dannyboy6
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by dannyboy6 on Oct 3, 2012 17:28:54 GMT -5
I recently found myself soaking up the sun whilst laid on the beach on the Greek Island of Corfu. I get quite bored sunbathing and soon found myself admiring the pretty rocks that the sea kept washing up to the edge of my sunbed. Before I knew it I was collecting what I considered the prettiest ones and placing them in a small bag. I knew about rock tumbling but had never tried it out so I thought collecting these rocks and bringing them home would give me the perfect excuse to start a new hobby.
I brought home about 1.5Kg of rocks and as soon as I could I went online and bought a tumbling beginners kit. I've been reading various websites which explain that you should place rocks of a similar hardness into your tumbler. Unfortunately I dont know the hardness off all these beach rocks, I'm just assuming that if the sea has been tumbling them for 100's of years then they are suitable for my beginners tumbler.
I've followed the instructions that came with my machine exactly but some websites contradict these instructions. Firstly during the course grinding stage some websites say leave it running for 7 days non stop but my instructions say check on the rocks every day and stop the grinding when they are rounded enough to start stage 2. Does anyone have any advice on which is correct?
Secondly, is it essential to have a second barrel for the polishing stage? I've only got a beginners kit with one barrel. Is no amount of washing this barrel out then make it ok to use for polishing?
I notice you can buy small plastic beads to place in the barrel for the polishing stage. Whats the purpose of these? and are they necessary?
Any more help or advice would be appreciated.
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blessed
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 329
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Post by blessed on Oct 3, 2012 20:00:20 GMT -5
First, welcome to this hobby and this forum. Second, I think my instructions said about the same thing as yours. This is what I do and that don't make it right.Istart out and run for 3 days, check for gas build up and how things are going. Then run anouther 4 days. You may have to repeat this several times. I have some that has been runing for about 8 weeks in course, changing grit and washing each week. Don't expect perfection in 7 days. The second barrel is good to have. James
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 3, 2012 20:08:41 GMT -5
What is the brand of tumbler you bought? From what I've read, the toy tumblers are garbage and don't last very long at all. You should get a name brand like a Lortone or Thumlers if you really want to tumble some rocks. I have a Lortone, and I like it.
The first stage can last for weeks or months. I change my grit once a week. Most things I've read say 7-10 days. Harder, rougher rocks take a long time. I try to get them as smooth as possible during the first stage so that no grit gets stuck in the holes and is carried over to other stages. Checking every day is not necessary. Most of my rocks take many weeks to get through the first stage, except beach rocks. Beach rocks are usually pretty well rounded and somewhat smooth. The rocks I pick up on Lake Superior are very smooth and can many times get through stage one in a week.
You don't need a different barrel for each stage. It is a good idea to have a dedicated polish barrel, but I'm sure it's not necessary.
The plastic beads or pellets are to cushion certain types of rocks. You need to have different pellets for each stage because they will carry grit to the next stage. You can also use ceramic pellets which can be moved from stage to stage. There are some other differences between the two, but it's probably not very important to a beginner.
As for different rock hardnesses, you can do scratch tests to determine relative hardness. The soft rocks will suffer if mixed with harder rocks. When I pick up beach stones, I sometimes separate rocks by type, but sometimes I just put them all in together and I've had pretty good luck with that.
Rob
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Post by susand24224 on Oct 3, 2012 21:21:14 GMT -5
Several comments:
First, please remember that the instructions that came with your tumbler are general only. They can't be anything else, since the instructions can't see your rocks, and each type of rock tumbles differently.
Next, how long you tumble depends upon you. The first stage is the primary shaping stage. If you want rounded rocks and they are already round (such as many beach rocks), then you only need to tumble until the crevices and irregularities are gone. If they are not already round, tumble until they reach the degree of "roundness" that you want. Some people like them more "natural," some like them really round. This is a personal choice.
Each rock is different. The hard rocks don't need to be checked every day, I don't even check mine until after ten days. If they are softer, then a check after 3-4 days may be in order. Get yourself some quartz, and if the sharp edge of the quartz scratches your rock, then check every few days. If not, you can let it go easily seven days.
