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Post by mohs on Dec 2, 2012 14:39:13 GMT -5
thanks js I'm happy to report the tumbler at Full Tilt Boogie Barrell !!and got great swishing sound going on! I been trying to tumble a load of rocks for a couple year 3 different tumblers and nothing but grief so I'll probably not going to get to particular about this load just be happy to get through all the stages stay tunE
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Post by mohs on Dec 5, 2012 12:40:23 GMT -5
Hey guys I opened my barrel in the Phase 2 grind they been rolling for about 70 hours I'm pretty happy with what I'm seeing
although, I'm sure, I rushed the course grind on quite a few of them o well they can always tumble again
I thought I'd add some sugar to the barbell so I went to buy some this morning of course, I bought powdered sugar :drool: that's probably more appropriate for a fine grind ? anyway the rocks a rolling and they are sweet!
mostly
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Dec 5, 2012 13:14:38 GMT -5
What is the sugar for? Never heard of adding it to rocks.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 5, 2012 13:58:53 GMT -5
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Post by mohs on Dec 5, 2012 15:29:24 GMT -5
not sure where I got the sugar habit :drool: hopefully though, the baking soda will counter-react any sweet KA-BOOM reaction i'll probably end up with pudding stones wish me luck Ed
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Post by mohs on Dec 9, 2012 11:04:50 GMT -5
Howdy Guys I just emptied my tilted barrel and am ready for Phase 3 roll
for polishing I'm going to use my Harbor Freight barrel that a pretty small rubber barrel pictures to follow but the barrel is 3/4 filled with smooth rocks now
question
is it O.K. to use ceramic media as filler ? or would plastic be better? Or do I need to use anything?
Thanks EdRoll
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Dora
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2012
Posts: 252
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Post by Dora on Dec 9, 2012 19:26:53 GMT -5
Hi Ed, glad everything is running great! ;D
Ok, here is what I think, if you are already going for stage 3 and all of your rocks did well on stage 2 perhaps you have hard rocks and don’t have a need for tumbling media at the moment. Perhaps you will need it later as your rocks get smaller to keep the barrel at ¾ full, if you don’t have anything else to fill it with. It all depends on the hardness of the rocks and how important are these rocks to you. If they are mixed types of rocks it could be a good idea to use some media to protect the softer rocks.
I have both ceramic media and plastic media but hardly use the plastic media because they are hard to get off the barrel and need to be separated by grit stage if I want to reuse them. I don't get that problem with the ceramic pellets. At times, when I don’t have enough ceramic pellets I add plastic media as well and get the job done, so plastic media is cheap and useful to have handy.
When ceramic media is new it could have sharper edges, so they should be tumbled for a couple of days before using them. I usually start using them at the first stage with brittle or softer rocks, all the way to the end. With harder stones I use ceramic pellets just to fill and replace the material that is lost, as needed. Good luck and I’m looking forward to see your pictures!
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Post by mohs on Dec 9, 2012 20:28:15 GMT -5
Informative ! Thanks! I went with plastic pellets I have ceramic media and they have been tumbled But I figured the plastic was a safer bet. I probably didn't need anything. But couldn't get a quick enough answer Had to roll ! Ha Ha The rocks are pretty much all the same mohs. 7 or more. I'm using small barrel for the polish Here's the pic from the Phase 2 this morning The ones in the front were good enough for the Phase 3 grind I use about 1/2 of those. O about 1lb. Question I used 1 tablespoon of Thumler pre-polish, Is that enough? More or less...mostly ?
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Dora
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2012
Posts: 252
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Post by Dora on Dec 10, 2012 0:28:02 GMT -5
It sounds good to me, I also use one tablespoon of grit per pound of rock and works very well for me. Now the important thing: so far your rocks are looking very good!
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Post by mohs on Dec 10, 2012 9:24:15 GMT -5
Thanks Dora your pretty new around these tumbling parts at least-- on RTH Welcome This is my refurbished H.F. Tumbler it rolls straight surprising--being that I re-worked it Ha Ha I use it for polishing at least that my intention if I can finish this batch only 80 more hours to go question will 40 hours be sufficient time for a Phase 3 grind?
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Post by mohs on Dec 13, 2012 20:20:50 GMT -5
I'm having a rain delay the Phase 3 as tumbled since Sunday I figure about 50 hours
anyone think this is long enough?
Plus, any advice on testing the rocks to see if there ready for Phase 4 final polish? mucho gracias
Ed
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Dec 13, 2012 23:14:01 GMT -5
Ed, I have the same tumbler and replaced the motor with a good one years ago. That`s how I know that those are 3 lb. barrels. So if you have one packed pretty full I would add 2 more tablespoons to the mix plus a half tablespoon of Borax.
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Post by mohs on Dec 13, 2012 23:37:00 GMT -5
Thanks js !
I do have that barrel pretty full with about 5/% plastic pellets
So all that happening, mostly is the slurry is swishing through the rocks very little rock movement
The H.F. barrels rpm is run pretty fast I figure that's good in polishing stage ?
I may not have time to check them in the morning but figured I'd clean out the slurry and re-do it with fresh water & pre- polish
or is that waste? Is better just to add more pre-polish to the mix?
