Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Dec 26, 2016 13:37:36 GMT -5
My Next Wife collects a handfull of interesting rocks everytime we get out to the river or visit the mountains. Coincidentally I have been interested in Rock Tumbling ever since my buddy was tumbling rocks back in the early 70's. So I bought us a small Lortone 3A rotary tumbler for Christmas. I had actually thought this was a larger machine and was surprised to see it had a 4.5 inch tumbling barrel, probably not a problem because our rock hunting goes fairly slow since we only keep the Good Stuff. On Christmas day we went out to a fast flowing creek/river nearby and picked out a buncha new rocks so I would have a coupla months of rock rolling ahead of me. We also found some 1/2 inch thick glass that was broken up into some interesting shapes, so we got a load of that too.
My 3A tumbler barrel rotates once every second so it's a fairly fast 60 rpm. I added some small Pea Gravel and some 80 grit plus some of the best looking rocks and some glass from our river outing. With water it was about 60% full. I opened it 24 hours later and it looks like it is progressing nicely. Sealed it back up and put it back on to go for 7 days straight this time. This is my first tumble and I'm anxious to see some results. This website has been very helpful to this Newby . . . Thanks
I will post my progress . . .
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napoleonrags
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2015
Posts: 474
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Post by napoleonrags on Dec 26, 2016 13:44:59 GMT -5
Wonderful Christmas activity. Welcome and have fun.
Colin
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 26, 2016 13:53:02 GMT -5
Glad to hear you got it rolling right away. That's the way to do it! I usually fill my barrel 2/3 to 3/4 full. I use 4 oz. of water.
If you have glass in there, keep an eye on the bottom of the barrel to make sure it's not bulging out. Glass can give off gas and can cause problems if too much pressure builds up.
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Post by wigglinrocks on Dec 26, 2016 13:53:43 GMT -5
Keep an eye on the barrel for signs of gas buildup from the glass , such as bulging .
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Dec 26, 2016 13:57:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the Tip on the glass gassing. Only a coupla small pieces in this load, but I will be doing a full load of that 1/2 inch glass eventually.
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Post by pghram on Dec 26, 2016 15:21:35 GMT -5
Welcome.
Peace,
Rich
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vera
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 259
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Post by vera on Dec 30, 2016 16:54:24 GMT -5
Very cool that you got yours up and going so quickly. Can hardly wait to see the pics. Getting the creek rocks was a great idea to speed the process along.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Dec 30, 2016 18:56:21 GMT -5
Yes I had rocks tumbling dry all night the first night it was delivered just so I could see it working. Dry rocks are much louder than wet rocks. Got my Photobucket account sorted out today and will make sure to post my progress.
I opened the barrel up yesterday and checked it all out after rolling for 4 days. Looking good so far. Four pieces were rounded enough to remove for the next stage, 2 of those were glass. The grit seemed to be completely gone, none in the slurry or in the bottom of the container. I poured it all back into the barrel and added some more course grit and it will run 4 more days before I check it again for a total of 8 days rolling.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 3, 2017 8:12:24 GMT -5
I opened up the barrel for the second time after 8 total days tumbling. Here is a picture of the larger better pieces. I didn't realize there would be so much reduction in the material, so I decided to start a new batch in the course stage for 8 days, then combine it all for another course stage next week. It is interesting that my Course Grit completely disappears after only 4 days of rolling. I added some pennies to it all for the last 4 days. It is interesting how the tumbling brought out all the highlights on the coins during this course stage.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 3, 2017 9:03:50 GMT -5
Those are coming along nicely, you'll notice the biggest change in the first week as the really sharp corners get worn off. But you rocks will continue to lose volume every week. Instead of starting a whole new batch of rocks, I just add some fresh rocks to the rocks that are paratially tumbled. Eventually, you'll be able to start removing a few rocks each week as they finish. They won't all get done at the same time.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 17, 2017 16:42:00 GMT -5
So I have run the 1st course stage 3 times and finally have enough stones to move onto the 2nd 220 grit stage, some of these could be smoother but I am anxious to get some results. Here are the bigger nicer rocks that have just started their 2nd stage tumble. They were cleaned considerably before starting the next stage of their life. A friend gave me an Apache Tear that I added along with these stones to roll in the 220 grit.
