dthpwn
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 3
|
Post by dthpwn on Jan 21, 2019 12:00:53 GMT -5
I am a newbie to tumbling, but have a good idea what I am doing. My son and I have been tumbling a 1lb batch for 4 weeks now, and they were to be completely done on Sunday afternoon. We got hit with some very cold weather in the last few days and my tumbler was in the garage. We were out most of the day, but I noticed it had stopped when we got home around 5pm (it has a 1-7 day timer with auto-shutoff). Upon opening it, I noticed that the grit and water had frozen. After rinsing in some warm water, I got everything loose. The ice was pretty solid and I think it may have been frozen for some time, even while spinning. I don't think it could have frozen after stopping, which would have only been an hour or two before I got to it. Either way, the rocks were dull (this was with 12000 grit polish) and where there were any cracks or pits, the grit had embedded in and would not come out. Are they ruined? What can I do to salvage them?
|
|
gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
|
Post by gatorflash1 on Jan 21, 2019 15:20:11 GMT -5
Don't give up. You just had some bad luck with the weather so either find a warm place in the house or wait until the weather warms up. If you can salvage any of the stones you can tumble them again starting at whatever stage you think you should after looking at the rocks. I would probably just start again at stage 1, course and run them through all four stages. Short-cuts don't often work from my experience.
|
|
lookatthat
Cave Dweller
Whatever there is to be found.
Member since May 2017
Posts: 1,360
|
Post by lookatthat on Jan 21, 2019 15:35:20 GMT -5
First I would take an old toothbrush to them with some water and see if I could get the grit out. I would then try tumbling them for a couple days with some water and a couple tablespoons of borax. Then when you take them out and rinse/dry them, you will have a better idea what is going on.
You'll probably have to go back through some if not all of the steps, but maybe not. Depending on what kind of stone you were tumbling, and what kind of tumbler, it may not have been really done on Sunday anyway. 4 weeks is a pretty short time for a small tumbler to put a good polish on hard rocks.
What kind of stone were you tumbling, what kind of tumbler, how long did you leave them in each stage?
|
|
|
Post by aDave on Jan 21, 2019 16:10:18 GMT -5
I am a newbie to tumbling, but have a good idea what I am doing. My son and I have been tumbling a 1lb batch for 4 weeks now, and they were to be completely done on Sunday afternoon. We got hit with some very cold weather in the last few days and my tumbler was in the garage. We were out most of the day, but I noticed it had stopped when we got home around 5pm (it has a 1-7 day timer with auto-shutoff). Upon opening it, I noticed that the grit and water had frozen. After rinsing in some warm water, I got everything loose. The ice was pretty solid and I think it may have been frozen for some time, even while spinning. I don't think it could have frozen after stopping, which would have only been an hour or two before I got to it. Either way, the rocks were dull (this was with 12000 grit polish) and where there were any cracks or pits, the grit had embedded in and would not come out. Are they ruined? What can I do to salvage them? Welcome to the forum. Is this your first batch? As lookatthat mentioned, 4 weeks to completion is a pretty short amount of time for a one pound load...or any rotary tumbled load. Based upon the size and the shutoff, I'm assuming this is a National Geographic tumbler. If that's the case, just know that there are probably more threads about this tumbler and "failed" batches than probably any other tumbler here. No one has really been able to narrow down what the issue is. However, the short duration of tumbling as noted in the instructions is probably the major contributor. Lack of weight of the material to properly break down the grit (which again goes to time) may be another, and the mix of rocks that come with the tumbler are unknowns and could be varying hardness. The duration of the tumble may be your biggest issue . One week at any stage (especially the first stage) may not simply be enough. For comparison, most here will run their rocks in the coarse stage (first step) for weeks, if not months, before moving rocks on. Granted, we're looking for perfect to near perfect rocks that have no cracks, crevasses, or pits. And, we're using larger tumblers than yours that efficiently break down grit and subsequently start smoothing rocks. I know this wasn't necessarily the answer(s) you were looking for - this is more a heads up than anything. If I were you, first thing I'd do is run each stage again. However, unlike as listed in your instructions, try each step for two weeks to see what happens. Use this as your timeline foundation and go from there. Good luck.
|
|
|
Post by vegasjames on Jan 21, 2019 20:52:47 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH.
|
|
victor1941
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2011
Posts: 1,975
|
Post by victor1941 on Jan 21, 2019 22:04:05 GMT -5
I don't rotary tumble but vibe preformed cabs and feel that you need to remove the grit or seal the pitted areas before moving to the next step to achieve a great polish. If you can cull the pitted material I would add other rock or media to make the load volume. This will give a much greater chance of success. You might also put your tumbler in a styrofoam cooler for cold protection and get heat from the motor to prevent freezing .
|
|
dthpwn
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 3
|
Post by dthpwn on Jan 23, 2019 21:22:21 GMT -5
Ok, wow! Thanks for all the support and tips everyone! I ended up cleaning all the rocks thoroughly and running them in 12k grit for 3.5 days (now located in my basement). The results were surprisingly pretty great. My bet is that on the 3rd or 4th day of the 7 day tumble, the water froze and they didn't have a chance to fully polish...so running them an additional 3.5 days was all it took and they came out nice and glassy when fully dried. Currently running a borax burnish for a couple of hours to finalize them. If I think of it and have time, I will try to post some photos of the finished products! Thanks again!
|
|
dthpwn
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 3
|
Post by dthpwn on Jan 24, 2019 0:51:17 GMT -5
|
|
gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
|
Post by gatorflash1 on Jan 24, 2019 10:02:03 GMT -5
dthpwn
I'm glad to hear everything worked out. You used a very fine grit, 12,000, so the stones must have been very well ground to start with.
|
|