Post by Sabre52 on Mar 12, 2009 17:22:26 GMT -5
Howdy folks,
Northshorerocks wanted my tumbling routine so here it is
1. Coarse 60/90 till the rocks are well rounded and smooth, usually 4-8 weeks with weekly rinse and recharge. I've tried coarser grits but I find 60/90 sticks to the rocks better than the heavier/coarser grits. Not removing most the slurry will in fact, decrease the grinding action. At least that's been my experience. Patience is the key as the rounder and smoother the rocks get before moving to fine grind, the better the batch! Slabs will grind much faster but you can't put too many in a load or they stick together and don't grind right. I try to limit slabs to only a handful in a 12 pound load. I go about 1 heaping tablespoon of grit per pound of rock per charge . Use my 12 pound barrel here. No pellets here, it will inhibit the grind action. ( for soft stones, I do use pellets)
2. Fine grind 110/220 for 15 days. Approx one heaping tablespoon per pound of rock. I use a 6 pound barrel here. Make sure and clean super well between this stage and prepolish. Contamination here will mess up the next stage good. For both grind stages I add water to just below the top of the top layer of stone. I use lots of pellets for this stage and the final two stages. ( keep pellets separate for each stage. I even use dedicated barrels for each stage!
3. Prepolish with Rockshed tripoli for 15 days. They will be almost polished after 15 days in this. Use about 2 teaspoons per 4 pound barrel. Some tripoli ( like the stuff I got from my gem club) will form a nasty goo at this rate and you must go about half this rate. For this stage and the next, I add water to just a hair "above" the level of the stones.
4. Polish with Rockshed AO for 15 days. I've used cerium and tin oxides with similar results but I think, for quartz gems, the AO is actually better and way cheaper. I use about 2 teaspoons per 4 pound barrel and lots of plastic pellets. My tumblers are very old so I run the barrels only half full of mixed sized rocks.
5. One day burnish with Dreft soap. I started using this after I remembered borax is highly toxic to plants! Do not dump borax burnish water around any plants! Dreft water is fine and it works just as well......Mel
Northshorerocks wanted my tumbling routine so here it is
1. Coarse 60/90 till the rocks are well rounded and smooth, usually 4-8 weeks with weekly rinse and recharge. I've tried coarser grits but I find 60/90 sticks to the rocks better than the heavier/coarser grits. Not removing most the slurry will in fact, decrease the grinding action. At least that's been my experience. Patience is the key as the rounder and smoother the rocks get before moving to fine grind, the better the batch! Slabs will grind much faster but you can't put too many in a load or they stick together and don't grind right. I try to limit slabs to only a handful in a 12 pound load. I go about 1 heaping tablespoon of grit per pound of rock per charge . Use my 12 pound barrel here. No pellets here, it will inhibit the grind action. ( for soft stones, I do use pellets)
2. Fine grind 110/220 for 15 days. Approx one heaping tablespoon per pound of rock. I use a 6 pound barrel here. Make sure and clean super well between this stage and prepolish. Contamination here will mess up the next stage good. For both grind stages I add water to just below the top of the top layer of stone. I use lots of pellets for this stage and the final two stages. ( keep pellets separate for each stage. I even use dedicated barrels for each stage!
3. Prepolish with Rockshed tripoli for 15 days. They will be almost polished after 15 days in this. Use about 2 teaspoons per 4 pound barrel. Some tripoli ( like the stuff I got from my gem club) will form a nasty goo at this rate and you must go about half this rate. For this stage and the next, I add water to just a hair "above" the level of the stones.
4. Polish with Rockshed AO for 15 days. I've used cerium and tin oxides with similar results but I think, for quartz gems, the AO is actually better and way cheaper. I use about 2 teaspoons per 4 pound barrel and lots of plastic pellets. My tumblers are very old so I run the barrels only half full of mixed sized rocks.
5. One day burnish with Dreft soap. I started using this after I remembered borax is highly toxic to plants! Do not dump borax burnish water around any plants! Dreft water is fine and it works just as well......Mel
