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Post by Alice on Feb 28, 2005 19:43:35 GMT -5
I am getting a little confused about grits reading a few posts in this forum.
One person says "Double up your grits for hard rocks" - Will this accomplish anything? or would I be better off just recharging after a few days? Should I just add to the old grit, or dump the old grit and start from scratch?
I took the advise to get a second barrel - "use one barrel for your grits, and use the second barrel exclusively for polish" - Dumb question, but is pre-polish considered to be a polish or a grit? I'm assuming it's a polish, but thought I'd ask just in case.
Is there anything I can use as a grit that's easily obtainable at a hardware store? (like Iron dust?... I know it's probably not a good idea to use iron, otherwise your rocks will end up being rusty, but is there anything tough enough to substitute tumbling grit?) I'm having trouble finding a local place where I can purchase grits in bulk. The only thing I can find is refill kits for kiddie tumbling machines.
What about polish? Is there anything that I can use to polish rocks other then that white powder that comes with your tumbling kit? What is that powder anyway?
What if I have a rock which I don't want to tumble, but would like to polish. Is there a product I can use to polish this rock with the help of my dremel?
Has anyone tried to use turning wax like hut or crystal coat, to polish rocks? (it's usually used in woodworking to polish pieces on a lathe). How about oil or water based varnishes?
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Post by connrock on Feb 28, 2005 20:51:20 GMT -5
WOW Alice I don't know if I can answer alllllll those questions in 1 night!!LOL Most of the rocks used in tumbling are about the same hardness so you would use the same amount of grit with all of them and not have to double up on the amount. If you "do" want to double up on the grit you'll have to let the tumbler run for a lot longer to break down the grit (make it finer).If you don't let it run longer all you're doing is wasting grit. If you use silicone carbide grit(that's what "grit" really is) for a pre-polish don't use the polishing barrel.If you use something like Tripoli polish you cqan use the polish barrrel but make sure you clean everything VERY good. You are much better off using grit made for tumbling.Any thing else will take forever to do the job. If you can't buy grit where you live you can buy it on the web.Find a dealer that lives as close as possible to you so you won't pay a lot for shipping. I buy in 50 lb lots fromVT and I live in CT. Some people use polyurathane to coat the rocks and it gives them a fair shine but nothing beats tumbling. No there's nothing else to use as polish.The white stuff you have can be tin oxide or another oxide. I've never put a shine to a rock other then the usual lapidary methods so I don't know about wax. Hope this helps. Tom
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earthdog
Cave Dweller
Don't eat yellow snow
Member since June 2006
Posts: 2,731
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Post by earthdog on Feb 28, 2005 21:10:16 GMT -5
My wife asked me to break up some bottles and tumble her some beach glass, I did using only water and play sand. About 5 tbl spoons full to a #3 barrel, and it turned out great after about 5 days. ( I didn't want to waste good grit on her dumb beach glass) Why couldn't you use silica sand for your first grit?
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Post by Alice on Feb 28, 2005 21:40:02 GMT -5
Tom, thanks for answering. I'm just full of questions, aren't I My polish is a fine White powder and my prepolish is more of an off-white color (with a touch of beige). I suppose I could call up the Thumler's company and ask exactly what is in those Coarse, fine, prepolish, and polish packets. ... Thought it was pretty much standard for all tumblers. Guess I was wrong. The rocks I will be tumbling are rough emeralds, and it was suggested that I double the grit and tumble for 2 weeks or so for the first stage (but to check on them every once in a while). I just wonder if it's really necessary to double the grit right from the start, or if I'm better off just adding some more a few days to a week later. Would it even make a difference?
