lapidarycentral
starting to spend too much on rocks
(Brian Rhode) LapidaryCentral.com - Fueling your Lapidary Addiction.
Member since August 2021
Posts: 218
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Post by lapidarycentral on Oct 13, 2022 18:05:31 GMT -5
Hey Folks, I have a lot-o tumbler and a mini-sonic mt-4sv (just added a second one today), and I have been having an issue in the minisonic where the 500 AO grit is not breaking down like it would in the lot-o. It seems to be staying at about 500 grit, and not bringing it past that point. The action is great, better than in the lot-o, so I figured maybe it was just going to fast; upon slowing it down for a couple days I still seem to have no break down. Usually by this point with obsidian, with 500 AO grit I have a pretty glossy polish going in the lot-o, but with the minisonic it's just a matte polish.
Any ideas of what could be causing this issue? My slurry is identical to the slurry I use in the lot-o.
This has happened with multiple batches, and it makes the final polish not come out nearly as well as in the lot-o if I skip right to polish after 4 days of 500 AO. With the sonics do you just have to step up further to the final polish, or am I doing something wrong?
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on Oct 13, 2022 20:58:02 GMT -5
That sounds strange. Have you tried running it longer than 2 days? How full is your hopper? Are you running ceramics with it?
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lapidarycentral
starting to spend too much on rocks
(Brian Rhode) LapidaryCentral.com - Fueling your Lapidary Addiction.
Member since August 2021
Posts: 218
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Post by lapidarycentral on Oct 13, 2022 21:45:28 GMT -5
That sounds strange. Have you tried running it longer than 2 days? How full is your hopper? Are you running ceramics with it? I'm running about 40% ceramics and its about 90% full. I have ran it for 4 days, no difference from day 1 to day 4, no breakdown at all so far as I can tell on any of the batches done with it. By day 4 at 500 grit AO in the lot-o they have a near mirror polish. Not really sure what is going on. My best guess so far is that the sonic barrels say the same weight but seem to be different volume wise. Perhaps I need to adjust and use lower amounts of 500 grit in the sonic barrels?
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quartzilla
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Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,237
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Post by quartzilla on Oct 14, 2022 6:38:17 GMT -5
I only use my sonic for a 1000 stage and a 8000 stage. I do the other 3 stages in a rotary so not sure what’s going on. I use 1 tablespoon, usually less in those stages but my hopper is small : the KG-1. One thing I noticed is I get better action if the hopper isn’t too full. I try to keep the load in the bulged out area or a little above in the hopper. Sounds like your doing everything right. Even with the fuller hopper it should be breaking down. Also just a side note: my stuff never has the near polish look coming out of stage 3 or even stage 4. It’s not till the 8000 run that it looks glassy. Maybe your comparing apples to oranges? Could always run it thruand see what happens.
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lapidarycentral
starting to spend too much on rocks
(Brian Rhode) LapidaryCentral.com - Fueling your Lapidary Addiction.
Member since August 2021
Posts: 218
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Post by lapidarycentral on Oct 14, 2022 11:54:43 GMT -5
We have continued with a batch onto other polishing stages, and with the obsidian the ones out of the minisonic turned out with a slight glaze appearance and not nearly as glassy as through the lot-o.
There was a pretty obvious difference in the quality of the polish, even though it was the same exact material. I'm going to try running it in the 500 grit for a couple extra days to see if it just needs more time, but so far still just looking like it ran through 500 grit and nothing else.
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jimgsmith
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
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Post by jimgsmith on Oct 14, 2022 12:15:33 GMT -5
We have continued with a batch onto other polishing stages, and with the obsidian the ones out of the minisonic turned out with a slight glaze appearance and not nearly as glassy as through the lot-o. There was a pretty obvious difference in the quality of the polish, even though it was the same exact material. I'm going to try running it in the 500 grit for a couple extra days to see if it just needs more time, but so far still just looking like it ran through 500 grit and nothing else. I've never used a mini-sonic, but the description says that there are no moving parts, so I wonder if the action in the barrel, although moving quickly, is not agitating/vibrating as much as the lot-o so its a more gentle tumble. 🤷♂️
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lapidarycentral
starting to spend too much on rocks
(Brian Rhode) LapidaryCentral.com - Fueling your Lapidary Addiction.
Member since August 2021
Posts: 218
|
Post by lapidarycentral on Oct 14, 2022 13:18:14 GMT -5
We have continued with a batch onto other polishing stages, and with the obsidian the ones out of the minisonic turned out with a slight glaze appearance and not nearly as glassy as through the lot-o. There was a pretty obvious difference in the quality of the polish, even though it was the same exact material. I'm going to try running it in the 500 grit for a couple extra days to see if it just needs more time, but so far still just looking like it ran through 500 grit and nothing else. I've never used a mini-sonic, but the description says that there are no moving parts, so I wonder if the action in the barrel, although moving quickly, is not agitating/vibrating as much as the lot-o so its a more gentle tumble. 🤷♂️ That could be what is going on. The lack of vibrating agitation is preserving the grit longer. I'll keep messing around, but I guess eventually I may just have to reserve the lot-o for prepolish and the sonics for the final polish or 220 grit. I did send a message to SUVA lapidary to see if they are able to give any insight on this, since they deal mostly with Diamond Pacific.
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