ColoradoProspector   CP Club Membership Info.

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

3 Pages V  < 1 2 3 >  
Reply to this topicStart new topic
Tumblers, Questions, tips & how to's
ASTROBLEME
post Jul 11 2010, 03:51 PM
Post #16


Rock Bar!
****

Group: Members
Posts: 613
Joined: 16-October 08
From: Central Colorado
Member No.: 6,813



QUOTE (Mrs.CP @ Jul 11 2010, 03:58 PM) *
Good job ASTROBLEME , you nailed that one. Yes they do fluoresce under UV (lime green). Want to see a pic?
biggrin.gif


Please share!



--------------------
Annual Dues Paying Member Since 2008

Tonko Mining Company

"Some day this crater is going to be a greatly talked about place, and if the above credit is due, as is certainly the case, I would like to have it generally known for the sake of the children." Daniel Moreau Barringer 2/1/1912 in a letter about the Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona USA
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
CP
post Jul 11 2010, 06:47 PM
Post #17


Master Mucker!
*****

Group: Admin
Posts: 4,149
Joined: 7-October 03
From: Colorado
Member No.: 3



Be happy to share a pic. biggrin.gif Took a little bit to set up a light box and figure out the right camera settings to catch the colors but this pic did pretty well we thought.
In person there is alot more green color.


Attached Image


--------------------
CP-Owner/Administrator
www.ColoradoProspector.com

IF YOU USE IT, THE GROUND PRODUCED IT!
MINERS MAKE "IT" HAPPEN!!


Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Apr 22 2017, 08:24 AM
Post #18


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



Looks like the last post was 2010... Well as a rock & roller myself I really love tumbling the local Minnesota Superior Agate smile.gif (the apache tears & amazonite look fantasic)
Attached Image


Attached Image


Attached Image


--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
swizz
post Apr 22 2017, 08:32 AM
Post #19


Moderator
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 4,459
Joined: 25-August 09
From: way on up thar
Member No.: 6,983



Excellent Lake Superior Agates! I grew up in the U.P. (Ironwood) and did an awful lot of Agate hunting on the shores growing up. Great to see those, very beautiful collection. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif


--------------------

/l
,[____],
l---L-OlllllllO-
()_) ()_)--o-)_)
BLACK SANDS MATTER!
Very Happy CP Lifetime Member
CP CORE TEAM

Referral Code CE213
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Apr 22 2017, 08:42 AM
Post #20


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



My equipment.. I really like the Thumblers Tumblers as I have 2 of them. For smaller rocks I have a loretone tumbler. I replaced the white plastic lids with clear lexan glass so I can see the action of the rocks with grit. Nice to take a peek without opening the lid. :)
Attached Image


--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Apr 22 2017, 08:47 AM
Post #21


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



QUOTE (swizz @ Apr 22 2017, 10:32 AM) *
Excellent Lake Superior Agates! I grew up in the U.P. (Ironwood) and did an awful lot of Agate hunting on the shores growing up. Great to see those, very beautiful collection. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif


Thanks Swizz! Oooh the Upper Pen.. Home of the Copper filled Agates. How I would love to hunt for some of them rare beauties!


--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Crusty
post Apr 22 2017, 09:00 AM
Post #22


Master Mucker!
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 2,430
Joined: 6-June 13
From: Falcon, CO
Member No.: 82,915



sweet setup EB! I've got a little HF double barrel one but do wish I had something bigger


--------------------
Find Colorado Prospector on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/170314493176558

CP Lifetime Member

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Apr 22 2017, 09:34 AM
Post #23


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



QUOTE (Crusty @ Apr 22 2017, 11:00 AM) *
sweet setup EB! I've got a little HF double barrel one but do wish I had something bigger


Thanks Crusty.. I also have a smaller double barrel I use to polish the smaller agates & bits of pieces from cutting material. Those I usually give away every year when I am invited to the girl scout camp to talk rocks. Definitely a big hit with the kids. Handy little tumbler does a fantastic job. By the way I love reading about all your field work and info. I love that everyday I find new and informative posts from this club and its members. So cool! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif


--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Denise
post Apr 23 2017, 07:31 AM
Post #24


Master Mucker!
*****

Group: Admin
Posts: 7,186
Joined: 7-October 03
From: Colorado
Member No.: 4



wub.gif Fantastic Agates! You did a great job tumbling them out. happy088.gif I also love how you added peaking windows to the tumblers, great idea!


--------------------
Education is the key to the future,
and participation opens the door to opportunity.

Discover your prospecting independence & success!

ColoradoProspector.com

Owner/Webmaster
Core team member

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Apr 24 2017, 12:05 PM
Post #25


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



QUOTE (Denise @ Apr 23 2017, 09:31 AM) *
wub.gif Fantastic Agates! You did a great job tumbling them out. happy088.gif I also love how you added peaking windows to the tumblers, great idea!


