spugeddy
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2023
Posts: 13
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Post by spugeddy on Aug 31, 2023 13:52:07 GMT -5
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Post by southernlakehuronguy on Aug 31, 2023 17:25:46 GMT -5
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spugeddy
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2023
Posts: 13
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Post by spugeddy on Aug 31, 2023 18:46:08 GMT -5
Sorry for SHOUTING, but it's the only way I can see what I'm typing. My 61 year old eyes are getting worse by the day.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 722
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Post by iamchris on Aug 31, 2023 20:14:14 GMT -5
Sorry for SHOUTING, but it's the only way I can see what I'm typing. My 61 year old eyes are getting worse by the day.
If you're using a PC, hold ctrl and press =. To shrink font size, hold ctrl and press -. To snap back to normal size, hold ctrl and press 0. If you're on a Mac, press CMD instead of ctrl and do the same. No need to shout. Just pull out the reading glasses. That way you can read what other people are writing too. 👍
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Post by velodromed on Aug 31, 2023 20:15:44 GMT -5
Sorry for SHOUTING, but it's the only way I can see what I'm typing. My 61 year old eyes are getting worse by the day.
I can’t seem to see videos. It’s going to a bad URL. Or something. Did you kill the link because of what that other… said about shouting? I hope not. If you did, post it again please and ignore what that other may say.
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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 Sept 2, 2023 10:07:27 GMT -5
The Nat Geo grit kit I received is, meh. The "polish" is silicon carbide. Get yourself some aluminum oxide polish. Silicon carbide won't polish much.
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skmcconnell361
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2023
Posts: 125
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Post by skmcconnell361 on Sept 2, 2023 20:36:13 GMT -5
The Nat Geo grit kit I received is, meh. The "polish" is silicon carbide. Get yourself some aluminum oxide polish. Silicon carbide won't polish much. Yes, I actually got some Aluminum Oxide polish from the rock shed and plan on using that as step 5. I will order more Grit for the first 4 steps from the rock shed as my Nat Geo supplies get used up.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 3, 2023 20:29:00 GMT -5
spugeddy Hey man, are you working on another load of rocks yet?
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spugeddy
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2023
Posts: 13
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Post by spugeddy on Sept 5, 2023 1:51:07 GMT -5
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Post by velodromed on Sept 5, 2023 5:37:02 GMT -5
spugeddyThe black rocks look like basalt. They will work fine for taking up room. They will round off, but they won’t take a good shine. You’ll end up with satin shiny black rocks, which are cool in itself. Now the egg sized white one is nice. Just from its appearance, I would guess it’s quartzite or milky quartz. Which ever one it is, it should take pretty good shine. That is one of your landscape rocks? I’m curious if you have more of them. That is a pretty big rock for a smaller tumbler though. If I remember right the barrel on yours is 3 pounds, yes? Shouldn’t have more than one that size in the barrel. I think you already know this but…The other ones should be a couple 2/3rds as big, a couple half the size as well as a range of smaller down to the last few being pebble size. It’s good to have a range of different sizes but not too many real big and not too many real small. The tumbling action is much better because the different sized rocks will have more surface contact for the grit to work. But don’t stress about that yet, if it’s not whats in your barrel. Just keep tumbling what you have going and learning. Somebody else mentioned the Michigan rocks video to you, but it is definitely a good one. I used it in the beginning as well. The main thing is, just keep it on speed one. There is no set number of course stages to run. You can keep running them in course stages until they are the shape and smoothness that you want. The course stage is the only stage that shapes the rock. The other stages basically remove scratches from each previous stage. Because of the higher speed of the National Geographic Tumblr, usually the SiC (silicon carbide) grit will be used up within 4-5 days. So that’s a good time to check them and recharge the grit. You do not even need to throw away the slurry. I tend to reuse the slurry in course stages over and over until it gets too thick or begins to stink. You can pull out a couple of rocks, rinse them off and check them. Then put in three more tablespoons of coarse grit, clean off the lid well and wipe the rim before putting it back on. I only reuse slurry for the course stage though because it’s the one that I run over and over. make sure to clean the rocks very well after each stage. I do this by putting them back in the barrel with a drop of dish soap and extra water. Let it go for a couple of hours and then rinse off. You especially went to clean everything really good after the third stage. You do not want any SiC contamination with the aluminum oxide polish When you get to stage two, should only need to run it for one, or at the most two cycles, four or 5 days stages. Stage three is only run one time for the four or five days. (Remember to clean everything good before pre-polish) Stage four is pre-polish for me, and this is where I add a little extra water and fill up the barrel a bit more so that the tumbling action is gentler. Since aluminum oxide does not break down like silicon carbide, you can let it run for a week+ and it’ll keep slowly working. (Remember to clean everything really good before the final polish stage) When it’s time for the final polish stage, let it run for 10 days if you want. I don’t even bother checking it really during the final polish stage. I just let it run for a week or more. The longer it goes the finer the aluminum oxide breaks down. Just remember, even after it’s broken down, it continues to work. If I still don’t have a good polish, I will do another polish stage and let it run for longer. Don’t stress if you don’t get fantastic results. You’ll get there.
