Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Apr 5, 2019 20:54:53 GMT -5
I am useless now . . . The last barrels I loaded have been running for a month Two 6 pound barrels, both running the same batches of rocks One running in 600 SiC Silicon Carbide The other running 1000 AO Aluminum Oxide Prepolish Both barrels with plastic beads. I think the 1000 prepolish may be making polished rocks by now . . .
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Apr 5, 2019 19:40:52 GMT -5
It's OK to test it. just check it after a coupla days . . .
I have tumbled both types of material in that stone and it should make it at least a week and be fine.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Apr 3, 2019 13:26:41 GMT -5
Does anybody use plastic beads when doing the Wash ? I don't, but I fill the barrel Full of water.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 31, 2019 10:14:44 GMT -5
Are you burnishing or cleaning? Adding a soap step between grits/polishing is cleaning. Burnishing is polishing by rubbing. Some people use the two terms to mean the same thing. Nailed it. This is a difficult concept for many beginners to understand, I know I was confused by this. Hundreds of posts on this forum, books, instructional websites, owners of rock shops, etc. use them interchangeably. burnish[bur-nish] SYNONYMS|EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGINSEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR burnish ON THESAURUS.COM verb (used with object) to polish (a surface) by friction. l
You Guys are So Correct , I will change my terminology and start referring to the steps as . . .
Washing - Tumble with water, with or without a soap product Burnishing - Creating a finishing polish by friction or rubbing
I also agree that, you can burnish rocks by tumbling in deep plain water , rock on rock.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 30, 2019 12:10:28 GMT -5
Strangest find...! I found a stone with very regular layers of black and grey material, but... -black is very hard and glassy, can't scratch it with a steel nail, it's shiny and almost a bit transparent, like obsidian; Now the layers are so thin and so regular, this is so unusual since one of the rocks is sedimentary and the other one volcanic... was there an ancient volcano close to a sea shore? Intriguing...
I find that black stuff in with the Limestone and Granite gravel parking areas here in North Alabama. Collected only the black stuff and tumbled it. Rather hard and spent a long time in Stage 1.
Folks around here called it Black Chert.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 26, 2019 12:24:31 GMT -5
phil I bought a National Geographic tumbler for my Grandson 2.5 years ago... and it is still unused sitting atop his closet shelf. Although I can not bring myself to asking for it back...
Just ask to borrow it ?!
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 22, 2019 23:31:26 GMT -5
A Gallon sized Lortone tumbler would probably be a QT12.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 21, 2019 5:59:27 GMT -5
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 14, 2019 15:45:40 GMT -5
I recommend putting a couple of drops of oil in the motor once a year. Could too much oil hurt it ?
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 13, 2019 23:04:36 GMT -5
I refurbished my QT-66 after 14 months of tumbling. I had never checked belt tension so it was as the factory sent it. There was about a teaspoon of black dust in there. Cleaned it up and tightened the belt and due for another refurbishment after 14 more months. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/82835/refurbished-lortone-qt66
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Mar 3, 2019 16:24:41 GMT -5
Hmmmmm . . . Lots of Newbies could use some Samples ?
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Feb 28, 2019 6:28:35 GMT -5
Get a better Tumbler
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Feb 19, 2019 20:54:41 GMT -5
What Stage tumbling are you talking about ? Just add less water next time you load the barrel.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Feb 14, 2019 20:05:52 GMT -5
When you say that the grit settles to one side, are you talking about the flat side at the bottom of the barrel, or the round side that rides on the rollers ?
To me it sound like you need to add more water.
It takes several weeks and cleanouts to get the rocks properly rounded enough to pass through to the polish stages.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Feb 8, 2019 18:48:33 GMT -5
One of the best places to look for creative Ideas is the Creations Area on this forum
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Feb 1, 2019 14:45:47 GMT -5
Using a QT66 with dual 6 pound barrels here. I don't use anything in the first 2 stages , just rocks, water & grit. Only use plastic beads in all the remaining stages.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Jan 31, 2019 16:13:07 GMT -5
I have been so stuck in my Comfort Zone rolling stones in Stage 1 Course grind. It is so easy. Open the barrel, clean & inspect stones, add more water and grit, then place it back on the tumbler. No Beads , No cleaning between stages, simple quick and easy. Now I have enough shaped rocks to push 4 barrels through to the polish stages. This is the first of those few barrels after going through polish. This was a 4 step process and I was using Aluminum Oxide AO polish for the first time on rocks and i am loving the results.
I collected these from all over North Alabama, that is why they aren't spectacular.
And a closeup of the best ones.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Jan 31, 2019 15:56:59 GMT -5
This last glass has been tumbling since the last post made 3 months ago on October 31st. It came out finished a coupla days ago after a 5 step tumble process. Some glass was added to take up space during the first two steps. It came from a glass casserole dish that I accidentally broke while this stuff was rolling.
Was using Aluminum Oxide AO polish for the first time. I think it works better than Cerium Oxide CO polish that I had been using on glass.
Amazing crystal finish on this batch that looks a little hazy in this photo made under full Sun.
A closer look at the biggest pieces.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Jan 30, 2019 17:24:05 GMT -5
Two problems, 1) my pictures and how to stage the material is still not where I need to be, Try setting the White Balance on your camera to "Incandescent" (the little lightbulb icon). The pictures will be bluer, brighter and more natural.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Jan 29, 2019 8:25:03 GMT -5
I made an outdoor sink with Grit Recovery that work a little like you are suggesting. The sink drained into a small tub where anything bigger than powder settled and was later dried then recovered for use in Stage 1 tumbles. I could put a colander in there to recover the beads too. This small tub did not allow for a long settling period and if the overflow water was allowed to dry, it would form a loose crumbly mudcake. Sometimes I would not empty the overflow bucket for s few days and the water would clear up enough to see the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket. So as long as you let it settle for a coupla days, and did not stir it up, and did not place the pump intake at the bottom of the overflow barrel, you should be fine.
|
|