pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Nov 20, 2022 19:49:43 GMT -5
Some before and after: 11/13 11/20 One problematic corner is manually cut off when taking the picture, not the result of tumble.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Nov 20, 2022 19:51:13 GMT -5
The other side 11/13 11/20
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Nov 20, 2022 19:54:26 GMT -5
Bahia: 11/13 11/20 Crazy lace: 11/13 11/20
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Nov 20, 2022 19:56:52 GMT -5
Add a couple of soft rocks to tumble: These rocks could even be slightly preformed by grinding on a jasper. Should be easy to tumble, and difficult to polish.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Nov 24, 2022 18:56:10 GMT -5
Add a couple of soft rocks to tumble: These rocks could even be slightly preformed by grinding on a jasper. Should be easy to tumble, and difficult to polish. I checked my tumbler three days later just for these two soft rocks (said to be 2.5-3 in mohs scale and could be easily scratched by my fluorite). Before and after: The soft rocks become significantly smaller and have nice shapes. Next time, I will try to tumble these smaller rocks separately, for two days, and see how they go.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Nov 27, 2022 22:24:56 GMT -5
I didn't have time to take photos of this week's progress but here is a soft rock's before and after, tumbled with hard rocks for 4 days: Here are some Swazi agates tumbled for a week. They might still need some saw work eventually but I would like to have them tumbled for at least three weeks to see what needs to be done.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 5, 2022 12:14:57 GMT -5
Yesterday I noticed my tumbler (Lortone 3A) making weird sound and had a bulging bottom before I was about to check my weekly progress. The bulging bottom pushed the barrel to the other end and the nut no longer sat on where it was supposed to be. It is the second time this happened, and since I checked the barrel every day after the first time this happened, I was surprised the bottom became that swollen from the day before when the bottom was flat and even a bit inward. When I opened the barrel, the mud was not bubbly at all. And the tumbler refused to rotate the barrel after I did my weekly routine cleanup and refill of the barrel and rocks. After some nudge it started to work properly. I am wondering if I should burp after a couple of days no matter whether the barrel is showing a sign of bulging or not.
|
|
|
Post by Son Of Beach on Dec 8, 2022 15:58:53 GMT -5
Yesterday I noticed my tumbler (Lortone 3A) making weird sound and had a bulging bottom before I was about to check my weekly progress. The bulging bottom pushed the barrel to the other end and the nut no longer sat on where it was supposed to be. It is the second time this happened, and since I checked the barrel every day after the first time this happened, I was surprised the bottom became that swollen from the day before when the bottom was flat and even a bit inward. When I opened the barrel, the mud was not bubbly at all. And the tumbler refused to rotate the barrel after I did my weekly routine cleanup and refill of the barrel and rocks. After some nudge it started to work properly. I am wondering if I should burp after a couple of days no matter whether the barrel is showing a sign of bulging or not. I'm wondering if that first expansion weakened the strength of the rubber. I'm not a materials engineer so I don't really know, just a hunch. By the way, that slag glass you got from me will definitely build up more gas than a typical run, just a heads up.
Others had some good advice for me in this thread. Maybe a more extensive cleaning is needed, maybe the belt. I noticed mine started hanging up on startup as well, then it progressively got worse.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 9, 2022 13:21:10 GMT -5
Yesterday I noticed my tumbler (Lortone 3A) making weird sound and had a bulging bottom before I was about to check my weekly progress. The bulging bottom pushed the barrel to the other end and the nut no longer sat on where it was supposed to be. It is the second time this happened, and since I checked the barrel every day after the first time this happened, I was surprised the bottom became that swollen from the day before when the bottom was flat and even a bit inward. When I opened the barrel, the mud was not bubbly at all. And the tumbler refused to rotate the barrel after I did my weekly routine cleanup and refill of the barrel and rocks. After some nudge it started to work properly. I am wondering if I should burp after a couple of days no matter whether the barrel is showing a sign of bulging or not. I'm wondering if that first expansion weakened the strength of the rubber. I'm not a materials engineer so I don't really know, just a hunch. By the way, that slag glass you got from me will definitely build up more gas than a typical run, just a heads up.
Others had some good advice for me in this thread. Maybe a more extensive cleaning is needed, maybe the belt. I noticed mine started hanging up on startup as well, then it progressively got worse. Thanks! I haven't tumbled any slag yet. I know they could be tricky. I am only tumbling a couple of yellow-brownish beach rocks that have interesting bands from you which seem to do fine. I have a huge backlog😆 My Lortone 3A is just a 4-month old baby. I did not expect to take care of the belt that soon...But we change diapers for our babies anyway so it is fine...
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Dec 9, 2022 16:25:00 GMT -5
I'm wondering if that first expansion weakened the strength of the rubber. I'm not a materials engineer so I don't really know, just a hunch. By the way, that slag glass you got from me will definitely build up more gas than a typical run, just a heads up.
Others had some good advice for me in this thread. Maybe a more extensive cleaning is needed, maybe the belt. I noticed mine started hanging up on startup as well, then it progressively got worse. Thanks! I haven't tumbled any slag yet. I know they could be tricky. I am only tumbling a couple of yellow-brownish beach rocks that have interesting bands from you which seem to do fine. I have a huge backlog😆 My Lortone 3A is just a 4-month old baby. I did not expect to take care of the belt that soon...But we change diapers for our babies anyway so it is fine...
That analogy made me laugh!