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spugeddy
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2023
Posts: 13
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Post by spugeddy on Sept 5, 2023 19:22:06 GMT -5
velodromed WOW, the amount of info from you has been amazing. I REALLY do appreciate all of your time. Even if this first load of rocks don't turn out perfect (which I'm confident they wont) my 4 year old granddaughter is going to absolutely love them. She saw them after my first attempt and her face lit up when she saw how nice some of those rocks looked compared to when they went into the tumbler. And here's what's better, the 11 year old is now getting into it now that I have the tumbler. She has been out collecting and asked if I would do a load for her as well. It looks like this may become a great family hobby for the Neel family.
With all of the help and input I've gotten here so far, all I can say is that you guys are a GREAT bunch of guys.
Thank you all so much Jim
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Post by velodromed on Sept 5, 2023 19:39:31 GMT -5
velodromed WOW, the amount of info from you has been amazing. I REALLY do appreciate all of your time. Even if this first load of rocks don't turn out perfect (which I'm confident they wont) my 4 year old granddaughter is going to absolutely love them. She saw them after my first attempt and her face lit up when she saw how nice some of those rocks looked compared to when they went into the tumbler. And here's what's better, the 11 year old is now getting into it now that I have the tumbler. She has been out collecting and asked if I would do a load for her as well. It looks like this may become a great family hobby for the Neel family.
With all of the help and input I've gotten here so far, all I can say is that you guys are a GREAT bunch of guys.
Thank you all so much Jim You are very welcome! That right there, Jim. What you said about the look on your 4-year-old granddaughter’s face… that is what it’s all about to me. This is why I love to share what I’ve learned. Hearing stories like this. I can see it in my head, little four-year-old eyes, beaming bright. That’s great about the 11-year-old. That’s the age they begin getting difficult to show interest in anything outside of their little lives. My 10 year old stepdaughter is into the hobby, but not too much. Just as much as she wants to be, and that’s the collecting part. She leaves the processing up to me, even though she takes full credit for it when giving rocks away to friends and teachers. Which is just fine far as I’m concerned. keep asking questions, man! You sound like you are really enjoying yourself now. And that is very good.
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spugeddy
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2023
Posts: 13
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Post by spugeddy on Sept 8, 2023 0:26:51 GMT -5
Hello again velodromed and everybody else. I finally found a power supply that is capable of 1amp. This particular power supply is running at 6vdc. When attached to the tumbler, I set it to #2 speed. It comes out to be roughly 44 rpm. I didn't clock it on #1 speed. I'm attaching a link to a video of it running in real time. Maybe you can tell just by looking at how fast, or slow, it's running to let me know if this is good or to use a different speed.
drive.google.com/file/d/1xLXt_hIKYKjUtp87Gd7g6h7my0RdEnIX/view?usp=sharing
By the way velodromed fantastic idea about the lower voltage power supply. Just an FYI if you do that, you need a power supply that is capable of 1 amp or 1000 ma. Anything less and the tumbler won't even power up
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