✅ SOLVED Tumbled Chalcedony, first time..

Steve1236

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Sep 14, 2017
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I bought a small 5lb vibratory rock tumbler and I threw in some fire agate chalcedony specimems without fire, so technically they're not fire agates but I do like the name botryoidal sunset Chalcedony 🤷‍♂️, they didn't come out with a mirror shine but I like the results anyways, just thought I'd share.
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Very nice I like the first one it looks like a weird foot.
 

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Have you tried doing the polishing step with Cerium Oxide Steve? If the chalcedony is solid it should produce a polished finish fairly quickly. :thumbsup:
Hi Clay, I used aluminum oxide, ran it for like 5 days, ill have to try cerium, I also may have not cleaned them properly, mostly the problem is Im putting to big of rocks with the smaller ones, I can't help myself lol, I was hoping more of the druzy quartz would have fallen off during the rapid vibration but it's surprisingly held on the Chalcedony pretty well, cleaning was no fun, toothbrush and also power washing, it's impossible to get all the grit out of this material, I mean just impossible, I tried everything, unless there's a solvent or something I don't know about that will dissolve the grit out, that's the most frustrating part, I used light mineral oil on the cracks or drusy areas that I couldn't get it out of, them wiped out dry so the stone isn't oily to the touch, any other tips you may have I would appreciate hearing them.
 

Upvote 1
Hi Clay, I used aluminum oxide, ran it for like 5 days, ill have to try cerium, I also may have not cleaned them properly, mostly the problem is Im putting to big of rocks with the smaller ones, I can't help myself lol, I was hoping more of the druzy quartz would have fallen off during the rapid vibration but it's surprisingly held on the Chalcedony pretty well, cleaning was no fun, toothbrush and also power washing, it's impossible to get all the grit out of this material, I mean just impossible, I tried everything, unless there's a solvent or something I don't know about that will dissolve the grit out, that's the most frustrating part, I used light mineral oil on the cracks or drusy areas that I couldn't get it out of, them wiped out dry so the stone isn't oily to the touch, any other tips you may have I would appreciate hearing them.
Try tumbling for a week with Ivory soap flakes and plastic pellets for a filler.
 

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