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Post by tims on Jun 30, 2023 12:42:32 GMT -5
I have a large waterline agate (i think) found in the Black Hills that i want to tumble but am not sure it's possible. It has room to roll as long as it doesn't turn endwise, then it might wedge in place. Was wondering if anyone else had rolled lunkers that could convince me that this is / isn't a fine idea to try 
All opinions welcome and thanks for looking.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 477
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Post by hypodactylus on Jun 30, 2023 13:03:26 GMT -5
Generally, I think the advice is to only tumble rocks with a maximum width less than the diameter of the barrel minus the maximum width of the next biggest rock. Otherwise, they may get stuck and not tumble.
In your case, the max width of the rock already meets or exceeds the diameter of the barrel on its own. As a result, your rock will likely wedge in place (as you said).
So, in conclusion; no, I don't think that rock will tumble well in that barrel. This is to say nothing about how well such a large rock would actually grind in a tumbler, even if it did fit.
However, I don't see why you can't experiment and find out for yourself (and the rest of us) 🙂.
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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 Jun 30, 2023 13:07:53 GMT -5
I'd fill it with ceramic or pea gravel and give it a go - what ya got to lose?
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 491
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Post by hplcman on Jun 30, 2023 13:13:36 GMT -5
Give it a try! Hopefully, as the rock grinds down you will get more movement in there and it won't be a problem anymore. I would just open and check every couple of days (or just listen to it tumble) to make sure everything is moving around ok...
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ashley
Cave Dweller 
Member since February 2023
Posts: 936 
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Post by ashley on Jun 30, 2023 13:51:22 GMT -5
I would try it! Might not work but if it does, it might take a long time to polish. But it is certainly worth the experiment. Keep us posted with updates on how it goes.
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Post by tims on Jun 30, 2023 15:08:58 GMT -5
Good suggestions guys, thank you all. Experimentation it is.
Been having trouble filling the 12# lately and it's just sitting there. Hungry and sad. Will use lots of small ceramics and / or pea gravel if i can find decent pea gravel around here. I roll indoors and should be able to monitor it pretty well. Will update.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 30, 2023 15:50:31 GMT -5
It will tumble. You will need other rock in there (obviously) I recently used decorative gravel I got from one of the dollar stores. It worked great as filler and was cheap! It is going to take a while to grind but it should work out pretty good and with patience will make a nice display piece. I have a hunk of Brazilian agate about that same size running in a 12 lb barrel. I have it down to a size that does not wedge anymore, but it has been running for 12 plus weeks now
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Post by Starguy on Jun 30, 2023 16:14:19 GMT -5
I would try rolling it. It isn’t going to get any bigger.
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Post by tims on Jun 30, 2023 18:14:48 GMT -5
Yep ... Nope.
Went just over 1/2 full with pea gravel (including the rock) and it does roll but it's uneven enough to bounce the barrel a bit each revolution and i believe it would eat my qt12 before it ate enough of that rock. Nothing violent and if i had an old beater tumbler i'd be tempted to let it go, but after an hour i'm calling this a fail for me. I think a rounder / more oval stone this size might do fine.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 30, 2023 20:51:22 GMT -5
Yep ... Nope. Went just over 1/2 full with pea gravel (including the rock) and it does roll but it's uneven enough to bounce the barrel a bit each revolution and i believe it would eat my qt12 before it ate enough of that rock. Nothing violent and if i had an old beater tumbler i'd be tempted to let it go, but after an hour i'm calling this a fail for me. I think a rounder / more oval stone this size might do fine. Do you have a saw big enough to "shave" off some of the bottom (the pitted part)? |
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Post by tims on Jun 30, 2023 21:13:09 GMT -5
Do you have a saw big enough to "shave" off some of the bottom (the pitted part)? Don't think my 10" would do it, or if it did it would be a serious chore. Been raining so much and so often haven't been able to set up wheels or saw in the yard yet anyway ><
Do you know anyone in the area who cuts for cash? Both rock shed and the shop in Custer who used to cut say they've given up cutting for customers.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 30, 2023 21:36:53 GMT -5
Do you have a saw big enough to "shave" off some of the bottom (the pitted part)? Don't think my 10" would do it, or if it did it would be a serious chore. Been raining so much and so often haven't been able to set up wheels or saw in the yard yet anyway ><
Do you know anyone in the area who cuts for cash? Both rock shed and the shop in Custer who used to cut say they've given up cutting for customers.
