brifly1
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2022
Posts: 2
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Post by brifly1 on Nov 24, 2022 10:29:40 GMT -5
Hi guys first of all I’d like to start by introducing myself im brian from Edinburgh Scotland and until a few months ago the only tumbler I knew of was what I drink my later out of to say I’m a complete novice would be an understatement but I jumped in and got myself a little tumbler and some quartz and quartzite any tips or information on both rocks would be amazing as would any input and info on rock tumbling in general. My grits I have just say stage 1,2,3,4 I’ve read a few threads on here where the guys are discussing grits/media and it just looks like numbers and letters to me I’m genuinely lost and itching to start tumbling but I don’t want to ruin the rocks or the wee tumbler I’m going to use for my first ever tumble cycle , thanks in advance and hope yous all have a great day
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stonemon
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2017
Posts: 1,024
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Post by stonemon on Nov 24, 2022 10:33:57 GMT -5
Greetings from western Oregon!
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 24, 2022 10:48:54 GMT -5
Hey Brian! Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! I'm not much of a tumbler...more into cabbing and wire-wrapping. There's tons of members who tumble and will happily answer any of your questions I bet!
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victor1941
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2011
Posts: 1,975
Member is Online
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Post by victor1941 on Nov 24, 2022 12:08:31 GMT -5
Brifly1, do you have a rotary or a vibe tumbler? The numbers start from coarse grit(1) and go to polish(4). I for the most part do not tumble rough rock in my vibe without knocking the edges off. I tumble preform cabs or flats with half ceramic media, scraps and occasionally add a smoothed rough piece in my UV-18 vibe. Vibes are not particularly good at bulk removal on hard material but do a fine job on a pre worked surface. I suggest you follow the manufactures instruction and send pictures for the tumbler group to give help as needed.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Nov 24, 2022 12:27:19 GMT -5
Hi guys first of all I’d like to start by introducing myself im brian from Edinburgh Scotland and until a few months ago the only tumbled I know of was what I drink mg later out of to say I’m a complete novice would be an understatement but I jumped in and got myself a little tumbler and some quartz and quartzite any tips or information on both rocks would be amazing as would any input and info on rock tumbling in general. My grits I have just say stage 1,2,3,4 I’ve read a through threads on here where the guys are discussing grits/media and it just looks like numbers and letters to me I’m genuinely lost and itching to start tumbling but I don’t want to ruin the rocks or the wee tumbler I’m going to use for my first ever tumble cycle , thanks in advance and hope yous all have a great day My biggest piece of advice would be find a source in Scotland for the following if you can. Stage 1 - 60/90 Silicon carbide Stage 2 - 120/220 Silicon Carbide Stage 3 - 500 Aluminum Oxide Stage 4 - 1 or 2 Micron Aluminum Oxide Or Tin Oxide. Basically the Finest Aluminum or tin oxide you can find. Most "grit packs" that come with tumblers dont include a real polish, they normally have like 1000 or 1200 Aluminum Oxide which is really a pre-polish and wont quite get you the wet mirror shine that you would get with a 1 or 2 micron Aluminum oxide. You should be able to tumble quartz and quartzite together without a problem. If you got one of the national geographic style tumblers with 3 or more speed settings do all stages on speed 1. Dont dump your slurry from your rocks down ANY drain in the house it will turn to cement in your pipes and end up costing a fortune in plumbing repairs. The problem with the grit packs they sell that are just labled stage 1,2,3,4 is that they never give you enough stage 1 and they neglect to tell you that you most likely will need to run stage 1 more than once to get the rocks smooth enough to move on to stage 2. Depending on the rock type you can be spending 2 weeks on stage one, up to a year on stage 1 with really tough agates. Stage 1 is the only stage you should have to repeat, once you get the rocks where you are happy with how smooth and defect free they are, you can just to 7 days on each stage 2-4. Some people Burnish between stages, which means they clean out the slurry, add water and either borax or a drop or 2 of dish soap, seal it up and run it a few hours to overnight. If you do this, same as slurry dont dump it down any drain in the house. You typically change your grit or add new grit every 5 to 7 days on stage 1. Some people drain rinse and start stage 1 over with new water and grit every 5 to 7 days until all nicks, gouges,scratches are gone, and some people like me, just check the rocks every 5 to 7 days and add new grit in with the slurry without doing a full clean out. When you do buy grit, buy 7 times as much stage 1 as the rest becuse that is the stage you have to repeat until smooth and defect free. Funny Side note, My Nephew actually Lives in Edinburgh Scotland so if you happen to run into a 6ft 7in tall American with long hair and a Scraggly beard tell him his uncle said Hi lol. Any questions feel free to ask. What tumbler do you have, as in what brand?
