Post by dianewms on Nov 8, 2017 8:42:23 GMT -5
I decided to try something new. I'm trying to tumble a batch of rocks from start to finish using just a Lot-O. Every batch I've ever done before this has been started in a rotary and finished in a vibe. I'm sure that will remain my favorite method, but I just had to try something different.
I've read lots on the subject, so I know that it won't round my rocks like a rotary. I'm not sure how to know when the rocks are ready to move on though. In my rotaries, I'm a perfectionist and leave rocks there for months in order to get every last flaw out. I'm not sure that it's possible to remove every last flaw in a vibe though, so I don't know when to stop.
I'm tumbling Montana agates, which I think are pretty hard. I have never tumbled a complete batch of them before. Some of these agates had some pretty bad flaws and others were pretty nice. They were almost all very rough. I imagine they would take quite a few months in the first stage in a rotary tumbler. I tend to think that a vibe does as much in a day or two as a rotary does in a week, at least that's the way it works in the last stages. When roughing though, there are at least a couple variables. In a rotary, I'd be going a week at a time with 80 grit. In my Lot-O, I've been going 24 hours with 120/220 grit. So I'm going for less time using finer grit in a machine that works faster.
I think I've already gone way beyond what a normal person would do. I'm going to empty it in a few minutes for the 21st time. I've changed grit every day for three weeks. I'm using 2 tablespoons of grit per day, so that's a lot of grit. Most days I've added 1 tablespoon of borax. I've also done some days without borax and some days with 1 teaspoon. I've found that when using borax, I have to add water more often, so it seems to grind faster with borax than without. It doesn't seem to matter much if I use a teaspoon or a tablespoon.
For the first week or so I used small beach gravel with the larger Montanas. Then I switched to a mix of small and large ceramics. I didn't notice a difference.
Did I mention that I've taken pictures of every rock every day?
Day 0
Day 0 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 1
Day 1 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 7
Day 7 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 20
Day 20 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Polished (Day 38)
Untitled by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 0
Day 0 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 1
Day 1 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 7
Day 7 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 20
Day 20 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Polished:
Untitled by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 0
Day 0 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 1
Day 1 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 7
Day 7 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Day 20
Day 20 by jugglerguy, on Flickr
Polished:
Untitled by jugglerguy, on Flickr
I'm a big believer of not moving rocks on until they're ready. I don't know if these rocks will ever be ready, though. Small pits and spalls that would be removed by a rotary tumbler never seem to go away. Are Montana agates super hard, and this is to be expected? Are vibratory tumblers really bad at removing this stuff? If tumbling rocks in this way, do I just have to be ok with a bunch of imperfections? Is there anything I can do to improve my technique?
I'd really love to hear from those of you who tumble with just a vibratory tumbler.