Robb
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2008
Posts: 8
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Post by Robb on Aug 21, 2008 7:01:40 GMT -5
Well, hello everybody!
First i'll start by saying that i've browsed the forums a bit and i gotta say i like it, seems to be an active and helpful community y'all have here.
Anyway, when i was younger i was really into collecting rocks, although i never got into tumbling them(i like their natural appearance better, but thats just me). Anyway, i'm looking to get back into it as something to do with my children(3 girls and 1 boy). I want to try and get into the tumbling as i know my girls will love the polished, shinny stones.
I run 1 website and help moderate 3 others, so dont worry i will not post thread after thread asking for help, and if i do it will be a descriptive title to help with others who may search the forums for the same thing.
To start off, i have a couple of questions, and then i'll read through the forum some more to maybe answer some of my not so important questions.
1. what is a good tumbler to buy, on a budget of say up to maybe $200?(remember i have 4 kids,lol)
2. what is a good site, or some of your favorite sites with a good variety to order stones from to tumble? i've found a few but thought i would ask y'all
3. what are some key points i should remember when tumbling/preparing to tumble?
4. anything worth mentioning to a "newbie" that you've learned from experience?
i have more i'm sure but right now i want to start getting the stuff i need to start this hobby. Thanks for any help you can give!!
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kbrocks
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2006
Posts: 78
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Post by kbrocks on Aug 21, 2008 7:58:20 GMT -5
Hello, Well, I've been doing this about 2 years now and still consider myself a newbie. But I'll try to chime in on a couple things. 1. As far as the tumblers go, I've only owned 2, so I mention those. First is the cheap Chicago electric tumbler that you can get from Harbor Freight. I've found that mine has been pretty good for the money. I think I paid about $40 for it 2 years ago. I don't remember the model, but it has 2 3lb barrels. The problem I've had is the belt that drives the rollers breaks. Instead of buying the replacement, I found a matching size belt from a Dust Devil Vaccum. These have been working very well, and I think a pack of 4 or so belts was around $5. The second tumbler I got was a Thumblers. It also has 2 3lb barrels. I can't remember the exact model. It was a little more pricey, I think in the $100 range. But it is by far a better quality than the CE. I've been running it probably 6 to 8 months a year for the last 2 years with no problems, and have not had to replace anything. There are others out there, but like I said those are the 2 I own and my opinions. 2. As for sites for ordering, I don't order much. I get polish and grits every now and then when I run out, but they usually last me quite a while. I have done all my shopping so far at the www.therockshed.com/3 and 4. Well, I don't have much in that department, like I said, I'm still a newb myself. Good luck and have fun with the hobby. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,494
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 21, 2008 9:43:18 GMT -5
Howdy and welcome. I too get much of my supplies from the Rockshed. Good prices and good service, fast shipping etc. Lortone is also a good brand of tumbler. I have about five of them and have been running them for years without major problems. If possible, it's nice to have dedicated barrels for each stage to prevent cross contamination of lots. That's why I have multiple tumblers. Two most helpful hints I can think of are #1: As much as possible, try to run lots of stones of similar hardness and homogeneous texture. ( starting with quartz family rocks is a good bet). And #2: Get plenty of coarse grit as you'll want to run rock in coarse till you get nice rounded smooth shapes before going to the next stage. This takes lots of patience as sharply broken hard agate etc can take 6-8 weeks or more in coarse with grit recharges every week. So you see, you'll be using 6-8 times the coarse grit as compared to grit and polish usage in the other stages. Good luck and have fun.....Mel
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Aug 21, 2008 10:21:25 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Robb...
1) For a first tumbler I would get a Lortone 33B. It's a Lortone so you know it's quality and it's got two barrels so you can rough tumble in one barrel continually and go to a subsequent stage in the other. Three pounds is generally big enough to start. They cost about $100 give or take thirty dollars; remember you will need grit and rocks, maybe sieves, plastic or ceramic pellets, etc
2) Others will have some good web sites to try...My one suggestion is to eventually try the buy and sell swap shop for members.
3) Get Organized! Define a work area and keep it in order. Check and recharge your barrels weekly; write down what is in each barrel and when you started it; Clean barrels and rocks (get tooth brushes, get sieves, lots of running water) when switching grits (between stages).
4) Take pictures! Start with relatively hard rocks, Agate and Jasper, to get the best results. hard rocks polish much easier than soft rocks. I am referring to the MORS hardness scale. You want to use rocks with a hardness of 7. Any harder takes forever. Any softer is harder to get a decent shine on.
csroc
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Robb
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2008
Posts: 8
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Post by Robb on Aug 21, 2008 10:30:31 GMT -5
thanks for your replies so far, its much appreciated. i'm sure i will have more questions once i get the stuff i need to start. thanks!
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1rockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 286
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Post by 1rockhound on Aug 21, 2008 11:20:31 GMT -5
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Robb
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2008
Posts: 8
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Post by Robb on Aug 21, 2008 11:49:22 GMT -5
sweet, i might order that, also, nice site i hadn't come accross that one yet
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Post by akansan on Aug 21, 2008 13:42:33 GMT -5
My only hesitation in recommending the Lortone tumbler is their quality has gone down hill in the past year or so. I've heard lots of problems with them, both here and on other boards. Misalignments (out of the box), motors giving out within 30 days of purchase, etc. I love my Thumlers - I've used both the Model T and the A-R 3. Ebay has been a great source for my actual tumblers. At one time I had 11 barrels rolling, 9 of them Thumlers purchased off ebay. Two of those tumblers were basically brand new - Christmas presents that people grew disillusioned with very quickly (I picked up one in February, one in March). I've since downsized to just 2 - 4 barrels rolling at a time. Grit and such, www.therockshed.com. Other places to check out (ones run by fellow members) - www.banjocreek.com and www.mybluerocks.com. Both of these people have great materials, and both can be vouched for my members here. |
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Post by Jack, lapidaryrough on Aug 21, 2008 13:52:17 GMT -5
What you mean the the last year or so ( akansan ) Lortone has been junk since the company split in 1972 from Carborundum, When all their equiment was painted
Gold, even then it was a shade less then hobby-grade.