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 24, 2022 16:55:48 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
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brifly1
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2022
Posts: 2
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Post by brifly1 on Nov 24, 2022 17:09:09 GMT -5
Thanks for all your input guys hand on heart it’s genuinely appreciated, I’ve managed to find a supplier of silicon carbide who just happens to be a stone smith and has a mutual friend who tumbles agates on an industrial scale for sale in garden centres etc he reckons he can sort out some real polishes for me. My tumbler is just the hobby national geographic one from Amazon it came with a wee pack of stones and stages 1,2,3,4 so I’m going to go and get myself some of the proper grits for my rocks tomorrow. Thanks again for all your inputs enjoy the rest of your evenings 😊
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Post by vegasjames on Nov 24, 2022 17:16:52 GMT -5
Welcome Brian from Southern Nevada.
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Post by As I in does tries! on Nov 25, 2022 4:03:24 GMT -5
Greetings and Welcome from Bonnybridge, Scotland!
You will have difficulty finding the first 3 stages of grits in the UK, however
Stage 1: F80 Silicon Carbide get 5-10 times more than any other grit. Stage 2: F220 Silicon Carbide Stage 3: F400 Silicon Carbide Stage 4: F600 Silicon Carbide Stage 5: F1200 Silicon Carbide Polish Stage: Aluminum Oxide, Cerium Oxide, Tin Oxide, (Zinc Oxide and Pumice powder I have never used yet).
I have eliminated F220 and F400 from my rotary, however I still use F220 in the Vibe, but F400 has been competely been eliminated.
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Andrewa
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 120
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Post by Andrewa on Nov 25, 2022 10:54:38 GMT -5
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nursetumbler
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2022
Posts: 928
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Post by nursetumbler on Nov 25, 2022 15:02:48 GMT -5
brifly1Hello from where ever the wind blows me, currently south eastern Michigan. Let me say that rocks are done when you feel they are done. Some like them completely smooth with no blemishes, pits or cracks, and some don't mind a few imperfections. You have to find your look. Sometimes there is an imperfection that you just can't work out so either you live with it and it move on or keep chasing it and add it to a different batch. Don't be surprised if your tumbles come out of polish with white cracks that you didn't think were there when they went into polish. That sneaky polish finds teeny cracks to hide in. Burnishing may take it out or not. May I suggest Michigan Rocks ( Jugglerguy ) YouTube channel. He has very informative tumbling video tutorials. Again Welcome to the forum
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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 27, 2022 8:18:32 GMT -5
Hi guys first of all I’d like to start by introducing myself im brian from Edinburgh Scotland and until a few months ago the only tumbled I know of was what I drink mg later out of to say I’m a complete novice would be an understatement but I jumped in and got myself a little tumbler and some quartz and quartzite any tips or information on both rocks would be amazing as would any input and info on rock tumbling in general. My grits I have just say stage 1,2,3,4 I’ve read a through threads on here where the guys are discussing grits/media and it just looks like numbers and letters to me I’m genuinely lost and itching to start tumbling but I don’t want to ruin the rocks or the wee tumbler I’m going to use for my first ever tumble cycle , thanks in advance and hope yous all have a great day My biggest piece of advice would be find a source in Scotland for the following if you can. Stage 1 - 60/90 Silicon carbide Stage 2 - 120/220 Silicon Carbide Stage 3 - 500 Aluminum Oxide Stage 4 - 1 or 2 Micron Aluminum Oxide Or Tin Oxide. Basically the Finest Aluminum or tin oxide you can find. Most "grit packs" that come with tumblers dont include a real polish, they normally have like 1000 or 1200 Aluminum Oxide which is really a pre-polish and wont quite get you the wet mirror shine that you would get with a 1 or 2 micron Aluminum oxide. You should be able to tumble quartz and quartzite together without a problem. If you got one of the national geographic style tumblers with 3 or more speed settings do all stages on speed 1. Dont dump your slurry from your rocks down ANY drain in the house it will turn to cement