mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 166
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Post by mgroothuis on Jul 30, 2023 18:57:08 GMT -5
I’ve been tumbling for several months now and when I burnish, I only add a little bit of water (and borax) to get everything to slow down. If it’s slowing down and everything is barely turning, what’s the point? Wouldn’t it be more effective to fill up the barrel, most of the way with water to make it act like a sonic cleaner? I’m curious of what others do.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Jul 31, 2023 7:38:48 GMT -5
When I ran my lot-o I was always under the thought that less water is better - even in the cleaning stage I would drain the excess and let it vibe with just wet rocks and whatever (soap/grit/polish) else I was including. Anytime I added more water it would slow WAY down and barely move, thus negating the cleaning/smoothing/polishing effect. I got very frustrated with the lot-o and have since moved on - almost completed my first mini-sonic batch. Good luck!!
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 927
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Post by ashley on Jul 31, 2023 7:55:58 GMT -5
When I am changing the barrel I always add a lot of water and dish soap and let it act like a sonic cleaner as your saying. I do that with all of the vibe tumblers I use. It makes the clean up way easier. I let it run for about 10-20 minutes then clean them up.
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mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 166
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Post by mgroothuis on Jul 31, 2023 8:26:49 GMT -5
My "normal" Lot-o method was adding roughly a 1/2 cup of water until it slowed drastically, resulting is a lot of chattering. Regardless, I usually got good results in the burnish even into the final polish, but not always. I usually burnish for over an hour. It seems like the rocks would clean better if in contact with Borax water the entire time rather than the short periods when the rocks moved into the puddle at the bottom of the barrel. The excess water would even cushion the chattering a bit.
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