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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 5, 2018 15:34:45 GMT -5
The only hand work I do on my tumbles comes right near the very end of stage one. Nice rocks that are close to done but still have a bad spot or two will go to the grinder. Chuck Regular old benchtop grinder with a SiC grinding wheel? Never even thought of that if that's what you're using. Sometimes I miss the obvious. Sure would seem to be alot easier than breaking out the tile saw. Just would have to use a respirator. I have been spoiled. As soon as I got into the hobby I ran across a Lortone lu6x on craigslist for $50. It is an awesome tumbling rig with the trim saw and 80 grit diamond wheel right next to each other. It was in horrible shape when I got it but after a quick refurb it has been my go to piece of machinery for cabbing preforms and tumble grinding. This link is from back when I did the original restoration forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/54828This is a current pictures 6 year after the restoration Chuck
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 9, 2018 1:18:47 GMT -5
It all looks great, but those Montana agates are going to be spectacular!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Nov 10, 2018 5:54:43 GMT -5
I'm always impressed with the uniform tumbling size pieces you end up with. My pieces aren't quite as nicely shaped when I bust up material either. I end up breaking it down just big enough to get on my tile saw and then shape tumbles from there. Takes longer, but I don't run the volume you do.
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Post by Mel on Oct 2, 2023 13:14:45 GMT -5
I prefer 1" to 2" pieces. Not much control with a big hammer but it usually works out fine. OK don't laugh - this is a legitimate question bouncing around my brain. When you say 2" - would a person such as yourself who tumbles it typically want that to be flat to wedge shaped 2" length as opposed to a 2" square block of rock? I'm always wondering what to do when I'm breaking up rocks and I end up with a 2" square block. Seems to me like a horrible size for tumbling. I mean lets say it doesn't lose much girth in the process, what would someone do with a smooth and shiny block of rock? lol I've got a fair amount of tumbling rough piled up that I've been slowly breaking up and a lot of it looks too big - plus I've got probably a few hundred pounds of so-so agate and jasper that is too good to throw in landfill garbage and not good enough to sell as cutting/cabbing material. Call me weird but I actually kind of enjoy the process of breaking it up. Funny you say that Tommy because that's what I do with a lot of my local field rocks; I cut them into squares and tumble the sliced off bits. It's a good way to test different belts/polishes on the same material since you have 6 different faces to work with (and around here everything seems to be a mix of materials). I'm hoping one day to have a good enough solution for flat polishing to have a shelf of shiny rock blocks or should I ever have one, a shelf of sphere machine preforms.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 686
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Post by iamchris on Oct 4, 2023 11:21:38 GMT -5
As soon as I got into the hobby I ran across a Lortone lu6x on craigslist for $50. Wow. I would like to fall into that sort of luck! The best deal I've found since entering the hobby is to drive 8 hours each way to get this saw new.
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doublebluff
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 55
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Post by doublebluff on Oct 5, 2023 7:12:12 GMT -5
This has been a very interesting read- things way outside of my skillset! Me and my little A-R2...
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