lablover2484
starting to shine!
Member since September 2008
Posts: 39
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Post by lablover2484 on Oct 26, 2008 1:54:32 GMT -5
I have been running 4 tumblers almost non stop and I have a lot of little pieces of material, some little pieces of amythest and others that have either chipped off or rounded down do almost nothing.
At what point do I take this material out of circulation?
Do I leave it in?
The pieces that I am talking about are smaller than pea size.
And I have one more question.
What is a cab?
Thanks for the help
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Oct 26, 2008 8:55:18 GMT -5
I have been thinking about using the tinys cast into resin as hot plates or somthing. It should be interesting to read other responses.
Cab is short for Cabochon. Go to the "Creating Cabochons" section and you will get the idea.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Oct 26, 2008 9:40:22 GMT -5
I continue to use them as grit carriers in subsequent loads, especially since I use a vibe after coarse.
Chuck
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Post by akansan on Oct 26, 2008 10:46:19 GMT -5
I pick the better pieces out and take them to work. They disappear from there.
The not so great pieces (lack pattern or whatever), I leave as grit carriers until they disappear.
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 716
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Post by docharber on Oct 26, 2008 15:04:51 GMT -5
Chuck has the right idea. These little pieces can help cushion the load as plastic pellets do when tumbling hard materials and distribute grit into hollows and crevices where bigger stones can't make contact. The pretty pieces are good for gem trees, mosaic, fish tanks, whattever- but don't throw them out!
mark H.
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Oct 26, 2008 20:14:26 GMT -5
When I sift through a coarse tumble, I get down to rocks about the size of a pea and sort those. Anything smaller I just dump back into the barrel to include in the next coarse round. Some people believe that having a lot of very small material helps carry the grit better and will improve results in a coarse tumble.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Oct 27, 2008 3:55:18 GMT -5
Hi
I do the same BUT remember to take out the sharp edged recent fractured stones they could seriousley damage your end result
Jack
Yorkshire UK
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Post by connrock on Oct 27, 2008 13:08:51 GMT -5
I don't throw out ANYTHING!lol You can buy small cork top bottles and put the tiny pieces in them.They make great gifts and or give-aways! My wife is always picking up small capped bottles for me and the ones I love are the ones with the mechanical wire stops.Unfortunately they are the most expensive so I don't buy them any more.I was getting them by the case for about$.75/bottle but they're up to about $2.00+ each so,,,,,,,,,,,,,, The smaller the pieces the smaller the bottles I use.I even fill flower vases with my rocks as well!  connrock |
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tombodc
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2008
Posts: 88
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Post by tombodc on Oct 27, 2008 17:03:38 GMT -5
Well... On my first load through the tumblers I kept them all the way through polish, lol. It took me four months to get a load to/through polish so I wasn't going to give up on anything, lol. The little chips I put in a little glass bottle... My problem was that I "started" getting hooked on rocks when my kids took me to an Emerald mine for father's day and I picked up a bunch of very small pieces of garnet, emerald, rubies, and sapphire... I didn't know they were the wrong thing to start with due to their hardness (excluding the garnet of course). The garnet widdled down to nothing very quickly while the sapphire, emeralds, and rubies continue to need tumbling...  Now I use the damaged goods to help carry grit in the rough grit stages, the little specs/chips go in the little jar, the smaller rocks that make it thorugh polish get put in a little bowl for "display" and the "good stones/gems" make it to the big bowl! |
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lablover2484
starting to shine!
Member since September 2008
Posts: 39
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Post by lablover2484 on Oct 27, 2008 19:11:04 GMT -5
I like the little bottle idea, that is a great thing to do with the little ones after you get quite a bit of them, but in the meantime I will leave them in my loads.
Thanks for all the advice I sure needed it.
Thanks so much
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