Lapidaryforum.net
Rock Art => Tumbling => Topic started by: Kaljaia on September 28, 2015, 01:22:41 PM
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Got a bit better polish on these! I've been a little more ruthless about kicking out stones with rough spots after step 3, washing between steps with some (very ancient) white king soap flakes, and checking the polish progress every few days. I pulled the brightest and put the rest back in for another day and that seemed to help. The brightest five stones had some minor flaws and I was wondering if the rough spots were causing problems with the rest. Either way, got most of them to to take a nice shine! The ones that didn't take a polish are still attractive for pond rocks and will gravitate into the backyard fountain at some point. They're in the small dish. All are Washington beach agate, quartzites and other oddities. This is my first time using the Tripoli polishing compound and compared to Cerium I think it does leave the rock a little brighter. I like it.
I have another set fresh from its wash cycle and in polish now. The most recent batch of step 3 grit I got was 400, versus the 600 I was using before, and it does seem to leave the rocks with a much more matte finish than I'm used to. I keep thinking 'these aren't possibly ready for polish. what am I doing wrong.' Last picture is of the post-step-3 rock that's now in for polish.
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I have vibe tumbled a huge amount of stones over the years and the perfect system was never found. I find that repeated 600 or 1,000 grit before prepolish often helps with the vibe tumbling. Constantly reassessing your process will keep you on the right track .You have also picked difficult stones to tumble and you seem to be doing fine.
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The batch shown on the diaper up there came out really nice. I don't have any good pictures but I can show what we did with them. (It's rare for there to be a tablecloth in use at my house; dolled up like this is a once or twice a year event!)
That batch was a shot in the dark; odd-shaped rocks, materials that I knew probably wouldn't take a polish, and one really big one that looks like an easter egg. I tossed them into a barrel of polish medium I'd just emptied from the previous batch and six days later they had the best polish I've gotten yet. I think I overwater my barrels; that one had less liquid than I would have though 'correct,' but the polish was really good. I should be keeping a log book.
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very nice!
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Creative idea. I like it! :icon_sunny:
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Thank you!
(I think you can buy candle holders that come with pebbles, but I like 'em better when they're my own.)
We did this with a pillar candle too but it broke its wall and swamped the rocks with wax. :P
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Still mid-stage on the next batch. The tumbler didn't want to turn, so it got taken apart and its innards oiled, but that meant I had a gap in my sequence, so everything got emptied out and washed and sorted. Some are in for an experimental polish, the rest are waiting to make up a full batch for stage 3. I've been very quiet here as I settle into a new job, and as that job goes from intimidating and stressful to fun and interesting, I'll be making more headway on rock projects :) still haven't gotten power hooked up in my shop space but we're getting there!