mel_20_20
04-04-2009, 10:34 AM
I've had a few things hold me up since I posted all the pics of the rocks.
First I was down in the back (and most of the other body parts) for about a week after, lol. Oh, to be twenty again.:headshake2:
Then, I had a some kind of bug that's been going around at work, and that kept me out of commission for about a week. Yuck.:barf:
This week, though, I sent msjinkzd a rock, and luckydud13 a flat rate box of mostly smooth chunks with no holes and a couple of knobby ones for him to start constructing this pile of rocks that he wants to slope down from one corner. He has african cichlids coming in about a week so I hurried up and sent him some to get him started.
When I go get more rocks he wants another box to complete his structure.
On all the others, I had been holding off sending because I was hoping to get them sandblasted.
I had looked at people that sell this stuff online and they all sandblast theirs and they look so pretty and bright white. Mine are varying shades of white and cream and tan colored, and some of the rocks have this reddish residue of mudrock on them that comes off with sanding.
Some of them have a heavier layer of the mudrock residue that needs to be blasted off. I tried using sandpaper on some of that and it won't budge. I tried a stiff plastic brush that had no effect and then a stainless steel brush, but it left a grey discoloration so I nearly freaked out when I saw that :nilly:and I worked with sandpaper to remove the discoloration.
Also, the stuff is soft enough that you have to be careful not to put little scratches in it, so I used a really fine grit to smooth out the steel brush marks and scratches from the coarser sanding that I had done, lol.
So, I thought I'd check around here to see if I could find a business that does sandblasting.
I found a couple of places in the area that do media blasting so I checked on pricing. One place said $75 an hour, and another one said $150. They use glass beads and even soda. The guy with the soda blaster said he uses so much pressure he didn't know if it would be gentle enough for the rocks. He's going to do a test rock for free when his work load slows down... sigh.:headshake2:
A friend of ours was over one day and I was explaining the reasons for all the rocks spread out all over my dining table, lol, and how I wanted to do sandblasting and he said he had just seen a used blasting chamber that was for the hobbiest for $75 at a pawn shop.
Well.... I got excited about that and have been calling and searching for that ever since. He said he couldn't remember which shop because he goes to all of them at least once a week to see if there is anything new that he might want.
The hobbiest chamber would work well, I think, because this rock is fairly soft and I believe it wouldn't take but a few minutes to make each one look like I want.
I can't find one at a dang pawn shop now, and they want around $300 for a new one at Grainger, and that doesn't include the compressor I'd need.
If I eventually start to seriously try to sell some of this stuff I might make the investment.
An interesting sidenote: one of the guys I spoke to, during my search, and showed the rock to said he had that kind of rock all over the ground on his property out southwest of here not too far away, I think. I'm going to ask him if I can go pick up rocks on his property, too.
:woot::woot:
Most people here don't give a flip about those rocks and think you'd be doing them a favor if you pick them up. Problem is finding out who has the land and getting permission.
I may have hit another jackpot with this guy. If I were to find that it is a good easy source I may start a website and sell the stuff. If I did I'd make an arrangement with the guy to give him a percentage if he wants that. He may just be happy for me to haul them off.:evil_lol:
Yesterday I got some boxes, though, so I could go ahead and start sending out the rocks to the ones that have requested some of this batch.
I've kind of given up on the sandblasting for now so I'm going to go ahead and start sending these out over the next few days.
Sorry it's taken so long. I was just hoping I could do a little blasting. I wanted to make them really extra pretty.:)
Some of you folks will get yours in a flat rate box and some might need to be sent UPS in a bigger box. I'll let you all know about shipping cost.
There's a Pack 'N Mail store really close to me that I use and I'll run over there and get the shipping information today, and then pm individuals who have requested specific rocks.
It won't be long now and you'll have your THR.:headbang2:I will want to see lots of pics of tanks with THR.