Borax is something I haven't bought yet it was bit pricey at the store I went to.
I'm pretty stoked though it look like I'm going to complete a batch of tumbled stones.
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Dora
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2012
Posts: 252
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Post by Dora on Dec 14, 2012 4:42:15 GMT -5
Thanks for your welcome Ed! And yes, pretty new around here, and still in the adjustment period. I usually get some free time late at night and miss a lot of things, but I hope I’m still on time to share some tips with you. By the way, I see you have a HF tumbler, I also have one of them and had a very good experience with it. Ok, let’s see if I could help a bit: Time: About the question of the time in stage 3, yes, they could actually be ready in less than a week if everything went great in the previous stages, but you need to check and observe them well to make sure they are ready. I usually leave them for a whole week and at times even 2 weeks if necessary. I consider the pre-polish stage as an important stage for a good polish, so I look hard for imperfections with a loupe before going for the polish stage. How to know when to move on the next stage: A good way to know if your batch is ready for the next stage(s) is to take out the rocks, wash them, let them dry and check all of them for small holes, cracks or other imperfections. Remove the ones with the obvious imperfections to be redone later and the ones with similar small grit surface marks (normal for the stage) will go on for the next stage. A good magnifying glass or a 10x loupe is great to observe the marks/scratches every time a stage load is done. At the end of any stage most of the rocks will have a similar size surface pattern, while some of them could still have larger marks from the previous, those are the ones to remove to be re-done at a later time. A little tricky to explain, but once you start to look at them with some type of magnification you’ll get it very fast. Redo: When most of my rocks have imperfections (happens to me frequently) I just redo the whole stage again and only add more grit because I already have good slurry going on. I only add half of the grit that I previously used and so far that has worked well for me. Many times I use a Dremel to fix difficult imperfections, and then continue to tumble them. Readiness -Stage 4 Test: The only way I currently use to test my rocks to see if they are ready for stage 4 is to observe them with a loupe for surface and grain consistency, and then I just wet one of them to see the difference. If I have any reasonable doubt I just give them more tumbling time to be sure. Now, another way (haven’t tried it) is to take a piece of leather, moisten it and spread some of your polish on it. You meticulously rub one of your stones on it for a couple of minutes and then observe if the stone looks the same dry or wet, if it does then you go to the next stage. There might be other ways as well. Have to go now, looking forward to see the grand finale!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 14, 2012 11:22:57 GMT -5
Ed, if you thought it was pricey, you're shopping at the wrong stores!! You can pick up a 4 lb box of 20 Mule Team Borax at either Walmart or Smart and Final for less than $4. It is sold as a "detergent booster" so you can find it in the laundry soap section. Jean
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Post by mohs on Dec 14, 2012 12:03:04 GMT -5
Hi Jean 20 Mule Team Stronger than Dirt ! Well I think that was the price so I guess it not a bad price and I can use it for my laundry I thought, I'd use Awesome powder but the chemistry wasn't quite the same as Borax I have Awesome I got hung up on the price because I'll use such a little in tumbling although this tumbling is going so well it may become a habit
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Post by mohs on Dec 14, 2012 12:07:44 GMT -5
Hi Dora
I like this idea!! I have my ol'sharpening strop & am always lapping rocks against leather with varying success haven't tried tumbled stone tho
Thanks
Ed
the weekend is coming on ! the work week is the bane of the rock grinder
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Dec 14, 2012 12:48:56 GMT -5
I had the Borax left over from that fleeting moment when my wife thought she wanted to use cloth diapers on our daughter years ago. Pampers won out on that fight. It is a laundry booster added to your soap to give more cleaning power with slight abrasiveness. I add it to every load no matter if it`s in the rotary or vibe. When I`m finished polishing I pour the liquid from the barrel and add warm water and Borax back in to run for a day in the rotary or a half hour in the vibe with rocks covered completely. The last thing though is to not just take them out and allow to dry at all until you have water ready to clean well. If they dry at all with polish stuck in cracks it is there forever or until you run them back through the grind. And I never pour out old grit to recharge with the same grit, just add to it. Best of luck Ed! ;D
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Post by mohs on Dec 14, 2012 15:22:39 GMT -5
right on js I opened that barrel this morn I had no time to inspect the rocks just added more pre-polish but I was surprised by the color of the slurry black gold ! Phase 1 grind was coffee color heavy cream gotta roll stedmo
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Post by mohs on Dec 16, 2012 13:40:59 GMT -5
Ed, I have the same tumbler and replaced the motor with a good one years ago. That`s how I know that those are 3 lb. barrels. So if you have one packed pretty full I would add 2 more tablespoons to the mix plus a half tablespoon of Borax. Howdy js I re-furbished the pulleys on this tumbler to take a round super duper belt as we all know the original belts kept breaking and then I had the pulley burn up the plastic so I think I got a good fix at least enough to get a load of polishing done I'd be interested in motors replacements any source? The rain delay over I been rolling it in the room but its loud so during sleep time I'd wake up every few hours and turn it on so the grit wouldn't stick lots of baby sitting going on in tumbling I suppose, it due to inexperience am I correct that this is a good tumbler for polishing small loads? thanks Ed
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