rockchipkip14
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by rockchipkip14 on Jun 18, 2022 8:41:40 GMT -5
Greetings! Just starting out with the tumbling fun with a Lortone Model C300 - that's 3 12-pound barrels all at once! Right now I've got 2 running Stage 1 with Michigan Petoskey stones, varying in size from 1/2-inch to 2-inches. I'd like to tumble the fist-sized ones. I know there's a science to the rock diameter ratio, sorting mix, and barrel diameter...but does someone have that "science" nailed down? For example, if I wanted to tumble 4" rocks, should I only put 4-5 into the barrel and the complete the mix with 1/2" to fill the voids (that's the type of ratio I'd be looking for)? I do know that the tumbler should be filled about 60-75% with rock...but with the larger sized stones, would that minimize the tumbling/fall distance? Thanks for your help, folks!
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Post by HankRocks on Jun 18, 2022 8:57:39 GMT -5
More than 1 large rock and they will "fight", not a good idea.
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Post by melhill1659 on Jun 18, 2022 8:58:51 GMT -5
jamespI know some of y’all will know this
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jun 18, 2022 10:22:51 GMT -5
jamespI know some of y’all will know this Well hello Melissa. Hope all is well. You still over in Mississippi ? Thanks for the vote of confidence. You sure have mastered some fine jewelry skills. HankRocks said it best in the post above - "More than 1 large rock and they will "fight", not a good idea." Henry says it the way I see it. And Henry has polished some of the biggest rocks.(shaping big rocks is easy, polishing them is art).
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 434
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Post by hypodactylus on Jun 18, 2022 10:30:18 GMT -5
"Just starting out" ... "Lortone Model C300"
Haha! Starting with the big guns!
I have a 12 pound barrel and I have tumbled some pretty large rocks. If the rock is around half the diameter of the barrel or larger, I would only do one. The other rocks need to be smaller than the rest of the diameter, otherwise they may get jammed in the barrel and not tumble. The bigger the rocks, the harder they tumble; so, I generally keep the barrels on the fuller (75%) side.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jun 18, 2022 10:50:15 GMT -5
This one weighs about 1.5 pounds. Tumbled with all smaller 1 to 1.5 inch rocks in a small 5 pound barrel and slurry. It is the polish that I am proud of. More about a pound in size all done with individually with smaller tumbles(Rio pebbles that were naturally rounded).
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Post by melhill1659 on Jun 18, 2022 12:26:10 GMT -5
jamespI know some of y’all will know this Well hello Melissa. Hope all is well. You still over in Mississippi ? Thanks for the vote of confidence. You sure have mastered some fine jewelry skills. Still here Jim! So missing my rock Buddy’s! Thank You Life is pretty hectic! My husbands 36yr old son and girlfriend live here, my daughter and her family are moving in tonight until their new house is ready (a month) and I’ve been keeping my 6mnth old granddaughter for a while now until her spot at day care opens up. Trying to get my last commission pieces out too. Oh AND when I have a second to spare I’m doing maintenance on the camper. All will slow down hopefully by mid August an I’m running away to Utah for a month!!!! aDave I’m finally coming to see you again!!!
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dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 892
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Post by dshanpnw on Jun 18, 2022 16:07:36 GMT -5
rockchipkip14, some great advice from others. I tumble larger rocks in a 12#er too. I limit it to about 3-4 that are about 3-4 inches max, or just a little smaller than a fist. If I go real big, like a 4" rose quartz, then 3 is max. One quick story, I tumbled a 4" rose quartz with a 4" agate, and a 4" piece of mookaite in a 12#er with ceramic media and it worked until the polish stage. That's when I decided to use plastic pellets instead of ceramic media and those three large beautiful rocks crashed into each other so hard they cracked. I should have done one at a time. Just like someone stated, if you over fill it then there will not be enough motion. You kind of have to judge by all the sizes put together if you'll get that falling motion you need. It also depends on the shapes of the rocks too. So what I also have tried is to mix larger rocks with just ceramic media to less than 3/4 full to ensure the falling motion and it worked out great. So, as long as you have a lot of smaller rocks mixed in there it'll work. Give the barrel a few shakes or tilts back and forth after you close it up ready for the tumbler to feel how much they are moving. You'll know.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Jun 18, 2022 17:50:05 GMT -5
fist size should be fine. I run fist size in my 12 lb'er. Ratio should be 1/3 large (or just 1) 1/3 medium 1/3 small. This is by weight not volume. I usually pick one Huge rock, a couple of decent size (ping pong ball size?) and so on. The goal is to let the rock slide past each other without getting wedged in the barrel.
