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Post by puppie96 on Feb 28, 2007 3:51:20 GMT -5
I remember back when a couple of people did some step by steps of a tumble in progress. MO lace agate has been coming up again, I got to looking at some of the stuff I sawed up last winter, and thought that, hey, I should be able to take this stuff through photos start to finish. This is typically vuggy stuff that is hard to work with, so all the more reason to take a look at it along the way. I'm going to go ahead and post the photos of the rough rock. It has already been in 46/70 in a 15 lb. Lortone for 5 days and time permitting, I'll take pictures tomorrow morning and put it back on. So here is the rough rock:
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Feb 28, 2007 10:32:24 GMT -5
YEA!!!!! Thanks Puppie- just keep feeding my obsession!
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onewomanarmy
has rocks in the head
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Member since January 2007
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Post by onewomanarmy on Feb 28, 2007 10:46:23 GMT -5
that's some really pretty rock - thanks for the chance to watch them go through all the stages!
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 28, 2007 13:26:08 GMT -5
Here's what they look like after 5 days in 46/70 in a 15-lb barrel. It looked like it needed a little more rock now, so I added these:
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Feb 28, 2007 13:28:55 GMT -5
WOW they are shaping up nicely- How long do you let them run for (on average) The only piece of MO lace I've done ran for at least 8 weeks in the course!
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chassroc
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Post by chassroc on Feb 28, 2007 16:36:35 GMT -5
Looking good csroc
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Feb 28, 2007 18:42:47 GMT -5
Sweet looking rocks puppie! Do things take heaps longer in a 3lb tumbler as opposed to a 15lb? Because, I have some agates and jaspers running in 46 that have been in there for nearly a week and while there has been some smoothing and rounding, it's nothing compared to what has happened to yours in just 5 days. Mike
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by SteveHolmes on Feb 28, 2007 19:36:57 GMT -5
Puppie, That looks like it's gonna be a fantastic batch. Anything that looks similar to Crazy Lace is Fantastic. I'm looking forward to the progression pics. Steve
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RockyBlue
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by RockyBlue on Feb 28, 2007 19:38:32 GMT -5
Thanks Puppie! for the tutorial i wish i could see a lot more tutorials especially in the 1st stage. your are shaping up nicely.........Rocky
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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 28, 2007 19:51:57 GMT -5
puppie how big are these if they fill a 15 lb barrel?
kim
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 1, 2007 2:39:08 GMT -5
Hey, thanks for the comments and the encouragement to continue. I'll try to answer the Q's as best I can.
Size. I did bad, no size ref in the photos. That plastic tray is 18" across so judge from that. These rocks are bigger than typical tumbling mix, yes. Many are 2-1/2" or even more. The reasons for this are: 1) the rougher action in the 15 lb barrel seems to reduce the need for smaller sized rocks, plus, smaller size rocks can easily be ground into oblivion in the big barrel; 2) molace has a tendency to fracture and some of these guys had obvious fracture lines. I tend to put those in the big barrel and let them split themselves. Also, the druzy quartz in some of it tends to want to split away, so smaller rocks keep appearing along the way. 3) On the occasions when I've weighed these barrels, they are always overweight when loaded to specs and I figure this isn't so good. So, I tend to put larger rocks in there with less filler, equals less weight, and still a lot of shaping in a hurry.
Time: Yes, Mike, the 3-lb tumblers are way slower than the big ones. Once you start rough grinding in a 15-lb barrel you will never want to rough grind in a 3-lb tumbler again. How long does it take? Stefan, I don't want to beg the question but it varies hugely. As you see in the photos, almost all of these had been sawed. Originally I was thinking about what great slices these would make, and I made some, but I got lazy, started noticing that alot of these are nicely shaped, and decided to just tumble them. Sawing does help. At some point in this tumble, it will be possible to polish them with one face perfect and the rest still all rough, but I promise it will all polish. So does one want that, or a totally rounded rock? Hard decisions! The slices work up quickly and the sawed ones always do, too, compared with the unsawed nodules. They tend to be really tortured looking, vuggy things. Of course, sawing helps so much with that problem. However, there are also differences from one rock site to another. Notice how solid and regular many of these are. One of the collecting areas leans towards these. When they are regular on the outside, and when they are sawed in slices, I certainly wouldn't expect them to take 6 weeks in rough grind. Maybe watching this tumble go through will be enlightening. With the complicated vuggy rocks, most of the time it ends up a judgment call. You are never going to get the perfect rounded rock, and in some cases you will grind away the banded areas if you continue. It can be very frustrating stuff!
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Mar 1, 2007 10:41:41 GMT -5
Thanks Puppie!! I was basically getting at the point of Saw vs Un sawed- (or is that sawn?) My only expierence to date has been on one chunk- unsawed (sawn). It took 8 week in my 12 Lber!!! but it is nearly Perfect (well as perfect as MO lace can get) So I'm not out of the park with my time frame! One Mike- the COursing action in a large barrel is so much faster that as Puppie states- You won't go back!!! I course in a 12 Lb- and it produces enough material every 2 weeks to keep 2- 3Lb barrels running in the 120/220 stage- (that would be aprox. 6 Pounds of coursed material every 2 weeks) I cannot imagine ever running a 3Lber for course again (at one point I had to run 3- 3Lbers in course just to get enough rock ready for a single 120/220 run every 4 weeks!) I now have the ability to have every stage running- My only real holdup is my Long Polish cycle (I run 3weeks in polish rather than the standard 1 week)
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one80mike
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Member since February 2007
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Post by one80mike on Mar 1, 2007 20:04:25 GMT -5
Thanks Stefan and Puppie for your responses. I am going to see if a handly, mechanically minded friend or relative could build a large tumbler for me. I'm not sure what my chnaces are. The price of a Lortone 12lber here in Australia is nearly $500 AU and I have never seen any tumbler on ebay in Australia. I am hoping to get a cheap grinder this weekend. I can only source them with over 2500 rpm but at least I can get one cheap and use it to take off some of the worst bits before I start tumbling. Have a top day folks Mike
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 2, 2007 2:09:17 GMT -5
3-lb tumblers will work better for rough grinding if you make sure to put in plenty of small gravel sized rocks. This is a good way to work small gemstone rough like garnet, emerald or ruby -- a trick I picked up from one or more of my mentors on this board.
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Roger
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Post by Roger on Mar 2, 2007 9:56:43 GMT -5
Nice looking batch.I can't wait to em finished...Roger
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 3, 2007 3:11:31 GMT -5
Thanks, Roger!! Considering what you show us, I'm really very flattered!
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 6, 2007 2:29:11 GMT -5
After 10 days in 46/70 12-lb. Lortone. Some of them will probably be ready to move on, after the next cycle: I only took out a few small ones that seemed ready to move on: I added a few before restarting to keep the barrel full enough. Forgot to take pictures of the new ones this time, though. Stay tuned.
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Post by beefjello on Mar 6, 2007 15:08:33 GMT -5
I'm enjoying watching the progress on these!
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
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Post by one80mike on Mar 6, 2007 19:17:10 GMT -5
They're shaping up well.
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polished
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Post by polished on Mar 6, 2007 19:28:35 GMT -5
Love the patterns on those small ones!
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