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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 11, 2017 9:04:58 GMT -5
Not my favorite part of the hobby but a few times a year I bust up more rocks to tumble. Usually there are more end cuts but I have slowed down on slabbing so most of this was just nodules too big to tumble. I create a barrier to keep all the pieces contained. I use a 1" thick steel plate to protect my concrete. Safety glasses not shown but are req'd. The victims The mess After washing Thanks for looking Chuck
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 11, 2017 9:09:45 GMT -5
Ended up with 12 pounds of pudding stone and 37 pounds of mixed rock.
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Post by fernwood on Sept 11, 2017 10:14:48 GMT -5
Great system. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by fantastic5 on Sept 11, 2017 10:26:28 GMT -5
Nice system, but even with the containment, it looks like a bit of a clean up job. I see why you limit how many times a year you do that. How about putting a tarp down? Might save sweeping/vacuuming all the sharp little shards.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 11, 2017 11:42:38 GMT -5
Nice system, but even with the containment, it looks like a bit of a clean up job. I see why you limit how many times a year you do that. How about putting a tarp down? Might save sweeping/vacuuming all the sharp little shards. Thanks, Clean up is not bad at all. Just a quick sweep. A tarp would work but the steel plate bounces a bit and rock fragments get under it so I think the tarp would get torn up after one use. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 11, 2017 16:54:26 GMT -5
I thought you had Andrew trained to do that. Is he protecting his bowling hands?
Do you keep some small fragments for smalls in the load, or do you just keep the tumbling size pieces?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 11, 2017 17:24:44 GMT -5
I thought you had Andrew trained to do that. Is he protecting his bowling hands? Do you keep some small fragments for smalls in the load, or do you just keep the tumbling size pieces? Good question. I do not keep anything small unless I think it will actually produce a finished piece. I do not use any sacrificial fillers like pea gravel etc. Chuck
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Post by orrum on Sept 11, 2017 18:46:02 GMT -5
Yep it scattered like a covey of quail .
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 11, 2017 18:54:27 GMT -5
I thought you had Andrew trained to do that. Is he protecting his bowling hands? Do you keep some small fragments for smalls in the load, or do you just keep the tumbling size pieces? Good question. I do not keep anything small unless I think it will actually produce a finished piece. I do not use any sacrificial fillers like pea gravel etc. Chuck I do tend to keep the small stuff from my breakdown and saw sessions. Not the dust, but everything that would be ceramics size. That gets tumbled as smalls and the ones that don't grind away to nothing, if they catch my eye, will make it into a Tupperware of polished smalls, eventually. I have one medium size container that holds a miniature representation of just about every type of rock I've tumbled. People seem to like to run their hands through the tiny tumbles, too.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 11, 2017 19:05:30 GMT -5
Good question. I do not keep anything small unless I think it will actually produce a finished piece. I do not use any sacrificial fillers like pea gravel etc. Chuck I do tend to keep the small stuff from my breakdown and saw sessions. Not the dust, but everything that would be ceramics size. That gets tumbled as smalls and the ones that don't grind away to nothing, if they catch my eye, will make it into a Tupperware of polished smalls, eventually. I have one medium size container that holds a miniature representation of just about every type of rock I've tumbled. People seem to like to run their hands through the tiny tumbles, too. My logic behind it is that when I do my sorting I do not want to have to sort through tiny rocks that I do not plan to keep. I absolutely hate sorting small rocks. I did purchase a few pounds of really small lakers and used them for smalls awhile ago but even those are pretty much worthless after they were done. Not much demand for shiny 1/8"-3/16" diameter rocks. Need a few hundred little lakers? Chuck
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 11, 2017 19:20:21 GMT -5
I do tend to keep the small stuff from my breakdown and saw sessions. Not the dust, but everything that would be ceramics size. That gets tumbled as smalls and the ones that don't grind away to nothing, if they catch my eye, will make it into a Tupperware of polished smalls, eventually. I have one medium size container that holds a miniature representation of just about every type of rock I've tumbled. People seem to like to run their hands through the tiny tumbles, too. My logic behind it is that when I do my sorting I do not want to have to sort through tiny rocks that I do not plan to keep. I absolutely hate sorting small rocks. I did purchase a few pounds of really small lakers and used them for smalls awhile ago but even those are pretty much worthless after they were done. Not much demand for shiny 1/8"-3/16" diameter rocks. Need a few hundred little lakers? Chuck Turn that photo into a jigsaw puzzle, number one. It would be a tough one. Secondly, you would be surprised at the demand for anything, when it's free. I've given away plenty of those in little bags. I'll figure a use for the rest, one day. What do you use for smalls in your rotary, if not small rocks? When I get to the bottom of my barrel, I just scoop a handful of these little ones and take a glance. If something catches my eye, I'll save it. Mostly they just roll through until gone. They don't serve much purpose, especially for someone that doesn't sell, but I kinda like them.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 11, 2017 19:35:15 GMT -5
