jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
|
Post by jspencer on May 9, 2011 17:14:11 GMT -5
I have a question I would like to get some input on. I have a load of rock running in a 5 lb. vibe. I started with 4 days of 220, 2.5 days of 600 and have had in 1000 for 24 hrs. I thought it ought to be ready to proceed to next step but don`t really know if I need to prepolish or not. I have been adding Borax and used plastic pellets starting at 600 grit. Advice?
|
|
snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
|
Post by snuffy on May 9, 2011 17:20:28 GMT -5
1000 is my prepolish. What other are you asking about?
snuffy
|
|
|
Post by 150FromFundy on May 9, 2011 19:01:25 GMT -5
What snuffy said. AO 1000F is the pre-polish.
In my UV-10, 5 days of AO 1000F makes the batch look polished. I sometimes wonder if I actually improve things with an additional 5 days in AO polish.
Darryl.
|
|
|
Post by johnjsgems on May 9, 2011 20:01:56 GMT -5
What the others said but I would lose the plastic and use ceramic media.
|
|
jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
|
Post by jspencer on May 9, 2011 20:10:46 GMT -5
Ok ......I ask because I use graded grits mostly but I bought this SC 400/1000 awhile back and decided to use it after I had already run my 600. I have an AO prepolish that I normally use before final polish. This is also going to be a trial for me since the good cerium went so high I will try some Raybrite I bought with recommendation from the lady at the rock shop. I guess I`ll find out soon how well it does. First full run for me on a vibe so the whole thing is an experiment. Thanks for the replies.
|
|
|
Post by johnjsgems on May 9, 2011 20:17:01 GMT -5
I would have tried the 400/1000 instead of the 600 since at least part of the mix is a step back. Then the AO prepolish (probably 1000 or 1200 or "alumina" which nobody says what it is). Raybrite is a submicron AO so it should work.
|
|
jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
|
Post by jspencer on May 10, 2011 0:33:29 GMT -5
Yeah I didn`t really notice that I had picked up a mixed grade jar until I needed to use it. And I am still a newbie experimenting with a vibe after cutting my tumbling teeth with a rotary. With the flints and other common stones from around here you can use 220 and jump right to prepolish and get a mirror finish almost before final polish. But some in this load seemed to be a softer stone and did not slick out as I would have liked. I`m retired so I have nowhere to be and in no hurry to get there. So I have time for hobbies like this. It goes along well with fossil hunting which is another collection entirely. Our geology is from cretaceous period giving us lots of nice goodies from the Gulf of Mexico as it was over 60 million years ago. Flint is everywhere as well as fossils but you have to look close sometimes to recognize them as such.
|
|
drdrew
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2010
Posts: 85
|
Post by drdrew on May 10, 2011 9:37:00 GMT -5
did you start with rough material or with pre-tumbled? after a year of vibe only tumbling i can say that 4 days in the 220 doesn't sound like long enough if you started with rough....
|
|
jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
|
Post by jspencer on May 10, 2011 12:44:42 GMT -5
I started with roughs which is mostly agates in graded SC 220 for four days. They seem to be fairly slick after this step and remember it was in a HF vibe which is pretty aggressive. I have done some rotary before but this is my first vibe. I am on my way now to buy some allen wrenches to take the weight off of the motor and cut about 1/8" off of it as suggested in another post which was a thought that had entered my head before seeing the post. I have redesigned mine to actually hold together and feel comfortable walking away from it and know it will be fine. The rocks are slicked really well but haven`t totally cleaned them all to get ready for polish. One good thing about rocks is they can always be reran through the process with no harm done.
|
|
|
Post by rocklicker on May 10, 2011 14:18:49 GMT -5
I use Tripoli after 600 grit and found it a really good prepolish. I run it 4 days in a vibe, then go on to cerium. If you let tripoli run for a week in a vibe or two weeks in a rotary it comes out near what cerium will do. Best thing, it's inexpensive. Steve
|
|
jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
|
Post by jspencer on May 10, 2011 17:15:54 GMT -5
What is Tripoli? I have not seen it in media at the shop where I go. I was just there getting some ceramic pieces and didn`t see any and it didn`t cross my mind while I was there actually. Besides being new I`m scatter brained too. I blame it on getting older. lol I just ran a 15 min. burnish with Borax and am going to rinse and then polish and see how it goes. Like I said you can always backtrack. I`m curious to see the vibe results compared to my rotary batches.
|
|
charles kuchar
spending too much on rocks
getting ready for the second coming
Member since November 2010
Posts: 300
|
Post by charles kuchar on May 15, 2011 19:51:16 GMT -5
therockshed.com is where i get my tripoli. just finished three weeks with it in my 12# rotary. next time i do that, i will add twice as much tripoli next time. i think i used 4 tbsp this time. in my 4.5# vibe i use 1/2 tsp of tripoli after i run 2 days with ao1000. i an trying this batch now with waiting longer. i will do 3 days of 1000 and 2 days of tripoli and then three days or more with ao polish or 1/2 tsp tin oxide and 1/2 tsp of cerium oxide. most of the load is flourite with about 1/3 of the load opal and quartz. i usually have to add a few spritz of water each day. charlie
|
|
jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
|
Post by jspencer on May 17, 2011 23:11:00 GMT -5
I have one thing to say about using the Borax in polishing rocks. I friggin love it! I am not believing the finish I got after adding Borax to every grit including final polish. They look to have been turned into a plastic replica of the rocks. I tried taking pics that really showed the shine and I could not get any good shots that did them justice. But a few chosen few stones still would not take a shine. I`ll post pics of them and maybe you guys can advise me as to just what I need to polish these things. This particular stone just caught my eye after I had finished washing them all after removing from vibe. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on May 18, 2011 2:33:32 GMT -5
|
|