Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Jul 19, 2008 9:31:12 GMT -5
I've read in a lot of messages the advice to add Tums to a batch that has rocks that release gases in order to prevent excess foam and possible explosions  So, what if you don't have Tums? Seems like a royal PITA to run out and spend a buck on a roll of Tums. Something I don't keep in the house. And what if you're lazy or too cheap to want to spend the money? What can you substitute? Tums is made from calcium carbonate and you may have some of that laying around the house. Got any chalk? Lime for the garden? A piece of fluorite? Calcite? Crush them and throw them in. They're all calcium carbonate and should do the job just as well. -------------- Okay, so if calcium carbonate has been proven to work, what about sodium bicarbonate -- baking soda! It's also been used to treat acid indigestion. It's a base material that makes stuff more alkaline. We use it in fish tanks to make the KH more stable, which in turn raises the pH. Almost everyone has baking soda in their cupboard. Does that work as well? I think it will and I'm trying it right now. Has anyone else done this? Eileen |
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 19, 2008 11:52:06 GMT -5
Baking soda works fine and was recommended back "in the old days".
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Post by Condor on Jul 19, 2008 12:00:32 GMT -5
In all my years of tumbling rocks I've never had a problem with gas buildup. I'm sure it can happen but I don't feel it's that necessary to Tums the tumbling tumbler.
Condor
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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 Jul 19, 2008 14:13:03 GMT -5
The only time I've ever had to add anything is when I was tumbling slag glass. Glass does off gas. I used baking soda and it worked fine. No problems.
Mitzi
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Jul 19, 2008 14:43:18 GMT -5
Ah, I didn't know it had been recommended before. Guess I didn't search back far enough.
I've been getting gas-off with the sodalite I've got in rough grit. Not a lot, but enough to slow the process down. The baking soda changed the foam into larger bubbles, which would remove the cushioning effect the foam had. Things are progressing much better now.
Eileen
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Post by Lady B on Jul 19, 2008 18:45:51 GMT -5
I always add baking soda to my slag glass tumbles and to my Apache Tears on the advice of several very knowledgeable Tumblers here at RTH and at other sites I visit. And I also open the tumblers every 4-6 hours in the first 24-36 hours these partiicular specimens are tumbling. Glass - both man-made and courtesy of Mother Earth - entraps gas.
Saw the lids bulge once or twice but so far - no explosions! ;D
Lady B
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Jul 19, 2008 22:56:55 GMT -5
Thanks, Lady B!
I have some obsidian I was going to tumble and I'll keep this in mind.
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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 20, 2008 3:42:51 GMT -5
In all my years of tumbling rocks I've never had a problem with gas buildup. I'm sure it can happen but I don't feel it's that necessary to Tums the tumbling tumbler. Condor I agree 100%. I've tumbled a lot of different kinds of rough, but never, ever, had any problem with gas buildup. Maybe in very rare cases it can be a problem, but it's certainly not something that one has to worry about when tumbling 99% of lapidary materials. -Don |
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on Jul 20, 2008 22:17:06 GMT -5
How about adding a piece or two of plain old marble floor tile? Crushed marble is the main ingredient to Tums. Something I learned in touring the Yule Marble mine in Marble, Colorado.
I've been slabbing and tumbling some marble and granite floor tiles and pieces of marble and granite counter top for one of my biggest wirewrap and beading customers. Not sure how it's going the turn out. I have a batch in the vibes right now. But the lakers I had tumbling with the marble sure got a nice slurry in no time at all. I think I might visit the local marble countertop supplier and ask for scraps and add a chunk of marble to each rotary batch.
Rick
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stoneme
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2008
Posts: 17
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Post by stoneme on Jul 22, 2008 2:52:27 GMT -5
Lortone states in thier barrel instructions "Caution: Do not use commercial liquid cleaners, intensified detergents or baking soda." anybody know of any reason why they warn against using baking soda in their barrels?
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jrtrio
has rocks in the head
With10 tumblers tumbling the sound is so delicious!Send me more of those little red fellas, please?
Member since February 2006
Posts: 535
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Post by jrtrio on Jul 22, 2008 10:29:17 GMT -5
Remember those old baking powder submarines? Well sometimes the toys were made to be used with baking soda using vinegar instead of water to create the needed bubbling effect to cause the toy to rise and sink. Loretone may be reacting to something that happened in the past where someone used baking soda and it created gas instead of getting rid of it like Tums do. Now I have had my Thumler 3# looking like it wanted to explode when I ran a load of pet wood. But that's the only time I've ever had trouble with gas....but then again, I usually put in a couple of Tums during the first 2 stages!!
Best thing to do is make sure you have a supply sitting next to your grit and barrels so you'll remember to put a couple in. If not you could be in for a nice mess to clean up! BTW When I almost turned my Thumler barrel into a basketball it did leak quite a bit of slurry, but I was coming out to the work shop to start another load in another tumbler when I saw what was happening! I'm sure that if I hadn't gone out to start up that other load I would have been cleaning that crap off of the walls, ceiling and the rest of my equipment!
Good luck!
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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 24, 2008 3:19:20 GMT -5
Lortone states in thier barrel instructions "Caution: Do not use commercial liquid cleaners, intensified detergents or baking soda." anybody know of any reason why they warn against using baking soda in their barrels? I'm guessing here, but any acid combined with baking soda produces major CO2 gas, the stuff of many school "erupting volcano" science projects. So if you were tumbling something with sulfur in it, say iron pyrite or some other metal sulfide, then the sulfuric acid from the sulfide would react with the baking soda to produce a lapidary bomb. The commercial cleaners warning is because strong cleaners can damage the rubber barrel. -Don |
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