My logic behind it is that when I do my sorting I do not want to have to sort through tiny rocks that I do not plan to keep. I absolutely hate sorting small rocks. I did purchase a few pounds of really small lakers and used them for smalls awhile ago but even those are pretty much worthless after they were done. Not much demand for shiny 1/8"-3/16" diameter rocks. Need a few hundred little lakers? Chuck Turn that photo into a jigsaw puzzle, number one. It would be a tough one. Secondly, you would be surprised at the demand for anything, when it's free. I've given away plenty of those in little bags. I'll figure a use for the rest, one day. What do you use for smalls in your rotary, if not small rocks? When I get to the bottom of my barrel, I just scoop a handful of these little ones and take a glance. If something catches my eye, I'll save it. Mostly they just roll through until gone. They don't serve much purpose, especially for someone that doesn't sell, but I kinda like them. The only smalls in my stage one are pudding stones when I have them that small. Mostly the ones we find on walks in the dirt road gravels. Those all get used. No waste with those. Other then that I don't use much else for smalls. I realize I am in the minority on this subject. Chuck
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Post by wigglinrocks on Sept 11, 2017 20:32:35 GMT -5
Not my favorite part of the game either but it sure takes out some frustrations , sometimes too many . Then it is start over and make more tumble material . Think the craft people or the healing rock types might be interested in the tiny agates .
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Post by orrum on Sept 12, 2017 6:33:13 GMT -5
LOL Chuck! Little lakers!!!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 12, 2017 6:36:34 GMT -5
LOL Chuck! Little lakers!!! Believe it or not there are some really cool lakers in there. Need to do micro photography to pick up all the details in rocks that small though. Someone spent a whole lot of time picking searching and picking up that many of those little buggers. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 12, 2017 7:20:24 GMT -5
I absolutely hate sorting small rocks. I Chuck When you came to visit and pick rocks here this spring, you brought me a very nice gift of some small carnelians. I really appreciated it. I've appreciated them less since I've been tumbling them. I'm sure they're going to be awesome when they're done but, boy, do they take the time to inspect. Now I know the truth. You were just unloading them on me so you wouldn't have to sort through any more. How many pounds of those things did you tumble? It was a lot, wasn't it?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 12, 2017 7:26:43 GMT -5
I absolutely hate sorting small rocks. I Chuck When you came to visit and pick rocks here this spring, you brought me a very nice gift of some small carnelians. I really appreciated it. I've appreciated them less since I've been tumbling them. I'm sure they're going to be awesome when they're done but, boy, do they take the time to inspect. Now I know the truth. You were just unloading them on me so you wouldn't have to sort through any more. How many pounds of those things did you tumble? It was a lot, wasn't it? I think I had 17 pounds. Cant imagine how many rocks that would be. That is the pain in the butt I was talking about. I think I gave you the last of them. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 12, 2017 7:43:24 GMT -5
When you came to visit and pick rocks here this spring, you brought me a very nice gift of some small carnelians. I really appreciated it. I've appreciated them less since I've been tumbling them. I'm sure they're going to be awesome when they're done but, boy, do they take the time to inspect. Now I know the truth. You were just unloading them on me so you wouldn't have to sort through any more. How many pounds of those things did you tumble? It was a lot, wasn't it? I think I had 17 pounds. Cant imagine how many rocks that would be. That is the pain in the butt I was talking about. I think I gave you the last of them. Chuck I do appreciate it, I just dread opening that little barrel. I'm finally starting to remove a few, so the pile gets smaller each week.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 12, 2017 9:39:58 GMT -5
I think I had 17 pounds. Cant imagine how many rocks that would be. That is the pain in the butt I was talking about. I think I gave you the last of them. Chuck I do appreciate it, I just dread opening that little barrel. I'm finally starting to remove a few, so the pile gets smaller each week. A little inspiration to keep you going. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/76993/353-carnelian-agatesChuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 12, 2017 13:52:40 GMT -5
That just inspired me to avoid using photobucket. I remember that they looked great though.
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