preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Jan 26, 2008 9:51:59 GMT -5
Hello, After some minor research, I recieved a double barrel tumbler set for Christmas. I had picked up some very pretty stones at Cape May in the fall and wanted to give this a whirl. I followed all the directions, but I had not read the tip that there should be a separate barrel for the polishing stage only. I am so dissappointed that this was not said in the package the tumblers came in. Now I have completed the polishing stage for 13 days and still no gleem. Now my box directions said to polish then do one day of detergent. I followed the directions that said 2 cups of detergent for each barrel which I thought was obsurd. Sure enough, the barrel popped. So, I am very frustrated now. The stones are beautiful when wet but dull when dry. Can I save them? I am so dissapointed at the moment but would like to make this new hobby work. Any patient contributors?
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emyhro4048
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2007
Posts: 396
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Post by emyhro4048 on Jan 26, 2008 10:04:04 GMT -5
Hello, and welcome.
That can be real frustrating for a beginner and i've been there and done that!
You don't mention what the stones were. There are stones that will not take a polish no
matter how well you follow the directions, period!
It is a good idea to have a barrell dedicated to the polish stage but it is not necessary if you
follow a good cleaning schedule.
Be sure to clean the barrell and stones thoroughly after each stage. For instance, when I am done with stage one, I use Borax to clean the stones and the barrell by running it for 24 hours and then going on to the next stage. 2 Tablespoons of detergent is sufficient.
Hope that helps and I'm sure others will respond with more help.
Good luck and ask away.
Ed M.
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huffstuff
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2007
Posts: 1,222
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Post by huffstuff on Jan 26, 2008 11:05:25 GMT -5
Yes, same as Ed has said. A separate barrel isn't required, I got a nice shine on my first batch (the rocks that came with the tumbler) using the same barrel.
Many people begin to add plastic pellets or "ceramic media" after the first (coarse) stage to help cushion the rocks and distribute the grit. Also, it's best if you tumble a variety of sizes of stones, so the smaller stones can help get the grit all over the larger stones. I think the term people use is to say the pellets and the smaller stones act as "carriers" for the grit.
How many different grits did your tumbler come with? Some come with three, some with four. Some people here have said that the final polish that comes with many of the tumblers is not very good. What brand of tumbler do you have, and where did you get the grit(s)?
I just finished a batch that included a lot of beach stones, and they came out very shiny, so I would expect stones from Cape May to come out shiny. I'll let someome with more experience add some more, but you can repeat SOME of the later steps to try to get a shine on your stones without repeating the first step, as long as your rocks are in a pretty smooth shape already. Just remember, cross-contamination is the enemy! Any bit of larger grit from a previous stage that is stuck in a pit in a rock or doesn't get rinsed out is going to keep the rocks from getting smoothed by the finer grit.
Many of us order our supplies online from the Rock Shed, although there are many other places to get supplies.
Whew. My fingers are flying! There's lots of good info here on the board. Search around a bit, there have been a few good posts lately about getting "the perfect tumble batch" in the Member Photos section.
And keep asking questions!
Welcome!
Amy
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deanf
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2007
Posts: 109
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Post by deanf on Jan 26, 2008 11:39:24 GMT -5
I'm still learning myself, but there seem to be a lot of variables:
1) What types of grit and polish did you use ? If you got a "starter kit" of grits they are not always the best quality.
2) how long where the rocks in each cycle ?
3) did you use plastic beads in the pre-polish and polish cycles ?
if the stones are hard enough to take a polish, they you can most likely "save" them by backing up a few steps and running them through again.
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preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Jan 26, 2008 12:20:10 GMT -5
I am feeling better already. Thank you so much for all of the suggestions. First, I used lake shore stones I found with my husband and neices (Lake Ontario) along with the orange and white ones found on Cape May. I did use all different sizes. I believe the course and fine grit stages were done well as the stones are all smooth and shaped well. I do have some cracked stones so my first lesson is maybe to pull those out of the next steps in case there are pieces of grit that get caught in the crevices. The Cape May stones have a low sheen, some of the Lake stones have none. I have washed all that have any sheen and placed the stones back in to continue the polish- might that work? I probably should have started with purchased stones? Maybe I started out with too much confidence that all stones would shine. My tumbler is the Thumbler's A-R2 (double barrel). Maybe I should try purchasing different grits. I used a course, fine, pre-polish, polish regime. I started the day after Christmas so I have been faithful in following at least a seven day period for each step. I am interested in the pellet option. Also, any suggestions on books for beginners for picking the right stones to polish (I should have listened closer in those primary and secondary school days when we were learning about geology) Thanks again for the help. It is very helpful!
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Post by akansan on Jan 26, 2008 12:41:57 GMT -5
I've used the Thumler's grit kit with good results. I've also found that seven days in fine sometimes isn't quite long enough. I'd back up to there, run them another week in fine and proceed through prepolish and polish...but leave them running in polish for about 10-14 days without opening the barrel.
As for detergents, a tablespoon or two'll do ya, and you're not going to want regular detergent. Borax is what most of us use, but I started out grating Ivory soap into flakes and letting it dry, and others use Dreft.
