rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Jul 21, 2007 22:54:56 GMT -5
Hey Gang - I'm hoping someone can help me here. I'm two days away from finishing my first ever batch of agate, quartz, jasper and other stuff, the question I have is, can the liquid Cerium Oxide be re-used? I hate to just throw it away once I'm done with this batch. I'm getting another batch going right after it. I'm just wondering if I can re-use what is left from my current batch. The same goes for the pre-polish, which is silicon carbide 500 grit. Please let me know. Hopefully by next Tuesday 7/24/07 Here are my rocks after the first stage     |
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jul 21, 2007 23:17:18 GMT -5
Are you sure it is silicon carbide 220 you are using as pre-polish? Usually 120/220 is fine grind, and 500F is pre-polish. At any rate, you cannot re-use silicon carbide as it breaks down finer and finer as it wears the rock. (Well, some people do re-use it for finer stages, but it's really just a guess to know how much it has broken down, so I would highly advise against doing this. Some people also use a bit of old slurry to kick-start the next batch, which is fine.) You can re-use polishes. I don't, but many folks here do. Here's a link to a thread from earlier this year. If you do some detailed searching on the general rocks board you will come up with older threads that give more details, but here's a start. As with many topics, you will see different people have different opinions and methods. -Don forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1176517709 |
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rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Jul 21, 2007 23:23:44 GMT -5
Just updated my post. It is actually 500 grit sillicon carbide.
Thanks
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Post by deb193 on Jul 22, 2007 21:33:12 GMT -5
I would keep some of those rocks in 1st stage longer.
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Jul 23, 2007 22:25:17 GMT -5
I'm with Daniel.
I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed with your results.
You gotta run them in stage 1 (60/90 or in my case 80 grit) until they smooth and there are no cracks, pits, rough bits or shape angles left before you move them on.
Will this take a long time? Yep, it sure will but that's how you get the results that many peopl post on this board.
That may mean running some of your rocks for 12 weeks in coarse!
Slow the process down and give your tumbler and the grit the time they need to get your rocks ready to move on.
Mike
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Post by flintfish on Aug 3, 2007 16:38:09 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing your run, it's always cool to see what people are tumbling, you have some nice looking material in there, way to go. I certainly do re-use the polish, but not the carbide grits, and I agree the longer the grind the nicer the pebbles. To get a really fine polish all cracks, chips and marks need to be worn away, I even discard some stones if I think I'll never get the marks out or it'll just take too long, it just increases my yield to cost a little. I'm a naturally impatient person, but the tumbling has to take it's time, it's part of it's charm. My little 1.5lb tumblers take about 8 weeks to shape up a batch of rough agates if I'm lucky, and longer for grainy quartz, sometimes 10 or 12. Then 10 days in 220, 10 more in the 400 and 15 final days in polish. Best of luck, and keep us posted.
Chinese philosopher says - For somthing to be truly worth while, there must be some difficulty in obtaining it.
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rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Sept 12, 2007 22:50:44 GMT -5
Thanks everyone...I have learned quite a bit from reading from everyone...I have my second batch going on right now with lots of pebbles...keeping my fingers crossed on this one..I will post pictures once I'm done.
The chinese phylosopher quote was really awesome! I'm naturally impatient also, and this tumbling deal is helping me to let the process take its time.
Ozzy
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rockwizz
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2007
Posts: 971
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Post by rockwizz on Sept 12, 2007 22:51:02 GMT -5
Thanks everyone...I have learned quite a bit from reading from everyone...I have my second batch going on right now with lots of pebbles...keeping my fingers crossed on this one..I will post pictures once I'm done.
The chinese phylosopher quote was really awesome! I'm naturally impatient also, and this tumbling deal is helping me to let the process take its time.
Ozzy
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Sept 13, 2007 4:01:46 GMT -5
Hi Ozzy,
In the Rotary tumber I do save the polish, decant it and use the reidue add a bit of new each time,
but in the vibe it isent worth the effort it is already saving polish as you put in such a little bit
Jack
Yorkshire UK
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