You know, I don't know anyone with a bigger saw...or anyone who cuts for cash. All I've got is a 10" drop tile saw. Yeah...every time I think I'm going to have a couple hours to cut some stuff, it's been raining. I think y'all have been getting more rain on that side of the hills than we have over here though. |
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 491
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Post by hplcman on Jul 18, 2023 16:36:08 GMT -5
Yep ... Nope. Went just over 1/2 full with pea gravel (including the rock) and it does roll but it's uneven enough to bounce the barrel a bit each revolution and i believe it would eat my qt12 before it ate enough of that rock. Nothing violent and if i had an old beater tumbler i'd be tempted to let it go, but after an hour i'm calling this a fail for me. I think a rounder / more oval stone this size might do fine. Is the bouncing around bad for the tumbler? Does it damage the bearings or the rollers or something? Just curious... |
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Post by tims on Jul 19, 2023 17:04:32 GMT -5
Is the bouncing around bad for the tumbler? Does it damage the bearings or the rollers or something? Just curious... That's my assumption. Bearings were the first thought as it had a very pronounced bump going at every revolution. Again just my assumption, maybe these machines are more robust than I give them credit for. Just seems to me that anything other than a smooth rolling barrel will lead to significantly faster wear if not complete failue with a such a heavy barrel. FWIW I also drive a 30 year old ford and a 20 year old kawasaki, neither of which i can afford to replace, so i'm prone to avoiding bumps whenever possible. |
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 477
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Post by hypodactylus on Jul 19, 2023 20:28:48 GMT -5
It was bouncing, even when 2/3 to 3/4 full (including other rocks/media)?
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Post by tims on Jul 21, 2023 16:52:38 GMT -5
It was bouncing, even when 2/3 to 3/4 full (including other rocks/media)? Realizing now that bounce and hop were poor descriptors on my part. More thumping heavily downward, not bouncing upward.
But yeah. Had the big rock stood on end then a little over half the barrel filled with pea gravel with half the rock poking out the top, so close to 2/3 total, and every revolution it would thump in the same spot. Not like jumping clear of the rollers but an obvious rough spot with an audible thump. I made a video and could post it on youtube or something but it doesn't show the symptoms very well ... between my shaky hands and crappy phone I doubt it's very helpful at all. Holding my hand on the barrel while it rolled the thumping was more obvious than looking at it. I attribute it to the shape of the rock more than the size; if it was more oval shaped around the middle i think it would roll ok instead of riding up and flopping over. It's kind of wedge shaped looking at it from the end and much fatter on one end than the other, so not an ideal shape for smooth rolling.
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Post by Starguy on Jul 21, 2023 19:09:13 GMT -5
This is interesting. I would add more smalls until there is less heavy thumping. Think about a good honest 3/4 full with lots of smalls. The idea would be to have the big rock slide into the side of the barrel rather than rolling. I doubt if you can eliminate the thumping but I think you could reduce how hard the rock hits the bottom / side. The weight of the big agate should increase the efficiency of the whole barrel.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jul 21, 2023 19:47:58 GMT -5
I feel like you could just do a normal run with a variety of rocks.
I don't think anything is getting wedged unless maybe you had two of that size.
Even medium and smalls better than nothing. Like a wet pair of jeans in a dryer without any cushion, just flopping around otherwise.
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Post by tims on Jul 21, 2023 21:42:40 GMT -5
May come back to this. After it looked hopeless I pulled the big agate and filled the barrel with some normal but less than ideal rocks just to use up the gravel-grit mix. Probably 3 or 4 more weeks to finish what's in there then maybe can give it another go.
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Post by pauls on Jul 22, 2023 1:32:36 GMT -5
There was a fair bit of chatter on here some time back, maybe a couple of years, with a few people experimenting with large rocks. It might have been JamesP and Jugglerguy but I'm not real sure on that.
There were a few very successful tumbles.
I did a couple of large pieces and the main thing is you need to have a really full barrel otherwise the large rock is going to pulverise everything else.
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