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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 18, 2020 1:27:02 GMT -5
Let's see what putting big things in small barrels does. (I keep this up someone's going to throw a net over me) So, knave 's auction box also came with an assortment of slabs and end cuts. I keep noticing new things in the pile (do I detect some mahogany obsidian here?) I've been sorting through them, trying to match types, size, etc. The Lortone 3x1.5B has been idle for some time. I figured I could get some of these moving, gently, of course. First barrel I'm going to put this subset of slabs in. Plan is to add smalls. Namely the < 3/8" polished quartz that came out with the tigers eye. I have a fair bit of 60/90 SiC still. I'll probably add a couple more posts here of "before" pictures of what I load up in the other two barrels. This'll bring the total rolling count up to 7 barrels. I'm thinking I'll keep these smaller barrels staggered with the weekly cleanouts. Fridays will be the other 4 barrels, and midweek for these 3.
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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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 18, 2020 1:30:40 GMT -5
Okay well, scratch part of that, this set is going to get split across 2 barrels, so... tada!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Mar 18, 2020 1:47:36 GMT -5
Cool beans. Should be interesting to see how they fare in the rotary,
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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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 18, 2020 1:49:30 GMT -5
Okay, okay, to heck with being organized before making the initial post First set: Second set: Both topped up with smalls:
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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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 18, 2020 2:08:31 GMT -5
Third set: Best I can tell it's obsidian... Plus whatever the white stuff is on the one. I have some from a prior attempt that didn't go so well... (at least, best I can tell it's obsidian - someone will let me know) Let's top the barrel up with that, add some ceramics, and see if we've learned anything since a year ago. Alright, enough faffing about. Autobots, Roll Out!
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Post by knave on Mar 18, 2020 5:11:18 GMT -5
You do so good with the tumble pictorials. Hopefully the softer stones don’t disappear!
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whyofquartz
spending too much on rocks
So, Africa is smaller than I expected...
Member since December 2019
Posts: 316
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Post by whyofquartz on Mar 18, 2020 10:30:05 GMT -5
After i finish with my Easter eggs(which i failed to document before tumbling) I am planning on doing a batch of flat rocks, I would not call them slabs, they are just naturally flat. I need to get a second tumbler built so I can start on my quartz globs, they are very hard and very globular.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Mar 18, 2020 18:42:14 GMT -5
Will you put the small barrels in one big barrel ? kidding yes Looks like the polished quartz pebbles will get an anti-polish. Ceramic looks yellowish like many high density zirconia's, is it zirconia or alumina ?
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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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 18, 2020 20:00:01 GMT -5
Will you put the small barrels in one big barrel ? kidding yes Looks like the polished quartz pebbles will get an anti-polish. Ceramic looks yellowish like many high density zirconia's, is it zirconia or alumina ? Quartz pebbles are getting recycled - I'm using them like ceramic media but without the price tag. I believe the ceramics are alumina. When I zoom in on whitish things the camera likes to turn yellow. There's not a lot of options for adjustment in the camera settings - it's too smart for its own good and comes full circle back to dumb. Obsidian is getting the ceramics because I want to control some variables. The other slabs I'm less concerned if a quartz pebble decides to detonate, but the obsidian I'd rather not have that happen.
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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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 18, 2020 20:04:54 GMT -5
You do so good with the tumble pictorials. Hopefully the softer stones don’t disappear! Thanks, Evan! I'll keep tabs on these. Probably open them up tonight to make sure the slabs are getting smalls between them and that I haven't created a loaf of bread slices. Some of the material I could tell was soft just by feel... I don't think I put too much of that in here. Since the faces on these are pretty smooth just from the saw cut I don't think I'm going to go nuts with the coarse grinding. We'll see, but I'm thinking 1 week may be enough to round off the corners and smooth out the lines from the saw teeth. If so, I'll push them forward.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Mar 18, 2020 21:27:01 GMT -5
You do so good with the tumble pictorials. Hopefully the softer stones don’t disappear! Thanks, Evan! I'll keep tabs on these. Probably open them up tonight to make sure the slabs are getting smalls between them and that I haven't created a loaf of bread slices. Some of the material I could tell was soft just by feel... I don't think I put too much of that in here. Since the faces on these are pretty smooth just from the saw cut I don't think I'm going to go nuts with the coarse grinding. We'll see, but I'm thinking 1 week may be enough to round off the corners and smooth out the lines from the saw teeth. If so, I'll push them forward. I’ve been recently wondering about tumbling slabs and have been wanting to ask if most people tumble them in coarse or do most people just throw them in the vibe with 120/220, since like you said, they’re pretty smooth and shiny to begin with. Not sure if the rough edges would be to much for the 120/220 in the vibe though. Would like to hear some opinions from the experienced and hope you don’t mind me posting this here.
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Post by fernwood on Mar 19, 2020 4:28:03 GMT -5
I have tumbled shaped slabs in rotary with good results. But, I combine slabs (preform cabs) with basic tumbling rocks. Started in coarse. Ran the next 4 stages in rotary.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 19, 2020 10:22:50 GMT -5
I also have tumbled slabs and cabs in a rotary, they came out great....Good luck..
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Post by miket on Mar 19, 2020 12:44:11 GMT -5
Ditto. You should be fine, looking forward to the results.
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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
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Post by Benathema on Mar 25, 2020 22:04:40 GMT -5
Week 1: 60/90 SiC. Grit didn't break down very well, which is probably expected of a smaller barrel, especially without a hammer in it. All 3 barrels developed a pretty thick slurry though, so that's good. I think I'm going to push all of these to 120/220 SiC. They're rather thin at this point and I don't think pushing my luck with perfectionism is going to work out in my favor here. 1st Barrel 2nd Barrel 3rd Barrel: Even the obsidian I'm going to put into 120/220 SiC. It had the worse grit breakdown of all. I'm curious to know what these are knave . They're probably my favorite so far. Left one is getting super thin so I'm a bit concerned, but if I know what it is then it's okay. The one on the right is like a rainbow of colors, very nice.
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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
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Post by Benathema on Apr 2, 2020 1:28:53 GMT -5
Week 2: 120/220 SiC. Coming along. Looking okay. Going to move them to AO 500 prepolish. I don't have any 1000 on hand for after this run... I think I'll rely on AO breaking down. We'll see how the polish comes out. I think if the obsidian gives me any flak I'll send it through a dry polishing step afterwards. This is the point where I gotta start being a little more careful. Some of the slabs are getting thin, and obsidian likes to chip, so I'm going to go overload on the sugar and extra fill to enhance cushioning. 1st Barrel 2nd Barrel 3rd Barrel
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Apr 2, 2020 3:31:30 GMT -5
Agate pebbles collected on the Rio Grande beach by the bucket and cast in mortar blocks and mass sawn into slabs. The mortar held them for the sawing operation. They were rough tumbled first to remove patina to judge quality. After sawn tumbled to polish. Back in 2011, photos not good. This was fun. productive www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157631927601357
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Post by knave on Apr 2, 2020 5:21:44 GMT -5
Benathema, I missed answering your question earlier. That looks to be Indian Paint Stone on the left, and Brazil or Montana on the right. Not sure.
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Post by captbob on Apr 2, 2020 13:42:18 GMT -5
I say the one on the left is Sonora dendritic jasper
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Post by knave on Apr 2, 2020 13:48:11 GMT -5
I say the one on the left is Sonora dendritic jasper captbob > knave You know who to listen to here Benathema!!
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