reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Dec 26, 2020 13:04:31 GMT -5
My Darling Hubby (DH) bought me rocks for Christmas I have had a lot of fun trying to ID the ones in the Madagascar pack, but could use some help. I know it is hard to ID from a photo. (And man, you guys are some great photographers. I struggle!) This first page I think I have the IDs right - Please correct me if I don't. This second page are my best guesses or I have no idea. The dark geen one was hard to capture: As were Number 12) If my IDs are right, I clearly don't want to tumble them together with some at 7 mohs and Flourite at 4 mohs Marketing being what it is, I also wouldn't be surprised if they were not all actually native, or from Madagascar. Any insight would be appreciated! So much fun ahead!!
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Dec 26, 2020 21:13:10 GMT -5
I wish I could help with the ID, but I cannot. What I can do, is say what a wonderful Christmas present!!! ps. I think the pics are pretty darn good.
|
|
|
Post by rmf on Dec 26, 2020 21:32:37 GMT -5
assume tigereye is h=7. you are right tumble H=7 together in 3# drums, if diameter is greater like a 6 or 12# drum, tumble quartz and tigereye together. agate and jasper together in separate load. H=6 together etc
|
|
|
Post by rmf on Dec 26, 2020 21:33:46 GMT -5
BTW #13 looks like it could be travertine. check hardness if H=3 then don't tumble
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Dec 26, 2020 22:49:58 GMT -5
Thanks rmf! If you don't tumble it, what do you do with it? If it is not wet, it is kind of dull.
|
|
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
|
Post by gatorflash1 on Dec 27, 2020 10:04:03 GMT -5
|
|
kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
|
Post by kyoti on Dec 28, 2020 17:22:28 GMT -5
I've successfully tumbled the travertine I find in our local area. It is a soft material and I started it in the vibe with the 220 Grit. It's fairly resistant to fracturing but I'm not sure how it will do in a rotary tumbler. You can also hand polish it with sandpaper or diamond pads. It looks quite pretty when is polished.
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Dec 29, 2020 18:41:02 GMT -5
I found Travertine pictures once I knew what to look for. It is pretty. We have a Somaca belt sander for edging glass, sounds like that might be the ticket. The piece is big enough to get a grip on. Maybe use a tile saw to make two planes.
|
|
Prov
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2020
Posts: 116
|
Post by Prov on Dec 29, 2020 23:41:53 GMT -5
My brother gave me a pack of this for christmas. I was wincing as I opened the bag, because I immediately picked out some pretty wildly varying hardnesses. (Flourite, Rose Quartz, and Obsidian for example) They also included a "gift" of 2 small polished stones, to give you an idea of what you could get out of it. One was smoky quartz, the other was a tigers eye. Some of these online rock vendors really set you up for failure.
I'm going to try and classify them and see if I can run a mixed load with some of my leftover materials. I've got extra Kambaba jasper, and turritella agate that I could potentially use as a throwaway filler.
|
|
|
Post by roy on Dec 30, 2020 15:10:38 GMT -5
11 is called cherry orchard 13 is banded onyx
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Jan 3, 2021 14:38:56 GMT -5
Thank you Roy! Just did a forum search on cherry orchard and see what I have to look forward too I love some of the rock names. Prov, Sounds like yours came from the same vendor. My gift bag had 2 kinda dice size cream stones that are pretty bland, yours sound better. It will be interesting to see what we both end up with. I will be starting rough grind of some tonight, not sure which ones yet.
|
|
Prov
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2020
Posts: 116
|
Post by Prov on Jan 3, 2021 20:22:30 GMT -5
I went through classifying what I got today...
I'd double check your hardness on the one purported to be Cherry orchard and the Banded Onyx.
The stuff I had that Roy identified as banded onyx was way too soft, Using rocks I got in there as a scratch test, just about everything in the mix scratched it, except for some very soft green, blue, and purple stones (I think perhaps verdite, lepidolite, and angelite, but I have no way to confirm). Doesn't really tell me what the stone was, but does tell me it probably won't play well with the rest of the mix. The green and red could be Fancy Jasper.
Not trying to get into an identification battle with anyone either. I don't know, these are just my observations from my bag. I spent the better part of 2 hours today researching stones, and testing stuff to see if I could figure out what things were.
I sorted out the obsidian, amethyst, quartz, rose quartz, labradorite, and petrified wood, as well as all of the softer rocks. (Undetermined green, blue, purple, and white ones) Those will get their own batches later.
I'm running the assorted jaspers, agates, Tiger's Eye, and my excess Kambaba Jasper with them and hoping for decent results.
|
|
Prov
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2020
Posts: 116
|
Post by Prov on Jan 9, 2021 14:30:54 GMT -5
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Jan 10, 2021 19:29:46 GMT -5
Those look great!
I love the green and white one, I am a sucker for green rocks. Your Cherry Orchard piece has nicer stripes than mine.
I didn't get my set in till the 4th. I was too impatient and I overloaded my barrels. I opened them on the 8th and pulled some out, they are tumbling better now.
The biggest surprise was the Amethyst. The raw pieces didn't look that cool, even when wet. But just a couple days in rough and they are glowing!!
It will be neat to see how they compare.
|
|
Prov
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2020
Posts: 116
|
Post by Prov on Jan 16, 2021 12:46:43 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Jan 16, 2021 13:24:42 GMT -5
Prov - you've got some really cool looking rocks in that tumble! I love the rocks in pics 6 and 9...really awesome patterns in both of those! reeniebeany - any new update on yours?
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Jan 16, 2021 15:58:26 GMT -5
My plan is to take a look tomorrow or Monday. That would be 2 weeks in rough. They may need more since I initially overfilled the barrels and didn't have good movement. And this Wed-Thursday we had a power outage for around 24 hours. The tumbler did not make the cut on items to put on the generator LOL.
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Jan 16, 2021 16:14:27 GMT -5
The second from the bottom is my fav. it even tops the green and white one! Big difference from the raw stones. Very nice batch!
|
|
reeniebeany
starting to spend too much on rocks
Rotary Only
Member since January 2020
Posts: 125
|
Post by reeniebeany on Jan 19, 2021 21:05:10 GMT -5
Well, this batch is problematic, if not cursed, definitely educational. Monday AM my DH woke me up at 5 and said the tumbler wasn't tumbling. One of the barrels had bloated up and jammed the motion. He took it off and set it in the laundry room so the other barrel could tumble. At a guess, the bloated barrel is the one I added sugar to (since I was too lazy to go upstairs and get cat litter to thicken the slurry). I have started a journal and made a note to myself to track and label the barrels better When I started to remove the outer lid the pressure popped off the inner lid too. A loud POP! The slurry was pretty thick and sticky. I did a complete clean and wash and think the whole lot needs to grind more. Added about a 1/2 T cat little to see how that goes This morning I checked barrel 2, rinsed the stones, and put them back in with more coarse as well. The amethyst and tiger look good and the green/whiteish combo is now more interesting. The large green one is really hard to photo, but nice colors when you catch it - I probably just need 3 hands.. Some of them are more interesting and some are still pretty bland. Here is a selection of them: Barrel one Barrel two
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Jan 19, 2021 22:11:50 GMT -5
reeniebeany - it sounds like you may have inadvertently trapped a Gremlin Stone in that barrel! Sorry for the headaches on these, but it looks like you're making progress! You've got some good looking stones in those barrels!
|
|