frodo
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2005
Posts: 14
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Post by frodo on Sept 15, 2005 13:16:32 GMT -5
Hello to all,
I am new here. Been lurking for just a couple weeks. I live in Maryland, USA. I started out with one of those kiddy plastic tumblers and quickly moved up to a Lortone 33a. I just got a Lortone 33B two barrel.
Now I can do a rough grind and sand tumble with the two barrel and then consolodate the best of the rocks to do a pre-polish and polish in the one barrel tumbler. I should be able to pump out finished product faster.
I have had a lot of success with agate. It is hard and takes a nice polish. Quartz is easy too. Well, thanks for listening.
Frodo of Bag End
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Post by rockyraccoon on Sept 15, 2005 13:23:13 GMT -5
frodo welcome! i'd get a separate polish barrel to avoid contaminating the polish and use it only for polish.
kim
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Post by xenaswolf on Sept 15, 2005 13:53:20 GMT -5
Welcome! You've found one of the greatest groups of folks in cyberspace  |
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frodo
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2005
Posts: 14
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Post by frodo on Sept 15, 2005 15:08:00 GMT -5
I've got 5 barrels right now. I'm using 3 for the rough tumble and 1 for pre-polish and 1 for the polish. I'm already considering getting another barrel or two.
>frodo welcome! i'd get a separate polish barrel to avoid contaminating the polish and use it only >for polish.
>kim
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 15, 2005 15:56:10 GMT -5
welcome Frodo!
looks like you already happily slipping down this slope of rockhounding addiction!
KD
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yeahda1
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2005
Posts: 201
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Post by yeahda1 on Sept 15, 2005 16:37:51 GMT -5
welcome there is a lot of info here and all kinds of help
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Post by Cher on Sept 15, 2005 18:33:57 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Frodo!
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J9
having dreams about rocks
Never met a rock I didn't like
Member since October 2003
Posts: 66
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Post by J9 on Sept 15, 2005 23:13:50 GMT -5
Welcome Frodo - love the name. Sounds like you are off and running. Good Luck, the first few batches can be trying on the patience, but well worth the effort.
Janine
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Post by joe on Sept 15, 2005 23:20:07 GMT -5
Welcome Frodo, just leave that infernal ring home, will ya?  I'm kinda curious what you mean by "a rough grind and sand tumble". Are you using sand to tumble with? How does that workout? Or did I just misread the whole thing? Nice to have ya. joe |
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frodo
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2005
Posts: 14
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Post by frodo on Sept 16, 2005 14:12:14 GMT -5
About the "rough grind" and "sand " tumble - I checked out the Rock Shed to see what they had and I ordered this book:
Secrets of the Pros Revealed by Edward E. Smith
It is a good book on rock polishing for both tumble and vibratory units. He goes into some depth and explains alot.
The author calls the first tumble phase the "grind" phase, where the course grit is used (typically 60/90). The second phase he calls the "sanding" phase where a less course grit is used. Then there may be a "sanding 2" followed by a "pre=polish" followed by a "polish" phase and then mayby a burnishing phase.
To sum up the phases:
1. Grind
2. Sand
2a. Sand-2 if needed
3. Pre-Polish
4. Polish
5. Burnish
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drupe
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2005
Posts: 1,245
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Post by drupe on Sept 16, 2005 17:37:25 GMT -5
Frodo:
Howdy from another "Newbie", I just joined last week and already I can tell you that there is a bunch of fine knowledge folks just waiting to help us newones.
Glad your aboard.
Drupe
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Post by joe on Sept 16, 2005 22:24:02 GMT -5
Thanx Frodo, I guess that sounds just like how we polish rocks. They just call it something different. It works for me! Joe |
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