stretch316
noticing nice landscape pebbles
The only dumb question, is the one NOT asked ; I don't use credit cards
Member since December 2018
Posts: 77
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Post by stretch316 on Dec 8, 2018 10:32:37 GMT -5
after a lot of reading and chatting; this is what I've come up with for a tumble schedule for "my" machine.
Stone Tumbling - test run 2 with 2 lbs gem stones - 48 days – start to finish (+19 days to TR#1)
1)Coarse Grit #1 : 9 days minimum, high speed (60/90 grit, 1 lvl Tbsp per lb ) : tumble until you are satisfied with the shape of the rocks.
2)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning
3)Medium Grit #2 : 7 days medium speed (120/240) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets
4)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning
5)Fine Grit #3 : 7 days low speed (600 grit) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets
6)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning
7)pre-polish #4 : 10 days low speed + 1000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , (pellets - plastic pieces for cushioning)
8)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning
9)Polish Grit #5 : 10 days low speed - (13,000 grit to 14,000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb.) Cerium Oxide, Alumina Oxide or Tin Oxide + plastic pieces for cushioning
10) Burnish - 24 hours Walnut shells or pellets and soap only
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Dec 9, 2018 17:47:02 GMT -5
So yeah ... don't see anything inherently flawed here. I never used a set schedule myself although some do.
I always do multiple runs in the coarse stage. Personally I don't even check to see if my rocks are ready for stage 2 until they have 3 weeks in coarse. Some can spend 3 months in coarse. I see you will tumble until satisfied with shape ... completely your choice here as to what that is. One thing I can say ... if you don't like the way they look coming out of coarse you probably won't like it polished either.
You probably know but ... keep the plastic pellets for one grit size only. Don't move them along from one stage to the next.
I think walnut shells are for dry tumbles ... I'd stick with the pellets for the burnish.
Take notes, keep experimenting, and most importantly have fun!
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Post by aDave on Dec 9, 2018 22:46:15 GMT -5
after a lot of reading and chatting; this is what I've come up with for a tumble schedule for "my" machine.
Stone Tumbling - test run 2 with 2 lbs gem stones - 48 days – start to finish (+19 days to TR#1)1)Coarse Grit #1 : 9 days minimum, high speed (60/90 grit, 1 lvl Tbsp per lb ) : tumble until you are satisfied with the shape of the rocks. 2)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 3)Medium Grit #2 : 7 days medium speed (120/240) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 4)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 5)Fine Grit #3 : 7 days low speed (600 grit) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 6)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 7)pre-polish #4 : 10 days low speed + 1000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , (pellets - plastic pieces for cushioning) 8)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 9)Polish Grit #5 : 10 days low speed - (13,000 grit to 14,000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb.) Cerium Oxide, Alumina Oxide or Tin Oxide + plastic pieces for cushioning 10) Burnish - 24 hours Walnut shells or pellets and soap only You can go through all of those steps if you care to, but I'd personally recommend that you start with the most basic runs you can do, and then change things from there. All of the intermediary steps you've added might be good in the long run, but without even establishing a baseline, you might be chasing your tail. Quite frankly, you don't even have an idea of what your tumbler can produce for you at the most basic level. In no way would I recommend all of those other steps with soap and pellets until you know what your tumbler will do for you. With all of that stuff added, and if you fail to produce quality tumbles, it will really be hard to figure out where things went awry. I would recommend this: 60/90 Sic until you are satisfied with shaping. 120/220 Sic for one to two weeks. 500 Sic or AO for two weeks. Polish 13,000 or 14,000 AO for at least one week. I'd stick with this so you can determine if your machine and/or your rocks can even produce a polish. From there, you might be able to identify where you might be lacking (fractures and such) and what you need to do to cushion your loads with plastic or burnish with soap. While you might be excited about jumping into this, you should establish a baseline and go from there. Identify where you might be lacking AFTER you do the basic stuff. I'm not mentioning this to be critical. Start with the basics and adjust from there.
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stretch316
noticing nice landscape pebbles
The only dumb question, is the one NOT asked ; I don't use credit cards
Member since December 2018
Posts: 77
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Post by stretch316 on Dec 11, 2018 4:39:46 GMT -5
after a lot of reading and chatting; this is what I've come up with for a tumble schedule for "my" machine.
Stone Tumbling - test run 2 with 2 lbs gem stones - 48 days – start to finish (+19 days to TR#1)1)Coarse Grit #1 : 9 days minimum, high speed (60/90 grit, 1 lvl Tbsp per lb ) : tumble until you are satisfied with the shape of the rocks. 2)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 3)Medium Grit #2 : 7 days medium speed (120/240) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 4)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 5)Fine Grit #3 : 7 days low speed (600 grit) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 6)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 7)pre-polish #4 : 10 days low speed + 1000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , (pellets - plastic pieces for cushioning) 8)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 9)Polish Grit #5 : 10 days low speed - (13,000 grit to 14,000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb.) Cerium Oxide, Alumina Oxide or Tin Oxide + plastic pieces for cushioning 10) Burnish - 24 hours Walnut shells or pellets and soap only You can go through all of those steps if you care to, but I'd personally recommend that you start with the most basic runs you can do, and then change things from there. All of the intermediary steps you've added might be good in the long run, but without even establishing a baseline, you might be chasing your tail. Quite frankly, you don't even have an idea of what your tumbler can produce for you at the most basic level. In no way would I recommend all of those other steps with soap and pellets until you know what your tumbler will do for you. With all of that stuff added, and if you fail to produce quality tumbles, it will really be hard to figure out where things went awry. I would recommend this: 60/90 Sic until you are satisfied with shaping. 120/220 Sic for one to two weeks. 500 Sic or AO for two weeks. Polish 13,000 or 14,000 AO for at least one week. I'd stick with this so you can determine if your machine and/or your rocks can even produce a polish. From there, you might be able to identify where you might be lacking (fractures and such) and what you need to do to cushion your loads with plastic or burnish with soap. While you might be excited about jumping into this, you should establish a baseline and go from there. Identify where you might be lacking AFTER you do the basic stuff. I'm not mentioning this to be critical. Start with the basics and adjust from there. Hi aDave, I did the basic run as presented by the instruction booklet that came with the drum. BIG mistake. The schedule I have now , is my base line , created by advice from others and information I have found on the web. Its only my 2nd run , schedule will be tweaked as required. Okay , tweak required, an additional 9 days with Grit #1. Not in a hurry, I have 20 lbs of stone to play with. I appreciate your advice.