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Post by aDave on Jun 18, 2022 18:10:51 GMT -5
Well hello Melissa. Hope all is well. You still over in Mississippi ? Thanks for the vote of confidence. You sure have mastered some fine jewelry skills. Still here Jim! So missing my rock Buddy’s! Thank You Life is pretty hectic! My husbands 36yr old son and girlfriend live here, my daughter and her family are moving in tonight until their new house is ready (a month) and I’ve been keeping my 6mnth old granddaughter for a while now until her spot at day care opens up. Trying to get my last commission pieces out too. Oh AND when I have a second to spare I’m doing maintenance on the camper. All will slow down hopefully by mid August an I’m running away to Utah for a month!!!! aDave I’m finally coming to see you again!!! Mel, as much as I'd like to visit with you again, I think you probably mean 1dave. Have a good trip. Joyce and I just did a Utah road trip where we visited all five national parks. And, there was no hounding in the trip...only photos.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jun 19, 2022 5:01:43 GMT -5
Still here Jim! So missing my rock Buddy’s! Thank You Life is pretty hectic! My husbands 36yr old son and girlfriend live here, my daughter and her family are moving in tonight until their new house is ready (a month) and I’ve been keeping my 6mnth old granddaughter for a while now until her spot at day care opens up. Trying to get my last commission pieces out too. Oh AND when I have a second to spare I’m doing maintenance on the camper. All will slow down hopefully by mid August an I’m running away to Utah for a month!!!! aDave I’m finally coming to see you again!!! Mel, as much as I'd like to visit with you again, I think you probably mean 1dave. Have a good trip. Joyce and I just did a Utah road trip where we visited all five national parks. And, there was no hounding in the trip...only photos. Lol, she had a blonde moment Dave A ? or Dave 1 ? She got too many Dave's ! You are truly missed melhill1659. You can handle all the action at home. Got faith in ya !
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jun 19, 2022 5:14:52 GMT -5
rockchipkip14, some great advice from others. I tumble larger rocks in a 12#er too. I limit it to about 3-4 that are about 3-4 inches max, or just a little smaller than a fist. If I go real big, like a 4" rose quartz, then 3 is max. One quick story, I tumbled a 4" rose quartz with a 4" agate, and a 4" piece of mookaite in a 12#er with ceramic media and it worked until the polish stage. That's when I decided to use plastic pellets instead of ceramic media and those three large beautiful rocks crashed into each other so hard they cracked. I should have done one at a time. Just like someone stated, if you over fill it then there will not be enough motion. You kind of have to judge by all the sizes put together if you'll get that falling motion you need. It also depends on the shapes of the rocks too. So what I also have tried is to mix larger rocks with just ceramic media to less than 3/4 full to ensure the falling motion and it worked out great. So, as long as you have a lot of smaller rocks mixed in there it'll work. Give the barrel a few shakes or tilts back and forth after you close it up ready for the tumbler to feel how much they are moving. You'll know. Great points dshanpnw. Just running glass in the vibe, when the pieces of glass start to pass the 40 gram level the entire load just will not be as polished. Keep the largest ones below 25 grams and the will have a dead wet polish. Both cases running 50% pea size media and thick slurry. It's just a weight threshold for that given delicate tumbling material and that given vibe. One big roundish rock running with say pea gravel media should result in a fine polish and allow the big rock better movement.
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Post by HankRocks on Jun 19, 2022 7:15:54 GMT -5
A better explanation of my "they will fight" comment. Take a two pound rock from a height of a few inches, drop it on another 2 pound rock. Now do that over and over. eventually one, or both, of them has a good chance of being damaged. Now take the same 2 pound rock and drop it onto a container of small rocks(pebbles). The big rock will not be damaged as the little ones will shift and move under the force of the larger rock absorbing the force of the impact.
