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Post by tortuga on Apr 10, 2010 15:15:51 GMT -5
Lately I've had a problem in two of my barrels, and I feel rather amateurish asking a question like this, but hey that's what you're here for with all the shiny answers right? Two barrels, after 2 weeks in the 80 grit stage, when I opened them up the grit had largely settled and packed into the bottom of the barrel with the little chips that had come off the rough stones. I actually had to reach in with my finger and stir it up and unstick it before I could pour it all out and clean the barrels. Is too little water the likely cause for this settling and sticking? Doesn't seem like the grit is going to do much grinding if it's all packed at the bottom. I know it's probably obvious, but I've had pretty much as-expected runs in prior batches, this is the first time it's happened to me. Thanks  |
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 10, 2010 16:05:37 GMT -5
I've never heard of the water being to the top of the stones, and certainly not a bit higher than that. Since it depends on the amount of space between stones in the barrel, I Suppose if you had it really well packed with lots of tiny chips in all the spaces between the medium and larger stones, you could need to put the water up over the stones.
But usually water below the top layer of stones and if you do not have enough really small ones, than the water needs to be even lower.
80 grit is heavy. It will fall easily if there is too much grit, too much water, or too much space between rocks.
It seems to me that the grit had to settle when you loaded the barrel (and never came down when rolling), or it had to settle after you took the barrel off the rollers and set it upright. The latter sounds more plausible.
I would make sure you do not have more than 3-4 tablespoons of grit, possibly cut back slightly on the water, and get a few more tiny chips in the load. It would even be good if the tiny chips included some softer rock, because that will make mud faster and help suspend the 80g like plain water cannot.
IMHO the most critical thing is not having too much open space between the rocks - assuming the amount of grit and amount of water is about right. There is less wiggle room in the open space with a heavy grit.
Good luck
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Post by Toad on Apr 10, 2010 16:23:31 GMT -5
Everything I've seen has always been water to the bottom of the top layer of rocks - along with a mix of sizes to help the tumbling action.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller 
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Apr 10, 2010 16:30:20 GMT -5
Yeah, I see the newbies may get confused from misinformation starting on here. They were not here the last go round we had here with this clown.I urge them to get more input before following his lead.One clown can sure mess up a good board.
snuffy
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Post by tortuga on Apr 10, 2010 16:51:25 GMT -5
I'm not entirely sure it settled in the short time it took to charge or unload it, because of the way the grit was pretty packed down. It took some pretty good finger scraping to unstick it all, like it had been packed down for a while. I'll crush one of the pieces to get some tiny chips and see if that helps stir it up... sounds like that might have been the culprit, I discarded all the small tiny chips when I crushed the stone to tumble it. Thanks for the advice everyone!
PS, in the future, if I need little chips that are soft to form mud faster, any suggestions for cheap/plentiful/available on the ground in Indiana rocks to smash up to use for that purpose?
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Post by Toad on Apr 10, 2010 17:09:52 GMT -5
Indiana rocks would work fine - it should substitute for ceramic media fine, as long as it is not too porous or pitty - don't want to worry about carrying grit from one stage to the next.
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 11, 2010 22:51:36 GMT -5
if the barrel is on its side when rolling, there is no way for grit to get up onto the bottom because it is now the side. - unless it was just around the outer rim of the bottom.
anyway, hope the smaller chips work
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gemhunter
starting to spend too much on rocks
"Rock On"
Member since November 2009
Posts: 243
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Post by gemhunter on Apr 12, 2010 9:41:21 GMT -5
:2cents: Hey I hope you have solved the problem. I had the same thing happen when I overloaded my grit. I just stole a tablespoon measure from my wife and I get the amounts right, I think  Course the food is different now. Hey thanks for that tip on the chips Wizard. I love gem mining and I just keep the chips and put them in with whatever I am tumbling. In the first stage any way, if they chips don't disintegrate I have a lot of small pieces that I now what I can try. Ed |
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Course the food is different now.
