Instructions for vibe tumblers....

OK, I started yesterday the 500. At 5:30 this morning my cat got me up. He was very upset about something so I fed him and let him out. I checked my rocks and was very very surprised to see a big change. They were only in the grit for 18 hours. I caught them right in time. Some were getting small and they were all smooth. They are calibrated so I didn't want to take off that much mass from them. To me they looked perfect even though it was only 18 hours.
I cleaned out the bowl and washed everything really well. I then added the borax and started it up again. This went for 2 hours. Again I cleaned them and added them to the bowl. I know I don't have a second bowl yet so I really washed out the 500 grit bowl. This is only my first time. I added the polish and I am letting it fly. I was surprised just how fast the system is working. I lost 3-4 to chips and one cracked in half. One I lost was fractured and I knew it but thought maybe it had healed enough. I guess I'll keep an eye on it every 3-4 hours until tomorrow.

Background: I've rotary tumbled for half a dozen years now, but I am about to start my first run through my brand new UV-10. The stones, agates and jasper only, first went through the 60/90 in my QT-66. Um, lets just say it was a lot of weeks. I meant to do just one charge at 120/220 in the rotary, and a couple days of 120/220 in the vibe, but I forgot them in the rotary for a "few" extra days, and now they are ready for the 500.

Questions -- apologies in advance if I missed this discussion in the last 7 pages.

What does "fill the barrel 3/4 full" mean? There is a non-symmetrical cone in the middle. How am I supposed to know where 3/4 full is? Measured from the top of the stones, how many inches (MM) should there be to the top of the cone in the middle of the barrel?

I am pleased with the recipes that pretty clearly state the steps and ingredients - thanks Randy. It is not aways clear though what is meant in other discussions about pre-polish. Goes for rotaries too. I've seen every kind of abrasive or polish from 500 on up called pre-polish. The Rock Shed has both SiC and AO in 500 grit called pre-polish. Is 500 grit still pre-polish if after that I use tripoli or 1000 SiC before the polish? If you the poster say, "pre-polish", do you mean the abrasive, or the tumbling stage? It would help me to understand you better, I'm sure the rotary newbies would appreciate the clarification too.

The "Polish Only" barrel: If I use 500 grit AO, or Tripoli, I'm supposed to use it in the coarse grit barrel then? Only the polish goes in the other barrel? Or is it really: Use one "SiC Only" barrel, and one "SiC Never" barrel? Given the difference in how SiC and all the other abrasives/polishes break down, the later seems more logical to me. That assumes of course you let each stage run it's full coarse, so that all the particles have broken down completely.

Thanks in advance!

So you are using, in this case, AO 1000 for polish, in a AO 1000 or other polish barrel only. In another recipe though, AO 1000 was followed by Tripoli which was then followed by a mixture of Tin Oxide and Cerium Oxide. All in the same barrel? What if I use AO 500 instead of SiC 500? When to start using the dedicated barrel, that is the question.

According to the many posts I have read, and what I have also found in several other sources, jade is a tumbling conundrum (I could have said b**ch, but that would have been rude). Randy or Mel or someone else here will almost certainly be able to tell you how they do it. I have tried unsuccessfully and set it aside for later myself, so I'll be interested to hear what they say.

I have a few questions to toss into the mix -- hopefully not too stupid as questions go.

I'm working with beach rocks, many of them relatively smooth to start with. After checking them one day into the process, some are beautifully smoothed, others obviously still have cracks or pitting that definitely needs to go.

At the end of day two, when it's time to wash and throw them back in for the second cycle of 120/220, would you recommend removing the unpitted, nicely shaped, and crackless pieces to set aside while the rest go back into the batch? If the primary goal of phase one is to shape, remove the pitting and cracks, this seems like a good call -- if I'm missing something or not realizing something important about the stage, I'm definitely all ears and open to education. I'd just rather not over-grind on stones with nice patterning if it's not a necessary thing.

I'm not going to have any trouble at all filling out the rest of the batch with replacements, and was thinking of running through the rough I have on hand that's all the same hardness, basically getting as much of it as possible through this step until the cracks and pits are gone and the stones are nicely shaped and smooth, filtering through them carefully at the wash stage to determine which need additional time at step 1.1, essentially. I'm not against running the same rock through that step ten times if that's what it takes to get it ready to move along, so speed isn't really the worry here.

Whether they all go back in for another 2 days at 120/220 once they've reached that 'uniform surface quality' point is essentially the question that remains, or if that would be more or less redundant. That may mean some have been through 120/220 for two days, some may be going through that two day-then-recharge cycle several times.

I'm stupidly new to this, so there may be a major flaw in this plan that I'm not seeing -- like not being able to potentially see some kinds of cracks that would later prove problematic -- but it at least seems like a sensible approach from what I've been reading thus far.

I do know to keep anything 'between cycles' wet, at least if attempting this. There's buckets a-plenty ready to be dedicated to that task.

Quick edit: When I say 'already shaped and fairly smooth', I mean started off without any visible pitting or cracks, and looks like the little green guy in the center bottom of the pic here: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=tottumb&action=display&thread=50522

Hi, I am new to tumbling and found your post. Two years ago we got a tumbler but my hubby said noway could I start it in the house [ its realy not that loud] finally I have a shed and got it started. We went back to buy the grit and it doubled in price, do you know a good place to buy in large amounts that I could send for.Thanks for reading this any help would help alot . Joanne by the way thanks for your instructions its a great place to start just got a vibe tumbler to. Thanks agin Joanne

This may sound like a silly measurement, but the small buckets I use hold a good amount of rock for the UV10, which is a 10# barrel. They're 2.5 quart buckets -- you can find them in the paint aisle of most hardware/home improvement stores. (They get up to about 9lbs of rock on their own, and I throw in a pound of ceramic media to help keep the grit moving.) This is definitely going to be more than a double handful for most folks, though I have awfully tiny hands so I'm not sure how good an example I make on that particular measure.

The best bet for a more accurate estimate is to pick up a postal scale. They're pretty cheap -- and remember that any filler you throw in, like ceramic media -- is also going to add to the weight. It'll be a useful tool to keep on hand when putting your batches together, too.

this answer to phil is about my lot-o's. i fill them pretty well to the top with rocks. then i fill more ceramic media that fits in the spaces between the rocks. i may have about and inch of space left in the bowel. then charge with water and turn it on and see how the rocks move. if it gets stopped by a rock catching on the top then take that rock out and see how it goes again. if movement of the rocks is good, then add the soap and grit. hope this helps. applies to the lot-o. i have three of them. charlie

I am doing my first batch and i really messed up with too much water..2 days in and way too much grit used to try to muddy it up more i am now running it with the top off to try and evaporate some of the water off...The rocks are getting shined up and smoothed but from everything i have read i used way too much water

has any one had any experience with the Lyman tumblers