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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Dec 10, 2022 19:08:58 GMT -5
First off I do have a mini-sonic. My first advice would be to not use the 2mm balls in the 220 stage. I will use small angle cut ceramic in that stage when absolutely necessary but they are nowhere near as small as the beads. Vibrating tumblers are gentle yet very aggressive. Even without any filler the 220 stage needs to be checked every 6-8 hours to keep things moving correctly. Save the 2mm beads for polish and get yourself a mix of small and large angle cut ceramics for the rest of the stages.
On a side note if everything is working properly in a vibe tumbler 2mm beads will be 1mm beads after just a few runs in 220. That will get expensive quick.
I also have a Mini-Sonic. Agree with Chuck that checking water every 8 hours or so is a must. You want enough so all the contents are moving freely. Remember that as the grinding action continues more "mud" is created, slowing the action. Room temperature and the amount of grit used also are factors. Tumbling action is also dependent on the type of material being processed. Some materials generate more "mud" than others.
Post by waterboysh on Dec 13, 2022 16:14:29 GMT -5
I can give you some advice from the perspective of a Lot-O and not sure if it will carry over the to MT4. The medium grit stage is more tricky than pre-polish and polish because the latter 2 don't really create any mud. I've found that if I try to add 2 Tbsp of 120/220 right away I have issues with the grit sinking to the bottom. I've tried less water. I've tried more water. I don't know how other people get it to work like that. However, what does work for me is adding about 1 Tbsp of 120/220. After a few hours it will need a small amount of water and there should be the very beginnings of a slurry starting to form. I add the other 1 Tbsp at this point and a small spritz of water from my spray bottle. I think the already existing slurry will carry the grit around and keep it from sinking.
Getting the water level just absolutely perfect in the medium grit stage can be tough because you need enough water that as the grit wears down the rocks and the rock dust absorbs water, you have enough moisture to last a while. But not to much or else the grit starts washing off. It's a really delicate balance that's hard to get right without experience. I've been using the Lot-O for about 6 months and I feel like I am only just getting the hang of it. When running medium grit, I try to start it early enough in a day that I'll be able to check it every couple of hours until I go to bed and then I check it again first thing in the morning. The later stages don't really need supervision like that.
I can give you some advice from the perspective of a Lot-O and not sure if it will carry over the to MT4. The medium grit stage is more tricky than pre-polish and polish because the latter 2 don't really create any mud. I've found that if I try to add 2 Tbsp of 120/220 right away I have issues with the grit sinking to the bottom. I've tried less water. I've tried more water. I don't know how other people get it to work like that. However, what does work for me is adding about 1 Tbsp of 120/220. After a few hours it will need a small amount of water and there should be the very beginnings of a slurry starting to form. I add the other 1 Tbsp at this point and a small spritz of water from my spray bottle. I think the already existing slurry will carry the grit around and keep it from sinking.
Getting the water level just absolutely perfect in the medium grit stage can be tough because you need enough water that as the grit wears down the rocks and the rock dust absorbs water, you have enough moisture to last a while. But not to much or else the grit starts washing off. It's a really delicate balance that's hard to get right without experience. I've been using the Lot-O for about 6 months and I feel like I am only just getting the hang of it. When running medium grit, I try to start it early enough in a day that I'll be able to check it every couple of hours until I go to bed and then I check it again first thing in the morning. The later stages don't really need supervision like that.
Good advice, I might have to try that method out. It does seem like a crapshoot most times.
Adversity is the first path to truth - Byron Follow your bliss - Joseph Campbell
Did you add anything in with the polish? The thin slurry is why most people add something to thicken it some. A lot of people use borax, but my rinse water is emptied into my lawn so I couldn't do that. Some people use sugar, but I've never used that myself. I use 5 pumps of liquid hand soap, 1/4 tsp of psyllium husk powder, and only 1/4 tsp of grit. I usually add water twice; once about 30 minutes later and again about 4 hours later. The soap and psyllium make a slightly doughy slurry and I've had really good results with it in my Lot-O.
Post by waterboysh on Dec 14, 2022 10:48:45 GMT -5
Adding something helps to create a thin slurry which helps to suspend the grit in and carry it around. It also provides a small amount of cushioning for the rocks. Now that I'm on desktop I can more easily link to where I got my recipe from. ingawhposted about it here. I'll have to admit though that the obsidian I've tried did not turn out as amazing as hers, but I've gotten great results on everything else I've done.
Post by waterboysh on Dec 14, 2022 11:43:33 GMT -5
My Obsidian came out pretty good, just not as shiny as hers. My Mahogany Obsidian though came out amazing. I'm running the last little batch through medium grit at the moment and will probably make a post sometime early next year with some pictures. I saw the post of the user selling his MT4. For a while, after my Lot-O motor died and I couldn't find a replacement, I considered buying an MT4. I did a lot of research on it at the time, but info on the MT4 is not as readily available as other vibes. I did find posts on the forum here about it. I think it was jamesp that mentioned he also had issues with the MT4 and Obsidian. I may be completely mis-remembering though; it was about 6 months ago when I was looking into it. He tumbles a lot of glass so he has a lot of experience with that material.
On The Rock Shed website they say those sphere are meant more for rotary tumblers, but I don't know if anyone has tried them in a vibe or not. There's someone on the Rock Tumbling Reddit that uses them with great success in his rotary.
Last Edit: Dec 14, 2022 11:44:02 GMT -5 by waterboysh
I never used an MT-4 waterboysh, just the Lot-O and usually a tweaked Vibrasonic. I will say the mahogany obsidian is less fussy to tumble than some of the solid colored and snowflake obsidians. Mahogany is a harder form of glass. If having problems with obsidian at least try running it with 50% media and a slurry additive and avoid pieces weighing more than 25 to 30 grams for starts. Larger chunks is just asking for bruised and frosted edges.
You might try sugar in the Minisonic. I use 3 to 4 tablespoons of sugar per 4 pounds of rock in a Vibrasonic which requires a lot of water to make a syruppy slurry. Due to the amount of water required with sugar I don't have to add water but once in a 3 day run of AO 500 and never with a 2 day run of polish. I got tired of missing those 8 hour water injections and freezing the load when running Borax with it's needed small amounts of water.
Note there is no loose bouncing, the 8 lbs. of glass is congealed together by the sugar syrup. No chance of this drying out for 2 days. About 35% pre-tumbled quartz pea gravel media. Vibe dialed down to slooow.
The glass is all pendant sized under 25 grams in size. Out of SiC 30 or SiC 16 in the rotary I go to 1 tablespoon of SiC 500 for 2 days in vibe. 2 tablespoons of SiC 500 will wear the pendants down too much making them smaller than desired. Glass is soft, SiC 500 in the vibe will wear it down quickly. Then 3 days AO 500 and then 18 hours AO polish. Both from Rock Shed. SiC 500/AO 500/Polish all with 3 to 4 tbsl of sugar each.
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Welcome to the Rock Tumbling Hobby Forum where we share a love of rocks and a sense of community as enduring as the stones we polish.
The RTH Forum of www.RockTumbling.com is an Amazon Associate site and we earn money from
qualifying purchases you make after clicking on our links such as this
Rock Tumbling Supplies on Amazon
link for instance, or any of our various product ads and banners. By clicking our links every time you begin your Amazon shopping
experience, you are generating a bit of revenue for the forum which helps us cover our expenses. Thank you for your support!