dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Jul 30, 2023 10:45:41 GMT -5
I got an awesome mix of coprolite from RWA3006 . It's a cool mix of specimens which I plan on cutting when it cools down, and some tumbling rough. The tumbling rough are golf ball size or bigger. I could cut it up prior to tumbling, but I thought it might be cool to try and tumble them whole - hence my question: Am I being a feckin eejit? It would be awesome if I could tumble these bigger sized pieces and get a good shine, but I also know it flies in the face of everything I have read on the matter - that multiple pieces that size will beat each other up in the rotary. I have read past posts on tumbling big rocks, and most folks do one real big one with littler stuff. I didn't find much on doing a bunch of golf ball size pieces together. My thinking is that if I use enough ceramic I can pull it off . . . so, here is what I tried: I filled my QT12 with one layer of ~5-6 rocks then filled in around them with ceramic media.  Then I added another layer of rocks and did the same thing.  Then I added the final layer (3 layers total) and filled around the stones with ceramic.  Tumbler is about 3/4 full. I don't plan on having my QT12 base free until next weekend, so I'd like feedback on if I should go ahead and try this, or avoid it all together? Any advice, past experiences, Bob , trying to do the same thing welcome! Cheers, Dillon |
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Post by Pat on Jul 30, 2023 11:41:03 GMT -5
Not a tumbler, but I doubt that tumbling situations qualify for feckin eejit status!! Hang in there! 😀
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RWA3006
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Post by RWA3006 on Jul 30, 2023 12:15:10 GMT -5
Bruising the turds won't be much of an issue at first because there is a thick rind on Utah coprolites that averages softer than the interior and it will need to be removed before you get to anything pretty. By then you'll have quite a slurry built up to cushion things.
Once you get to the beautiful interior you will have mostly problems with undercutting because these turds did not petrify uniformly. Same issue when you're cabbing them.
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tkvancil
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Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Jul 30, 2023 13:52:59 GMT -5
My two cents... Since bruising isn't an issue...
Ditch the ceramics and put in a mix of smaller rocks. Grit and tumbling space are valuable.
I'm currently rolling two fist sized pieces. In stage one I used a mix of rock from 1/2 to 2 inches along with the fists. No issues with bruising, breaking, etc. I added the ceramic at stage two for cushion as per my normal process and to make up volume after that. The batch is headed to polish and is heavy on smalls and ceramics. The "target rock" is some what irregular. 220, 500, 1000 grits all ran 14 days as too many too small slows everything down. I'll probably run the polish 21 days or more.
Good luck whatever you decide.
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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 Jul 30, 2023 15:05:23 GMT -5
Bruising the turds won't be much of an issue at first because there is a thick rind on Utah coprolites that averages softer than the interior and it will need to be removed before you get to anything pretty. By then you'll have quite a slurry built up to cushion things. Once you get to the beautiful interior you will have mostly problems with undercutting because these turds did not petrify uniformly. Same issue when you're cabbing them. Thanks Randy! I guess I'll give it a go then! I can keep a close eye on it after I grind off the rind, and adjust as necessary. I've dealt with undercutting with Mexican lace agate, leopard skin jasper, and kambaba jasper - I have a few tricks up my sleeve! We will see how it goes! |
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dillonf
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Post by dillonf on Jul 30, 2023 15:10:19 GMT -5
My two cents... Since bruising isn't an issue... Ditch the ceramics and put in a mix of smaller rocks. Grit and tumbling space are valuable. I'm currently rolling two fist sized pieces. In stage one I used a mix of rock from 1/2 to 2 inches along with the fists. No issues with bruising, breaking, etc. I added the ceramic at stage two for cushion as per my normal process and to make up volume after that. The batch is headed to polish and is heavy on smalls and ceramics. The "target rock" is some what irregular. 220, 500, 1000 grits all ran 14 days as too many too small slows everything down. I'll probably run the polish 21 days or more. Good luck whatever you decide. Thanks! Well - poop - now I have to decide if I'm gonna be lazy and run it like I got it set up, or be logical and do what you've suggested and replace the ceramic with some small rocks. Oh damn you logic! I have some small carnelian agate I can mix in until I get the rind off at least. Post some pics of your big fist size stuff - I'd love to check them out!! |
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RWA3006
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Post by RWA3006 on Jul 30, 2023 17:16:22 GMT -5
Ditch the ceramics and put in a mix of smaller rocks. Grit and tumbling space are valuable. Concur. |
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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 Jul 30, 2023 18:25:21 GMT -5
Ditch the ceramics and put in a mix of smaller rocks. Grit and tumbling space are valuable. Concur. Alright! That's what I'll do then! |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 30, 2023 21:50:49 GMT -5
I imagine there's no other forum on the internet which has a thread about someone worried that they're going to bruise their turds! LOL
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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 Jul 30, 2023 22:04:54 GMT -5
I imagine there's no other forum on the internet which has a thread about someone worried that they're going to bruise their turds! LOL None about shining their turds either.  |
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RWA3006
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Post by RWA3006 on Jul 30, 2023 22:10:14 GMT -5
I imagine there's no other forum on the internet which has a thread about someone worried that they're going to bruise their turds! LOL None about shining their turds either. Few can weather the exotic, mysterious and elite realms we inhabit. Won't be long before you're inducted into a secret society. |
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rockbrain
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Post by rockbrain on Jul 31, 2023 9:12:49 GMT -5
I imagine there's no other forum on the internet which has a thread about someone worried that they're going to bruise their turds! LOL Actually, I wouldn't doubt that there is, but I don't want to see it! |
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Post by parfive on Jul 31, 2023 12:52:48 GMT -5
No doubt, George Costanza don’t doubt it either. : )
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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 Aug 5, 2023 8:06:04 GMT -5
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RWA3006
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Post by RWA3006 on Aug 5, 2023 8:58:45 GMT -5
I'd like to see how it progresses. Those carnelians look gorgeous.
