navi
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2008
Posts: 229
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Post by navi on Nov 26, 2008 21:55:36 GMT -5
ok. tonight i finished a second rough grind. i looked at the stones which were ready for the second stage and added them to the ones from my last grind that were ready.
i have a 4lb tumbler. i had enough stones to MAYBE have it 2/3 full. after much thought, i decided to retumble stones that weren't ready, discard crap and start some new stones in another first grind batch. my thought is that when it is done, i'll certainly have enought for a fine grind, second stage and hopefully, be able to pick only the best.
what would you have done? my fear was having too small of a load and screwing them all up. to me, adding filler media is a waste, i'd rather have the proper level of stones.
thoughts?
thanks,
navi
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,496
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 26, 2008 22:53:14 GMT -5
Yep, full loads of nice mixed sizes work best. I find it easier to have a container for stones ready for fine grind, prepolish etc. I accumulate the stones in each container till I have enough for nice full loads and keep running the rougher stones in coarse till they look good or I get tired of them and discard them. Once you have the coarse grind going well, you can sort out those which have the shapes you want, toss them into the ready for fine grind tub and not proceed to the next stage till you have enough stones in various sizes for a nice well balanced load. Since I use a large tumbler for coarse and smaller barrels for the successive stages, it's really easy to stay ahead of my need for the other stages even though the coarse stage takes many more weeks.....Mel
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navi
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2008
Posts: 229
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Post by navi on Nov 26, 2008 23:08:20 GMT -5
thanks 52. i thought i was onto something. in my other life, i think i wanted results too quickly and rushed and had many bad results. this led to my stopping tumbling. now, i'm doing more agate.chert.chalcedony, instead of quartz crystals. seeing the colors come afire as the grind happens is something i'm taking great pleasure in.
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rockwolf
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2008
Posts: 97
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Post by rockwolf on Nov 27, 2008 4:07:59 GMT -5
Where's your camera Navi??? ;D
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Post by connrock on Nov 27, 2008 5:52:29 GMT -5
The rough stage is a real killer and especially for someone who hasn't been tumbling for long.
After a while (years and years for me) it gets kind of "old hat" and you just take it as it comes.
It's like being a teen ager and making out with the hottest guy/gal in your neck of the woods.
You just can't get enough of it.
After you get married and have been living together for many,many years all that making out crap goes out the door and you just take it as it comes as well!
Tumblin' is Tumblin' no matter if it's in a tumbler or anywhere else you choose to do it and the rough stage always takes the longest!
connrock
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navi
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2008
Posts: 229
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Post by navi on Nov 27, 2008 9:07:09 GMT -5
rockwolf, my computer was my sister in law's. i don't know how to attach a camera into it! yes, as soon as i figure it out, i'll post pics.
connrock, i have no experience making out with the hottest guy in my neck of the woods. how'd that go for you? ;D kidding, of course. i guess your point was patience, good stones take time.
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Post by connrock on Nov 28, 2008 6:03:11 GMT -5
navi, I made out pretty good but not with guys! I married the prettiest girl in town 42 years ago and she's still the prettiest girl in town! And yes my point was to be patient,,,,,the Lord knows my wife has been just that for a L O N G time!!!  ;D connrock |
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wildoaks
starting to shine!
Member since November 2008
Posts: 31 
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Post by wildoaks on Nov 30, 2008 8:09:29 GMT -5
Navi & Mel,
You confirmed what I was thinking as well. Got a Thumlers AR-2 naively thinking we could continually have stones in each barrel in different stages progressing from stage to stage each week. After the 1st week in course, it was a little disappointing to see what few stones were ready for stage 2. Thought plastic filler is a waste - would rather have a full load of stones, and I didn't yet have enough small scrap stones to use. So I thought plastic containers would be good to accumulate stones ready for different stages. A bigger tumbler would be good too, if just to do the course grinds. But I'll have to do without for now. Spent enough already. I suppose I could run 2 barrels in course simultaneously instead of one. Then there may be enough ready to fill 1 barrel for the next stage.
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morticiamonroe
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2008
Posts: 147
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Post by morticiamonroe on Dec 8, 2008 8:37:35 GMT -5
Hi navi,
I'm doing the same thing you are, namely going by books and advice and also just on what seems to make sense.
I've got a pile of rough stone, a small pile of choice rough, a pile of "made a few loops but nowhere near ready", and a pile of "polish me up!". All this and the tumbler in the computer room. I've been bitten.
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Dec 9, 2008 12:52:07 GMT -5
I have some tumblers that are dedicated to rough. After the first 5-day run through rough, I don't even both to look at the rocks. I just add more grit, add new rocks to 2/3, and run again. Ditto with round2. After that, I'll start to select the few rocks each round that are ready for stage 2, put them in a jar for later, add fresh rock and grit to the coarse barrel, and start the rough again. Repeat for 10-15 rounds of rough, accumulating a little bit of stuff ready for stage #2 after each round...
The jar with stuff ready for stage #2 slowly fills. When it has enough, I put those rocks in a barrel and start on medium. In the mean time, I'm still running the rough. At the end of the medium, I check everything carefully, move most of it into a jar for stage #3 pre-polish, and put the rest back in for another round of medium (along with any completed rough to fill out that barrel).
In other words, I run each early stage for long enough until I get a 2/3 barrel for the next stage. I never run a barrel that is less than 2/3 full (I'll wait until I have enough). I figure that is maximally efficient in the long run. And considering that it takes me months and months to complete a single batch, I need to be efficient!
P.S. conrock is gettin' frisky! :-)
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Rogue Trader
freely admits to licking rocks
"Don't cry because you are leaving, smile because you were there."
Member since December 2008
Posts: 839
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Post by Rogue Trader on Dec 9, 2008 13:18:36 GMT -5
Because of my job, and I only do tumble polishing, I never know when I'm going to be at home unless it is for the weekend. All my stages irrespective of what stage it is, is always done for 14 days. So it's 14 days for rough grind until there is enough finished (however many cycles it takes). 14 days on 220 grind, 14 days 600 grind, 14 days polish. I also, only try to do a certain type of rock, on any rough grind. So if I have a batch of (example) Dalmation Jasper, I will prep 3lb of Dalamation Jasper, and rough it until 80% is ready to go to 220. Then I'll start a batch of something else until 80% of that is ready to go to next stage. Because of this I nearly always have a full batch ready to go onto the next stage, albeit in a smaller barrel. There are of course times when I do not have enough for the next stage, also when I have to do mixed batches. Because it is always a game (no we are not playing at it) of patience I never try to rush things and always wait until a full load is ready. In my opinion, and it is ONLY MY opinion (see signature below for definition), you did right to wait until you have a full load to go on to the next stage. If it's any consulation, I have 2 x 3lb tumblers and 1 x 2lb tumbler running at the same time. I've just gone past the cycle where all barrels were started at the same time, so I had to wait 8 weeks for a batch large enoungh and ready to go on to the next stage  p.s I guess only trying to do one type of rock at a time does make things slower. |
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;D
