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Post by rocklicker on Sept 29, 2009 1:39:07 GMT -5
I know rock tumbling is an art in patience but these days I need to get things moving. Here's my situation:
I have a 15 lb barrel going with some pretty hard agates. It's been going for a week and about 4 days from being done with the rough stage (I hope). Basically I want the batch to be done by October 17th. I want to give them to kids at a show.
So I am looking for a recipee, some tricks and shortcuts to get them done quick! Anyone got one? Currently it's a 15 pound hex barrel turning at 23RPM. It's got a good slurry going at the moment so I would like to keep it going for about 4 days more before i switch grits. I would love some suggestions on how to get them done quicker. I already am thinking of skipping the prepolish stage and going for some cerium oxide. It's mostly agates and hard stuff. Any suggestions?
If worse comes to worse I have some already polished batches to use but this is a real kid frendly batch with a lot of variety and interesting patterns and colors and would like to get it done by the 17th.
Thanks,
Steve
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Post by parfive on Sept 29, 2009 2:08:49 GMT -5
Two suggestions, Steve. Add fresh 60/90 asap. What's in there now is not as effective as new grit. Don't bother with a cleanout, just dump in the fresh stuff to speed it up. Skip 120/220 - a complete waste of time - and go right to 500. Here's another - no pellets, even in polish - only slows things down, and usually unnecessary for agates. Last resort - plug the tumbler into a 220 outlet.  Rich |
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Post by connrock on Sept 29, 2009 5:43:03 GMT -5
There's really no way to speed things up using only a rotary.
Also I don't see how you can rough in agates in a couple of weeks as thy take a month or more to get them right but,,,,
If you rough the rocks until the morning of the 4th and put them in 220 in a vibe and then the 5th into 500 and the 6th polish you may stand a chance of getting a shine on them but they will NOT be rounded and will have flaws in them.
you just don't have enough time to finish the rocks in ANY rotary no matter what recipe you use,,,,,and that's that!
connrock
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Post by 150FromFundy on Sept 29, 2009 6:00:37 GMT -5
If your speedy process works, please post your results. Stage 1 in a rotary tumbler is a little like recovering from a bad hangover. There's just no substitute for time, but good luck.
If you can speed up a rotary tumble (or cure a hangover), many of us would benefit.
Darryl.
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Post by Toad on Sept 29, 2009 6:38:32 GMT -5
Dump the agates and put in fluorite. :-)
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Post by NatureNut on Sept 29, 2009 7:29:35 GMT -5
LOL. You guys are too funny! Well Steve, all good advice here (except for maybe the 220 outlet and the fluorite). You might be able to shorten the first stages by smoothing by hand. I know you said you are working with 15 lbs of agates so I know that's alot of rock to be working by hand.
You could shave 'em smooth with your saw, and use a Dremel with grinding bits, a bench grinder (dip them in water OFTEN), or a cabber and grind and smooth out as much as you can, and throw 'em in with the 500 grit.
And I agree, a vibe would get 'em done best after the fist rounding/smoothing. But you still may be able to get them done in a rotary, after short-cutting the first steps.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller 
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Sept 29, 2009 10:14:41 GMT -5
Finish roughing in the rotary and then give them to someone with an 18 lb vibe. The vibe will have them done in about a week tops.
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Post by rocklicker on Sept 29, 2009 18:59:38 GMT -5
Thank you all for the suggestions! I don't have a vibe so that won't work. Looks like I am going to try grinding some by hand as needed after the rough grind on 80 and 220 wheels and then going straight to 600, etc and we'll see what happens. I like the idea of no pellets too. I will let you all know how it goes and post pictures if it works. I understand they won't be as rounded as I'd like but as long as they look nice and and take a good shine they will be OK.
Yes, I keep thinking that no matter what there's no substitute (that's not a vibe) for time. It's like a bus schedule or waiting at the DMV. You just need to go with the flow. I'll let you know how it goes.
Steve
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Post by parfive on Oct 11, 2009 22:24:12 GMT -5
Need an update, Steve. Where ya at . . . whatcha done so far . . . only 6 days left!!!  Rich |
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Post by rocklicker on Oct 12, 2009 0:27:43 GMT -5
Well, at this point I don't know if I'm gonna make it. I'm still at 600. As of 10-4, I was at 60/90. The rocks looked pretty good. During the rough stage I ended up recharging twice. I timed the recharges knowing that grit breaks down after 4 days. I also sped up the tumbler from 23RPM to 28RPM and that helped a bit. On 10-4 I switched to 120/240. Based on your advise I thought to eliminate the 220 stage but I figured I had a few days. I went for 220 until 10-7 (3.5 days) and then changed to 600. Today (10-11)I checked and unfortunatly i am not ready for polish. I took a sample rock to the polishing wheel and was not really satisfied. It's going to be down to the wire! So far, it's looking like you just can't rush things, but we'll find out soon enough. I think I am going to switch to polish tomorrow. Steve Here's what it looked like after the rough grind. I was happy with the way they shaped up!  Rinsed off.  |
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Post by Toad on Oct 12, 2009 6:11:14 GMT -5
If you hadn't been in a hurry I would have said they could have used at least another week in rough. But when you have a deadline, you do what you have to do. Lovely colors.
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