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Post by pebblesky on Sept 3, 2022 20:10:53 GMT -5
The raw rocks (mixed rocks from rockshed) before tumbling: <forgot to take pictures> After 7-days tumbling on Lortone 3A with 60/90 grit - water washed:  Rocks that I felt are in good shape and ready for the next step: front  back  Rocks that I felt should go back to step 1 again, due to having too many bruises or having the potential to show more interesting look: front  back  For the re-tumbling batch, I tossed out some less interesting rocks, and add some untumbled rocks to the barrel. Bahia Agate from rockshed: front  back  SEA JASPER TUMBLING ROUGH 20-40 gram size from KingsleyNorth front  back  DESERT JASPER TUMBLING ROUGH from KingsleyNorth front  back  I will get you updated a week from now!  |
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 3, 2022 20:14:36 GMT -5
For my first batch, I did not use ceramic media and did not put enough smaller rocks into the barrel. I wonder how much that contributed to the bruises on my tumbled rocks or it is just normal and I would need more time at step 1.
Anyway for the re-tumbling batch, I put some smaller rocks as well as various sizes of ceramic pellets in, hoping to get smoother results.
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 3, 2022 20:47:50 GMT -5
Way to go!! I think you're dead-on with your choices of which ones are ready and which ones are not! I also agree with your decision to use smalls to "cushion"!  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2022 21:05:35 GMT -5
Looking forward to seeing them finished you have a beautiful batch! |
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller 
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,242
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Post by quartzilla on Sept 4, 2022 14:10:30 GMT -5
That desert jasper is a great tumble and has really cool colors/patterns.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,173
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Post by dshanpnw on Sept 5, 2022 6:38:05 GMT -5
For my first batch, I did not use ceramic media and did not put enough smaller rocks into the barrel. I wonder how much that contributed to the bruises on my tumbled rocks or it is just normal and I would need more time at step 1. Anyway for the re-tumbling batch, I put some smaller rocks as well as various sizes of ceramic pellets in, hoping to get smoother results. It's okay not to use media in the coarse stage that way the sharp edges get smoothed out quicker. However, media does help carry the grit to more surface area of the rocks. I normally do not include media in the coarse stage. A good mix of rock sizes works best. I would keep them in step 1 longer, you'll be glad you did. |
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,173
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Post by dshanpnw on Sept 5, 2022 6:41:56 GMT -5
welcome to the forum pebblesky, you have a great selection of rocks. Please keep us posted and thanks for sharing your first batch.
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 5, 2022 12:59:52 GMT -5
For my first batch, I did not use ceramic media and did not put enough smaller rocks into the barrel. I wonder how much that contributed to the bruises on my tumbled rocks or it is just normal and I would need more time at step 1. Anyway for the re-tumbling batch, I put some smaller rocks as well as various sizes of ceramic pellets in, hoping to get smoother results. It's okay not to use media in the coarse stage that way the sharp edges get smoothed out quicker. However, media does help carry the grit to more surface area of the rocks. I normally do not include media in the coarse stage. A good mix of rock sizes works best. I would keep them in step 1 longer, you'll be glad you did. Thanks for the tips! I will also compare the coarse stage results with and without the media to see how I feel about them. |
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 10, 2022 13:10:58 GMT -5
Update on 09/20:
Today when I opened my barrel and poured the rocks out, I realized a large amount of grit did not break down and the rocks did not change to rounded shapes (compared to my first run). My theory is I probably filled the barrel too full (a bit over 3/4) and put too many ceramic pellets. When the barrel was rolling last week, it was on the quiet side, which probably indicated the rocks did not work hard enough on each other.
Lesson learned. I took half of the ceramic pellets out, reused the residue grit and added some new grit to run the tumbler again. This time the noise is more like what I heard during my first run. I will probably check back in two or three days.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 481
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Post by hypodactylus on Sept 10, 2022 13:19:23 GMT -5
For my first batch, I did not use ceramic media and did not put enough smaller rocks into the barrel. I wonder how much that contributed to the bruises on my tumbled rocks or it is just normal and I would need more time at step 1. Anyway for the re-tumbling batch, I put some smaller rocks as well as various sizes of ceramic pellets in, hoping to get smoother results. Looking good! I really doubt any of the 'bruising' you are seeing is from your tumbler. I think it is basically impossible for hard rocks to bruise in the Lortone 3A. You would likely need a bigger tumbler with larger rocks to potentially see any bruising.
