pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 15, 2023 23:27:39 GMT -5
Back in December, I purchased a UV-10 and a starter kit that included grit and media. Fast forward to today and I have yet to produce a successful polish on my rocks. Even worse, something is abrading the bowl and shaving off bits of plastic into the slurry.
I have eliminated all known possible causes, chucked out any rocks with any bruises or spells, made sure the rock mix is correct, have proper polish on board etc. I remained mystified.
Today, I took a closer look at the media and at the lapidary warehouse I purchased it from. Turns out, they are promoting a porcelain media for rock tumbling and a ceramic media for deburring. The latter apparently is embedded with grit and is only to be used with metal. The kit that I had purchased was meant to come with the porcelain media, not the ceramic stuff with the grit.
I can see that the media I have been using does appear to have some type of substance embedded in it.
In your opinion, would this explain my issues? I kind of hope so, because I have been feeling like I'm losing my mind over this.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Feb 15, 2023 23:40:33 GMT -5
Honestly, it sounds like it would. I dont have a vibe yet, but I dont use ceramic or porcelain media, I personally use Pea Gravel in place of it, simply because I have like 50lbs of it from an old 50g fish tank I used to have. You can buy it cheap at wal mart in the garden department for landscaping. Or if you have a lake near by with a gravel beach that would also work depending on your local rock hounding laws. Good luck man.
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pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 16, 2023 0:09:02 GMT -5
Honestly, it sounds like it would. I dont have a vibe yet, but I dont use ceramic or porcelain media, I personally use Pea Gravel in place of it, simply because I have like 50lbs of it from an old 50g fish tank I used to have. You can buy it cheap at wal mart in the garden department for landscaping. Or if you have a lake near by with a gravel beach that would also work depending on your local rock hounding laws. Good luck man.
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pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 16, 2023 0:11:22 GMT -5
Thanks! I just confirmed with the supplier that they messed up and sent me the wrong media.
I had no idea that both porcelain and ceramic tumbling medias existed, as I have never seen porcelain media referred to in the forums.
They are sending me some porcelain.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Feb 16, 2023 0:17:51 GMT -5
Thanks! I just confirmed with the supplier that they messed up and sent me the wrong media. I had no idea that both porcelain and ceramic tumbling medias existed, as I have never seen porcelain media referred to in the forums. They are sending me some porcelain. I have never saw porcelain media either, but I have also never saw Ceramic that had grit imbedded into it. If you get Ceramic from the Rock Shed online it does not have anything in it. Nor does the Poly Plastics Ceramic Media you can get on Amazon. Are you sure the tumbler you bought was designed for rocks? Some are made for metal jewelery and for cleaning brass ammo casings and they do not do well with rocks.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Feb 16, 2023 0:20:23 GMT -5
Back in December, I purchased a UV-10 and a starter kit that included grit and media. Fast forward to today and I have yet to produce a successful polish on my rocks. Even worse, something is abrading the bowl and shaving off bits of plastic into the slurry. I have eliminated all known possible causes, chucked out any rocks with any bruises or spells, made sure the rock mix is correct, have proper polish on board etc. I remained mystified. Today, I took a closer look at the media and at the lapidary warehouse I purchased it from. Turns out, they are promoting a porcelain media for rock tumbling and a ceramic media for deburring. The latter apparently is embedded with grit and is only to be used with metal. The kit that I had purchased was meant to come with the porcelain media, not the ceramic stuff with the grit. I can see that the media I have been using does appear to have some type of substance embedded in it. In your opinion, would this explain my issues? I kind of hope so, because I have been feeling like I'm losing my mind over this. Is this the one you got? kingsleynorth.com/UV-10-Dry-Polisher.htmlIf so, its not meant for rocks, nor is it meant to have liquid added to it.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Feb 16, 2023 0:22:12 GMT -5
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pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 16, 2023 0:57:51 GMT -5
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pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 16, 2023 0:59:40 GMT -5
I have the correct one, the blue one. The lapidary supplier sent me the wrong media! I have just been speaking with them and they have confirmed this after I sent them the photos. Not impressed.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Feb 16, 2023 1:00:24 GMT -5
I have the correct one, the blue one. The lapidary supplier sent me the wrong media! I have just been speaking with them and they have confirmed this after I sent them the photos. Not impressed. gotcha had to be sure.
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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 Feb 16, 2023 1:39:09 GMT -5
I hope all works out well pamiam
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Feb 16, 2023 11:04:12 GMT -5
I have a thumler 10 lb vibe. Just got a new barrel, other one wore through the bottom. I don’t use ceramic media. I found it gets flat on one side and sticks to the side of the barrel. It’s a good machine, roughly 2 days in stages 2-4. One tip is make sure you have enough filler, too little wears out the barrel, according to the directions that came with it. Definitely works better with more filler. Good luck with yours, you won’t be disappointed!
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Feb 16, 2023 11:28:53 GMT -5
Interesting! I've never heard of porcelain media before. I have a lot-o vibe and use ceramic media (cylinder shaped) and have never had an issue. In fact one of the draws to ceramic over plastic is that grit does NOT get stuck - I'm curious what your ceramic media looks like.
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Feb 16, 2023 12:24:24 GMT -5
I have a fair of the cylindrical ceramic media left, if anyone wants it, send me a message. I’ll give it away
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pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 16, 2023 21:55:12 GMT -5
Interesting! I've never heard of porcelain media before. I have a lot-o vibe and use ceramic media (cylinder shaped) and have never had an issue. In fact one of the draws to ceramic over plastic is that grit does NOT get stuck - I'm curious what your ceramic media looks like.
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pamiam
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2023
Posts: 22
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Post by pamiam on Feb 16, 2023 21:59:00 GMT -5
I have photos, not sure if I can post them. I was very surprised to learn that both of the suppliers I deal with carry both. Basically, the ceramic media is a grayish colour with grit embedded that is released in the process. The porcelain looks exactly the same shape-wise, but is white, no specks of grit. The porcelain is quite expensive, but must last forever.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 17, 2023 9:59:23 GMT -5
There are ceramics embedded with different cutting media for tumbling metal parts. Used for polishing and deburring.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Feb 17, 2023 11:56:13 GMT -5
There are ceramics embedded with different cutting media for tumbling metal parts. Used for polishing and deburring. OOh! This makes sense! Interesting. Thanks!!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Feb 18, 2023 15:23:56 GMT -5
Took a deep dive and figured out the main differences between ceramic and porcelain. Porcelain is a more refined type of ceramic (in the most basic terms). It is less porous therefore a denser material. Glad you got it figured out. I have been so happy with my vibe I can just imagine the frustration you were feeling with your rocks never shining up!
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nickinmd
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2023
Posts: 15
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Post by nickinmd on Feb 19, 2023 3:35:06 GMT -5
So...would the ceramic embedded with grit work in stage one?
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