Post by aDave on Sept 25, 2024 11:56:28 GMT -5
I have a couple of quick comments related to the instructions you were provided higher up in the thread. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with them, but as you already mentioned, there are a multitude of ways to do this. I don't know what you know, so I'm going to add just a bit of clarification for you as well.
For Stage 1, it is correct that this will be your longest run, as noted. But, you will have to do weekly cleanouts and add new course grit until you get the shapes you want. I'm sure it wasn't intended, but it kind of reads that you just let it run as long as you need. So, that being the case, you will go through A LOT of coarse grit...faster than the others. So, make sure you have enough.
Personally, for Stage 3, I ran 500 aluminum oxide. Silicon carbide provides more of a cutting action, whereas aluminum oxide has more of a smoothing action. Again, that was my personal preference here.
I didn't use a pre-polish stage with dedicated grit for that. I just ran 500 AO for two weeks straight, no cleanouts. I was looking for grit breakdown over that two-week period to accomplish the same thing as using pre-polish grit. I liked that for two reasons: one less type of grit to have on-hand, and one less stage to have to do.
You will find that you'll probably tweak things over time to get things to your liking, but you're beginning to get some good info to get you started.
There are many recipes for tumbling on this site, but here's a basic one:
3 tbl stage 1 grit (60/90 silicon carbide) Run as long as it takes to get the shape you like, (most of your time will be spent here).
3 tbl stage 2 grit (120/220 silicon carbide), 1 week.
3 tbl stage 3 grit (500 silicon carbide), 1 week.
3 tbl pre-polish (1000-1500 aluminum oxide), 1 week.
3 tbl polish (most use aluminum oxide polish, but you may use tin oxide, cerium oxide) 10-14 days.
I like to burnish between each stage. That is, after a cleanout, I will run the rocks with ivory soap and clean water overnight.
3 tbl stage 1 grit (60/90 silicon carbide) Run as long as it takes to get the shape you like, (most of your time will be spent here).
3 tbl stage 2 grit (120/220 silicon carbide), 1 week.
3 tbl stage 3 grit (500 silicon carbide), 1 week.
3 tbl pre-polish (1000-1500 aluminum oxide), 1 week.
3 tbl polish (most use aluminum oxide polish, but you may use tin oxide, cerium oxide) 10-14 days.
I like to burnish between each stage. That is, after a cleanout, I will run the rocks with ivory soap and clean water overnight.
For Stage 1, it is correct that this will be your longest run, as noted. But, you will have to do weekly cleanouts and add new course grit until you get the shapes you want. I'm sure it wasn't intended, but it kind of reads that you just let it run as long as you need. So, that being the case, you will go through A LOT of coarse grit...faster than the others. So, make sure you have enough.
Personally, for Stage 3, I ran 500 aluminum oxide. Silicon carbide provides more of a cutting action, whereas aluminum oxide has more of a smoothing action. Again, that was my personal preference here.
I didn't use a pre-polish stage with dedicated grit for that. I just ran 500 AO for two weeks straight, no cleanouts. I was looking for grit breakdown over that two-week period to accomplish the same thing as using pre-polish grit. I liked that for two reasons: one less type of grit to have on-hand, and one less stage to have to do.
You will find that you'll probably tweak things over time to get things to your liking, but you're beginning to get some good info to get you started.
I really appreciate all of the support on here and it makes me excited to learn!
