zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 161
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Post by zebra61 on May 5, 2024 14:31:58 GMT -5
Since buying my fleet of vibratory tumblers I haven't rolled a full load in 500 and now I'm planning to do just that. But I'm having a senior moment here and wondering what amount I should be using. I've got about 50/50 rocks to ceramic and overall I'm just over 75% loaded. (the barrel is loaded, not me) I'm thinking about 8 to 10 tablespoons? Am I nuts? (don't answer that unless you have a medical degree)
Help please??? After this I'm going back to using the vibes for 500 through polish.
Mark
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rraming
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2024
Posts: 13
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Post by rraming on May 9, 2024 13:54:16 GMT -5
No response, what did you use. I have a model b but have done nothing but stage one in it.
I would think one cup.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 478
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Post by hypodactylus on May 9, 2024 16:02:31 GMT -5
I typically hear "1 tablespoon (tbsp) per pound" bandied about as a general recommendation. So, in this case around 1 cup (as rraming) mentioned. Experimentation has lead me to alter that formula at times, especially with larger barrels. However, the finer grits seem like they may break down slower and need less per pound in general. |
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 161
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Post by zebra61 on May 10, 2024 9:57:37 GMT -5
No response, what did you use. I have a model b but have done nothing but stage one in it. I would think one cup. So I haven't rolled a load in 500 since buying my vibes and that's put me out of practice. After posting my question to the group the whole load got a day long burnish which cleaned everything up nicely. Since nobody wanted to give advice I pulled out the measuring cups and dropped a full cup of 500 into that barrel which was nearly 80% full of material. It's still rolling and the plan is to sneak a peek on Sunday 5/12/2024 to see if this was a total waste or not. (fingers crossed) After doing some digging I found my old recipe book and noted that the QT12 barrel was getting about 10 Tbsp of 500 for a pre-polish so I went off that number for my estimate. I'm anticipating good results as the rocks were well-rounded and they're in plenty of ceramics. The sound in the barrel is more of a sliding action, not the dropping sound so that makes me feel good too. Thanks for the replies and suggestions rraming & @hypodactlus |
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rraming
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2024
Posts: 13
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Post by rraming on May 10, 2024 13:45:24 GMT -5
Sure it is perfect! Think it would need lots of media. Post how it works, may give mine a go
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 161
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Post by zebra61 on May 11, 2024 13:02:01 GMT -5
I had some time this morning so I pulled the barrel off and took a quick look. After being satisfied with the smoothness I did a 4 hours burnish and spilled it out again. Here's a look at the wet load (I don't like sharing wet photos but....) This load is a mixed bag of large/small stones most were purchased from RS.  I'm half tempted to throw everything back in the same barrel and roll it in some TXP for 3 to 4 days.  I dried a few just for comparison... |
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rraming
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2024
Posts: 13
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Post by rraming on May 11, 2024 22:03:42 GMT -5
TXP 3 micron polish? Throw a cup in and roll it for 2 weeks. I would remove the stones that look like they will split apart (I see two) and have some pre polished media in with it. Just what I read but I am new to this.
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 161
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Post by zebra61 on May 12, 2024 8:42:10 GMT -5
TXP 3 micron polish? Throw a cup in and roll it for 2 weeks. I would remove the stones that look like they will split apart (I see two) and have some pre polished media in with it. Just what I read but I am new to this. Most of these were from a mixed bag from the Rock Shed so mostly crushed stones... Hence the cracking. But I sorted a nice batch out and dropped it in the Lot-O for polishing. I'm changing out the polish on a 12 hour rotation so we'll see how it goes. I'll do more culling and make up a few more batches for polishing later on. Others tell me not to bother with the TXP in a vibe but it seems to work pretty well. I've been using #61RP on most of my Jaspers and Agate though. Once I have a 3lb barrel available I'll drop some in and see how they come out. Kinda fun to experiment anyway. |
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