ashers87
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2024
Posts: 6
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Post by ashers87 on May 10, 2024 12:12:39 GMT -5
So I popped my barrel after a week working on my second coarse Grit [first being 36 and this last 50/90] With a total run time of about 3 weeks.
I check them every few days because, well, I just can't help myself..
But this time they all came out super flat?
I'm not disappointed as I kind of like it and I almost want to try doing it again with certain stones.
Now I'll turn around and take out certain stones that aren't smoothing as quickly or I'll add based on where I'm at in the particular Grit cycle so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it?
I'm not positive that I did or did not do though this round as I JUST started writing everything down. Yay newb problems..
Did I overstuff the barrel?
Has anyone else experienced this?
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Post by vegasjames on May 10, 2024 12:24:54 GMT -5
Do you mean the lid popped off from gas build up, or you wore a hole through the barrel?
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Post by pebblesky on May 10, 2024 12:29:51 GMT -5
What I observed was there could be some small rocks that sticked to the side or the bottom of the barrels and they will become pretty flat. This could indicate the slurry formed in your barrel being too thick so the rocks won't roll as freely as expected. But I never experienced a whole batch of random shaped rock turning out flat. How large is your barrel and what are the original shapes of the rocks to tumble?
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ashers87
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2024
Posts: 6
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Post by ashers87 on May 10, 2024 15:43:10 GMT -5
What I observed was there could be some small rocks that sticked to the side or the bottom of the barrels and they will become pretty flat. This could indicate the slurry formed in your barrel being too thick so the rocks won't roll as freely as expected. But I never experienced a whole batch of random shaped rock turning out flat. How large is your barrel and what are the original shapes of the rocks to tumble? It's a 3 pound my smallest tumbler. They were a kit of rough rocks that came with the barrel. All different and turned out pretty normal after the first coarsest Grit run removing the sharpest edges Cleaned everything out really well scrubbed the Rocks really good to ensure I wasn't bringing forward any of the previous grit or slurry. And not every single Rock I would say were flattened but the majority of the larger Stones definitely were |
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Post by pebblesky on May 10, 2024 16:18:38 GMT -5
Interesting. I never remembered that happened to me. How large are the large stones? Is it by any chance they are relatively soft, and get stuck in the barrel not rolling freely, so only the two major sides have been grinded?
Will be helpful if we could see some pictures as how full the rocks are filled and how the large rocks look like.
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titaniumkid
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 499
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Post by titaniumkid on May 10, 2024 18:35:52 GMT -5
What make of tumbler is it? If the tumbler runs fast (as some do), it might be pushing the rocks to the sides of the barrel so they are getting stuck and aren't rolling freely, like pebblesky wrote. And vegasjames asked a good question. It's not clear what you mean by the barrel popping. |
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whyofquartz
spending too much on rocks
So, Africa is smaller than I expected...
Member since December 2019
Posts: 318
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Post by whyofquartz on May 12, 2024 8:05:16 GMT -5
by flat do you mean matte or smoothed on only one side?
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller 
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432 
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Post by Wooferhound on May 17, 2024 16:13:08 GMT -5
I would think that the barrel was not full enough and the rocks are just sliding down on the inside of the barrel.
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