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vera
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 259
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Post by vera on Jan 20, 2017 16:25:48 GMT -5
I remember how difficult it was to wait for what seemed like forever to get the rocks tumbled to smooth perfection when I first began tumbling rocks. It is fun just to get some finished up as quickly as possible. I do not know if I have just gotten older and more patient or am the perfectionist my kids accuse me of being, but I prefer to go for the long haul and tumble them to completely smooth for a pit-free polished rock.
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Post by tims on Jan 21, 2017 22:15:12 GMT -5
Can't blame you for wanting to get through the first batch. It's kind of like waiting for xmas, except xmas doesn't keep getting pushed back in 7-day intervals. You can always keep the ones that suit you and throw the others back in on later runs.
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osuguy0301
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 203
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Post by osuguy0301 on Jan 22, 2017 7:22:27 GMT -5
Patience is really hard in the beginning, the anticipation kills you. When I got my tumbler last Christmas, I was on break from work and I would go to my garage and just watch it spin like 3 or 4 times a day. Now I just fill it and check in on it about every other day to make sure its still rolling alright and there isn't a leak or something. Some members on this board are perfectionists when it comes to their rocks, no pits, cracks, or divots and they look fantastic when they are done. But, they often spin in the first stage for months. I have patience but not that much. I don't mind a few flaws as long as they aren't bad. I have a few different buckets around that have rocks that have been tossed out waiting for another run. Now that I have a Loto and my rotary is for coarse grind only, I will probably be more selective. I just bought my Loto so I was anxious to run it and moved through some rocks that should have stayed another couple weeks in coarse grind. Its all really about what you like. Once you get your first batch done, you will see rocks that should have stayed more time in the coarse grind and ones that look great, its all part of the learning experience.
If you wanna see anxious, try doing some tumbling with a class of 30 8th graders. The batch we are running now has been going since Dec. 5th and spent 6 weeks in the coarse grind. We just finally moved it to the 500 stage Friday. Every week they ask, "is it done yet?"
Jake
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 22, 2017 9:02:19 GMT -5
Apparently I am much more interested in Rock Tumbling than I thought, and it's a lot cheaper than my other hobbies. I am totally planning to add a Lortone QT-66 Dual 6 pound barrels to be running alongside the smaller 3A tumbler plus I already have a second barrel for the 3A just for the Polish stage 4. Have a table picked out that has plenty of shelfs for the various elements needed for good results.
Yes I understand about the patience, It's a hobby that runs in Slow Motion. I did push a few Rough rocks through to the 2nd Stage too soon but there are also many pieces that are perfect in that batch too. Today is the 8th day in 220 grit and I'm moving everything through to the 3rd Stage 500 grit later today.
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osuguy0301
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 203
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Post by osuguy0301 on Jan 22, 2017 10:14:04 GMT -5
I bought a QT66 right before Christmas. I have been running it non-stop for about 6 weeks doing nothing but 60/90 in it and its amazing. If you run coarse in the QT66 and then the other stages in your 3A, you will constantly have them running. Can't wait to see your results!
Jake
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 22, 2017 11:25:00 GMT -5
So , I have 2 barrels for my tumbler. I plan to use one for the course stage and the other one for the polish stage. Should I switch barrels before stage 3, or before stage 4 ?
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osuguy0301
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 203
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Post by osuguy0301 on Jan 22, 2017 13:06:48 GMT -5
Stage 4...the other 3 can run in the same barrel with clean outs, leave one barrel for polish only
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 22, 2017 13:08:06 GMT -5
OK I did change from 220 grit to 500 grit today. Here are my fairly unimpressive rocks after cleaning from stage 2. Some of them are starting to look really good. On the top left is an Apache Tear. There is also some Glass in there, and all of my small stuff too including marbles and pennies. looking forward to finishing this step . . .
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,426
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 29, 2017 17:41:19 GMT -5
It's Sunday so it's Rock Day. Went from stage 3 500grit to Stage 4 1200grit polish. Getting excited to be coming to the end of the process. Filtered out the slurry and sprayed the rocks off in a colander. Washed them off twice by tumbling the stones in a barrel full of water and spraying them off. Placed the stones in a new unused barrel that I purchased separately for the polish stage. Added some plastic pellets and 6 tablespoons of AO 1200 plus enough water to almost cover the stones. The new barrel will roll for 7 days till next Sunday. I don't notice much change from a week ago after the 220grit. A few of the pieces are starting to really look good, the Apache Tear is on the lower right corner. This is the entire contents of the barrel minus the plastic pellets, and it was all passed on to the next stage.
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