Thanks Denise! Yes it is very helpful when starting out as I didn't want to wait a full week to see if I was doing it right. So I found this really cool place that cuts lexan plastic and ordered some for my size tumblers. It saved me a few times when things didn't look right. smile.gif By the way those apache tears are beautiful and I stumbled onto your heart cabs.. Wow! That chrysocolla/chalcedony one was just breath taking. jawdrop.gif

I have more lapidary work I want to add but darn work keeps getting in the way whip.gif

Link to order clear or colored lids: (figured it could be used for other applications)

http://www.delviesplastics.com/c/Acrylic_Disks_Square.html


--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Oct 16 2017, 08:40 AM
Post #26


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



QUOTE (Mrs.CP @ Nov 19 2009, 04:00 PM) *
Your post reminded me Scott, that I forgot to put a picture in of the finished stones.
Picture shows dry polished Apache Tears.

[attachment=3690:Apache_T...Polished.jpg]

I think they turned out pretty good. I was nervous at first because they say polishing Apache Tears is for the more advanced rock tumbler. unsure.gif spock.gif groucho.gif
I have been giving them out to the adults, they seem to love them!

Good luck on your tumbling batch Scott, hope they turn out great!
We look forward to the pictures.
happy088.gif


Hello Denise,
I am having issues with polishing my Apache tears, actually I think they should be called tumbler operator tears after the amount of time I have spent between the prepolish & polish stage...ha :). I have had the same struggles before with obsidian. I usually run them to a nice satin finish with 600g then wash everything with soap & water really well then on to the polish stage (alumina Oxide 1000g). First time polish was a week of operation using plastic pellets, all had a slightly rough look to them with what looks like leftover alumina powder on them even after a good wash. So I backed up to 600g to get that satin finish then polished for another week in alumina again. Same results. So I did a little research and noticed that the preferred media among successful obsidian tumblers was the ceramic media. So this time, since my last run was with alumina I did 2 more weeks with alumina again and the new ceramic media. Same results. For the life of me I can't figure it out. I wash really well between grits, as my current system works well for everything else harder than obsidian. Its a struggle for me to believe that running in clean water for half an hour would do better than me washing everything with a bristle brush and soap until the rubber is squeaky clean literally. But at this point I am willing to change my whole process to get my Apache tears to look like yours in the earlier pics. Any suggestions or preferred process that I should be doing to get them to that high gloss like yours would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
EchoBravo



--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Denise
post Oct 16 2017, 09:18 AM
Post #27


Master Mucker!
*****

Group: Admin
Posts: 7,186
Joined: 7-October 03
From: Colorado
Member No.: 4



giggle.gif "tumbler operator tears"...too funny!

QUOTE
What I do to make sure not to grit contaminate after each stage, is tumble in fresh water for an hour,
dump.......then repeat till the stones are grit free. This works great, then your ready to move on to the next grit stage.


This really helps! I also wait till I'm done with all the stages before using soap to burnish them. Tumbling with the soap as the final stage works great. Amazing how much film is still left on them even after the polishing stage. I have also found that obsidian is the hardest to polish. I'm thinking it's because the grits want to stick to the smoother surface more. I also use a plastic noodle strainer on a bucket to rinse them, it helps to clean them off a bit before moving on to the next grit stage. happy112.gif

I hope this helps some! Can't wait to see the finished stones.
thumbsupsmileyanim.gif


--------------------
Education is the key to the future,
and participation opens the door to opportunity.

Discover your prospecting independence & success!

ColoradoProspector.com

Owner/Webmaster
Core team member

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Mimimonilla
post Oct 16 2017, 06:56 PM
Post #28


Diggin' In!
**

Group: Members
Posts: 7
Joined: 12-October 17
From: Denve,r Colorado
Member No.: 136,678



Very nice! They look great. Now what kind of stones are they?
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Denise
post Oct 18 2017, 07:54 AM
Post #29


Master Mucker!
*****

Group: Admin
Posts: 7,186
Joined: 7-October 03
From: Colorado
Member No.: 4



The stones he is talking about are Apache tears....an obsidian. happy112.gif


--------------------
Education is the key to the future,
and participation opens the door to opportunity.

Discover your prospecting independence & success!

ColoradoProspector.com

Owner/Webmaster
Core team member

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
EchoBravo
post Nov 21 2017, 01:53 PM
Post #30


Shovel Buster!
***

Group: Members
Posts: 80
Joined: 7-April 17
From: Buffalo MN
Member No.: 129,116



okay So I went back to 1 week of 600grit for a clean start. I cleaned everything (tumbler barrel/apache tears) with soap then tumbled in clean cold water for about 4-5 days with 2 water changes in between (just to be sure). When I dumped out the water it looked cleaner than previous water dumps, and the apache tears looked like that satin 600 grit look. Was what I expected. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif So I now I set up with alumina oxide (1000grit) for about a week and a half. Just cleaned them out and washed everything again like previous grit. I am still seeing those rough edges like it never polished. Not as satin looking as after 600grit but still not polished. is it normal to have to polish obsidian for more than 2 weeks?? They are currently in clean water again while I contemplate my next move. I will take them out and send you pics of the apache tears so you can see the issue I am having. I do not want to go to the next level (cirium oxide) until I figure this out. Any suggestions would be appreciated? I have never had such a difficult time with tumbling than with these Tumbler Tears! smiley-laughing021.gif (im crying on the inside)


--------------------
1/15 FA 2nd ID, Camp Casey Korea
1/5 FA 1st ID, Ft Riley KS
Recall-ODS Veteran
RC: EB725
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

3 Pages V  < 1 2 3 >
Reply to this topicStart new topic
10 User(s) are reading this topic (10 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 



Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 02:35 AM