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Post by HankRocks on Feb 26, 2017 7:31:16 GMT -5
The shaping of the material went better, however the polish was not quite what I had been getting. Here's my steps.
stage 1 - Rotary - 46/70 + slurry for 10 days, recharged every 2 days. Last recharge was 2 days before cleanout. Actually ran 2 different batches to get enough for 2nd stage.
stage 2 - Rotary - 220 + slurry for 10 days, recharged once at 3 days and then run for 7.
Stage 3 - Vib - polish with 14,000 AO, ran for almost 75 hours and the finish was maybe 70-80% of previous runs using 80.
Only change I made to normal was 46/70 instead of 80. My guess is that I should have let the 46/70 run 3 or 4 days before cleanout instead of 2. Breakdown and cutting went longer and slightly deeper than the 80 and the 220 had too much work to do before it broke down. That or maybe extend my 220 run with another re-charge added.
on a slightly different note....
Getting ready to move 2 loads of my nemesis Ark Quartz to polish, letting the 220 run about 9 days after last re-charge and using plastic pellets.
H
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,182
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Post by jamesp on Feb 26, 2017 7:45:23 GMT -5
The shaping of the material went better, however the polish was not quite what I had been getting. Here's my steps. stage 1 - Rotary - 46/70 + slurry for 10 days, recharged every 2 days. Last recharge was 2 days before cleanout. Actually ran 2 different batches to get enough for 2nd stage. stage 2 - Rotary - 220 + slurry for 10 days, recharged once at 3 days and then run for 7. Stage 3 - Vib - polish with 14,000 AO, ran for almost 75 hours and the finish was maybe 70-80% of previous runs using 80. Only change I made to normal was 46/70 instead of 80. My guess is that I should have let the 46/70 run 3 or 4 days before cleanout instead of 2. Breakdown and cutting went longer and slightly deeper than the 80 and the 220 had too much work to do before it broke down. That or maybe extend my 220 run with another re-charge added. on a slightly different note.... Getting ready to move 2 loads of my nemesis Ark Quartz to polish, letting the 220 run about 9 days after last re-charge and using plastic pellets. H Sic 220 or AO 220 Henry ? SiC 220 to polish is a big jump. AO 220 to polish should be OK. I see your thinking about 3 days at 45/70. Flip coin ?
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Post by captbob on Feb 26, 2017 11:31:19 GMT -5
I'm thinking that your skipping too many steps Henry. Saving time/work at a cost.
Granted, I may run too many steps, I run - 46/70 (quit using 30 grit - it won't break down in my rubber lined barrels) 80 120/220 320 500 - adding Tripoli (700ish) in last half of 500 run - 500 may be Sic or AO depending on the rock 1000 AO 14,000
You asking 220 to fix 46/70 and for 14,000 to fix 220 may be expecting (hoping for) too much.
I'm gonna be trying James' AO 60 & 80 in some future batches to see if I can get rid of a few steps. Will see how that works.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 26, 2017 11:58:18 GMT -5
Hank, you could add more step and spend less time tumbling by moving to the vibe right after 46/70. I would run the 46/70 for a full week to get al the grinding I could out of it and also make sure it broke down more before moving to the next step. I just do weekly clean outs with no recharging.
After 46/70, I'd go right to the vibe to do 120/220 SC for two days. I also do two days in 500AO, two days in 1000AO, and two days in AO polish.
Besides saving time in the vibe, you'll also save a lot of grit.
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Post by HankRocks on Feb 26, 2017 21:31:37 GMT -5
220 SiC
I would agree that jumping from 220 to polish seems to be a big step, the only thing is that it has worked for me in the past several batches. Going on the theory that the 220 starts to break down to finer grit and is giving me my pre-polish. Maybe doing a re-charge of 220 to give it extra time to fix the 46/70 scratches, or wait a day or two longer at the end of the 46/70 to where it breaks down and starts fixing it's own scratches.
The AO approach is tempting and it' probably in my future.
I only have one barrel for my UV-18 so I reserve it for polish, All other tumbling stages in the Rotary.
Thanks for the feedback
Hank
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,182
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Post by jamesp on Feb 27, 2017 6:41:49 GMT -5
I loose the SiC after the coarse run. IMO SiC is only good for removing 1/8" to 1/4", more in some cases. The rest is all about finish, removing less than 1/64" to a polish. AO is the choice for finish, that is what it does well.
Rocks have the deepest pits/scratches about 4-6 hours after adding fresh SiC 30-46-60 if slurry is dialed in.(pull some rocks and look sometime). In my case SiC 30. The AO 80 (or AO 22) is plenty coarse enough to remove 6 hour SiC 30 pits/scratches and then take the finish to 1000 to 3000.
Once the PIA SiC 30 additions and slurry management is done the rocks are shaped it is all down hill. AO 80, 75% full, no slurry to hassle with, no media, walk away 10 days, BOOM ! Ready for polish.
I spend little time at my tumblers.
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