from MT! Very new to the hobby...
Feb 21, 2020 23:42:12 GMT -5
Fossilman, TheRock, and 2 more like this
Post by reynedrop on Feb 21, 2020 23:42:12 GMT -5
Hello! My name's Lex/Lucy (I go by both regularly), and I am very, very, very new into rock tumbling. I'm also very wordy! Sorry about that...
How I got into this hobby:
One of my best friends is getting very into a pagan/wiccan type spirituality (I'm not sure if she identifies with either as a religion at this time, but she definitely calls herself a desert witch). Part of this is crystals (healing, energy, cleansing, etc). I'll admit that I love the witchy stuff and have been collecting small tumbled and raw "crystals" (many of these, I have learned, are just different types of quartz and chalcedony). Her birthday is coming up, and I bought this crystal book and long story short ended up with quite a "list" of a different "crystals" I wanted to obtain, so I was looking at getting multiples of these specimens for us both (part of her birthday present). As I started looking into these "crystals" from metaphysical stores, I found that I could order raw/rough version by the pound instead of by the piece, and often one pound of these raw stones was cheaper than two (or three) tumbled by-the-piece varieties.
I get VERY into hobbies when I start them and go down a rabbit hole a bit, so long story short, I ordered 26 pounds of various stones/minerals (though 2# are selenite which were for other purposes). I also ordered a one-pound Dan & Darci tumbler from Amazon. I ordered these about two weeks ago and technically have "finished" my first course-grit tumble...
How I'm doing right now:
Initially, my goal was to tumble a piece or two of each rock so that I could have a variety of tumbled pieces for my friend's birthday. The book that came with the tumbler gave very simple guidelines, and I weighed out roughly a pound of a variety of rocks/minerals... and long story short, I quickly learned about Mohs hardness and why you do not tumble fluorite with topaz (I'm glad I had the "foresight" to pull out my favorite piece of fluorite after 1 day- the other pieces hardly survived the rest of the tumble). I also quickly learned that tumbling from totally rough to beautifully polished can take a month or longer, and obviously with a 1 lb tumbler, I was NOT going to get these rocks tumbled in time. So I have ordered a Lortone 33B and hope this will be helpful. This was supposed to arrive 3 days ago, but it's apparently backordered.
I'm currently not tumbling anything as I'm trying to decide what to tumble next with my new knowledge. I''m thinking I can tumble labradorite, peach and rainbow moonstone, pink andean opal, and epidote together, and maybe even jaspers and onyx? Around the same hardness, I do have peridot, petrified wood, and mixed quartz (a lot of rose quartz mostly)- I'm just trying to decide how I want to split this up.
I've been making spreadsheets and learning more about composition of minerals the last few days and love it. If I'm not seeking knowledge, I feel stagnant and become very dissatisfied.
Goals for the future:
Other bits about me:
I'm excited to "meet" you all! And to have a place to ask questions, learn, and share my excitements.
How I got into this hobby:
One of my best friends is getting very into a pagan/wiccan type spirituality (I'm not sure if she identifies with either as a religion at this time, but she definitely calls herself a desert witch). Part of this is crystals (healing, energy, cleansing, etc). I'll admit that I love the witchy stuff and have been collecting small tumbled and raw "crystals" (many of these, I have learned, are just different types of quartz and chalcedony). Her birthday is coming up, and I bought this crystal book and long story short ended up with quite a "list" of a different "crystals" I wanted to obtain, so I was looking at getting multiples of these specimens for us both (part of her birthday present). As I started looking into these "crystals" from metaphysical stores, I found that I could order raw/rough version by the pound instead of by the piece, and often one pound of these raw stones was cheaper than two (or three) tumbled by-the-piece varieties.
I get VERY into hobbies when I start them and go down a rabbit hole a bit, so long story short, I ordered 26 pounds of various stones/minerals (though 2# are selenite which were for other purposes). I also ordered a one-pound Dan & Darci tumbler from Amazon. I ordered these about two weeks ago and technically have "finished" my first course-grit tumble...
How I'm doing right now:
Initially, my goal was to tumble a piece or two of each rock so that I could have a variety of tumbled pieces for my friend's birthday. The book that came with the tumbler gave very simple guidelines, and I weighed out roughly a pound of a variety of rocks/minerals... and long story short, I quickly learned about Mohs hardness and why you do not tumble fluorite with topaz (I'm glad I had the "foresight" to pull out my favorite piece of fluorite after 1 day- the other pieces hardly survived the rest of the tumble). I also quickly learned that tumbling from totally rough to beautifully polished can take a month or longer, and obviously with a 1 lb tumbler, I was NOT going to get these rocks tumbled in time. So I have ordered a Lortone 33B and hope this will be helpful. This was supposed to arrive 3 days ago, but it's apparently backordered.
I'm currently not tumbling anything as I'm trying to decide what to tumble next with my new knowledge. I''m thinking I can tumble labradorite, peach and rainbow moonstone, pink andean opal, and epidote together, and maybe even jaspers and onyx? Around the same hardness, I do have peridot, petrified wood, and mixed quartz (a lot of rose quartz mostly)- I'm just trying to decide how I want to split this up.
I've been making spreadsheets and learning more about composition of minerals the last few days and love it. If I'm not seeking knowledge, I feel stagnant and become very dissatisfied.
Goals for the future:
- Clearly I want to tumble what I currently have.
- Gotta catch 'em all? (I do have a collector's mindset in general).
- Definitely want to get several calcites and attempt to tumble them. I know they aren't recommended for beginners, and many say they don't tumble well, but I just like them and want to tumble them somewhat.
- I want to start rockhounding a bit too. I live close to some great sites in Montana and have a resource book for weekend trips. Ideally, I would find good rocks to tumble.
- Some day I want to get into cutting, shaping, and gem faceting. Assuming Montana stays our "home," I think it would be very cool to have an anniversary band commissioned with a Montana sapphire I found and faceted.
Other bits about me:
- I'm in my mid-20s, married, and obsessed with pugs (I have a perfect black pug named Orpheus/Oreo).
- I do have a bachelor's in biology with an "almost" second major of chem (it's a long story), but other than understanding chemical composition, I started this hobby with no good geologic knowledge.
- My eventual goal in life is medicine/MD practicing in MT. It took me a few years post-graduation while working in the medical field to figure this out, and I'm currently in the process of applying to a MS program for health sciences since I've been out of school for so long. I think rocks will be a good hobby through all of this.
- My favorite gems/crystals/etc are amethyst and opals, and these are on my first anniversary band.
I'm excited to "meet" you all! And to have a place to ask questions, learn, and share my excitements.