in your pipes and end up costing a fortune in plumbing repairs. The problem with the grit packs they sell that are just labled stage 1,2,3,4 is that they never give you enough stage 1 and they neglect to tell you that you most likely will need to run stage 1 more than once to get the rocks smooth enough to move on to stage 2. Depending on the rock type you can be spending 2 weeks on stage one, up to a year on stage 1 with really tough agates. Stage 1 is the only stage you should have to repeat, once you get the rocks where you are happy with how smooth and defect free they are, you can just to 7 days on each stage 2-4. Some people Burnish between stages, which means they clean out the slurry, add water and either borax or a drop or 2 of dish soap, seal it up and run it a few hours to overnight. If you do this, same as slurry dont dump it down any drain in the house. You typically change your grit or add new grit every 5 to 7 days on stage 1. Some people drain rinse and start stage 1 over with new water and grit every 5 to 7 days until all nicks, gouges,scratches are gone, and some people like me, just check the rocks every 5 to 7 days and add new grit in with the slurry without doing a full clean out. When you do buy grit, buy 7 times as much stage 1 as the rest becuse that is the stage you have to repeat until smooth and defect free. Funny Side note, My Nephew actually Lives in Edinburgh Scotland so if you happen to run into a 6ft 7in tall American with long hair and a Scraggly beard tell him his uncle said Hi lol. Any questions feel free to ask. What tumbler do you have, as in what brand? Hey vance71975, that was pretty good advice, well presented. Good job. brifly1 Look up youtube channel Michigan Rocks aka Jugglerguy here. He has some very good tutorials to get you started. I know because he got me started with the power of knowledge.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Nov 27, 2022 14:04:53 GMT -5
My biggest piece of advice would be find a source in Scotland for the following if you can. Stage 1 - 60/90 Silicon carbide Stage 2 - 120/220 Silicon Carbide Stage 3 - 500 Aluminum Oxide Stage 4 - 1 or 2 Micron Aluminum Oxide Or Tin Oxide. Basically the Finest Aluminum or tin oxide you can find. Most "grit packs" that come with tumblers dont include a real polish, they normally have like 1000 or 1200 Aluminum Oxide which is really a pre-polish and wont quite get you the wet mirror shine that you would get with a 1 or 2 micron Aluminum oxide. You should be able to tumble quartz and quartzite together without a problem. If you got one of the national geographic style tumblers with 3 or more speed settings do all stages on speed 1. Dont dump your slurry from your rocks down ANY drain in the house it will turn to cement in your pipes and end up costing a fortune in plumbing repairs. The problem with the grit packs they sell that are just labled stage 1,2,3,4 is that they never give you enough stage 1 and they neglect to tell you that you most likely will need to run stage 1 more than once to get the rocks smooth enough to move on to stage 2. Depending on the rock type you can be spending 2 weeks on stage one, up to a year on stage 1 with really tough agates. Stage 1 is the only stage you should have to repeat, once you get the rocks where you are happy with how smooth and defect free they are, you can just to 7 days on each stage 2-4. Some people Burnish between stages, which means they clean out the slurry, add water and either borax or a drop or 2 of dish soap, seal it up and run it a few hours to overnight. If you do this, same as slurry dont dump it down any drain in the house. You typically change your grit or add new grit every 5 to 7 days on stage 1. Some people drain rinse and start stage 1 over with new water and grit every 5 to 7 days until all nicks, gouges,scratches are gone, and some people like me, just check the rocks every 5 to 7 days and add new grit in with the slurry without doing a full clean out. When you do buy grit, buy 7 times as much stage 1 as the rest becuse that is the stage you have to repeat until smooth and defect free. Funny Side note, My Nephew actually Lives in Edinburgh Scotland so if you happen to run into a 6ft 7in tall American with long hair and a Scraggly beard tell him his uncle said Hi lol. Any questions feel free to ask. What tumbler do you have, as in what brand? Hey vance71975 , that was pretty good advice, well presented. Good job. brifly1 Look up youtube channel Michigan Rocks aka Jugglerguy here. He has some very good tutorials to get you started. I know because he got me started with the power of knowledge. Thanks! I have learned it all from yall here lol
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