barelyold
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by barelyold on Oct 15, 2023 16:28:58 GMT -5
testing, testing, one,two,three... zat you? newbee here. lots of interest in what you folks are up to... and lots of questions... can i just right in?
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 15, 2023 17:22:38 GMT -5
Welcome from Southern Nevada.
Start asking away.
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 15, 2023 17:28:57 GMT -5
Welcome from Virginia. Yes, just find the applicable section and post away.
and If you want to get someone's attention you can "tag" them by putting the @ symbol before their name (no space). That almost always works but for some people you have to mouse over their name to get the correct name.
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chris1956
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2022
Posts: 1,300
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Post by chris1956 on Oct 15, 2023 17:36:53 GMT -5
Welcome from Missouri.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 15, 2023 18:16:04 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 15, 2023 18:26:04 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
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Post by Pat on Oct 15, 2023 22:51:20 GMT -5
…and welcome from California.
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barelyold
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by barelyold on Oct 15, 2023 23:23:37 GMT -5
hey folks-- just now discovered this forum. cool! i'm new to polishing. lots of questions....
first off, Google tells me that the hobby came into fashion almost 80 years ago. best as i can tell, technical aspects of tumbling have remained pretty much the same ever since. seems strange to remain so static all these years - it's either a tumbling drum or vibrating bowl, that's it. occasionally i see other creative tools but seems they remain outliers, never really impacting mainstream style.
is this just due to something like "tradition" or are there technical aspects to the art i'm clueless about? is there something that happens to a rock after being tossed around for weeks that just can't be made to happen any other way? say for instance in trying to come up to speed i saw an article about a "planetary centrifigal ball mill", whatever that is, that can be made simply enough to serve the tumbler hobby market. sup? or is tumbling simply more fun if it takes several weeks rather than say a day or two?
thanks! probably a stupid question for you long timers, but i'm really curious...
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Post by Starguy on Oct 16, 2023 2:00:51 GMT -5
Welcome from Idaho. I’ve always run rotary tumblers. That’s my tradition. If tumbling started 80 years ago, I’m coming up on half that. By my best recollection, the bug bit me in 1986.
It can be as technical as you want it to be. It hasn’t changed much because it just takes time to grind down rocks. There are little efficiencies here and there but they don’t change the time it takes by much.
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Post by liveoak on Oct 16, 2023 6:14:49 GMT -5
Welcome from NW Florida. My primitive brain says that tumbling hasn't changed a lot, since it's effective. We're mimicking 4 billion years +/- of water changing rocks- so at that rate a couple of weeks or months is pretty darn good, don't you think !
Patty
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ronnsrockroundup
starting to spend too much on rocks
Hurry up and wait.
Member since October 2023
Posts: 115
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Post by ronnsrockroundup on Oct 16, 2023 11:16:01 GMT -5
Welcome from NC
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,479
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Post by pebblesky on Oct 16, 2023 12:11:59 GMT -5
Welcome!
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Post by opalpyrexia on Oct 16, 2023 12:55:02 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,563
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Post by rockbrain on Oct 16, 2023 15:04:45 GMT -5
Welcome from Central California. There's other ways to do it. I can take a rock and instead of putting it in a tumbler grind and polish it on my cabbing machine. This takes several minutes instead of several weeks. Of course it's one rock at a time! The ball mill you mentioned is more for crushing than it is for shaping and polishing. You're welcome to post your questions here but as Tela (Rockjunquie) said you'll be better off posting in the appropriate section. You'll get a lot more response to tumbling questions in the tumbling sub forum.
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Post by drocknut on Oct 16, 2023 15:59:14 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from south central Arizona.
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Post by drocknut on Oct 19, 2023 8:54:29 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from south central Arizona
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