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Post by HankRocks on Dec 11, 2018 7:46:53 GMT -5
after a lot of reading and chatting; this is what I've come up with for a tumble schedule for "my" machine.
Stone Tumbling - test run 2 with 2 lbs gem stones - 48 days – start to finish (+19 days to TR#1)1)Coarse Grit #1 : 9 days minimum, high speed (60/90 grit, 1 lvl Tbsp per lb ) : tumble until you are satisfied with the shape of the rocks. 2)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 3)Medium Grit #2 : 7 days medium speed (120/240) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 4)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 5)Fine Grit #3 : 7 days low speed (600 grit) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 6)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 7)pre-polish #4 : 10 days low speed + 1000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , (pellets - plastic pieces for cushioning) 8)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 9)Polish Grit #5 : 10 days low speed - (13,000 grit to 14,000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb.) Cerium Oxide, Alumina Oxide or Tin Oxide + plastic pieces for cushioning 10) Burnish - 24 hours Walnut shells or pellets and soap only The only time I use a soap run is when moving from an SiC stage to an AO stage and after the Polish stage. It does not hurt to do extra soap runs, just more handling that I don't want to take the time to do and my final polish is very good without it. One other time issue will be using the Plastic Pellets. They are a bit of a hassle as you really need to separate them into pellets for each grit size. That and they are a bit of a mess to skim off and then dry out for storage. At least they are for the 12 and 15 pound barrels I use. I use pea gravel and a thicker slurry for cushioning and once again no problems with the final results. good luck.
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stretch316
noticing nice landscape pebbles
The only dumb question, is the one NOT asked ; I don't use credit cards
Member since December 2018
Posts: 77
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Post by stretch316 on Dec 12, 2018 6:00:53 GMT -5
after a lot of reading and chatting; this is what I've come up with for a tumble schedule for "my" machine.
Stone Tumbling - test run 2 with 2 lbs gem stones - 48 days – start to finish (+19 days to TR#1)1)Coarse Grit #1 : 9 days minimum, high speed (60/90 grit, 1 lvl Tbsp per lb ) : tumble until you are satisfied with the shape of the rocks. 2)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 3)Medium Grit #2 : 7 days medium speed (120/240) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 4)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 5)Fine Grit #3 : 7 days low speed (600 grit) 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , Borax, pellets 6)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 7)pre-polish #4 : 10 days low speed + 1000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb. , (pellets - plastic pieces for cushioning) 8)1 Tbls soap – 24 hours low speed - plastic pieces for cushioning 9)Polish Grit #5 : 10 days low speed - (13,000 grit to 14,000 grit - 1 lvl Tbsp per lb.) Cerium Oxide, Alumina Oxide or Tin Oxide + plastic pieces for cushioning 10) Burnish - 24 hours Walnut shells or pellets and soap only The only time I use a soap run is when moving from an SiC stage to an AO stage and after the Polish stage. It does not hurt to do extra soap runs, just more handling that I don't want to take the time to do and my final polish is very good without it. One other time issue will be using the Plastic Pellets. They are a bit of a hassle as you really need to separate them into pellets for each grit size. That and they are a bit of a mess to skim off and then dry out for storage. At least they are for the 12 and 15 pound barrels I use. I use pea gravel and a thicker slurry for cushioning and once again no problems with the final results. good luck. , I'm Retired, Time isn't an issue. I'm used to getting my hands dirty; I bake and garden. I'll only be sing my 2 - 3 lb barrel.
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Post by HankRocks on Dec 12, 2018 7:22:21 GMT -5
The only time I use a soap run is when moving from an SiC stage to an AO stage and after the Polish stage. It does not hurt to do extra soap runs, just more handling that I don't want to take the time to do and my final polish is very good without it. One other time issue will be using the Plastic Pellets. They are a bit of a hassle as you really need to separate them into pellets for each grit size. That and they are a bit of a mess to skim off and then dry out for storage. At least they are for the 12 and 15 pound barrels I use. I use pea gravel and a thicker slurry for cushioning and once again no problems with the final results. good luck. , I'm Retired, Time isn't an issue. I'm used to getting my hands dirty; I bake and garden. I'll only be sing my 2 - 3 lb barrel. Retired here also, running 2 -15 lb barrels and 2 - 12 lb barrels and a 20 inch Vibrating Lap. That and 4 saws and a 2 wheel arbor for shaping pre-forms. so steps saved for me does make a difference. One other tip, going more days than your schedule calls for is okay to do, the rocks don't really care. I also garden here, planting Tomato, Eggplant, and Pepper seeds in about 3 -4 weeks so I will have plants to set out in late March/early April. Planted Beets and Kale yesterday. Don't bake very much, but I do like to cook. Good luck
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