rockhard
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 227
|
Post by rockhard on Sept 17, 2010 17:14:39 GMT -5
After taking a break for several years, I hauled out the workforce again, to cut up a bunch of small local stuff for tumbling. I don't remember though, what's the best way to reduce dishing in the flat faces? (using a rotary, I don't have a vibe)
Tumble them with more bigger rocks maybe, to knock off the edges faster? I'm not doing preforms, so I'd rather let the grit do the work instead of shaping all the pieces and wearing out diamond blades.
Thanks, Vincent
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Sept 17, 2010 19:45:18 GMT -5
Vincent: Best way is to run flats with lots of small filler stones of similar hardness. This cushions the load and prevents chipping while also increasing surface to surface contact. Not much dishing should occur as long as stones are of similar hardness and type as the small stones tend to flow freely around the flat stones you want to polish. I've done this with both the rotary and vibe type tumblers and it works well as long as you don't put in too high a percentage of flats per load and have lots of filler....Mel
|
|
rockhard
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2006
Posts: 227
|
Post by rockhard on Sept 17, 2010 20:50:29 GMT -5
Oh good, thanks Mel. Rough goes in the Lortone QT 12, so I always use a lot of little stuff anyway, even pea gravel, because it chips and breaks a lot otherwise. I'll just avoid the bigger stuff then. Everything I'm cutting is hard to extra-hard jaspers and agates.
|
|