fossiler
having dreams about rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 55
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Post by fossiler on Jul 14, 2012 8:18:03 GMT -5
I was just wondering where UK folk buy their grits? Alot of people in the US on here use rockshed. They sell a $15.00 'Grit Pack for Rotary Rock Tumblers: 1x 500g bag 60/90 1x 500g bag 120-220 1x 500 bag 500 1x 500 bag polish I bought my tumbler (with starter grit pack) from manchester minerals and their version: GRIT/POLISH PACK (BULK) 1x 1000g 80 1x 1000g 220 1x 1000g 400 1x 450g polish ok, so thats twice the amount on the coarse, med, fine, but 50g LESS on polish Cost........ £96/$149 (yes you did read that correctly) Why do we get ripped off in this country?! If i wanted to order one of those packs from rock shed it would cost $53 shipping (still cheaper than buying from uk) but the shipping is over 3x the item cost
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jul 14, 2012 9:47:01 GMT -5
ooh that is a bummer. sounds like you could start a successful grit import business there!
You might look for creative alternatives - like sand blasting media or something. In principle, if you could get 50/100/200 Sic grits cheaply they might do the trick?
There might be other outlets for media that are less expensive as well, but I don't know a lot about SiC.
Aluminum Oxide is what I use for prepolish and polish - I don't know about less expensive alternatives there or not but there might be similar alternate sources that are cheaper?
I hope you can find something that is cheaper, that is very cost-constraining.
One other thing, if you get a vibe for everything from 120/220 on through polish you can use a lot less grit which offers a savings.
Good luck fossiler.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Jul 14, 2012 21:21:45 GMT -5
SiC grit is SiC grit, no matter where obtained, the size of the grit is what counts. We get ours here from industrial suppliers, generally originally intended for sandblasting purposes; much cheaper than any rock shop in this area. We use tripoli for polish [lots of people will go ARRGH here] but we get very good critiques from people with years more experience than we have. Tripoli powder is used by glass polishers. We pad the 220 run with ~1/4" squares of truck innertube [about 20% of the load], pad polish with airsoft BB's and leather scraps, and pad our post polish soap burnish run with leather scraps. We go from 220 to polish, 2 weeks each run. Hopefully you will get something positive from this. Larry
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fossiler
having dreams about rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 55
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Post by fossiler on Jul 17, 2012 6:01:35 GMT -5
ok thanks everyone, I'll have a look into alternative grit sources, i'll have to buy some coarse from their for now though as I have a batch on the go that will need recharging soon
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 17, 2012 11:15:57 GMT -5
Can't help with where but suggest you buy in larger quantities. You are quoting basically one and two lb. containers. Price per lb. drops with quantity. for instance, Covington sells 80 grit for $4.15 per lb, $3.73 per lb in 5 lbs, and $2.70 per lb in 50 lbs. If you can buy in 5 or 10 lbs. sizes you will save a lot. Try searching for abrasives. As mentioned they are used commercially although commercial sources may be in 50 lb. quantities.
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shermlock
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2011
Posts: 612
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Post by shermlock on Jul 17, 2012 12:08:33 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2012 9:32:04 GMT -5
Greetings "Fossiler", firstly may i welcome you to RTH as the 1st from this side of the pond, secondary it depends on how much grit you want. For amounts less than 5kg UKGE Ltd is probally the best on price, but for amounts of 25kg or more Noble Abrasives Ltd are hard to beat on price, both are in Vendors Worldwide sticky below. UK polish is Cerium oxide, US polish is Aluminum oxide. -- I hail from (The Barony of Seabegs) Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, U.K, where aliens (15mb) sometimes come for a visit & about 4 miles west from this monstrosity! Sticky's: their contents are resource information 1#: Vendors worldwide (2mb), 2#: How to use the forum, 3#: How to identify rocks & minerals, 4#: Save money on expensive grits & polishes!
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mp166
starting to shine!
Member since March 2011
Posts: 30
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Post by mp166 on Jul 24, 2012 5:11:41 GMT -5
Hi also from UK.
I've found mineralcraft (also in suppliers list) quite good for smaller quantities, although not compared prices for a year or so, and can reccomend there quick service.
MP
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fossiler
having dreams about rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 55
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Post by fossiler on Jul 26, 2012 5:51:52 GMT -5
oops, sorry was moving house (again) thanks for the replies, i'll have a look into the abrasive companies & mineralcraft . hopefully i'll be up and again tumbling soon!
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joyb
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2018
Posts: 9
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Post by joyb on Oct 16, 2018 20:02:01 GMT -5
Can't help with where but suggest you buy in larger quantities. You are quoting basically one and two lb. containers. Price per lb. drops with quantity. for instance, Covington sells 80 grit for $4.15 per lb, $3.73 per lb in 5 lbs, and $2.70 per lb in 50 lbs. If you can buy in 5 or 10 lbs. sizes you will save a lot. Try searching for abrasives. As mentioned they are used commercially although commercial sources may be in 50 lb. quantities. I Googled "covington + abrasives" & came across Covington Engineering. The prices are much cheaper than others I've been looking at. How do their Covington polishes that say they are "98% pure levigated alumina polish powder" compare to the AO polish? I also thought about trying their $25.25 "Tumbler Grit and Polish Kit" which includes: 1 lb. 60/90g, 1 lb. 120/220g, 1 lb. 3F/400g, 1 lb. Tumbler Polish, & 12 oz. Old Miser. Can you advise? Ever tried any of this?
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