Start with Raytech or / Lot - O - tumble and if you enjoy it, look into buying a Vibar-Sonic.
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lsmike
spending too much on rocks
Maxwell's demon lowers tumbling entropy
Member since January 2007
Posts: 468
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Post by lsmike on Aug 21, 2008 17:26:46 GMT -5
No one seems to have mentioned vibratory tumblers.These do the work much faster than rotaries.One drawback is that you cannot do the rough stage in these so you either have to start with fairly smooth[water-worn]material or rocks that have been roughed in a rotary or on a wheel or belt.Vibes are both more aggresive, i.e., faster and more gentle, i.e., way less likely to break rocks-would you rather jiggled or dropped!Mike.
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Post by Jack, lapidaryrough on Aug 21, 2008 20:00:09 GMT -5
Start with Raytech or / Lot - O - tumble and if you enjoy it, look into buying a Vibar-Sonic.
between the line
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nansaidh
spending too much on rocks
Jewelry artist, graphic designer, dog lover, car nut (etc.)
Member since August 2008
Posts: 311
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Post by nansaidh on Aug 21, 2008 20:00:22 GMT -5
Hello! I'm a new rockaholic too - welcome. This is a really nice place.  I have a small Lortone 3A that I originally got to tumble polish silver and have now ventured into rock-dom. My first tumble batch is in the next-to-last stage - I'm excited to see how they turn out. I like my tumbler - it's been very reliable over the past year and is doing fine so far going 24/7. Anyway, lotsa nice folks in here. One suggestion - POST LOTS OF PICTURES!!  Nancy |
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Aug 22, 2008 2:55:01 GMT -5
Hi Robb, Welcome to the board I use a rotary to do 3/4 of my rocks & all of the rough (I put pre cuts straight into Stg 2 you get a sharper edge) BUT As Ismike above mention a vibe is a great time saver as well as a grit saver and a power saver AND if you have Kids they want to see results Fast a vibe is a big help here , BUT if your working with rough you need a rotary and Paitence if its rough Agate it could take 6 weeks in Stage one to get all the rough corners off and shaped up nice A good link here for a vibe and other tumblers, I got mine from here they do both voltages 120V or 220 V for us europeans www.therockshed.com/tumbler1.htmlCuts the time From 2nd stage (220) grit to polish down to around 10 days( I have put in shore stones for a double stage 2 missing out Stg One compleatly !) and they came up realy well. Heres a sample of the results img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/john-edward/E-VibeApril2.jpgAs Nancy says a Photo is always helpfull Some points to bear in mind Cleanliness CLINICALY clean one grain of 80G in a polishing cycle and your output will be ------- not good Paitience give them a extra day rather than less A good burnish in Borax /wash between stages or at least at the pre polish stage of 24 to 48 hrs , (you will take them out and think they are polished ! ! dont !!! wash and polish) and the results will speak for themselfs And to prove a point a photo ;D img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/john-edward/March1st011.jpgjack Yorkshire UK |
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Post by connrock on Aug 22, 2008 9:33:08 GMT -5
Welcome and don't hesitate to ask questions by the ton.That's what we're here for. No,,,,we don't get tired of answering the same questions over and over.!! ;D It's like being a teacher with a new class every year! I won't bother with tumblers as you have some ideas already. I like to do the basics that a lot of us forget as time goes by. I may hit on some that have already been posted. One of the first mistakes people make is trying to polish some sort of material that is difficult for even someone who has tumbled for years. Try to stay with agates and jasper but make sure they are of good quality,,,,junk in = junk out!Sometimes what is sold as "tumbling rough" is garbage! When you get your rough rock and are preparing it for tumbling make sure you trim it first. This means to get a hammer and small chisle and/or a good chipping hammer like this,,,,,,  Your rough rocks should have shallow or no concave areas,No pits,which are tiny holes.No sharp points or feathered edges. Keep trimming until the rough is ready for the tumbler. Some times this seems as though you are wasting a LOT of material but that's the name of the game. By trimming your rough properly you will save a LOT of time in the roughing stage,which takes the longest to accomplish. The roughing stage is the MOST important part of tumbling and a LOT of people are in too much of a hurry or just don't have the patience to keep re-doing the same rocks over and over. The rough stage can take months to do and and if it's not done right the your polished rocks will tell you so! Patience is a MUST and if you don't have it get it or go golfing or whatever!!!!! Another mistake a newbie will make is to not have a balanced size of rocks in the tumbler. The smaller the barrel the more difficult this is. ALWAYS remember that AT least 1/3 of the rocks in any load MUST be small. Small meaning that they should be from the size of a pea to a small grape. The reason is "surface contact".If you have all large rocks the surfaces will only touch eachother a few times per rotation of the barrel and the grit won't get it's job done and the roughing stage will last a VERY long time. If you have a lot of small rocks mixed in they will keep constant contact with eachother,the grit and the larger rocks.This will speed up the roughing stage a lot for you. You can also use "ceramic" media to take the place of the small rocks. Pea stone is another alternative. DO NOT POUR ANYTHING FROM THE TUMBLER DOWN THE HOUSE DRAINS! It WILL harden like cement and clog your drains. Did I mention patience??? Oh yeah I did!! Hey,,,,,,That's not you I see on the golf course is it?? LOL Good luck,,, connrock |
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