pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
|
Post by pizzano on Jan 2, 2019 2:21:44 GMT -5
Just finished up the vibe 120/220Sic, 500AO cycles on a 6lb mixed batched of Lavic Jasper, Milk Quartz, Amethyst chips and various Utah Jasper Chalcedony.....the Amethyst was used as a filler along with ceramics......everything looks good so far.
I've never used Cerium Oxide in a vibe......only rotary. I've run out of my favorite polish media (Covington's Gold Polish #2) and won't be able to re-stock until Mondy Jan. 7th.......I'll be ready to polish this Friday and I have a couple of pounds of CeO2 a buddy gave me awhile back when he gave up tumbling.
I plan on continuing with my normal routine stages of 800AO, AO pre-polish then polish in 24hr cycles.........will using CeO2 as the polish fit the bill, given the prior stage performances have had great success with Gold #2.....?
I expect there will be a learning curve developing a decent polishing slurry with Cerium.....as has been the case for me with other polishing media experiments until I found Gold #2.......Any tips are greatly appreciated......!
|
|
|
Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 2, 2019 11:42:06 GMT -5
I don’t know anything about your particular tumbler, but my Lot-O instructions specifically say that cerium oxide is not recommended with the Lot-O. I have no idea if that applies to other vibratory tumblers or not. If you find that you can’t use the cerium, The Rock Shed sells aluminum oxide polish that seems to work for everything, and it’s not expensive.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2019 12:03:54 GMT -5
No experience with it. sure do like aluminum oxide.
|
|
|
Post by HankRocks on Jan 2, 2019 13:29:07 GMT -5
I have used it twice in the UV-18 and did not notice any difference in the polish it produced and what the Aluminum Oxide produced. Since the price was right, it was given to me, used more than I would have with AlO along with borax so ended up with a pretty decent slurry. In both cases it was a mixed load of Agate and Wood.
|
|
pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
|
Post by pizzano on Jan 2, 2019 14:10:45 GMT -5
I have used it twice in the UV-18 and did not notice any difference in the polish it produced and what the Aluminum Oxide produced. Since the price was right, it was given to me, used more than I would have with AlO along with borax so ended up with a pretty decent slurry. In both cases it was a mixed load of Agate and Wood. Ya......I thought of the Cerium too since it cost me $0.00......lol........I've read that depending on the grade, I'll probably need to use a little more of it than the AO Gold #2. That's ok since it will be a learning experience and getting any polish slurry just right in a vibe can be a little tricky for any media (at least that's been my experience.....lol).......We'll see.
Thanks for the info.....I'll post results.....pit-falls and all.
|
|
pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
|
Post by pizzano on Jan 5, 2019 1:31:55 GMT -5
Wow......couldn't be more pleased..........everything turned out nicely.
I deviated a little from my normal cycle routine.....120/220 Sic, 500 AO, 8F-800 Sic, Pre-polish then polish........skipped the 800 cycle and went right into the pre-polish AO (Covington's Tumbler Polish), then Cerium Oxide. Since I had pre-formed with both 60 and 100 diamond discs, the rough was fairly uniform. That may have helped things along for the 500 cycle, the stones were very smooth and getting slippery when washed after the 500.
As with most Lavic I've polished previously, matrix cracks and a little under cutting started to show up in the pre-polish.......but not as bad as I have experienced before.......the time spent disc pre-forming may have helped with that as well..........all cycles, except the Cerium polish stage, were 24hr cycles. I ran the polish stage for 15hrs due to more hidden fractures being exposed. I didn't want to spend a couple of hours over the sink scrubbing polish out of those which developed fractures but were to nice to toss..........at the 15th hour everything had a very good shine, just not as deep as I would have had with more polishing time.....nothing a couple of hours of dry walnut burnishing won't take care of...!
As for the slurry development with Cerium, I started with damp stones and dry ceramics (about 40%).........tumbled that for about 5 min. then started adding media in small increments until the vib action started to change speed. Then started adding sprayed water shots until the rotation picked up. By this time I had used 1 tbl spoon of Cerium..........let it rotate for a couple of hours and added another 3/4 tbl spoon and a few more shots of water..........after another 4hrs checked for moisture, added 1 tea spoon of Cerium and let it run it's course.......Compared to the AO I have used previously, the amount of Cerium was on par with that of my past AO experiences........I'm not sure I would have gotten the same shine in the same amount of time with the AO, but I'm pleased as heck that the Cerium didn't give me any fits developing a good slurry.
I'll post a few picks of the results here.....:
forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/85919/starting-batch-new-year.
It was a pleasant experience and since I have plenty of CeO2 on hand, I'll be using it a few more times as time permits.
|
|