You mentioned the stones were all smooth and shaped well - did they start off pretty rough? If they changed shape drastically in coarse, then they are probably too soft to get a REALLY good polish on. One other thing, broken or jagged ends don't just trap grit, they also leave scratches on the rocks that jagged end bangs against in the barrel. You definitely need to fish those out...
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 26, 2008 13:03:55 GMT -5
Lakeshore stones can be anything from agate to less desirable (i.e., won't polish, softer) concretions. I think it will be more important to identify your stones and get some check on their hardness. Seperate barrels, the exact amount of detergent, ... are less important. Going long enough in each stage, having a good range of small to larger, and not over/under filling the barrell are of more consequence - but usually are the difference between acceptable results and excellent results. Less often these factors keep any rocks form polishing. I the later stages pellets can be important to mantain sliding and prevent too much dropping/clinking that might chip some types of rocks.
Any chance you can post some pictures?
Do you have a quartz crystal you can use to do a scratch on some of these rocks?
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preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Jan 26, 2008 15:37:10 GMT -5
Once again, I am so grateful for your responses. I have re-ignited my enthusiasm. Following all the comments, I am beginning to narrow down where I need to go from here. AKansan, I think you may be right there. I may have needed to lengthen the fine grit stage without realizing I should. deb193redux I am somewhat sure I have most agate but I am going to try and figure out how to photo and post for anyone who is interested. Does it make any sense to continue with the polishing for a few days or should I simply go back and fine grit?
Also, it seems I cannot tumble only one barrel at a time with model I have. Is that true? Do I always need to run two barrels? Thanks again.
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 26, 2008 20:17:10 GMT -5
What exactly is your model? Might run one barrel empty. Or, get more rock!
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Jan 27, 2008 3:29:38 GMT -5
Hi Preskrei, You havent mentioned anything about lenths of time tumbling in the batches here is a rough guide to what I do 1st stage 4 to 8 weeks 80 grit, 2nd Stage 220 grit 7 days recharge anothe 10 days, stg 3 - 400 grit 1 week , stg 4 - 600grit 1 week stg Stg 5- 1000 grit 1 week wash/ Burnish for 48 hours in Borax and soap flakes, polish in CO for 2 weeks Heres a link to the results you should get img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/john-edward/March1st011.jpgKeep persevering and you will get there Oh in between stages WASH thourly and be CLINICALY clean ine grain of grit passed on can cause havoc Jack Yorkshire UK PS check out the RTH 3 stage polishing guide |
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jan 27, 2008 9:12:36 GMT -5
If your stones are smooth already and look good wet, they may just have scratches from the coarse grit that you can't see. (guessing)... you may want to go back to the fine grit for a week then try polishing again, I'd run them in polish for at least a week, but I can tell you this, the longer you keep them in the polish, the more shine they should have.
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preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Feb 4, 2008 17:59:00 GMT -5
Hello again. So, I polished a bit more, bought the Borax and the stones are improving. However, I am not quite there. I took some pics but I do not know how to post the pics. If someone can help I will post and if anyone is interested in providing a critique, I would appreciate it.
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preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Feb 4, 2008 18:50:19 GMT -5
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 4, 2008 21:28:39 GMT -5
I think that you may be doing everything correctly. I'm thinking that it's just maybe the rocks are too soft or the hardnesses may vary too much. They look smooth enough to me that they should polish if they are hard enough.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Feb 5, 2008 3:06:46 GMT -5
Hi,
They are comming on well The orange citrine looking one has a shine on it as well as some of the others clearer ones
Same as Randy above says some are just soft , I have a knife that I scratch the rock with if it leaves a silver /blue mark it will probaly polish & have a good shine
The mottled ones might never shine I have some like that seem to be a mixture of softer flaky stuff that undercuts
Jack
Yorkshire UK
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preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Feb 5, 2008 18:59:17 GMT -5
I really want the polish to be a shinier sheen. I ahve taken out the smaller "stones" and put back in the polish. I am going with the theory that, the longer I polish the shinier they will get. Will keep you posted. I have also started another batch and will fine grit and polish longer. My next batch, I have purchased a bag of India tree agate and African Unakite. I also have some pellets for the polish stage. I can see how you all get addicted....hmmm Thanks for the continued support.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 5, 2008 19:31:09 GMT -5
The tree agate and unakite will polish nicely, I've worked with both. I especially like the unakite, very colorful stuff. Mine had alot of pink and green in it.
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preskrei
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 7
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Post by preskrei on Feb 10, 2008 8:51:12 GMT -5
The new rocks I purchased are larger pieces than I would like. Do you cut them down with a wet saw? I have a small table top saw I use for ceramic and srone tile and assume I can use that. Yes? Any tips on this before I cut?
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 10, 2008 10:54:03 GMT -5
Yes, a tile saw will work great, that's what alot of us use (Workforce tile saw from Home Depot). Just take time when cutting stones, don't force the stone into the blade. Stones will wear a blade down much faster than ceramic tile, but once you get the feel for it you'll be a pro, it doesn't take long. Let us know how it works out.
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