Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Aug 11, 2020 13:07:33 GMT -5
Just use a 24vdc power supply and a DC motor speed control.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 30, 2020 8:23:13 GMT -5
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 26, 2020 17:38:05 GMT -5
Double Extra Good
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 26, 2020 17:36:21 GMT -5
If you tumble for a week then almost all of your grit has been ground down to a powder and not much use anymore. Pull out the rocks that look good to you and then restart the barrel again like from the beginning possibly adding more rough rocks to keep the barrel properly filled. No need to do any washing in Stage 1 since any grit carried through the cleaning will not hurt anything.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 25, 2020 7:35:03 GMT -5
Are the barrels rolling OK ? As long as they aren't trying to climb out of the tumbler, you should be fine.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 21, 2020 7:53:05 GMT -5
A vibratory tumbler is not good for Stage 1 tumbles which are better done with the rotary machines. Stage 1 removes the most material from the rock and this is what you are experiencing. The correct word for Muck is "Slurry".
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 20, 2020 17:13:23 GMT -5
Unless you have most of the parts already then you won't save any money making your own tumbler.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 20, 2020 8:14:01 GMT -5
You can run your 1200 Prepolish for a few weeks, AO will Breakdown into smaller particles over a long period of time and will eventually become a polish in the process. However this does not happen quickly or effectively in a 3 pound tumbler.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 20, 2020 8:02:02 GMT -5
If you use Manual (not auto) focus , the camera will not use the Infrared Focus lights which I would say is causing your biggest problems.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 14:40:46 GMT -5
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 14:33:17 GMT -5
I have the Lortone 3A and the 66QT. It took a few tries with the 3A but I did eventually get a very good shine out of it. It's not the easiest tumbler but you can do it. First - The rock on the far right-hand side in your picture may be causing some problems, It may not achieve a shine and will hinder the rest. Second - you need to have a good polish with such a small tumbler. After running 1200 AO for a week. Do your last polish run with 14000 AO polish. you can get it at Rock Shed cheap. At the bottom of this page labeled as AO polish but does not show the 14000 designation . . . www.therockshed.com/grit.htmlThird - for your polish run, add at least 1/3 plastic pellets and overfill it compared to all the other stages, maybe 8/10 or 9/10 full, make sure there is some air in there. It only takes a week for me but longer is better. You can just restart your rocks in their current condition in the polish.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 10:16:31 GMT -5
You need to also mention . . . What tumbler are you using ? How full is the barrel ? Anything else added besides the Rocks, Water and Grit ? The Obvious problem I see is that 1200 is a Prepolish, you should run the rock one more time with 14000 AO polish. I've got two tumblers, but for this one I used a Lortone Rotary Tumbler. It was roughly 2/3 full. I did use plastic pellets for the last step. What size Tumbler ? The results look like it was a 3 pounder ?
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 10:00:42 GMT -5
Great composition! I especially like the exposure. Your python looks a bit...irritated. I'm guessing this was one of the biters? Looking forward to seeing your other prints. I know what you mean about cats. Surgically sharp. Thank you! This ball python pictured is actually in a pretty docile pose. If the ball python has its head faced directly at the camera (so the infrared heat pits on their nose are faced forwards) then you can safely assume that they were not happy and wanted to make that clear. Most of the time the strike is a just a bluff and they have no intention of connecting. I bet the Infrared Focus Lights on the camera are confusing the snake a bit.
Cameras are not so good at flash photography, I avoid it except when necessary. But the lighting can not be Soft/Defused if you want to show the reflections on the rocks. For best results use small point source lights that easily reflect from the rocks. My preferred method is to take the pictures outdoors in Full Sunlight, the ultimate point Source lighting. Plus like you, I use a black background to make the rocks stand out. Using a white background will generally fool the camera into using using a Dark Exposure.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 9:35:58 GMT -5
You need to also mention . . . What tumbler are you using ? How full is the barrel ? Anything else added besides the Rocks, Water and Grit ?
The Obvious problem I see is that 1200 is a Prepolish, you should run the rock one more time with 14000 AO polish.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 6:56:35 GMT -5
Great Results ! ! Interesting that you used a 2 step Stage 1 process with 36 and 60/90 grits.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 19, 2020 6:44:44 GMT -5
I tumble North Alabama Granite all the time. Never had a problem with the tumbler while doing that. Tried only collecting granite with large portions of black running through it in veins. Here are the results . . .
I was tumbling a lot of glass from theatrical lighting and the sharp glass chewed through my Lid Liners after a few months. That is the only damage from tumbling that I ever had.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 16, 2020 10:35:16 GMT -5
wow Henry. Those are awesome. Bet I could make people wear sunglasses with a fancy camera. Those materials are prettier than the photos depict. It's frustrating to know that these are better than the pictures show. The camera is a pretty good one that my wife bought for herself. I do miss the simplicity of the old 35mm film cameras, focus, light meter, and depth of field. The new digital ones have too many more settings and my patience for these days.(sure don't miss the film). It must be something to do with the light setting. Try shooting on a Black Background and if you know how to set the light on the camera, then set it to Incandescent, or the picture of the Light Bulb
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 13, 2020 8:02:54 GMT -5
A drill is not designed for continuous use and will not last a month. Normally you would attach a pulley to the shaft and then a motor and belt.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 12, 2020 17:24:53 GMT -5
What about rings made with teeth ?
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 9, 2020 14:57:46 GMT -5
Some of my North Alabama river rock tumbles . . .
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