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 12, 2022 12:41:54 GMT -5
My tumbler didn't malfunction this week. On Saturday night I noticed the bottom of the barrel started to get flat (instead of being inward) so I burped it. On Sunday morning I released the batch and checked, and the following are ready to move on. It is not based on how flawless they are but how realistic I become week after week. For the thin pieces with deep dents, the "Glass Tile Nippers Set" (I got them from Amazon_that jamesp recommended in other threads saved me great amount of work from using power tools (I love using them but I don't own them yet and not sure I would love the cleanup work after use): Some new agates and rhyolites(? not sure, from estate sale) added to step 1:
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 12, 2022 12:54:09 GMT -5
Several months ago, I was super excited and hyper impatient about tumbling. I kept buying rocks which didn't help with the fact that my backlog of cutting tumbling became longer and longer.
Then I finally started to understand the patience part. Yeah, I might not have my first batch polished by the end 2022. My Bahia might not look very different a month from now. The undercut on my Mexican crazy laces might never completely go away. I might not see low-speed Rebel 17 in stock any time soon. The good part is, the rocks are not going to rot any time soon either.
|
|
hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 439
|
Post by hypodactylus on Dec 12, 2022 13:25:03 GMT -5
I think a lot of people experience a similar process as they progress through the hobby. We buy our first tumbler and acquire a few rocks. We get really excited, buy more tumblers and attempt to acquire all the cool rocks we can find. Next thing we know, we have a decade's supply of rock. 🙂
I have gradually adjusted my definition of 'done' over time. I am naturally afflicted with a certain amount of perfectionism, so I would look at every crack/pit/bruise/etc with much disdain. This way of thinking can cause one to tumble a beautiful rock into oblivion, hoping for perfection. The reality is, many kinds of rock have abundant internal cavities and cracks. Sometimes you can work around them, sometimes you can't.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,168
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 12, 2022 14:29:30 GMT -5
Those are some mighty fine tumbles you are rolling. Love that rhyolite color. Perhaps a 12 pound tumbler is in your future to reduce that backlog. With 50 tumblers a load should be finished every 2 to 3 days . Can't have enough...
|
|
|
Post by Son Of Beach on Dec 12, 2022 15:27:07 GMT -5
My Bahia might not look very different a month from now. The undercut on my Mexican crazy laces might never completely go away.
THEY WILL! I'm tumbling some Bahia and I thought the same for a long time. Your weekly update posts were an inspiration for my Bahias. I"m keeping a weekly (mostly) picture log that I hope to present in the next couple months. They make more progress then you notice.
Mexican lace has been 50/50 for me anyway, seems like it's hard to find a perfect piece.
I'm posting a link to a previous tumble I did, not to show off, but to show what having a little extra patience can become. A few from that batch were some of my best to date. Nearly every stone in there, I had wait and wait and then wait a little more. It did pay off and even then you can still see I didn't wait long enough!
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 12, 2022 16:48:44 GMT -5
I think a lot of people experience a similar process as they progress through the hobby. We buy our first tumbler and acquire a few rocks. We get really excited, buy more tumblers and attempt to acquire all the cool rocks we can find. Next thing we know, we have a decade's supply of rock. 🙂 I have gradually adjusted my definition of 'done' over time. I am naturally afflicted with a certain amount of perfectionism, so I would look at every crack/pit/bruise/etc with much disdain. This way of thinking can cause one to tumble a beautiful rock into oblivion, hoping for perfection. The reality is, many kinds of rock have abundant internal cavities and cracks. Sometimes you can work around them, sometimes you can't. Truly a decade's supply of rock The only thing that keeps me from buying more rocks is to check my tiny ready-for-step2 bag and do an honest estimate... It's heartbreaking to think that my kid might randomly mark my rocks as "$1" when doing estate sales...
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 12, 2022 16:50:27 GMT -5
Those are some mighty fine tumbles you are rolling. Love that rhyolite color. Perhaps a 12 pound tumbler is in your future to reduce that backlog. With 50 tumblers a load should be finished every 2 to 3 days . Can't have enough... 12 lb tumbler is manageable. 50 tumblers (or even 20!) will probably get me a separation
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 12, 2022 17:00:52 GMT -5
My Bahia might not look very different a month from now. The undercut on my Mexican crazy laces might never completely go away.
THEY WILL! I'm tumbling some Bahia and I thought the same for a long time. Your weekly update posts were an inspiration for my Bahias. I"m keeping a weekly (mostly) picture log that I hope to present in the next couple months. They make more progress then you notice.
Mexican lace has been 50/50 for me anyway, seems like it's hard to find a perfect piece.
I'm posting a link to a previous tumble I did, not to show off, but to show what having a little extra patience can become. A few from that batch were some of my best to date. Nearly every stone in there, I had wait and wait and then wait a little more. It did pay off and even then you can still see I didn't wait long enough!
Your tumbled rocks are gorgeous! I am still staring at some of the beach rocks you sent me, especially this one: It's so beautiful. I need to have a 12lb tumbler to have it properly tumbled. And this I show my mom the picture and she suggested it is the back of a panda.
|
|
|
Post by Son Of Beach on Dec 12, 2022 17:06:27 GMT -5
Ohh that red might have been one I got from somewhere else, either way looks you have better success with it than I did I love those green and black ones, some of my favorite to find.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,461
Member is Online
|
Post by pebblesky on Dec 12, 2022 17:16:47 GMT -5
Oh the red one I just took a picture of it wet. I haven't tumbled it. It is too big to fit my 3lbs.
|
|