Pie
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4
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Post by Pie on Jun 23, 2020 13:23:33 GMT -5
I just finished my first tumble in a basic Dan & Darci tumbler off of Amazon. I followed the instructions re: time, speed, grit, etc. But now that they are done the rocks only look like I want them to while they are wet. How can I get a good shine?
I'm sure this has been asked 100's of times. Sorry for the revisit.
Steve
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 23, 2020 13:26:22 GMT -5
Hi Steve and welcome. Can you give us a bit more detail please? Pictures always help too. What kind of rocks are you tumbling? Approx how much weight? What brand grit did you use? Did you do clean outs between stages etc? Thanks,
Grant
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Post by manofglass on Jun 23, 2020 13:37:59 GMT -5
I just finished my first tumble in a basic Dan & Darci tumbler off of Amazon. I followed the instructions re: time, speed, grit, etc. But now that they are done the rocks only look like I want them to while they are wet. How can I get a good shine? I'm sure this has been asked 100's of times. Sorry for the revisit. Steve You didn’t really think it was going to be easy did you
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Pie
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4
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Post by Pie on Jun 23, 2020 13:50:55 GMT -5
I just finished my first tumble in a basic Dan & Darci tumbler off of Amazon. I followed the instructions re: time, speed, grit, etc. But now that they are done the rocks only look like I want them to while they are wet. How can I get a good shine? I'm sure this has been asked 100's of times. Sorry for the revisit. Steve You didn’t really think it was going to be easy did you Haha! Yes. I thought it would be easy. I tumbled the rocks that came with the tumbler. 4.5 oz.. they include agate, amethyst, aventurine, dalmation jasper, hematite, red jasper, rose quartz, and sodalite. I used the grit packets that were provided in the kit: 1-4. I don't know beyond the number. I have since purchased more grit and buffering media (small plastic pellets).
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dragonmaniac
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 2
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Post by dragonmaniac on Jun 23, 2020 13:58:41 GMT -5
I'm also having the same problem. Ours were mixed stones too, the agate and carnelian had a lovely shine, but the quartz, amethyst, and citrine in particular are dull and don't look like they've tumbled quite right. The leopard jasper, aventurine and sodalite are in between. I don't know if it's a density problem, but it's taken us 8 weeks so far
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Post by pauls on Jun 23, 2020 16:28:04 GMT -5
Welcome to both of you from Australia.
First things first, the tumbler sellers are trying to sell tumblers. They want you to think it's quick and easy so they write quick and easy instructions so they can sell tumblers.
Have a look through old posts on here, yes we do get this question a lot. Then buy more grit and tumble those rocks in first stage until they are nice and smooth, which could be a week for soft stuff or it could be months for Agate. This is the reason it's best to tumble all the same hardness together, you don't have soft stuff grinding away to nothing while some harder ones are barely getting round edges. Your Quartz, citrine amethyst aventurine (and obsidian) problem is the type of rock, it often bruises badly and is best done by itself and carefully babied through. Rocks that fracture and expose rough edges will roughen up all your carefully smoothed rocks, so a piece of Quartz hardness 7 will scratch anything the same hardness or softer, basically everything you have in there.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 23, 2020 17:53:37 GMT -5
You didn’t really think it was going to be easy did you Haha! Yes. I thought it would be easy. I tumbled the rocks that came with the tumbler. 4.5 oz.. they include agate, amethyst, aventurine, dalmation jasper, hematite, red jasper, rose quartz, and sodalite. I used the grit packets that were provided in the kit: 1-4. I don't know beyond the number. I have since purchased more grit and buffering media (small plastic pellets). Part of your issue is that your mix has varying f hardness. Sodalite is a bad rock to try starting out. Stick with jaspers and agates only. Skip quartz for now. Maybe post some pictures so we can see what the rocks are looking like. Do some searches on this forum for advice as there’s tons for what you’re after. Stage one usually takes weeks to months. Also your tumbler isn’t likely doing to do you any favors. Look into Lortone long term.
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Post by aDave on Jun 23, 2020 19:33:03 GMT -5
Aside what's already been discussed, I'm going to go out on a limb and venture that your #4 pack, which is *supposed* to be a polish, isn't. Folks come on here complaining/questioning why their polish doesn't seem to do any good, and then we're told that the "polish" that was used was actually 1200 grit material. I don't know if you have grit sizes on your packs, but many of the commercially packaged grit packs that come with some tumblers seem to have this issue.
For a polish, you want to use grit that is around 13,000 to 14,000 which is easily found at reputable lapidary supply vendors. I'd steer clear of anything that's simply labeled with a stage number, as you have no way of knowing what you're getting.
Now, I could clearly be wrong about the polish grit itself, but you really want to get in the habit of buying grit (by size) whenever you have to replace your stock. It will make things much easier for you in the long run.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Jun 23, 2020 19:52:02 GMT -5
Aside what's already been discussed, I'm going to go out on a limb and venture that your #4 pack, which is *supposed* to be a polish, isn't. Folks come on here complaining/questioning why their polish doesn't seem to do any good, and then we're told that the "polish" that was used was actually 1200 grit material. I don't know if you have grit sizes on your packs, but many of the commercially packaged grit packs that come with some tumblers seem to have this issue. For a polish, you want to use grit that is around 13,000 to 14,000 which is easily found at reputable lapidary supply vendors. I'd steer clear of anything that's simply labeled with a stage number, as you have no way of knowing what you're getting. Now, I could clearly be wrong about the polish grit itself, but you really want to get in the habit of buying grit (by size) whenever you have to replace your stock. It will make things much easier for you in the long run. This is a huge issue when starting out. I experienced it, but realized what was going on myself, before I joined the forum. Going with a manufacturers recipe is almost crazy!
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 23, 2020 21:04:08 GMT -5
Yup - buy grit from therockshed.com ! Can't go wrong. get their starter pack or better yet bigger bulk
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reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
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Post by reeniebeany on Jun 23, 2020 22:09:36 GMT -5
I concur that the 2 different grit kits I have purchased had 1200 grit Aluminum Oxide as the polish step. It did ok with some of the rocks, but poorly on others. Not sorting by hardness probably contributed to the problem.
Real polish in the barrel now and a bunch of rocks back in queue...
Hang in there and keep trying!!
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Post by knave on Jun 23, 2020 22:16:28 GMT -5
A rotary polish is an art. But vibratory tumblers are great for the last few stages, and require less patience. Good luck!
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Pie
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4
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Post by Pie on Jun 23, 2020 23:09:51 GMT -5
Wow, thanks everyone. I appreciate the education! Kind of surprised at the lack of candor from the maker of the kit. Ah well, on with it!
BTW, is there a list on here detailing rock hardnesses?
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Post by aDave on Jun 23, 2020 23:23:28 GMT -5
BTW, is there a list on here detailing rock hardnesses? There are some lists out there, but they don't list everything on the Mohs Scale. Here's a pretty good article about it and how it's used. geology.com/minerals/mohs-hardness-scale.shtmlIf you want to find out the (Mohs) hardness of a particular rock, and you don't have it on a list, Google is very good about producing results. If you want to know the hardness of a rock/mineral, just Google "Mohs hardness of X"...X being the name of the rock you're interested in. The result will generally be at the top of the page.
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Jul 5, 2020 7:37:29 GMT -5
Buy, and really read, the book Modern Rock Tumbling. The information in it will not fail you in achieving high gloss tumbles. rocktumbler.com/book.shtml
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