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Aug 12, 2023 8:18:51 GMT -5
Perfect set up. I have done some of the turds, Undercutting was my biggest issue. That didn't happen until LONG into the rough stage (about 4 to 6 weeks if I remember). I just dealt with it and kept a close eye on them. They pretty much came out amazing. I have pictures somewhere on here but it was at least a year ago and I just don't have time to dig thru a years worth of pictures (plus I switched phones in that time so all my pictures are floating around in space somewhere lol). Stick with these as they are worth the effort.
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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 Aug 12, 2023 8:48:34 GMT -5
Perfect set up. I have done some of the turds, Undercutting was my biggest issue. That didn't happen until LONG into the rough stage (about 4 to 6 weeks if I remember). I just dealt with it and kept a close eye on them. They pretty much came out amazing. I have pictures somewhere on here but it was at least a year ago and I just don't have time to dig thru a years worth of pictures (plus I switched phones in that time so all my pictures are floating around in space somewhere lol). Stick with these as they are worth the effort. Cool - will do. I put in 9 tablespoons of 46/70 and 9 tablespoons of 80 - I'm gonna let it run for 3-weeks and see where I'm at. I'm thinking I'll polish in the rotary - I find undercutting is worse in the Lot-O. |
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Post by Mel on Aug 14, 2023 23:08:28 GMT -5
My two cents... Since bruising isn't an issue... Ditch the ceramics and put in a mix of smaller rocks. Grit and tumbling space are valuable. I agree. I keep/kept some cheap gravel around for fill if I couldn't get enough stage 1 together; I say kept because what was once a problem is now just a problem I wish I had. Now I have buckets of rocks at various stages in my shop so fill is never an issue. For cycles, I don't do anything fancy; 3 weeks-ish on coarse, then a week on medium/fine, and mayyyybe prepolish if I'm feeling fancy or I really care about results. Otherwise after that it's polish for a week and good to go. Most of the folks I've come across running long polish cycles seem to be using tin oxide, but I'm using 15K micro alumina and no issues at all. Everything's nice and shiny. Can anyone explain to me the benefits of the longer times? Are you really seeing *that* much improvement? Or are you doing it so all the rocks finish at the same time?? |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
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Post by dillonf on Aug 15, 2023 6:28:49 GMT -5
My two cents... Since bruising isn't an issue... Ditch the ceramics and put in a mix of smaller rocks. Grit and tumbling space are valuable. I agree. I keep/kept some cheap gravel around for fill if I couldn't get enough stage 1 together; I say kept because what was once a problem is now just a problem I wish I had. Now I have buckets of rocks at various stages in my shop so fill is never an issue. For cycles, I don't do anything fancy; 3 weeks-ish on coarse, then a week on medium/fine, and mayyyybe prepolish if I'm feeling fancy or I really care about results. Otherwise after that it's polish for a week and good to go. Most of the folks I've come across running long polish cycles seem to be using tin oxide, but I'm using 15K micro alumina and no issues at all. Everything's nice and shiny. Can anyone explain to me the benefits of the longer times? Are you really seeing *that* much improvement? Or are you doing it so all the rocks finish at the same time?? Thanks Mel (PrettyGritty) I tend to use a pre-polish because in terms of my rotary barrels I use all grit types in them. So, on top of washing between stages I feel the pre-polish acts as another way to prevent contamination by coarser grit. In terms of longer polish times with polish I feel I do see a difference in the rotary. For me I add additional ceramic in the polish stage to make the thinner slurry tumble more gently. My fill level is between 3/4 - 7/8 full. This larger fill level results in a longer time for grit breakdown, thus the longer tumble time. For me I let the polish stage run for 2 weeks with no grit refresh. It could all be in my head though??? Now in the vib I have grit specific barrels and I run those about 48 hrs per stage . . . |
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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 Aug 26, 2023 16:17:49 GMT -5
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