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Post by Cher on Feb 28, 2005 21:51:11 GMT -5
I wouldn't recommend using anything like that, it's best to use something that's made for use with stones. Check out www.therockshed.comThey have all the different grits you need in varying amounts at reasonable prices. They are also excellent to deal with, you can call them on the phone to place your order or ask questions. Talk to Shawn, he's very helpful. There are different things like graded and ungraded grit, but it's not necessary to use that, especially if you don't want to spend lots of $$$. Get some 60/90 for the first stage, 120/200 for the second stage, 500 for the third. Last is the polish though lots of members add a fourth stage of pre-polish. I have 1,000 grit for a fourth stage before I go to the polish. It all depends on how "perfect" you want your shine to be. Cher
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Post by Alice on Feb 28, 2005 23:23:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the link Cher and for your input. I will definately head over to the rock shed in a few weeks. Do they have an affiliate program which you are a mamber of? I'll gladly give you the business. Alice
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Post by Cher on Mar 1, 2005 1:08:48 GMT -5
You're very welcome Alice. I don't think they don't have an affiliate program but thank you for the offer. You will like dealing with them and don't forget to look for the little surprise in the box.
Cher
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Post by puppie96 on Mar 1, 2005 2:46:45 GMT -5
I'll hit a few points. No point in doubling up the grit. Won't make anything go faster. Ratio is about 4 TBSP to a 3lb. barrel for coarse (60/90). Wash it out after about a week, if it isn't gritty anymore. Ideally by then it should be a creamy consistency. If they aren't smooth yet, then start a new 60/90 cycle. No point in putting in extra the first time, that might even bog it down, if there's too much it tends to settle out and turn into a layer of sludge.
Polish is polish. Prepolish is a grit. My polish barrels only use polish. However, when I haven't had the extra barrel I've scrubbed the heck out of my regular barrels and polished in them with fine results.
The polishes you hear about the most are aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, tin oxide, titanium oxide. They drive you crazy with those proprietary products, not telling you what's in that container labeled "polish." Generally, I believe they are aluminum compounds. Aluminum oxide polish gets a bad rap frequently, but there are a variety of grades of it and some are supposed to be very good.
If you are going to go to the trouble of tumbling the rocks and have invested in the equipment, why take the chance of wasting your time and even messing up nice rocks (that you maybe even paid for!) by using some sort of makeshift product or sand instead of one of the standard grits? It's not like grit costs a lot of money, why not have some control over what you are doing? pup
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Post by creativeminded on Mar 1, 2005 9:49:20 GMT -5
When you use your grit look in your barrel after you have tumbled how ever long you want to and if you have alot of grit left over reduce the amount of grit you are using. I use 2 Tbsp in my lortone 3A which is a 2.5# tumbler. I was using 3 Tbsp and after 1 to 2 weeks of tumbling I found alot of grit still in the barrel so I reduced it and I have gotten great results. Tami
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Mar 1, 2005 10:56:05 GMT -5
Alice, I have used clear nail polish(better) and polyurathane on soft or porous rocks that did not shine well after tumbling and they look pretty good now. However, I know I am cheating... There are many diamond attachments and sandpapre for Dremels(for smoothing) and I doubt it would be hard to just put some wet polish onto any cloth attachment...should work just fine. Csroc
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Post by Alice on Mar 1, 2005 15:57:59 GMT -5
Wow, our kiddie tumbler's instructions say nothing about washing with soap between grits.
It just says that in between stages I should keep the rocks in the barrel, and run the rocks under water until the water is clear. then to empty out some water just so the water is just covering the rocks, then add more grit and tumble away again.
At polishing stage it says that we should still leave the rocks in the barrel, pour water in the barrel until it's clear, but to tumble them in water alone for 2 hours... afterwards run more water in the barrel until it's clear again, then put in the polish.
It pretty much says that the rocks sould never be taken out of the barrel until polishing is finished.
I've followed these instructions all this time.... would explain why the polish is never as shiney as some of the pictures I've seen.
Thanks everybody for helping me out. I'm waiting for my rocks to come in the mail... then I'll be tumbling in my brand new (yet to be plugged in) Thumler tumbler. Can't wait!
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