Post by yogi on Mar 15, 2006 21:00:54 GMT -5
Hi All! been reading the list for a little wile and thought I'd jump in
I've been a rock hound since I was a kid,( you know, when rocks were invented); thats what comes from growing up in Nevada (no friends just rocks to play with), but never got a tumbler, always seemed too 'spensive.
Been working on a garden pond project the last couple summers and wanted to use green river rock, but the thing is, I couldn't find any at the local home centers, just crusher run. So I decided to 'make' my own. That got me looking for designs for large tumblers (5gal bucket sized). After messing around with some ideas for using a paint bucket, I went with the 'regular' design, just bigger! Went to Harbor Fright and got the CE twin barrel on sale ;-))plus the Grit kits to run a test load, (gone through 4 belts in 3 weeks#%$@!!). The green stone gravel came out of Course nice and roundie, so I started a load of some red granite and a load of quartz, these will go all the way to polish. The granite is coming along in fine grit but the quartz is still shaping. In the mean time, I'm putting the finishing touches on the larger home built. I'll post pics soon ( gotta get a digicam). It's got a 30" bed powered by a rescued 3/4 HP motor from a washing machine. For barrels, I have some scrap 8"x12"x1/4" alum 'cans' with welded tops and bottoms (much better then the paint bucket I planned on). I think they are about 1 1/2 gals, but just a guess, maybe 25# of rock each. The speed works out to about 50RPM, I know 'a little fast' but I'll try it out before I buy a new pulley and belt. My biggest problem at the moment is where to set it up, it'll drive my wife crazy in the basement. Guess I'll have to build a bigger shed ( there's no way I could throw out some of my cool junk! ;D)
Anyways, I'm in the DC metro area, but my job takes me all over Maryland, so I stop at any pile of rock I can find. Picked up some nice green stone (shale or sandstone but nice landscape chunks) from the mountains on the PA boarder. Found some white quartz, some pretty red granite and some green colored rock ( much harder then the other green stuff) on a railroad bed near Aberdeen. Closer to home, got some nice red sandstone/bog iron for the yard. Picked up some very yellow (not sure if it's citrine) quartz chunks in a stream outside Frederick. Another good place to look is on building rooftops, found some real nice rosy red quartz river stones that went into the fish tank (I'm going to have to pull them out, more food for the barrels). Rocks are where you find them. Over Spring break we are going to RV to Colorado for my mother-in-laws birthday, so if anyone can suggest any good road cuts, gavel pits or whatever along the way let me know
Like I said earlier, I've been reading the threads on the board for a wile and this seems like a good bunch with alot of experience, glad to met ya!
Bill
I've been a rock hound since I was a kid,( you know, when rocks were invented); thats what comes from growing up in Nevada (no friends just rocks to play with), but never got a tumbler, always seemed too 'spensive.
Been working on a garden pond project the last couple summers and wanted to use green river rock, but the thing is, I couldn't find any at the local home centers, just crusher run. So I decided to 'make' my own. That got me looking for designs for large tumblers (5gal bucket sized). After messing around with some ideas for using a paint bucket, I went with the 'regular' design, just bigger! Went to Harbor Fright and got the CE twin barrel on sale ;-))plus the Grit kits to run a test load, (gone through 4 belts in 3 weeks#%$@!!). The green stone gravel came out of Course nice and roundie, so I started a load of some red granite and a load of quartz, these will go all the way to polish. The granite is coming along in fine grit but the quartz is still shaping. In the mean time, I'm putting the finishing touches on the larger home built. I'll post pics soon ( gotta get a digicam). It's got a 30" bed powered by a rescued 3/4 HP motor from a washing machine. For barrels, I have some scrap 8"x12"x1/4" alum 'cans' with welded tops and bottoms (much better then the paint bucket I planned on). I think they are about 1 1/2 gals, but just a guess, maybe 25# of rock each. The speed works out to about 50RPM, I know 'a little fast' but I'll try it out before I buy a new pulley and belt. My biggest problem at the moment is where to set it up, it'll drive my wife crazy in the basement. Guess I'll have to build a bigger shed ( there's no way I could throw out some of my cool junk! ;D)
Anyways, I'm in the DC metro area, but my job takes me all over Maryland, so I stop at any pile of rock I can find. Picked up some nice green stone (shale or sandstone but nice landscape chunks) from the mountains on the PA boarder. Found some white quartz, some pretty red granite and some green colored rock ( much harder then the other green stuff) on a railroad bed near Aberdeen. Closer to home, got some nice red sandstone/bog iron for the yard. Picked up some very yellow (not sure if it's citrine) quartz chunks in a stream outside Frederick. Another good place to look is on building rooftops, found some real nice rosy red quartz river stones that went into the fish tank (I'm going to have to pull them out, more food for the barrels). Rocks are where you find them. Over Spring break we are going to RV to Colorado for my mother-in-laws birthday, so if anyone can suggest any good road cuts, gavel pits or whatever along the way let me know
Like I said earlier, I've been reading the threads on the board for a wile and this seems like a good bunch with alot of experience, glad to met ya!
Bill