Msjinkzd is going to bribe her snails and shrimp with some extra sweet snail jello to get them to strike a pose on the rock I sent her. I can't wait, lol.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/ms_icons_blue/statusicon/user_online.gif
First I was down in the back (and most of the other body parts) for about a week after, lol. Oh, to be twenty again.:headshake2:
Then, I had a some kind of bug that's been going around at work, and that kept me out of commission for about a week. Yuck.:barf:
This week, though, I sent msjinkzd a rock, and luckydud13 a flat rate box of mostly smooth chunks with no holes and a couple of knobby ones for him to start constructing this pile of rocks that he wants to slope down from one corner. He has african cichlids coming in about a week so I hurried up and sent him some to get him started.
When I go get more rocks he wants another box to complete his structure.
On all the others, I had been holding off sending because I was hoping to get them sandblasted.
I had looked at people that sell this stuff online and they all sandblast theirs and they look so pretty and bright white. Mine are varying shades of white and cream and tan colored, and some of the rocks have this reddish residue of mudrock on them that comes off with sanding.
Some of them have a heavier layer of the mudrock residue that needs to be blasted off. I tried using sandpaper on some of that and it won't budge. I tried a stiff plastic brush that had no effect and then a stainless steel brush, but it left a grey discoloration so I nearly freaked out when I saw that :nilly:and I worked with sandpaper to remove the discoloration.
Also, the stuff is soft enough that you have to be careful not to put little scratches in it, so I used a really fine grit to smooth out the steel brush marks and scratches from the coarser sanding that I had done, lol.
So, I thought I'd check around here to see if I could find a business that does sandblasting.
I found a couple of places in the area that do media blasting so I checked on pricing. One place said $75 an hour, and another one said $150. They use glass beads and even soda. The guy with the soda blaster said he uses so much pressure he didn't know if it would be gentle enough for the rocks. He's going to do a test rock for free when his work load slows down... sigh.:headshake2:
A friend of ours was over one day and I was explaining the reasons for all the rocks spread out all over my dining table, lol, and how I wanted to do sandblasting and he said he had just seen a used blasting chamber that was for the hobbiest for $75 at a pawn shop.
Well.... I got excited about that and have been calling and searching for that ever since. He said he couldn't remember which shop because he goes to all of them at least once a week to see if there is anything new that he might want.
The hobbiest chamber would work well, I think, because this rock is fairly soft and I believe it wouldn't take but a few minutes to make each one look like I want.
I can't find one at a dang pawn shop now, and they want around $300 for a new one at Grainger, and that doesn't include the compressor I'd need.
If I eventually start to seriously try to sell some of this stuff I might make the investment.
An interesting sidenote: one of the guys I spoke to, during my search, and showed the rock to said he had that kind of rock all over the ground on his property out southwest of here not too far away, I think. I'm going to ask him if I can go pick up rocks on his property, too.
:woot::woot:
Most people here don't give a flip about those rocks and think you'd be doing them a favor if you pick them up. Problem is finding out who has the land and getting permission.
I may have hit another jackpot with this guy. If I were to find that it is a good easy source I may start a website and sell the stuff. If I did I'd make an arrangement with the guy to give him a percentage if he wants that. He may just be happy for me to haul them off.:evil_lol:
Yesterday I got some boxes, though, so I could go ahead and start sending out the rocks to the ones that have requested some of this batch.
I've kind of given up on the sandblasting for now so I'm going to go ahead and start sending these out over the next few days.
Sorry it's taken so long. I was just hoping I could do a little blasting. I wanted to make them really extra pretty.:)
Some of you folks will get yours in a flat rate box and some might need to be sent UPS in a bigger box. I'll let you all know about shipping cost.
There's a Pack 'N Mail store really close to me that I use and I'll run over there and get the shipping information today, and then pm individuals who have requested specific rocks.
It won't be long now and you'll have your THR.:headbang2:I will want to see lots of pics of tanks with THR.
Msjinkzd is going to bribe her snails and shrimp with some extra sweet snail jello to get them to strike a pose on the rock I sent her. I can't wait, lol.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/ms_icons_blue/statusicon/user_online.gif