rdh1079
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2016
Posts: 11
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Post by rdh1079 on Aug 1, 2017 19:00:19 GMT -5
Well its taken well over a year to complete a single batch, apparently bringing home a newborn is not conducive to being productive, so had to close shop last summer.
Anyway, I am in the final stage on a batch and am rinsing the rocks and seeing only a matte finish. Feeling pretty disappointed, and would like any suggestions.
My setup and process:
Mixed load, mostly agate, jaspers, quartz.
I have a Lortone double barrel, for stage one and two, dedicated barrels.
I have a Lot O for stage three and four, also dedicated tubs.
Stage 1 ran for maybe a week and a half to two weeks
Stage 2 about the same. All rocks were smooth and rounded.
Stage 3 Pre-polish in the Lot-o ran for 24 hours with ceramic
Stage 4 Aluminum Oxide is just passed 24 hours with new ceramic
This morning I checked and the lid had come off in the night and the slurry was very dry, I dont know how long that had been that way and am wondering if that could have delayed the completion of the polish stage.
Any ideas? Thanks.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Aug 1, 2017 20:08:12 GMT -5
I'll see what I can do to help you out. You attempted to tell us exactly what you did, but you actually left out a lot of details, so I'll ask a few questions along the way.
The rocks you're attempting to polish should take a nice shine and they should be good to run together in the same load. You have very good equipment, so there's no problem there. I'd suggest that you use both Lortone barrels for stage one and do all the other stages in the Lot-O. Stage one usually takes much, much longer than two weeks. My first stage runs perpetually. Each week I open the barrel and inspect each rock. I remove any rocks that are completely smooth, no holes or cracks. I should mention right now that I'm a perfectionist, so I take my time with stage one to get rocks as close to perfect in the end. The also reduces the possibility of trapping grit in holes and accidentally transferring it to later stages. After removing any perfect rocks (the first ones usually take at least three weeks), I replace them with more rough rock to bring the barrel up to about 2/3 full. I do this week after week, so the first stage never ends, it just slowly produces rock that is set aside for other stages.
When you accumulate enough rock to fill your Lot-O, you can start stage two. I'd save one Lot-O barrel for polish and use the other barrel for all other stages. That's what I do. You didn't mention what grits you're using for all the other stages. "Prepolish" isn't very specific. "Aluminum oxide" is also not very specific, so I don't know what you've done. I'll tell you what I do in the Lot-O to get great results almost all the time.
Stage 2 (first stage in the Lot-O): Fill the barrel with about 2/3 or 3/4 rocks. Top off with ceramic media. The media can come almost all the way to the top of the barrel. Give it about an inch or so of space to move. Fill the barrel with water and then hold your hand over the top and tip as much water out as you can. Dry off the barrel to avoid rust on the base, put the barrel on the tumbler and plug it in. Slowly add two tablespoons of either 220 or 120/220 silicon carbide grit. Put the lid on and let it run for about an hour. To avoid having the lid pop off again, tie some large rubber bands together, hook one end on the knob on the bottom of the barrel, go over the top and hook the other end on. Large rocks can easily push the top off if you don't do this. After an hour, check the barrel. It should look shiny and wet, not dull and dry. It will probably be a little dry. If so, give it a few squirts of water from a squirt bottle. Continue checking about every eight hours, especially in the first stage. It will dry out more during the first stage because more rock dust is being produced. I check mine before bed, when I get up, and again after work. Expect to add some water, but do it slowly. You don't want water setting on the bottom of the barrel. Give it a squirt or two and then watch it. If it still looks dry give it another squirt and watch it again. You'll eventually get to know how much to add without so much watching, but for now, go very slowly. After two days, rinse everything off (nothing down the drain if you like your plumbing). Return the rocks and ceramic to the barrel and add 1 tablespoon of borax (find it in the laundry area of the grocery store) and about a quarter cup of water. I just pour in water until the action in the barrel slows a bit. Let this run for about half an hour to wash everything off really well and then rinse.
Stage 3: Do everything about the same as stage two, but add 1 tablespoon of borax to the barrel. This forms a better slurry to carry the grit around in this stage. Use 1/2 TEAspoon of 500 aluminum oxide grit. You could use 500 silicon carbide, but aluminum oxide is better at this stage. The ceramics can be moved along with the rocks all the way to the end. Let this run for 2 days and then do a clean out and wash as before. Your rocks should be pretty shiny by this time.
Stage 4 (optional): I always run a 1000 aluminum oxide stage, but you don't have to. I figure that it can't hurt and only takes two days. Do it just like stage 3, 1 tablespoon of borax and 1/2 teaspoon of 1000 AO. If you skip this stage then run stage 3 for three days rather than two.
Polish: I'm not sure what you were using for polish, but I like aluminum oxide polish from The Rock Shed. Do the same as the last stages. 1 tablespoon of borax and 1/2 teaspoon of AO polish for two days. Do the 1/2 hour wash at the end.
If you use this method, you will have consistently good rocks. If I wasn't clear about something, let me know. I'm sure I forgot some detail along the way. As for your dried out barrel, I'd squirt in some water until things are moving if you can and see what happens. I've had similar things happen with a lid popping off and it never seemed to hurt the rocks. If they've cemented together, you might not be able to get it going.
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Aug 11, 2017 9:12:01 GMT -5
If you ran for 24/48 hours with 1 tsp of 500AO + 1 tsp borax and then 1 tsp of 1,000AO + 1 tsp borax, then run them for a day with polish, I would be shocked if you can't get them shined up. Any time I have the lid come off (there are many clever ways to keep that bugger on), I just hit it with the mister bottle and let it run for another day, then move on. I know that many people will tell you not to use the same barrel for your different stages, but if you let the polish run until it is broken down (AO), there shouldn't be any reason you can't use one barrel. I only have one for my Lot-O, and I will run one batch from 110/220 all the way through polish with the same barrel. I may not get "perfect" stones, but it isn't because of grit residual. I'm not a geologist, nor a scientist, but in reading the boards over the past year or so, jamesp and others have helped me to build a much better understanding of the process. I would submit to you that you could almost run 46/70AO (sandblasting media) in your Lot-O for about a week, and if you made sure that it stayed wet, you would have a very nice polish by the end. I may just test that process this weekend. Take anything I say with a grain of salt, for sure, but I'll try to give that a shot, and I'll post results, pass or fail.
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