mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 163
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Post by mgroothuis on Mar 27, 2023 18:12:55 GMT -5
I've noticed this off and on in my tumbling adventures, and I'm not exactly sure what causes it. Any others with experience? The rocks are mostly triangular, with concave rounded sides that lead to a sharply acute rounded edge. The rocks don't start this shape, but end up this way. Maybe they aren't rotating in the tumbler correctly? Stuck in one position?
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Mar 27, 2023 18:16:55 GMT -5
If I had to wager a guess I would say that some parts are maybe just slightly softer than the rest so they wear faster leaving this shape.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Mar 27, 2023 20:40:51 GMT -5
I've been using some marbles I had around as filler in the tumbler. They start off round and end up triangular shape.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Placed another order in rockshed. Happy 2024 everyone!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,358
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Post by pebblesky on Mar 27, 2023 21:12:35 GMT -5
If I had to wager a guess I would say that some parts are maybe just slightly softer than the rest so they wear faster leaving this shape. Agree
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Mar 28, 2023 9:46:14 GMT -5
I've been using some marbles I had around as filler in the tumbler. They start off round and end up triangular shape. Very Interesting I have used marbles frequently in tumbling and they usually stay round Sometimes they will flatten out a little Using a Loretone QT66
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mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 163
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Post by mgroothuis on Mar 28, 2023 12:57:42 GMT -5
I've been using some marbles I had around as filler in the tumbler. They start off round and end up triangular shape. That's interesting. I haven't tried marbles, but I notice it a bit on my smaller ceramics too.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Mar 28, 2023 14:34:50 GMT -5
I've been using some marbles I had around as filler in the tumbler. They start off round and end up triangular shape. Very Interesting I have used marbles frequently in tumbling and they usually stay round Sometimes they will flatten out a little Using a Loretone QT66
I've wondered if it's something with the action of octagon shaped barrels. All of my larger barrels are octagon inside.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,564
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Post by Mark K on Mar 28, 2023 15:15:01 GMT -5
If I had to wager a guess I would say that some parts are maybe just slightly softer than the rest so they wear faster leaving this shape. I don't think that is so. Looking at the agates he showed, I think they are plenty hard across the board. If part was softer, you would not get that great shine.
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mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 163
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Post by mgroothuis on Mar 28, 2023 19:14:39 GMT -5
I don't think that is so. Looking at the agates he showed, I think they are plenty hard across the board. If part was softer, you would not get that great shine. I've definitely had it happen with softer rocks, like calcite I mistook for quartz. But more often, it happens on harder rocks. It's irreversible too. If I grind down the acute edge, after a tumble or two, it seems to return. It's perplexing. As soon as a rock turns mostly triangular, it gets worse and worse.
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Mar 29, 2023 0:46:05 GMT -5
If I had to wager a guess I would say that some parts are maybe just slightly softer than the rest so they wear faster leaving this shape. I don't think that is so. Looking at the agates he showed, I think they are plenty hard across the board. If part was softer, you would not get that great shine. Unless the softer part completly ground away leaving only the uniformly hard agate. But ya it was a guess and could totally be wrong.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Mar 29, 2023 8:47:09 GMT -5
If I had to wager a guess I would say that some parts are maybe just slightly softer than the rest so they wear faster leaving this shape. That's what I would have thought too except the marbles are going to be pretty uniform hardness.
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,211
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Post by quartzilla on Mar 29, 2023 22:02:44 GMT -5
I’ve had quite a few stones do this too. Need to get to the bottom of this quandary!
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Apr 14, 2023 16:15:01 GMT -5
I couldn't find any of these earlier, they are marbles that I tumbled that turn triangular as they grind down.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Apr 14, 2023 16:23:48 GMT -5
I couldn't find any of these earlier, they are marbles that I tumbled that turn triangular as they grind down. Ok, that is strange.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 431
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Post by hypodactylus on Apr 14, 2023 16:47:08 GMT -5
I too have noticed that my ceramic media and some of my rocks seem to develop flattened sides at times (but not always). I have theorized that somehow they get stuck in a grind on one side, but I am not really sure why that would happen with otherwise round pieces. It especially doesn't explain pieces that develop more than one flat side, like rockbrain 's marbles. It really doesn't make too much sense to me.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Apr 14, 2023 17:08:42 GMT -5
I'm playing around a lot with getting my slurry the proper consistency in the larger barrels. I guess I need to start taking notes. I get a lot of flat rocks sticking to the sides and bottom of the barrel but that doesn't seem like it would affect the marbles until they got flat.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Apr 14, 2023 17:12:28 GMT -5
These guys are worn down real small. They're about 3/8 of an inch on a large dimension. The marble with them in this picture is a standard size. What they all started off as
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Post by velodromed on Apr 15, 2023 8:37:59 GMT -5
I've noticed this off and on in my tumbling adventures, and I'm not exactly sure what causes it. Any others with experience? The rocks are mostly triangular, with concave rounded sides that lead to a sharply acute rounded edge. The rocks don't start this shape, but end up this way. Maybe they aren't rotating in the tumbler correctly? Stuck in one position? Perhaps the rocks are getting stuck in a ‘tumbling vorteks’, where they don’t rotate individually and get stuck grinding in the same position. Perhaps, on occasion, picking up the barrel and turning it so the contents mix a bit, then placing the barrel in reverse from what it was would help?
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,577
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Post by dillonf on Apr 15, 2023 8:43:41 GMT -5
Yes, I get a lot of triangular shaped pieces - all my rotaries are lortone. Never really thought about it, but it is a very good observation!
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Post by Son Of Beach on Apr 15, 2023 20:43:18 GMT -5
velodromed That was my initial guess as well, there is some kind of pattern they get locked into maybe.
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