Post by taylor on May 8, 2018 0:30:16 GMT -5
Thank you jamesp.
We wiped the affected barrel out with acetone after we discovered the offending sticky goo and then rinsed it and the lid thoroughly with water. So I don't believe we have damaged the barrel--time will tell. No, we did not roll with acetone--I minded adave's advice, then I found the very same rubber compatibility chart that you have posted, and decided not to risk damage to the barrel.
In the meanwhile we have had a motor failure, so the sticky rocks will sit until either we get a new motor in or the other tumbler is available. The plan is to re-run the sticky ones with 600 grit and the clean ones will go on to polish.
Our tumble process is quite simple--stones, water, and grit. Sometimes we will add plastic pellets if a barrel isn't full enough. Pellets are reused only with the same grit type to prevent contamination. However, no pellets were used with this load. We burnish/clean with shaved Ivory soap before and after polish. No borax. Lots of rinse water. The barrel and lid used for this load don't look or feel any different than the other two barrels running at the same time but with hard stones. This batch didn't have any issues until this stage--clean with ivory soap before polish. I think he started the roll in the evening and we found the sticky goo the next day when preparing to change to polish--so less than 24 hours roll time with soap. My conclusion is that the soap reacted with something in the load. Yes, its a very mixed batch, but all are of soft hardness. Most of the time we have at least one barrel running the trimmings from cabbing, so the wide variety of materials in one load isn't a new thing. What is different are the few "new to us" materials that we picked up at this year's gem show and the unknowns from the retirement gravel. I don't think the goo is rubber--a long time ago we had a very old, very used barrel lid disintegrate. It looks more like a mixture of residual grit (600) and something sticky--hopefully soap scum.
I will update again once we re-run the sticky ones. Many thanks for every one's suggestions!
We wiped the affected barrel out with acetone after we discovered the offending sticky goo and then rinsed it and the lid thoroughly with water. So I don't believe we have damaged the barrel--time will tell. No, we did not roll with acetone--I minded adave's advice, then I found the very same rubber compatibility chart that you have posted, and decided not to risk damage to the barrel.
In the meanwhile we have had a motor failure, so the sticky rocks will sit until either we get a new motor in or the other tumbler is available. The plan is to re-run the sticky ones with 600 grit and the clean ones will go on to polish.
Our tumble process is quite simple--stones, water, and grit. Sometimes we will add plastic pellets if a barrel isn't full enough. Pellets are reused only with the same grit type to prevent contamination. However, no pellets were used with this load. We burnish/clean with shaved Ivory soap before and after polish. No borax. Lots of rinse water. The barrel and lid used for this load don't look or feel any different than the other two barrels running at the same time but with hard stones. This batch didn't have any issues until this stage--clean with ivory soap before polish. I think he started the roll in the evening and we found the sticky goo the next day when preparing to change to polish--so less than 24 hours roll time with soap. My conclusion is that the soap reacted with something in the load. Yes, its a very mixed batch, but all are of soft hardness. Most of the time we have at least one barrel running the trimmings from cabbing, so the wide variety of materials in one load isn't a new thing. What is different are the few "new to us" materials that we picked up at this year's gem show and the unknowns from the retirement gravel. I don't think the goo is rubber--a long time ago we had a very old, very used barrel lid disintegrate. It looks more like a mixture of residual grit (600) and something sticky--hopefully soap scum.
I will update again once we re-run the sticky ones. Many thanks for every one's suggestions!