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Post by rmf on Feb 23, 2019 13:59:52 GMT -5
Not only are vib tumblers like that above problematic with too much water (as stated by many) they amount of mud that is built up can also kill the action since it gets too thick. In all this it is as you have been told by the experts above. Start with a new washed batch. Be sure to wash out over a 5 gal bucket and recover the grit. Then start again with no water just what is on the wet rocks after washing and the wet grit you recovered with no extra water.
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epidote
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2019
Posts: 6
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Post by epidote on Feb 23, 2019 14:45:01 GMT -5
I didnt see any logical reason to try to save the grit/sludge from that batch. In all likelihood the grit was mostly spent due to the amount of sludge it accumulated so quickly. There were also a lot of thin chards throughout the sludge that looked like trouble. I cleaned out the bowl and have the rocks sitting in water until I can make sure to scrub all the grit/mud out of any crevices. I meant to get a new batch of jasper going, but got distracted reading up on polishes and ordering a new bowl for the polish stage.
Does the AO polish therockshed sells work on most rocks? The description read it is good for harder rocks like agate/quartz. Not sure if I need to order something different to polish the softer rocks (mohs 5-6).
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epidote
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2019
Posts: 6
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Post by epidote on Mar 10, 2019 13:20:34 GMT -5
I weighed out the grit I was given and it came to .9 oz per Tablespoon, so I reduced the amount I use to 3 1/2 Tablespoons. I've done a few loads of jasper with the reduced amount of grit and everything seems to be working like it should now. I'm able to run each load for over 24 hours now without the previous issue of losing rotation in the bowl. There isn't as much of an accumulation of sludge in the bowl either when it's time to clean out.
Is it a better idea to take each load from rough tumbling to polish vs rough tumbling everything you have before moving on to prepolish then polish? I would think the latter would help prevent any accidental grit contamination since there isn't constant grit size changes.
I'm currently going through all the jasper i have and doing 120/220 grit until they're all ready for prepolish. I was thinking about doing this for all my agates as well before I move on to prepolish anything. Was wondering if i should do a rough grind on all the other stones I want to tumble before prepolishing any of them?
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