rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Nov 11, 2022 8:53:40 GMT -5
Hi! My rutilated quartz is 1/2 ready for pre-polish and the other half needs to potentially go back to grit 1 as I'm seeing some deep pits in some of the bigger pieces. Is it ok to add more rough to the barrel to make up for the other half that's ready to move on? I'm not sure if the sharp edges on the new would hurt the smooth edges of the other. Or, should I just run a small barrel with extra media? Thanks!!
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electrocutus
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2020
Posts: 331
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Post by electrocutus on Nov 11, 2022 9:10:17 GMT -5
As long as the new rough is roughly the same hardness, this is fine. A lot of people do this, but it just means the new rough you add will likely take longer and need to keep going on stage 1 when your other rocks are ready. It's the cycle of tumble!! :-)
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Nov 11, 2022 9:21:57 GMT -5
As long as the new rough is roughly the same hardness, this is fine. A lot of people do this, but it just means the new rough you add will likely take longer and need to keep going on stage 1 when your other rocks are ready. It's the cycle of tumble!! :-) Awesome. Thank you. It'll be more rutilated quartz so same rock. I'll hold the ones for pre polish until I have enough to move on there (I need more tumblers!!! haha).
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 11, 2022 9:56:50 GMT -5
Yep...as electrocutus said...it's a cycle. Just keep refreshing the "emptied out space" with similar material and you'll be fine. The sharp edges aren't going to scratch or mar the half-tumbled pieces...as long as you're replacing with material which has the same hardness. I think it was in a thread recently where someone was asking if they had too many smalls...but JamesP had written out an ideal small, medium, to big rock ratio that works well. If you get a chance, see if you can find his post. The reason I bring that up was your potential solution of filling the void with extra media. (I probably would have wondered the same thing! )
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 981
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Post by nursetumbler on Nov 11, 2022 10:21:31 GMT -5
Yep...as electrocutus said...it's a cycle. Just keep refreshing the "emptied out space" with similar material and you'll be fine. The sharp edges aren't going to scratch or mar the half-tumbled pieces...as long as you're replacing with material which has the same hardness. I think it was in a thread recently where someone was asking if they had too many smalls...but JamesP had written out an ideal small, medium, to big rock ratio that works well. If you get a chance, see if you can find his post. The reason I bring that up was your potential solution of filling the void with extra media. (I probably would have wondered the same thing! ) rocknewb101It's an easy one to find. Its in this category and the title has "to many smalls" in the title Hi jasoninsd
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 11, 2022 10:23:16 GMT -5
Yep...as electrocutus said...it's a cycle. Just keep refreshing the "emptied out space" with similar material and you'll be fine. The sharp edges aren't going to scratch or mar the half-tumbled pieces...as long as you're replacing with material which has the same hardness. I think it was in a thread recently where someone was asking if they had too many smalls...but JamesP had written out an ideal small, medium, to big rock ratio that works well. If you get a chance, see if you can find his post. The reason I bring that up was your potential solution of filling the void with extra media. (I probably would have wondered the same thing! ) rocknewb101 It's an easy one to find. Its in this category and the title has "to many smalls" in the title Hi jasoninsd Hi Kelly! (I was too lazy to search for it...but I know it's there! LOL)
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Nov 11, 2022 13:06:23 GMT -5
Yep...as electrocutus said...it's a cycle. Just keep refreshing the "emptied out space" with similar material and you'll be fine. The sharp edges aren't going to scratch or mar the half-tumbled pieces...as long as you're replacing with material which has the same hardness. I think it was in a thread recently where someone was asking if they had too many smalls...but JamesP had written out an ideal small, medium, to big rock ratio that works well. If you get a chance, see if you can find his post. The reason I bring that up was your potential solution of filling the void with extra media. (I probably would have wondered the same thing! ) rocknewb101 It's an easy one to find. Its in this category and the title has "to many smalls" in the title Hi jasoninsd Thank you thank you! I do remember that post and will go find it. Glad to know Im on the right track!! Thanks everyone for your input! <3
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2022 16:29:17 GMT -5
forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/100671/overloaded-smallsJames’ Reply: A good rule of thumb for loading step 1 to a rotary barrel: Any sized rotary barrel filled 100% with 1/4 inch rocks will take months to shape. Don't do it. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1/2 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Don't do it. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1 inch rocks will shape much quicker. It will be a slow shaping process. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1.5 inch rocks will shape even quicker. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" a mix of 1/2"-1"-1.5"-2" rocks say equally by weight(or volume) will shape yet faster. If running say 50% of the barrel volume with rocks 3/4 inch and smaller it is best to run the other 50% with 1"/1.5"/2" rocks. If running say 50% of the barrel volume with rocks 1/2 inch rocks add a single 3 inch "crusher rock" rock and it will shape the smalls quickly. Just saying, your typical 1.5 to 2 inch rocks are the 'workhorses' that add needed grinding pressures to shape all rocks quicker. But never run all 3 inch rocks together(in like a larger 12 pound barrel) without smalls mixed in or the 3 inch rocks will beat/bruise each other. A batch of mostly 2 inch rocks run together with smaller 1/2 to 3/4 inch rocks as 'void fill' is a fast shaping arrangement. Be prepared to add SiC more often though. The larger rocks will both speed the grind but also use up the SiC quicker.(it won't require more SiC, it just uses up the SiC faster because the shaping is happening faster). The old rule that a mix of sizes of 1/2 to 2 inches is hard to beat for efficient shaping.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Nov 11, 2022 17:18:52 GMT -5
Big rocks eventually make smaller rocks
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,558
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Post by jamesp on Nov 12, 2022 10:53:59 GMT -5
I made four tumbling barrels out of plastic pipe in step down sizes for this very reason. It was a good move. They have the following capacities - 16-13-10-8 pounds for the 6 inch barrels 20-16-13-10 pounds for the 8 inch barrels That way I just moved the whole batch to a smaller barrel as step 1 made them smaller. But there is nothing wrong with adding more untumbled rocks other than some are at a newer stage in the same batch.
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dirtsifter
Cave Dweller
Co to za kamyczek?
Member since September 2022
Posts: 402
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Post by dirtsifter on Nov 14, 2022 4:31:12 GMT -5
Great question
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,558
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Post by jamesp on Nov 14, 2022 11:18:51 GMT -5
Speaking of, I had a 20 and an 8 pound barrel running with same type of material and same start time. After about 10 days of volume loss they were both combined to fill the 20 pound barrels with about a pound or two of stones side lined. In another 2 weeks those stones should fit in the 20 pound barrel but I'd rather move the batch to a 16 pound barrel and perhaps sideline a pound or so of yet more rocks. That way the batch is at the same point. The sidelined 3 pounds can be tumbled from start another day. The same game can be played with a 3 pound and 6 or 12 pound barrel.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Nov 14, 2022 21:29:44 GMT -5
I currently run a series of lortone barrels 12lb, 6lb and a 33b (2 3lbers). I add more material during the coarse grind then cycle the stones out of coarse grinding to smaller barrels. Ideally I'd have an extra 6lb barrel and a 45C tumbler (4lb). With those extra additions I feel I could efficiently cycle material down to smaller barrels while using a small amount of ceramic media. I only use 220 or finer grit in my 33b, and I run it at about 3/4 full for pre-polish and polish (thinner slurry).
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