stelobod
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2018
Posts: 6
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Post by stelobod on Aug 8, 2018 13:14:58 GMT -5
This is my continuance. Okay, so to try out the brand new bowl, I selected to use a mix of labradorite, moonstone, and sodalite that had been tumbled together in rotary and ready for polish. It's a small batch so mixed with a lot of plastic pellets and the polish. The result was not nearly as bad as the 1st bowl, but still too, in my opinion, banged up. Here are 2 pics: This one with a flash, the next without. So.....my questions are: Am I doing something wrong? Has anyone else used this tumbler and have similar issues/use this tumbler and NOT have similar problems? Is this just an inferior tumbler (cheap)? Any help, advice, admonishing, etc. is welcome and I thank all of you whom have endured this LONG ramble, even if just for laughs!!
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unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
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Post by unclesoska on Aug 8, 2018 17:03:32 GMT -5
Plastic pellets are used in the rotary, not a vibe. You'll need either ceramic pieces or a bunch of small polished rocks for your vibe. You also need to have the total volume of rocks and ceramics/smalls near the top of the bowl,(within a 1/4", otherwise there's too much room for them to bang around.
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stelobod
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2018
Posts: 6
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Post by stelobod on Aug 9, 2018 20:28:39 GMT -5
Thanks. But the directions explicitly say no ceramics. Should I use them anyway?
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unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
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Post by unclesoska on Aug 9, 2018 22:53:43 GMT -5
The stones you're tumbling are softer than ones I've tumbled. You may want a second opinion. You can also do a search on this topic, it's been covered before.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Aug 10, 2018 0:11:00 GMT -5
This is my continuance. Okay, so to try out the brand new bowl, I selected to use a mix of labradorite, moonstone, and sodalite that had been tumbled together in rotary and ready for polish. It's a small batch so mixed with a lot of plastic pellets and the polish. The result was not nearly as bad as the 1st bowl, but still too, in my opinion, banged up. Here are 2 pics: This one with a flash, the next without. So.....my questions are: Am I doing something wrong? Has anyone else used this tumbler and have similar issues/use this tumbler and NOT have similar problems? Is this just an inferior tumbler (cheap)? Any help, advice, admonishing, etc. is welcome and I thank all of you whom have endured this LONG ramble, even if just for laughs!! First of all, your TV-5 bowls look fine.....I use the very same bowls with a more powerful vibe unit and with ceramics........over time your bowls will show much more wear, it's normal..........I have found the TV-5 bowls to be the most durable for this type of vibe tumbling (been through a few other types). Also, the Raytech unit is a decent middle of the road vibe tumbler. Given it's size and milder vibe action, not many who have them complain about problems. It has a very long standing history of success.
Maybe using your vibe with ceramics (1/4"x5/8" Angular, 5/32"x5/16" Angular), the proper type of grits (120-220 Sic, 3F-400 Sic, 600 Graded Sic, 8F-800 Sic), polishes (1000 AO, Covington Gold, Cerium Oxide) specifically for vibrators and keeping the bowl at least 3/4 full (through all stages) with stones and media will make a difference.........the biggest challenge with vibes is maintaining a good slurring consistency.........it takes practice and time. I use a thickening agent called Old Miser with all 120/220 and 400/500 grits. Really do not need it for anything higher or polish applications.........one nice thing about this type of tumbling, all is not lost if your mix does not turn out proper. It's easy to dump and start over without to much mess or hassle if the batch is not working out (specifically intended for to much water issues, a lot easier than trying to thicken with more media)......not enough water is an obvious fix, add more in very small increments.
Hope this helps a little.... Just Remember..........it takes time and practice and we all have had productive and humbling learning curve experiences. Also..........I prefer to run all of my rough 60/90 stages through the standard rotary type tumbler first......then move onto the vibe for the 120/220 and higher polishing stages........really makes a big difference and saves time with better end results.
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