All of your rocks will not be finished each stage at the same time, so check at the end of whatever period you are using and take out the ones you are happy with. Fill the barrel back to at *least* one half, preferably about five eighths full, and start it again. Put the finished ones to the side until you have enough finished ones that you can go to the next stage.
The rough grind stage can take from days (soft rocks) to months (hard, jagged ones). Be patient.
The next grinds are easier--is the rock smoothing off evenly? If so, move on, if not run it again.
It is not necessary to have a separate polish bowl. It just makes clean up easier. At the end of your 500 or 1000 grit stage (whatever grit you are using last before polish), run the rocks for a day or so with some soap. Not stuff that foams a lot, something like a little bit of shavings from Ivory Soap or Dreft laundry detergent. This helps clean the crevices, and check it over really carefully. I tumbled rocks for years without having a second barrel for polish. Every now and then I wasn't careful enough and the rocks didn't polish, but it was maybe one batch in then, so I just went back to the last grit, ran it again, and then repolished. No harm done, just two extra weeks.
Plastic beads can go into the barrel at any stage. They are good to cushion the rocks, if you are tumbling "brittle" rocks. Quartz and obsidian are brittle, as is amethyst and its other-colored cousins. Agates and most jaspers are not. I personally detest the little buggers and use ceramics instead. Again, this is a matter of choice. With plastic pellets, sometimes the grit "embeds" in the pellet, so you cannot use the pellet in more than one grit size. This is not a problem with ceramics; they can go through the entire tumbling process together with your rocks. .
I hope this helps.
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dannyboy6
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by dannyboy6 on Oct 4, 2012 12:20:17 GMT -5
Thanks guys for taking the time to read my post and share all your knowledge with me, its much appreciated.
Firstly Rob, my tumbler isn't a toy. Its manufactured by a company in the Uk called Beach Lapidary (not sure if they are an international name so unsure if you guys in the US will have heard of them) What I am sure of is that its a small and probably and entry range tumbler able to hold about 1.5lbs. The good thing is that it comes with a 5 year guarantee so it must be quite reliable.
Anyhow my first load of rocks have been tumbling for 24 hours now and things seem fine, running very smoothly and making quite a calming noise (even though my partner thinks its annoying). Im going to leave them for 4 or 5 days before I check on their progress. I'm also going to invest in a second barrel for polishing, as it seems a shame to tumble for weeks only to miss a tiny bit of grit during cleaning and the polishing stage re ruined.
In the mean time it'd be great to hear any more advice, tips or tricks other tumblers out there have to share.
Regards
Danny
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 4, 2012 16:56:10 GMT -5
Good, I'm glad you didn't buy a toy. If it has a five year warranty, it must be good. And with a name like "Beach" lapidary, it will probably work well on your beach rocks!
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Oct 4, 2012 17:18:21 GMT -5
You can go here for info on tumbling rocks.. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=tottumb&action=display&thread=36488 I have read it and use many of the tips within to help me along. I don't use a dedicated drum for polishing, yet, and have had no trouble... cleaning the barrel is not hard and if you use plastic pellets you will have more of an issue with grit than if you use ceramic.... i use some shaved Ivory soap, not sure if you have it there or not, and run that for 2 hours prior to emptying my drums and again, no issues so far. I only use plastic pellets on the polish cycle, ceramic for everything else. Also www.therockshed.com another great place for supplies here in the US, again, not sure what you have locally but this place is great!! If nothing else check it out they have basic tumbling info also that you can access through the website to help you tumble better!! Cheers and welcome to the asylum!!!!!
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dannyboy6
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by dannyboy6 on Oct 5, 2012 18:02:49 GMT -5
I got impatient and after 48 hours tumbling I decided to check on the progress of my rocks. I got home from work and thought the noise the rocks were making in the machine had changed and through fear of thinking my rocks would be grinding down to nothing I just had to look at them. As you can guess, there was hardly any change so with my mind at rest I'm going to leave them for at least a week before looking again. Oh I did rinse them and put fresh grit in there.
