TumbleMeCrazy
starting to shine!
You CRACK me up....
Member since January 2011
Posts: 44
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Post by TumbleMeCrazy on Jan 22, 2011 14:55:56 GMT -5
I'm new to tumbling and picked these up to give them a try. I was wondering since the are slab cuts if I should skip the course grit to somewhat retain the shapes for wrapping later? I have a rotary tumbler. Should I just start them in the 2 polish stages? Your thoughts?
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Post by rockrookie on Jan 22, 2011 15:45:42 GMT -5
in my opinion . i would start in coarse grit , until your happy with shape . i would figure that with the sharp edges you may end up with scrathes and would probably not get a real good polish . --paul
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Post by 150FromFundy on Jan 22, 2011 16:53:45 GMT -5
If you want smooth edges, you will have to run them through several cycles (several weeks) of 60/90 or 46/70 coarse grit. This will smooth and round the edges. As you progress through the remaining stages the salbs will polish.
If you want natural edges and smooth flats, you can start at the 120/220 stage. Caution - the irregular edges (if you chhose this method) will tend to trap grit and carry it to the next stage where it will spoil your shine. You must clean and burnish very carefully between stages so that you do not contaminate the next stage.
Either way, you should add some mixed size gravel, or some large pellets to the load. All slabs do not make a `balanced`load. You need a mix of metrial sizes and shapes to get the best results. I usually go with 50% slabs and 50% mixed size gravel and get good results.
Good luck.
Darryl.
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Post by tntmom on Jan 22, 2011 18:58:44 GMT -5
Like Paul and Darryl said, but also without filler the flat sides wont polish well. I use mixed ceramics but in the past when I had fish tanks I used aquarium gravel. Never tried the aquarium gravel with slabbettes but it worked awesome with other tumbles (heavier than ceramics though).
~Krystee
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Post by cpdad on Jan 22, 2011 19:43:34 GMT -5
ya..basically what the others said...by looking at your pieces in the photo you will have a lot of breakage of some slabs during the first few rounds of the tumble...hidden fractures and such....its normal.
start with many diff sizes of stone as mentioned before in 60/90....run it a few weeks.....cull out what didn't fracture or break...or what you like the shape of ...set aside....throw some more slabs in...repeat.
2 or 3 weeks in 60/90 will also remove soft matrix that you dint want anyway ;D...sharp edges can only be removed after matrix is removed....it should come off quickly.
minimal rounded edges will stop any scratching in later stages...kev.
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