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Post by bobby1 on Feb 17, 2008 21:12:50 GMT -5
I emptied my 40 lb and a 10 lb tumblers today. The 40 lb unit had a batch of Blue Lace that ran for two runs in 60 grit at 4 weeks each run. They are ready for the polish now. The 10 lb unit ran for 6 weeks with 120 grit. It's ready for the polish now, also. Here is what the Blue Lace material looks like before starting. It has a lot of Calcite outer layers so I had to run it in the grinding stages for two runs. I tumble large pieces because I will end up slabbing, cabbing or possibly carving it.    Here is what it looked like after the grinding  Here are some individual pieces in the batch       Here's what the 10 lb batch looks like.  Here is an interesting slab from the batch  Now its on to the polishing stage. Thanks for looking Bob |
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Feb 17, 2008 21:19:01 GMT -5
wOWZERS bOB!  what some gorgeous Blue Lace that you have there. Those are some big pieces there and they turned out fabulous. Can't wait until you put a winning shine on them. I love your crisp clear pictures too. Thanks for sharing those with us. Steve |
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Post by captbob on Feb 17, 2008 21:27:41 GMT -5
Yowzza! That's a bunch of blue lace!! Any idea what your starting and ending weights were/are?
How large of a rock can you get away with tumbling in a 40# barrel?
Thanks for sharing the pictures.
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Feb 17, 2008 21:30:42 GMT -5
Those are some amazing blue pieces. I love blue rocks lol. great pics
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 17, 2008 21:32:50 GMT -5
Your hand definately puts things into perspective, that's a really big batch of blue lace. Beautiful stuff!!
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luv2hound
freely admits to licking rocks
I try & I try, but dang it! Those rocks just keep ending up in my pockets
Member since June 2007
Posts: 890
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Post by luv2hound on Feb 17, 2008 21:39:37 GMT -5
Great batches. That blue lace is fabulous. The other batch looks nice too, lots of colors.
That's a pretty cool looking slab in the last pic.
~~Mitzi~~
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Post by bobby1 on Feb 17, 2008 21:50:43 GMT -5
I don't tumble anything much bigger than my fist. Any larger and they get to thumping around and spalling the edges. With the Blue Lace I fill the barrel to within 1" of the top, add 5 lbs 60 grit, fill to the top of the rocks with water and run it for 4 weeks. I then drain off about 3" of the soup, add 5 more lbs of 60 grit and run another 4 weeks. At this time the barrel is about 5/8 full with rocks. The tumbling slurry has the consistency of pancake batter so it really cushions the large pieces and they don't bang around at all. I then go directly to polish. From the pictures you can see that the surfaces after the grind step are really smooth. When I polish I fill the barrel to within 2" of the top with rocks, add 2 lbs of CPP polish, add 3 cups of water, and 4 cups of plastic pellets and run it for 4 or 5 weeks. I get excellent results. I call this my lazy man's tumbling process.
My usual process for regular material in the 40 lb unit is only one 4 to 5 week run in the 60 grit and then to polish. I have to double up for the Blue Lace because the Calcite layers are so thick
Bob
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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 Feb 18, 2008 18:58:35 GMT -5
That blue lace is beautiful stuff and it is so cool seeing it in such large tumbled chunks.
I love hearing the different ways people tumble.
Mike
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Post by MrP on Feb 18, 2008 20:32:26 GMT -5
Nice Lace..........MrP
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Post by bobby1 on Feb 18, 2008 20:44:47 GMT -5
Tumbling is not a major focus of my activities. I slab a lot of rocks and I toss the slabs, pieces, end cuts, etc. that I don't expect to be using for cabbing into the tumblers. After tumbling I go through and sort out any that I think I might cab or otherwise use later. The rest I trade or sell to local rock shops. That's why I have settled into a process that doesn't take a lot of my time or energy. I like to fill'er up, start're rolling and forget about it for a month or so.
Bob
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Post by cpdad on Feb 18, 2008 23:33:16 GMT -5
didnt need a quarter there ;D...exactly what i was thinking....his hand put the size in perspective.
nice...kev.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Feb 19, 2008 3:33:43 GMT -5
Nice batch !!!
Lovely stuff You would have a barrow load of mud of that lot !!
Dont forget to post us some photos of the final pieces
jack
Yorkshire UK
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Post by Titania on Feb 19, 2008 8:09:51 GMT -5
Nice! The blue colour really concentrates onces you get that crust off...gorgeous blue.
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Post by krazydiamond on Feb 19, 2008 9:32:01 GMT -5
wow, makes me want a bigger tumbler!
KD
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Post by Tweetiepy on Feb 20, 2008 12:16:46 GMT -5
Loooove the blue lace but the hairy thunderegg is pretty cool too - looks like someone placed a used wax hair removal strip behind the clear thunderegg hehe  |
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MidNight~Rocksi3
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2008
Posts: 1,716
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Post by MidNight~Rocksi3 on Feb 20, 2008 13:28:14 GMT -5
Oh yeah those are going to be beauties! I love the way that blue almost glows.. and I still can't get over how Big your batches are! LOL.. that's insane in itself! but cool.. so now I'll be anxiously waiting to see how they look after the polish! Great pics!
*smiles*
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Post by Tonyterner on Feb 21, 2008 12:02:44 GMT -5
Some BIG tumbled stones there Bob. The lace is really pretty.
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