Like others have stated, I don't use ceramic media in stage 1 for hard rocks.
Fun!
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markb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2022
Posts: 472 
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Post by markb on Sept 10, 2022 15:41:59 GMT -5
Can you post a picture of a rock you think was bruised, coming out of Stage 1?
While it’s important not to overfill a barrel with rocks, the amount of water and grit you use is just as important. For your Stage 1 tumble what were those amounts and how long did you let it go? Also, where do you buy your grit from?
Lastly, what size ceramics are you using? If you add ceramics to a Stage 1 tumble, you are hindering the purpose of Stage 1, which is to shape the rock and remove sharp edges.
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 10, 2022 17:13:35 GMT -5
Can you post a picture of a rock you think was bruised, coming out of Stage 1? While it’s important not to overfill a barrel with rocks, the amount of water and grit you use is just as important. For your Stage 1 tumble what were those amounts and how long did you let it go? Also, where do you buy your grit from? Lastly, what size ceramics are you using? If you add ceramics to a Stage 1 tumble, you are hindering the purpose of Stage 1, which is to shape the rock and remove sharp edges. These were the rocks out of stage 1 without any filler from my post a week ago. Maybe not bruised, just the original defect of the rock that I should tumble more to get rid of. For my stage 1 tumbles on a 3lb barrel, I fill 4 tablesppons of 60/90 grit (bought from rockshed) and the water level slightly higher than the bottom of the top layer of rock. Should take picture next time. Front: Back I only started to use ceramic pellets since last week (after the above pictures was taken), and I filled two sizes of pallets from Kingsley North: CERAMIC MEDIA-SMALL - 5/32"X5/16", CERAMIC MEDIA - LARGE 3/8 x 5/8. Now I have learned from people that I really shouldn't use these as long I has enough mixed size of rocks in my barrel. |
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 10, 2022 17:17:34 GMT -5
For my first batch, I did not use ceramic media and did not put enough smaller rocks into the barrel. I wonder how much that contributed to the bruises on my tumbled rocks or it is just normal and I would need more time at step 1. Anyway for the re-tumbling batch, I put some smaller rocks as well as various sizes of ceramic pellets in, hoping to get smoother results. Looking good! I really doubt any of the 'bruising' you are seeing is from your tumbler. I think it is basically impossible for hard rocks to bruise in the Lortone 3A. You would likely need a bigger tumbler with larger rocks to potentially see any bruising.
Like others have stated, I don't use ceramic media in stage 1 for hard rocks.
Fun!
I will keep in mind: no ceramic media in stage 1 for hard rocks  |
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markb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Sept 10, 2022 19:32:21 GMT -5
Can you post a picture of a rock you think was bruised, coming out of Stage 1? While it’s important not to overfill a barrel with rocks, the amount of water and grit you use is just as important. For your Stage 1 tumble what were those amounts and how long did you let it go? Also, where do you buy your grit from? Lastly, what size ceramics are you using? If you add ceramics to a Stage 1 tumble, you are hindering the purpose of Stage 1, which is to shape the rock and remove sharp edges. These were the rocks out of stage 1 without any filler from my post a week ago. Maybe not bruised, just the original defect of the rock that I should tumble more to get rid of. For my stage 1 tumbles on a 3lb barrel, I fill 4 tablesppons of 60/90 grit (bought from rockshed) and the water level slightly higher than the bottom of the top layer of rock. Should take picture next time. I only started to use ceramic pellets since last week (after the above pictures was taken), and I filled two sizes of pallets from Kingsley North: CERAMIC MEDIA-SMALL - 5/32"X5/16", CERAMIC MEDIA - LARGE 3/8 x 5/8. Now I have learned from people that I really shouldn't use these as long I has enough mixed size of rocks in my barrel. Yes, I agree that what you saw was not bruising. It may occur in later runs, but since you now know about using mixed rock sizes and ceramics, that will help. For softer rocks you may need to go to a thicker slurry using stuff like sugar, etc. You can research that later. The Rock Shed grit is the best! No need for pictures of water levels, as we are all familiar with that. Initially I had lots of grit left over too when I followed online recommendations for grit amounts. I experimented and now use only 1.75-2 Tbs of 80 grit in my 3lb barrel for a week. I also drop my water level to 1-1.5" below the top of the rocks in the barrel, for a more aggressive tumble for at least the 1st time through in Stage 1. I make adjustments for redo runs. I too use a mix of large and smaller ceramics. Eventually, the large will become small, and I'll replace it. In