vickster
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2022
Posts: 13
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Post by vickster on Oct 30, 2022 18:15:11 GMT -5
My last two batches in my Ray-Tech using a Thumbler’s barrel I ran for 48 hours in polish. The rocks turned out very nice but I read a couple different opinions on length in polish. One said 48 hours and it isn’t good to run longer. The other said 72 hours and longer won’t hurt. I am using a #61 polish-1 1/2 TBLS. WITH 2TBLS Borax. Opinions?
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Oct 30, 2022 19:37:10 GMT -5
I run mine for 1 - 2 days in the Lot-O. I don't really think more would hurt as long as you don't let it get to dry, but I don't really think it would help either.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Oct 30, 2022 20:18:40 GMT -5
My last two batches in my Ray-Tech using a Thumbler’s barrel I ran for 48 hours in polish. The rocks turned out very nice but I read a couple different opinions on length in polish. One said 48 hours and it isn’t good to run longer. The other said 72 hours and longer won’t hurt. I am using a #61 polish-1 1/2 TBLS. WITH 2TBLS Borax. Opinions? Well if you watch Rob from Michagan rock's video on this years tumbling champ, he ended up leaving the rocks in a vib for like 10 days I think it was if I remember correctly.
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jimgsmith
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
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Post by jimgsmith on Oct 31, 2022 9:28:09 GMT -5
My last two batches in my Ray-Tech using a Thumbler’s barrel I ran for 48 hours in polish. The rocks turned out very nice but I read a couple different opinions on length in polish. One said 48 hours and it isn’t good to run longer. The other said 72 hours and longer won’t hurt. I am using a #61 polish-1 1/2 TBLS. WITH 2TBLS Borax. Opinions? I have been using the tumble times, for all stages, as a minimum, and often my rocks go for longer in all stages. Stage 1 in a rotary is usually 8-10 days, and stages 2-4 in a vibe are each about 3-4 days. My thinking has been that the grit is constantly breaking down, so as you near the end of one stage, by going a little longer you are a) not doing any harm and b) possibly providing a bit of a bridge to the next grit level. The only downside I can see is a little extra electricity. But maybe I'm missing something?
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Post by victor1941 on Oct 31, 2022 21:00:23 GMT -5
Vickster, I run a UV-18 vibe and do mostly cabs. I enjoy making cabs and have not had a problem running 5 days with good solid material and proper moisture for the polish. I use polish from The Rock Shed.
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afterburnt
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2021
Posts: 152
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Post by afterburnt on Nov 9, 2022 10:21:18 GMT -5
I run AO 500 and AO Polish for 48 hours each but I only use 1/2 tsp of AO and 1 tbsp of Borax in each. How big is that barrel that you are using so much polish?
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Post by susand24224 on Nov 10, 2022 2:56:54 GMT -5
They should stay in polish as long as they need to. "Formulas" that may work for one set of rocks are not necessarily going to work for the next set, or the next person. They are nice as rough guidelines, but there are many variables, the biggest one being what is being tumbled, then the "quality" of the rock, then the size of each rock, how long the previous stage was, the quality of the polish (yes, the Rockshed's is good but for me Rapid Polish is much better, and also more expensive), your water quality, (hard water can impede the process), how much water is in the vibe throughout the process, and the list goes on.
When I tumbled a lot, I oftentimes didn't feel like washing, changing grit, etc. after a long day of work, so the rocks would stay in longer. I never felt that it damaged any of them. I've also left rotaries for a few weeks when I was out of town with no problems.
Best thing to do is to take the rocks out, dry them off, and if you are happy with the polish, you're done. When you're just starting out, though, I would take a few out and put the rest back in for a day or two, just as a curiosity test of whether they could be better. If not happy with the polish, recharge and run a day or three longer. If some of the rocks are perfect but others are not, there is a good possibility that the "not dones" aren't quite as hard as the done ones--put them aside and when you have enough for a full load of them, put them in polish again for a few days.
I still tumble a few times a year when my local rock club needs tumbles for some reason--and I frequently run the 120/220 and 500 stages more than once. I should also add that softer rocks (and cantankerous obsidian and its kin) *often* take longer for me than a day or two--but my water has a pH of 10.
Happy Tumbling!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,558
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Post by jamesp on Nov 13, 2022 13:10:41 GMT -5
In my situation I can say that glass in the vibe does not fare well in long polish runs. My theory is that as the slurry becomes 'tired'(thinner in consistency) over time there is more chance of damage. If I run the glass for 2 days in AO 500 I must run the AO 14,000 polish for 2 days. If I run the glass for 3 days in AO 500 I only need to run the AO 14,000 polish for 5 to 10 hours ! In either case if I run the glass for 3 to 5 days in polish(with no clean out) the polish usually suffers and the slurry has a much thinner consistency. Slurry quality is important. That can be proven by using straight water as your slurry. These are some example polishes - 3 days in AO 500, 8 hours in AO 14,000 polish.(both purchased thru the Rock Shed). Slurry thickener agent was sugar but Borax in proper doses and timings does very well too: Agate is more forgiving than softer glass.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Nov 13, 2022 13:25:38 GMT -5
In my situation I can say that glass in the vibe does not fare well in long polish runs. My theory is that as the slurry becomes 'tired'(thinner in consistency) over time there is more chance of damage. If I run the glass for 2 days in AO 500 I must run the AO 14,000 polish for 2 days. If I run the glass for 3 days in AO 500 I only need to run the AO 14,000 polish for 5 to 10 hours ! In either case if I run the glass for 3 to 5 days in polish(with no clean out) the polish usually suffers and the slurry has a much thinner consistency. Slurry quality is important. That can be proven by using straight water as your slurry. These are some example polishes - 3 days in AO 500, 8 hours in AO 14,000 polish.(both purchased thru the Rock Shed). Slurry thickener agent was sugar but Borax in proper doses and timings does very well too: Agate is more forgiving than softer glass. I love pictures of well rounded, nicely patterned, brightly-colored, shiny, polished glass in the morning, lol. Thank you, jamesp.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,558
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Post by jamesp on Nov 13, 2022 13:44:43 GMT -5
Thank you Jean. Cousin Nancy came up from Florida yesterday rockpickerforever. Her sister and our cousin Spring all close in age. They and a couple of other nieces, sister and wife were gifted the glass cabs that jasoninsd made and all are totally contented. My sister still does not believe that a human wrapped those cabs claiming they were done on some type of machine. Ha, the Jason machine in this case. Other RTH members have wrapped cabs for me and they are all works of incredible skill. Lots of skills here at RTH ! Making those glass cabs via mass production is to easy if you have a kiln and a bunch of patterned glass scraps. Odd thing about glass is that it always melts to a thickness of a 1/4 inch even if it is 1/8 inch thick it 'melts up' in thickness to that desirable 1/4 inch pendant thickness. Tumble polishing was much more the challenge to dial in. The tumbler did not like this glass. It was a Grecian plate that was two sheets of clear glass fused together with screens/copper wires/piles of metallic dust and other stuff sandwiched between. The problem occurred at the edges where those sandwiched foreign items were located. The edges chipped at the fusion gap caused by the foreign objects due to the vibration impacts in the vibe. The flat surfaces polished fine.
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 13, 2022 17:17:39 GMT -5
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