richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Sept 26, 2016 13:56:30 GMT -5
I would like to get suggestions about how to tumble this petrified wood that I collected from the banks of the San Jacinto River near Houston, TX. (Thanks TXrockhound!) So far I haven’t ever completed a tumble with pet wood. It seems like the stuff never smooths out and I was starting to think that was just how pet wood is. Then I saw some photos from Garagerocker and a couple of others on this site with some beautifully smooth pet wood which got me thinking. I don’t know if results like I have seen from others are even possible from the material I have now but I definitely want these to look as good as I can get them. I don’t want to spend over a month in my limited tumbler space trying to totally smooth these if they are unlikely to ever get there. After talking with JamesP I am planning on starting out with 3tbsp of 30 grit SiC and 2tbsp of clay based cat litter for a thicker slurry. I am using a 3lb Harbor Freight tumbler. I did try to cut some of the material with my tile saw and what I noticed was that the material is very prone to flaking off large shards of material along the apparent wood grain. Anyway, here’s what I’m working with:
|
|
ChicagoDave
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2016
Posts: 720
|
Post by ChicagoDave on Sept 26, 2016 14:16:40 GMT -5
Sorry I can't offer any advice on tumbling this material, but I'm replying so I can watch the progress. A majority of these pieces look like they will be ready in the near future since they seem well shaped.
|
|
|
Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 26, 2016 14:21:35 GMT -5
Pet wood will round out and take a nice polish, it just takes a little while. Some pieces will tumble better than others. Let me know how the Sic 30 works in that little barrel. I'm finding it's more difficult to break it down in my 12 lb. (rubber, not PVC) barrel.
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Sept 26, 2016 14:30:35 GMT -5
Pet wood will round out and take a nice polish, it just takes a little while. Some pieces will tumble better than others. Let me know how the Sic 30 works in that little barrel. I'm finding it's more difficult to break it down in my 12 lb. (rubber, not PVC) barrel. So far it hasn't gone so great in the 3lb barrel. With the 46-70 it was usually broken down in 3 days. With the 30 I am still seeing some large particles after a week. Only 10-15% remain after a week but it is taking a lot longer. I hope the thicker slurry from the cat litter will help. I don't know how much to put in so I just started with 2tbsp. Will see how that goes and report back.
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,688
|
Post by Fossilman on Sept 26, 2016 16:53:31 GMT -5
When I tumble petwood,I do it in two week cycles per grit change...........Mine will take a month and a half to complete..... They come great everytime.....
|
|
stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
|
Post by stonedape on Sept 28, 2016 10:06:31 GMT -5
That pet looks great. Are you putting all of them in the 3lb tumbler? Also do you have any smaller media to help distribute the grit(is that what the cat litter is for?) Im a newb but when I added airsoft pellets (I have now gone to tile spacers as they are cheaper) it really progressed the shaping faster. I have recently bought pea gravel $4.00 for what seems to be over 20 lbs.
I look forward to seeing your updates!
|
|
richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
|
Post by richardh on Sept 28, 2016 15:10:12 GMT -5
All of it went in the 3lb barrel save for the two largest pieces. No smaller media or any smalls of any kind. Hopefully the cat litter will take the place of smalls.
I checked the tumbler this afternoon after two days of rolling. The slurry is way thicker than I have ever had before and the cat litter does seem to be holding the grit against the rocks. Every rock that I pulled out of the barrel had lots of coarse grit particles stuck to it by the slurry.
I’m not sure how the cleanout will be interesting when the time comes. I did notice a lot of foam when I opened the barrel which I am not used to seeing. Can’t tell yet if it is grinding faster yet or not but so far things look promising.
|
|