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Post by miket on Jan 23, 2019 10:30:02 GMT -5
Oooh, I like the tile spacers idea. Redid a floor in the house a couple of years ago and I have some just laying around. Now, if I could only find them! Just know that plastic tile spacers don't float. That makes cleanout a pain. While they may accomplish the same as plastic pellets designed for tumbling, the fact that the pellets float are a distinct advantage. You can use the tile spacers if you like; I choose not to. I suppose that's a good point. 'Course the pea gravel and ceramics that I've used don't float either. Maybe I'll give it a shot. That's one good thing about being new at something, you don't really know what works or doesn't work the way you want until you try!
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don
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 9
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Post by don on Jan 23, 2019 17:23:47 GMT -5
Re rotary tumbling:
1) I have read about the benefits of pea gravel, ceramics and plastic beads. Has anyone tried a little of all three at the same time - for the first two stages? Ceramics and plastic at stage 3?
2) Does anyone use a little mineral oil or Armor All as a finishing touch?
3) For the using tiles - do you use plastic or ceramic tiles?
Thanks for you help
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 23, 2019 17:29:47 GMT -5
Re rotary tumbling: 1) I have read about the benefits of pea gravel, ceramics and plastic beads. Has anyone tried a little of all three at the same time - for the first two stages? Ceramics and plastic at stage 3? 2) Does anyone use a little mineral oil or Armor All as a finishing touch? 3) For the using tiles - do you use plastic or ceramic tiles? Thanks for you help In my opinion, any sort of oil or other coating is cheating. It’s also not necessary. I do almost all of my finishing steps in a Lot-O, so I use ceramics. I have done a few batches in a rotary where I used plastic. I’d like to try a load in a rotary with ceramics some day though. I hate using plastic beads, so if I could get ceramics to work well in a rotary that’s what I would use.
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Post by aDave on Jan 23, 2019 19:54:39 GMT -5
Re rotary tumbling: 1) I have read about the benefits of pea gravel, ceramics and plastic beads. Has anyone tried a little of all three at the same time - for the first two stages? Ceramics and plastic at stage 3? 2) Does anyone use a little mineral oil or Armor All as a finishing touch? 3) For the using tiles - do you use plastic or ceramic tiles? Thanks for you help Even though I'm an advocate and user of plastic pellets, they are never used in the first stage. I don't want to hinder any of the coarse stage grind by cushioning. I do use plastic in the remaining stages. I started to use them to make up volume when I first started tumbling, but I just got in the habit of continually using them to help safeguard against chips and fractures through the remainder of the run. I could choose to use ceramics for that same purpose, but I don't want to "waste" grit by the ceramics grinding it away. Plastic won't use up grit - only the rocks will, and they are the "target" of what I'm trying to accomplish. You could, theoretically, use ceramics or quartz gravel in the first stage, but if you balance your load correctly in terms of smalls and larger material, there isn't really a need. As far as Armorall or oil, I'm with Jugglerguy in his opinion. If all goes well, it's not necessary. And, pertaining to your last question, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.
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Post by miket on Jan 24, 2019 10:17:58 GMT -5
Re rotary tumbling: 1) I have read about the benefits of pea gravel, ceramics and plastic beads. Has anyone tried a little of all three at the same time - for the first two stages? Ceramics and plastic at stage 3? 2) Does anyone use a little mineral oil or Armor All as a finishing touch? 3) For the using tiles - do you use plastic or ceramic tiles? Thanks for you help Even though I'm an advocate and user of plastic pellets, they are never used in the first stage. I don't want to hinder any of the coarse stage grind by cushioning. I do use plastic in the remaining stages. I started to use them to make up volume when I first started tumbling, but I just got in the habit of continually using them to help safeguard against chips and fractures through the remainder of the run. I could choose to use ceramics for that same purpose, but I don't want to "waste" grit by the ceramics grinding it away. Plastic won't use up grit - only the rocks will, and they are the "target" of what I'm trying to accomplish. You could, theoretically, use ceramics or quartz gravel in the first stage, but if you balance your load correctly in terms of smalls and larger material, there isn't really a need. As far as Armorall or oil, I'm with Jugglerguy in his opinion. If all goes well, it's not necessary. And, pertaining to your last question, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. I'm thinking he may have misunderstood about the tile spacers and thought everyone meant tile?
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