lanternwaste
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2023
Posts: 19
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Post by lanternwaste on Nov 7, 2024 14:03:51 GMT -5
When tumbling with my 6 pound Lortone tumbler, the grit seems to be breaking down rather quickly. I fill to 3/4 full, water slightly below top of rocks in tumbler, with 7 tablespoons of 60/90 grit. Within 3 days, ( only check that frequently in 6 # tumbler because history of grit breaking down too quickly. In my3 pound Lortone, I do not have problem of premature grit breakdown and only check weekly) it feels as if not grit is in the tumbler.
currently tumbling banded amethyst with hardness 7.
Any ideas or suggestions on how to improve.
thank you for your time.
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Post by chris1956 on Nov 7, 2024 15:53:43 GMT -5
Here is my 2 cents worth. - Is the amethyst getting worn? It is a harder material so maybe it is wearing down the grit more than normal.
- The larger diameter of a 6 pound unit will impart a lot more energy on the material and grit than the smaller 3A will so maybe that is why there is a difference.
- Have you measured the rpms of the larger unit to see if it is where it should be?
- I have 3A and QT12 tumblers that I typically fill to 2/3 full. I also put water up to just above the bottom of the top layer of rocks. Also most people on the forum use 1 tablespoon of grit per pound of rocks. I think the theory is that if you use more grit you get grit grinding grit. These are pretty small changes from what you are doing but you might try.
- I also have a 6 pound Lortone barrel that I run on a Thumler. I fill it half full or slightly more.
I always run 7 days on coarse grit (80) and haven't ever seen grit left over (except when I was doing real small rocks once) so it could be that mine is gone much faster also. I guess I haven't worried about it too much and just figured that the grit as it was broken down was polishing the rocks more (at least the ones passed onto the next stage).
Don't know if this will help or not.
Chris
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 926
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Post by lordsorril on Nov 7, 2024 16:10:54 GMT -5
Just because you can't see the silicon carbide particles-that doesn't mean they are not there--they have just been reduced in size. There are roughly 16 tablespoons in 1 cup. It is not unusual for me to add 2-3 cups (32-48 tablespoons) of #46 silicon carbide to my 12lb barrels every 7 days when they are loaded with gnarly mohs 7 material. Anything lower than mohs 7 will result in the barrels quickly getting clogged up with slurry. Sure, that is a lot of silicon carbide, but, due to the ridiculously high cost of my electricity-it is actually a lesser expense...  |
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chaosdsm
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2024
Posts: 162
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Post by chaosdsm on Nov 8, 2024 1:28:37 GMT -5
Just because you can't see the silicon carbide particles-that doesn't mean they are not there--they have just been reduced in size. There are roughly 16 tablespoons in 1 cup. It is not unusual for me to add 2-3 cups (32-48 tablespoons) of #46 silicon carbide to my 12lb barrels every 7 days when they are loaded with gnarly mohs 7 material. Anything lower than mohs 7 will result in the barrels quickly getting clogged up with slurry. Sure, that is a lot of silicon carbide, but, due to the ridiculously high cost of my electricity-it is actually a lesser expense... Even if you're recovering your SiC grit, that's way too much grit to use. I'm using a half cup of 36 grit SiC with 9lbs of un-tumbled rocks and a 9 day tumble in my 11 pound Vevor rotary tumbler. I'm still recovering about 10% - 15% of that grit down to 100 mesh size or about 120 grit. I hear ya on the electricity, which is why I switched my 11lb Vevor over to battery power. Now, I just charge the batteries once every 9 days. Average charge only takes about 0.85kWh or about $0.15 which equates to a yearly electricity cost of about $6.10 vs about $4 a month when it ran AC power. Now that I have a 100W solar panel coming in to complete my solar charging station (already have charge controller, battery pack, & battery protection/balancing circuit) for rock tumbling, I hope to get another 11 pound tumbler & run them continuously. I would also like to find a DC motor to swap out my vibratory tumbler into battery power as well, since it would use about $7 in electricity a month if it was run 24/7. |
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lanternwaste
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2023
Posts: 19
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Post by lanternwaste on Nov 8, 2024 5:59:03 GMT -5
Thank you for these very thought out responses. I have ideas to follow up on.
since I personally do not know any tumblers this forum continues to be a great resource for me.
