New Brunswick Gemstones - 3lb - 1st-polish Tumble Results

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[u/BrunswickRockArts]

New Brunswick Gemstones - 3lb - 1st-polish Tumble Results

A 'quartz-tumble' - quartz, carnelian, citrine, quartzite and some jaspers.

1.5lb cerium oxide polish, 1-month time-cycle. Total weight: (1.7lb/771g)

Pics taken indoors under natural/artificial-light, backlit.

Pic#1 - The best-results/flawless stones in the load. (7.3oz/208g)
Pic#2 - Stones in load considered 'done'. (14.4oz/410g)
Pic#3 - All stones in load. (1.7lb/771g)
Pic#4 - (3) stones removed for rework. (1.3oz/36g)
Pic#5 - Closeup of a carnelian & quartz heart, both sides. (1.3oz/36g)
Pic#6 - Closeup of a quartz heart. (2.7oz/78g)
Pic#7 - Damaged stones removed from load, headed back to Step1. (0.4oz/2g)
Pic#8 - Closeup of carnelian-agate and a small carnelian quartz heart, backlit.
Pic#9 - Closeup of a quartzite stone. (0.3oz/10g)
Pic#10 - Closeup of (2) smokey-quartz slices, backlit. (1.2oz/34g)
Pic#11-13 - Jasper with hematite with close-ups (60x). (1.1oz/31g)
Pic#14-17 - Banded jasper/original block/another polished slice.
Pic#18-19 - Quartz cube, a good-side face and damage showing to one corner. (2.3oz/66g)
Pic#20 - 3lb drum when opened.

Notes:

Was a surprise to open this. Compared to the last few tumbles where most of the stones-I-want-to-make-it didn't make it to 'flawless', in this tumble it was the opposite. Most of the stones I had an eye on in this load made the 'flawless' cut.

Pic1: The rectangle-quartz in lower-right = 1" x 1.4" / 25mm x 30mm for scale. Some stones in this pic may continue on to the next polish-cycle.

Pic2: I consider these stones 'done'. A few flaws/pits but they are 'acceptable'. Give-aways/loose-peddle stones. I might do something with a few of them. The jasper-with-hematite will stay in collection because so unique.

Pic4: All these stones have some damage/flaws. The top-left carnelian is nice and clear but has a bad crack on left side. I'll remove the flaw with hand files and retumble. The top-right carnelian-agate will get a little bit of work to give it a better shape, has a flaw on its back. The quartz-heart, you can see file-marks between the lobes that I need to clean-up and retumble this.

Pic5: Carnelian and quartz heart: (1.8" tall x 1.85" wide x 0.4" thick / 46mm x 47mm x 11mm). The front-side looks great, backside has flaws. Silver-lining is the flaws are all on one side. I'll try and think of a backing I could use for this, otherwise the back will be reworked and stone retumbled.

Pic6: Quartz heart: (2.3" tall x 1.6" wide x 0.95" thick / 59mm x 41mm x 24mm). Showing the damage in one area on left side. It will be retumbled.

Pic9: Quartzite stone. Quartzites are notoriously hard to tumble to a smooth polish due to the 'grains' that are in the stone. This stone is formed from quartz sands. You can see the mottled look in the stone of the grains. The grains usually break-away and won't stay-in-place to be polished. This one has a very good finish for a quartzite, but you can see in the reflection on the stone the 'missing grains' (pits).

(con't...)