I'm getting new ideas all the time, it seems everybody has different results using different methods. I'm just going to do what I think seems right. At the end of the day if it doesn't work its only a few pebbles I collectd from a beach. I've never heard of Ivory soap in th UK, I think tumblers over here use laundry washing powder so I'm going to use that before the polishing stage. I dont think I need to use plastic beads as I only have a small tumbler so the rocks don't bash against each other too much. I think thats why I'm going to like this hobby, its all to do with trial and error.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2012 0:23:57 GMT -5
Greetings Danny, firstly may i welcome you to RTH from this side of the pond! Both Beach Lapidary Ltd, Evan's Lapidary Machines the two UK tumbler manufacturers are virtually unknown outside the British Isles, yet their tumblers do work in all countries that use either 220v - 270v 50hz simply by changing the plug or using an adaptor. For burnishing you can get 0.5kg pack of Borax (rock soap) from your local chemist, it may need to be ordered, but your chemist should be able to get it within a day or so. I ordered 2x 0.5kg packs of Borax (rock soap) for £1.50 each in 2009 & i still have around 75g of the first pack left or you can use powered Bold or Ariel! I Burnish Before i start to grind for 16 - 24 hours, then before and after each major stage, normally it's F80, F220, F400, F600 then polish, but lately it's F80 for about a month, F600 then polish reused. You don't need other barrels, but helps reduce cross contamination if you don't burnish. Beach empty. Beach 1x plastic 3lb. Beach 2x plastic 1.5lb. Beach + Evans 3lb rubber. 3lb Beach tumbler with 6lb Lortone barrel tumbling rock (very quiet). Please check my Sticky's below. -- 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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dannyboy6
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by dannyboy6 on Oct 21, 2012 7:01:39 GMT -5
Hey, its also nice to hear from someone in the UK. Thanks for your advice.
I've had the pebbles from the beach in Corfu tumbling for about 3 weeks now. I did 12 days with the 80 grit, 5 days with the 220 grit and so far 2 days with 400 grit. They're looking great and can't wait to get onto the polish stage. Am gunna keep things simple and run the stones with a washing powder before I start polishing.
Once these stones are finished I'd like to start tumbling some stones that are really attractive like tiger eye or something else that is just as good looking. As you know I only have a small beach tumbler therefore I can't tumble any stones over about 1.5" I've searched and searched websites in the the for small stones to tumble but they all seem to sell them too big for what I can use. Dont suppose you know where I can obtain suitable sized stones and also stones that you've had good successes with?
Cheers Danny
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2012 2:07:45 GMT -5
Greetings Danny, most UK vendors sell mixed crushed rock for tumbling, however i think that the packs are crap as they contain mixed hardnesses from Moh's 3.0 - 7.5 some times within the same stone. If you order from Mineral Craft North you need to specify that you want crushed rock for tumbling on a 1.5lb, 3lb, 6lb tumbler or whatever, before you place an order. Creetown Museum (SW Scotland) & i think Rock shop of Cromer (Norfork) are both Non Vat Registered so the price you see is what you pay plus postage on top. The rest are Vat Registered so you pay for everything including postage with 20% on top, you can ask these vendors to treat your invoice as a consumer contract (end users) rather than their standard business terms & conditions. All prices are inclusive of Vat, it also gives you access to The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 & their standard business terms & conditions become null & void! An excellent beginners rock to polish is Blue Lace Agate (Moh's 6.5) gives a brilliant shine with either Aluminum Oxide or Tin Oxide. My first tumblePersonally i have never used the radioactive Cerium Oxide on the Alpha wavelength in my tumblers, but i have used it at SMLC for cabbing just 1 cabochon. -- 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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dannyboy6
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by dannyboy6 on Nov 4, 2012 20:05:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the info on the various retailers mate, I'll look into them and see what they've got and I'll definitely try the blue lace agate.
My first load of pebbles from the beach in Corfu are now done and they look fabulous. Some are better than others but with random stones from a beach this is to be expected. Some of the pebbles haven't even polished which are obviously softer than the ones that have polished up very well.
I've just started my second batch of pebbles and I think I'm going to give them longer with the 80 grit as the first lot of stones, some have a few little holes or cracks in them. Its all about learning from my mistakes and although I'm very pleased with my first results there is room for improvement. I've certainly got better results for my first time than some other people on here from what I've read.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2012 1:21:56 GMT -5
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