Also think about what is happening with the smaller rocks, they are being pushed and moved against each other by the force of the larger rock, increasing their grinding rate. That's my "Big rock is the hammer" theory. It does seem to work for me when grinding my larger rocks, the smalls shaped a lot quicker. I have not scientifically analyzed this and really have no intention of doing so, just following my casual observations.
Good luck Henry
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 19, 2022 7:59:46 GMT -5
A better explanation of my "they will fight" comment. Take a two pound rock from a height of a few inches, drop it on another 2 pound rock. Now do that over and over. eventually one, or both, of them has a good chance of being damaged. Now take the same 2 pound rock and drop it onto a container of small rocks(pebbles). The big rock will not be damaged as the little ones will shift and move under the force of the larger rock absorbing the force of the impact. Also think about what is happening with the smaller rocks, they are being pushed and moved against each other by the force of the larger rock, increasing their grinding rate. That's my "Big rock is the hammer" theory. It does seem to work for me when grinding my larger rocks, the smalls shaped a lot quicker. I have not scientifically analyzed this and really have no intention of doing so, just following my casual observations. Good luck Henry Henry, that was a genius explanation of what happens! That totally makes sense! Heck, even I could follow that one!
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Post by melhill1659 on Jun 19, 2022 18:44:03 GMT -5
Mel, as much as I'd like to visit with you again, I think you probably mean 1dave. Have a good trip. Joyce and I just did a Utah road trip where we visited all five national parks. And, there was no hounding in the trip...only photos. Lol, she had a blonde moment Dave A ? or Dave 1 ? She got too many Dave's ! You are truly missed melhill1659. You can handle all the action at home. Got faith in ya ! Can’t EVER have to many Great Friends!! But yes I got my Dave’s mixed up. Not that I wouldn’t love visiting BOTH. jamespI’m waiting on my invitation to come see your new place!!!!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jun 19, 2022 23:36:09 GMT -5
Any time, door's open melhill1659. I may hit south Alabama for shark's teeth collecting if I can find them. We should do a collecting get-together.
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Post by melhill1659 on Jun 20, 2022 6:23:14 GMT -5
Any time, door's open melhill1659. I may hit south Alabama for shark's teeth collecting if I can find them. We should do a collecting get-together. Oh yay LETS!!! I’ll be keeping Charlotte till August. But I’m off Sat-Monday! August is open!! I have the same cell number call me and we can set something up!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jun 20, 2022 7:21:03 GMT -5
Any time, door's open melhill1659. I may hit south Alabama for shark's teeth collecting if I can find them. We should do a collecting get-together. Oh yay LETS!!! I’ll be keeping Charlotte till August. But I’m off Sat-Monday! August is open!! I have the same cell number call me and we can set something up! The location is the chalk lands going across the southern quarter of Bama east to west. I'm not sure exactly where, probably south central about half way between us. If you find out where they are let me know. I have been collecting around south Alabama and finding cool stuff.
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rockchipkip14
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by rockchipkip14 on Jun 23, 2022 10:39:29 GMT -5
rockchipkip14, some great advice from others. I tumble larger rocks in a 12#er too. I limit it to about 3-4 that are about 3-4 inches max, or just a little smaller than a fist. If I go real big, like a 4" rose quartz, then 3 is max. One quick story, I tumbled a 4" rose quartz with a 4" agate, and a 4" piece of mookaite in a 12#er with ceramic media and it worked until the polish stage. That's when I decided to use plastic pellets instead of ceramic media and those three large beautiful rocks crashed into each other so hard they cracked. I should have done one at a time. Just like someone stated, if you over fill it then there will not be enough motion. You kind of have to judge by all the sizes put together if you'll get that falling motion you need. It also depends on the shapes of the rocks too. So what I also have tried is to mix larger rocks with just ceramic media to less than 3/4 full to ensure the falling motion and it worked out great. So, as long as you have a lot of smaller rocks mixed in there it'll work. Give the barrel a few shakes or tilts back and forth after you close it up ready for the tumbler to feel how much they are moving. You'll know.
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rockchipkip14
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2020
Posts: 23
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Post by rockchipkip14 on Jun 23, 2022 10:41:28 GMT -5
Thanks! More great advice! I'm not sure I can use ceramic media with Petoskey stones..they're a bit soft! But I get where your aiming at. Much appreciated!
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