Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 23, 2019 22:38:39 GMT -5
Don't use beads in stage 1. The grit will break down on the pellets and be less effective on your rocks. Plus rocks will greatly reduce in size during stage 1 so you will want to fill to 3/4 full with only rocks.
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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 Jan 22, 2019 7:38:04 GMT -5
I started with a 3 pound barrel and after 3 months got a dual 6 pound tumbler. The 3 pound machine takes about twice as long with only a handful of rocks when finished. The small barrel works well for softer stuff like shells. I have a lot more fun with my 6 pound barrels. Fast, lots of finished stones plus a great shine. I like to buy Bulk Grit from Kingsley North www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/category.php?catID=105380 grit for the 3 pound, and 30 grit for the 6 pound barrels
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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 Jan 18, 2019 23:13:49 GMT -5
Looks like Chert, it does that a lot.
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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 Dec 26, 2018 19:16:21 GMT -5
Three pounds of AO polish, This will be the first time I have tried it.
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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 Dec 25, 2018 16:52:49 GMT -5
Don't forget to get more Course Grit. You will use it 2-3 times faster. Lately I have been using 30 grit Course.
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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 Dec 25, 2018 16:27:12 GMT -5
My QT66 runs about 30 rpm. It works great at that speed.
You are going to have Too Much Fun with that 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 Dec 25, 2018 16:24:27 GMT -5
Very Cool Needs some Red
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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 Dec 25, 2018 15:49:06 GMT -5
+1 on this. It just doesn't make sense for this clumping/caking at the bottom only to be occurring when the barrel is horizontal. Be patient, let 'er roll. Argh When you take the barrel off hold it upside down. Cover down and open over a bucket and see if the clumping reverses in the barrel. A little messy . . . maybe pick the barrel off the tumbler and keep it in that position, on it's side until the last second when you open it.
I am remembering that I flip the barrel a few times before I get to the cleanout sink to open it, to try and prevent this very thing from happening to me again.
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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 Dec 25, 2018 6:56:11 GMT -5
Christmas Ornaments
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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 Dec 25, 2018 6:51:02 GMT -5
You should have a different scoop for each grit to prevent cross contamination.
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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 Dec 24, 2018 7:41:58 GMT -5
The only time I have ever had this happen was when I was using AO Aluminum Oxide grit.
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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 Dec 23, 2018 19:36:18 GMT -5
If the clumping is only happening at the bottom, then the settling is only happening after you remove the barrel from the tumbler and lay it flat. If it were clumping while it was spinning, it would all be collecting around the outside. I suspect that everything is fine while it is spinning.
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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 Dec 23, 2018 4:16:08 GMT -5
I wouldn't use any Ceramic Media in a stage 1 Tumble.
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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 Dec 5, 2018 7:16:08 GMT -5
Consumables . . .
Grit Polish Plastic Beads Extra Belts Oil Good Rocks
Display Case
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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 Dec 5, 2018 7:11:54 GMT -5
After the Polishing & Burnishing is the Rinsing & Drying. Seems important to keep the water marks off and keep off the impression of the surface they are dried on.
After the Burnishing and the cleanout, I will take the colander/rocks into the kitchen and run filtered water over them while gently shaking. Then while draining I clean my hands before laying the rocks out on paper towels to dry. If the rocks are very shiny they will shed the water easily. Then a fan blows on everything, after a few minutes I'll turn over all the rocks to try and keep the paper towel impression from drying onto them.
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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 Dec 5, 2018 6:54:29 GMT -5
Try a Sandblasting company ?
Generally ... rock tumbling is divided into 4 grit steps: 1-Course 2-Medium 3-Fine 4-Polish, but you can get many different sizes of grit so you can add as many steps as you want to in order to get the results you are looking for.
The most popular additional step is between Fine & Polish and is called Prepolish. Usually it is 1000 or 1200 AO Aluminum Oxide, I use 1000 AO. So then it will be a 5 step process. Cleaning the rocks after running the polish stage is a great idea but doesen't always make the rocks more shiny.
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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 Nov 29, 2018 15:23:26 GMT -5
I have only used Cerium Oxide, since I started tumbling a coupla years ago. I have a Loretone QT66 with two 6 pound barrels. The Barrel would be 80% full with at least 1/3 plastic beads. I used 2 or 3 Tablespoons per barrel and had good results in 3 days and great results after a full week. I've reused the CO polish up to 4 times before throwing it out by adding 1 additional tablespoon when starting the next polish run. I was using the Pink Cerium Oxide which is the cheapest version. www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/product.php?id=46509&catID=189
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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 Nov 26, 2018 16:26:08 GMT -5
It took a few minutes to load because there are so many 3 GB pictures
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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 Nov 26, 2018 12:20:58 GMT -5
You should design Grit Recovery into a cleanout sink.
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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 Nov 25, 2018 21:06:30 GMT -5
I have only used Cerium Oxide polish in the 2 years that I have been tumbling and have always had great results. With the barrel 80% full and using 1/3 volume of plastic beads, I could get a good polish in 3 days but would always let it run for a whole week. A couple of types of rocks got a Matt Shine using CO and I plan to try and polish them again later in AO
I just got an order from Rock Shed with some Aluminum Oxide like y'all have bee recommending all the time. I did polish some rocks with AO 80 once but they ran for 3 weeks in it. A couple of types of rocks got a Matt Shine using CO and I plan to try and polish them again later in AO.
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