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 926
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Post by lordsorril on Nov 8, 2024 15:52:00 GMT -5
It costs ~$50/month in electricity for me to run 7 QT12's and 1 UV-18, and then my electric company (Unitil) adds another 3X that cost per kWh on top for service/distribution fees (since they own the power lines). I can swap electric companies, but, I still have to pay the Unitil service/distribution fees. |
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lanternwaste
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2023
Posts: 19
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Post by lanternwaste on Nov 12, 2024 12:55:50 GMT -5
Chris, thank you for your response.
RPM’s are at 32.
water is at bottom of top layer of rocks.
yes, amethyst is becoming worn.
i have used 6 tablespoons of grit for 5#s of rock.
i did recharge, again at 7 days. Seems like grit was totally worn with no real slurry in barrel. Added the 6 tablespoons to the barrel.
was thinking I should have some slurry but all hopefully is well.
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Post by pebblesky on Nov 12, 2024 13:03:53 GMT -5
It sounds weird "with no real slurry in barrel". Do you mean the water is not muddy at all after 7 days?
Maybe pictures could help us understand how effective the grinding goes, the rocks before and after a week of tumbling, how the water looks like after you open the lid after 7 days.
Also, where did you get the grit? Is it a reputable seller?
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lanternwaste
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2023
Posts: 19
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Post by lanternwaste on Nov 12, 2024 17:22:11 GMT -5
Defining “no real slurry” when I opened barrel the water, although grey, was no thicker than when I started the tumble.
99% of my tumbling experience is with my 33b and have not had this happen with the 3 pound barrel.
yes, very reputable on who I purchase grit from. Also have had successes with same grit in 3 pound barrel.
im starting to think ( which could be dangerous) that I did not put enough rock in the 6 pound tumbler. When being tumbled, if not enough material in barrel, the rock is falling harder and crushing the grit prematurely. I did add additional rock to the tumbler and will check in a week.
thank you
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Post by chris1956 on Nov 12, 2024 18:03:14 GMT -5
Let us know how it works. I ran some all amethyst last summer I think in a 6 pound barrel. I don't know how long I ran it but it took a long time to get rounded and I gave up on a few rocks at the end. But I don't recall not seeing a decent slurry when I cleaned it.
Here is one other idea if you are still having problems. Rob of Michigan Rocks adds borax to the vibratory tumbler beyond 220 grit. I am pretty sure that he said the (or one of the) reasons he does this (and I have always followed) is to quickly create a slurry so the grit/polish maintians contact with the rocks. His formula is one tablespoon for a Lot-O tumbler which is about 4 pounds of rocks. So that might be worth a try.
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lanternwaste
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2023
Posts: 19
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Post by lanternwaste on Nov 18, 2024 12:49:12 GMT -5
I believe all is good.
Recap: Have a 6# tumbler, which I use infrequently. Bought 5#s of amethyst and started tumbling. The rock was more than 1/2 full but less than 3/4 full in the tumbler. Tumbled for a couple of days and when opened there was no slurry. Just grey water with the same consistency of water. Thought grit was wearing out too quickly and not creating slurry. Rock seemed to show beginning phases of rounding out but was mostly focused on the lack of any thickness in slurry.
Per previous comments and suggestions above. I have a reputable supplier of grit. Rotation, what I think I typed previously was 34RPMs.
Solution so far.
I recharged grit to 7 tablespoons. Added some beach rock to assure i was at least 3/4 full, maybe a little over. All looks normal now to me. A thicker than grey water slurry and some evidence of grit after 1 week. I mostly use my 33B and am defining normal as what typically happens in the tumbling stages with the 3# barrel.
Thanks again for the input.
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