rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 5, 2012 1:15:59 GMT -5
Hi, y'all - I was looking around for a vibe tumbler and happened across a site that offered titanium Oxide polish. Has anyone here used this and how does it compare with, say, cerium or tin oxide? Rick
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Post by parfive on Jul 5, 2012 2:14:38 GMT -5
Titanium dioxide is the standard polish packaged with Thumler’s tumblers. Worked fine for me – biggest problem would be if you let it dry in any cracks or pits left in the rocks.
Can’t go wrong with good old aluminum oxide from The Rock Shed. Cheap, and works just fine on most everything.
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 5, 2012 18:38:37 GMT -5
I was looking to use it with a vibe lap. I tried AlO but it didn't work in the lap. Might have been a problem I was having with end play in the motor, though. Might try TiO2 with a leather polish wheel, though. I got a pretty good shine with the Thumler's on a spinning lap felt disk. Thanks, Rick
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Jul 12, 2012 11:20:15 GMT -5
Use tin oxide for your vibe. I use titanium dioxide in my rotaries, it does a great job, but is messy and hard to handle. Tin oxide would probably do a better job, but it is too expensive for a rotary. Since you only need a small amount for a vibe tin oxide is affordable for a vibe. Until cerium became so expensive that was my polish of choice for rotary.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 12, 2012 11:40:39 GMT -5
Or try a finer (.3 micron or finer) aluminum. They work much better in vibes than the aluminum (3-4 micron) marketed as tumbler polish. Krystee had pretty good results on her Ob tutorial.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jul 18, 2012 10:19:46 GMT -5
I like titanium. It does tend to stain cracks and pits (a 24 hour Borax run cleans it right up).
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