Stage 1 I use small rocks from gravel in my yard, once used for ground cover. These are only 1/2" big but do the trick and they are free. When they get too small, I toss them. I run Stage 1 in rotary, then Stages 2-4 in a vibe, and fill 1/3 of the bowl with ceramics for best results. Don't know if you will be doing later stages with rotary, or going to a vibe, but if in a rotary make sure to clean out each barrel super good between batches. I used to do this by rinsing out the barrel and rocks with water, then running them in a Borax tumble for 1/2-1 hour. Rinse both afterwards and that should guarantee no contamination of grit to next tumble. For rocks with pits, you may have to dig out grit so watch for them. Good luck and have fun on your rock tumbling adventure! markb  |
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 10, 2022 23:34:09 GMT -5
These were the rocks out of stage 1 without any filler from my post a week ago. Maybe not bruised, just the original defect of the rock that I should tumble more to get rid of. For my stage 1 tumbles on a 3lb barrel, I fill 4 tablesppons of 60/90 grit (bought from rockshed) and the water level slightly higher than the bottom of the top layer of rock. Should take picture next time. I only started to use ceramic pellets since last week (after the above pictures was taken), and I filled two sizes of pallets from Kingsley North: CERAMIC MEDIA-SMALL - 5/32"X5/16", CERAMIC MEDIA - LARGE 3/8 x 5/8. Now I have learned from people that I really shouldn't use these as long I has enough mixed size of rocks in my barrel. Yes, I agree that what you saw was not bruising. It may occur in later runs, but since you now know about using mixed rock sizes and ceramics, that will help. For softer rocks you may need to go to a thicker slurry using stuff like sugar, etc. You can research that later. The Rock Shed grit is the best! No need for pictures of water levels, as we are all familiar with that. Initially I had lots of grit left over too when I followed online recommendations for grit amounts. I experimented and now use only 1.75-2 Tbs of 80 grit in my 3lb barrel for a week. I also drop my water level to 1-1.5" below the top of the rocks in the barrel, for a more aggressive tumble for at least the 1st time through in Stage 1. I make adjustments for redo runs. I too use a mix of large and smaller ceramics. Eventually, the large will become small, and I'll replace it. In Stage 1 I use small rocks from gravel in my yard, once used for ground cover. These are only 1/2" big but do the trick and they are free. When they get too small, I toss them. I run Stage 1 in rotary, then Stages 2-4 in a vibe, and fill 1/3 of the bowl with ceramics for best results. Don't know if you will be doing later stages with rotary, or going to a vibe, but if in a rotary make sure to clean out each barrel super good between batches. I used to do this by rinsing out the barrel and rocks with water, then running them in a Borax tumble for 1/2-1 hour. Rinse both afterwards and that should guarantee no contamination of grit to next tumble. For rocks with pits, you may have to dig out grit so watch for them. Good luck and have fun on your rock tumbling adventure! markb Thanks so much! I will definitely try not to fill too much grit or water for my next run. I have a small vibe and two vibe bowls for the later stages, so that my rotary could exclusively serve the Stage 1. Still I hope I could have a quieter vibe… |
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rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
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Post by rob58 on Sept 15, 2022 6:55:42 GMT -5
Good job, things look great. I really like the way everything is looking. This is the great thing about this forum, I'm really learning a lot from looking at the progress and reading the comments. Going to be following this to see how it all comes out.
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 15, 2022 11:53:15 GMT -5
Good job, things look great. I really like the way everything is looking. This is the great thing about this forum, I'm really learning a lot from looking at the progress and reading the comments. Going to be following this to see how it all comes out. Thanks. I definitely plan to update every week. Last week when I realized the run didn't work as expected I put the slurry back into the barrel instantly trying not to waste the unused grits. Hopefully I will have a picture update this Saturday. |
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 17, 2022 16:17:33 GMT -5
Today I finally got to check my stage 1 (60/90 grit in rotary) results again.   More before and after photos to come… |
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Post by pebblesky on Sept 17, 2022 17:18:45 GMT -5
Some before and afters: Before (Sep 3 - after a week of step 1) After (Sep 17 - after 3 weeks of step 1) . Some rocks were replaced on Sep 3.  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2022 17:23:38 GMT -5
When I click the after photo link it asks me to download. Do you know why Tommy? |
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