cwi530
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2024
Posts: 1
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Post by cwi530 on Aug 24, 2024 14:57:10 GMT -5
Hello rock fans I look forward to sharing my failures and learning from your success. I’m self-taught and educated by failures but I’m a stubborn optimist. A few years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a large collection of rough material. As I cleaned up my score I became captivated by the colorful rocks spread before me. I started cutting my rocks with a masonry cutting disc on a 4-1/2” angle grinder. With trail and error I’ve worked up to a 14” agate blade on a Harbor Freight chop saw. An old pond pump sits in a 5-gallon bucket of mineral oil and delivers a steady flow of lubricant to the saw that sits in a storage toter with a drain pipe that returns the oil back to the bucket. For polishing I went big. My diy rock tumbler rotates two metal 10 gallon drums. These drums are bolt kegs that I lined with dense carpet underlay to cushion the rocks. I can tumble over 50lbs of rock. The drum ID is about 12” spinning at 8 rpm. I figured that’s about .32 miles per hour. I use ceramic with the grit and plastic pellets with the polish on golf ball size to tennis ball size rocks. I have a hard time getting the super glossy finish and wonder if the tumbling speed is correct. II can post pictures once I figure how
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python
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2024
Posts: 294
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DIY Rocker
Aug 24, 2024 18:38:09 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by python on Aug 24, 2024 18:38:09 GMT -5
Welcome to the site!
When the rock bug hits, it hits hard. At least it did with me 😆.
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DIY Rocker
Aug 24, 2024 22:28:14 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by opalpyrexia on Aug 24, 2024 22:28:14 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by vegasjames on Aug 25, 2024 3:51:44 GMT -5
Welcome from Southern Nevada.
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Post by chris1956 on Aug 25, 2024 8:44:36 GMT -5
Welcome from Missouri.
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 13,004
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Post by Tommy on Aug 25, 2024 23:38:58 GMT -5
Hello rock fans I look forward to sharing my failures and learning from your success. I’m self-taught and educated by failures but I’m a stubborn optimist. A few years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a large collection of rough material. As I cleaned up my score I became captivated by the colorful rocks spread before me. I started cutting my rocks with a masonry cutting disc on a 4-1/2” angle grinder. With trail and error I’ve worked up to a 14” agate blade on a Harbor Freight chop saw. An old pond pump sits in a 5-gallon bucket of mineral oil and delivers a steady flow of lubricant to the saw that sits in a storage toter with a drain pipe that returns the oil back to the bucket. For polishing I went big. My diy rock tumbler rotates two metal 10 gallon drums. These drums are bolt kegs that I lined with dense carpet underlay to cushion the rocks. I can tumble over 50lbs of rock. The drum ID is about 12” spinning at 8 rpm. I figured that’s about .32 miles per hour. I use ceramic with the grit and plastic pellets with the polish on golf ball size to tennis ball size rocks. I have a hard time getting the super glossy finish and wonder if the tumbling speed is correct. II can post pictures once I figure how Welcome! You'll fit in nicely here  |
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Post by liveoak on Aug 26, 2024 6:06:11 GMT -5
Welcome from NW Florida
Patty
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 26, 2024 11:24:00 GMT -5
Hello rock fans I look forward to sharing my failures and learning from your success. I’m self-taught and educated by failures but I’m a stubborn optimist. A few years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a large collection of rough material. As I cleaned up my score I became captivated by the colorful rocks spread before me. I started cutting my rocks with a masonry cutting disc on a 4-1/2” angle grinder. With trail and error I’ve worked up to a 14” agate blade on a Harbor Freight chop saw. An old pond pump sits in a 5-gallon bucket of mineral oil and delivers a steady flow of lubricant to the saw that sits in a storage toter with a drain pipe that returns the oil back to the bucket. For polishing I went big. My diy rock tumbler rotates two metal 10 gallon drums. These drums are bolt kegs that I lined with dense carpet underlay to cushion the rocks. I can tumble over 50lbs of rock. The drum ID is about 12” spinning at 8 rpm. I figured that’s about .32 miles per hour. I use ceramic with the grit and plastic pellets with the polish on golf ball size to tennis ball size rocks. I have a hard time getting the super glossy finish and wonder if the tumbling speed is correct. II can post pictures once I figure how Welcome to RTH from Virginia.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,201
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Post by rockbrain on Aug 26, 2024 15:27:34 GMT -5
Welcome from Central California!
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 164
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Post by zebra61 on Aug 27, 2024 7:39:12 GMT -5
Welcome to the RTH forum cwi530! You sound like quite the cobbler and you've come to the right place. There are lots of folks that homebrew their own equipment (they're waaaay more talented that myself!) But you should be able to acquire some ideas, opinions and hints. I hope you can get the Cloudinary system figured out so you can share some photos. It took me almost 2 weeks to get it to work. I used these Cloudinary Instructions and after following the instructions to the letter I was successful. Good luck to you! Mark in Minnesota |
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 29, 2024 18:10:03 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! I know Cloudinary can be painful to get up and going...but it's worth it! If you can't though, you may want to give Tapatalk a try. I use it sometimes for posting pictures...and it has a free version.  |
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... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew