slabcabber
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2010
Posts: 590
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Post by slabcabber on Oct 26, 2010 14:53:45 GMT -5
Ok I am doing something I have never had to do before. I am tumbling a batch of brazilian agate and I think I am going to have to run them in 80 grit more than one week. Now what I need to know is this...... When you all are talking about recharging your grit, do I leave the old 80 grit in there and just add the required amount of the 80 again? Or do I just do like I would if I was changing the grit out?
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Post by gr on Oct 26, 2010 15:32:43 GMT -5
Leave the old in and add some new grit. check out some of the older threads in totally rock tumbling. there is some really helpful info there on just about anything you want to know about tumbling. When I started out, I didn't have RTH veterns to turn to for help and I wasted a LOT of SiC because I throughly cleaned each time- wrong! (at least for me). Tumbling is a lot of trial and error at first! I think! Keep plugin at it!!!
P/S What is a Lousiana watch dog- the pic is a little hard for me to make out...
Gary
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revco
starting to spend too much on rocks
Another Victim Of The Rockcycle
Member since February 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by revco on Oct 26, 2010 16:02:18 GMT -5
You can do it one of three ways. Simply add more grit. Dump a little bit of the slurry and add more grit/water. Or do a complete dump, rinse and start all over again with new grit and water.
The first two have a drawback in being somewhat limited in how many times you can do it successively. You have to take some care that the slurry doesn't get too thick or it becomes less effective. The last option requires additional time to create a slurry and therefore there's a period where things aren't moving along as they should. It's really just a matter of whatever works best for you.
No matter how you do it, it's the right way...just make sure you don't get too thick of a slurry!
Good luck!
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Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,101
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Post by Thunder69 on Oct 26, 2010 18:45:39 GMT -5
Hey Gary Louisiana watchdog = Big ole Gator
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,456
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 26, 2010 18:51:54 GMT -5
Cool watchdog! You can only add the additional grit a couple of times without inhibiting your grind action with too much slurry. I've gotten to the point in my experiments, where I think the grit cuts best when you totally clean out the slurry and recharge just as if were your first grit run. Brazilian agate, if rough broken, will take at least four or five weekly recharges as it's hard stuff. Slabettes won't take more than two or three...Mel
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 26, 2010 20:53:40 GMT -5
I'm with Mel. If you are talking 40 lb. tumblers it may be worth reusing/recycling. The typical 3 lb. drum uses so little grit it really isn't worth the time. I wouldn't worry about washing it out, just dump the slurry, rinse if you think you need it and restart with new grit/water. Don't forget to keep volume up as rocks reduce.
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