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Post by phil on Feb 27, 2013 14:26:23 GMT -5
Hi. I just scored a lortone tumbler that has 3 - 1.5 pound tubs. (At least I think they're 1.5 lb - they're small!) I pretty much know the stages to go thru, let each run a week or so till visual inspection says time to move on, but I need advice on how full do I fill them? How much grit per stage do I use? and How much water?
Thanks! Phil
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Feb 27, 2013 16:22:59 GMT -5
Hi Phil!
I have a 3-1.5 Lortone myself, but I usually use it with two 3lb barrels. First, throw away any tumbling instructions you may have received with the tumbler. Instead, follow the rotary tumbler instructions given in one of the first threads in this forum. You'll need to adjust the amount of grit proportionally for your 1.5lb barrels.
The biggest mistake I made when I started tumbling was to not use enough small and medium filler. The rough you're going to polish is usually just the largest size in the mix, you'll need to add medium and small stuff to the load. The easiest way to start out is probably to just bite the bullet and get some ceramic filler - the larger and the smaller size. Otherwise you can use small and medium size rock of a similar hardness as the stuff you're tumbling, if you have it or can find it, but that's easier said than done when you're just starting out. Fill it 2/3 to 3/4 full of the mix of sizes, and then fill it with water up to the bottom/middle of the top layer of rock.
The next biggest mistake most newbies make is to believe the manufacturer's instructions that the 60/90 stage would only take 7 to 10 days. Nope. The smaller diameter 1.5 and 3 pound barrels grind significantly slower than the larger diameter barrels, and those are not even the correct instructions for the larger barrels. You run it 10 to 14 days or until you don't feel any more grit in the barrel. If the rock is already fairly rounded, like from the beach, you might be able to go on to the 120/220 then, otherwise...
You keep repeating the 60/90 stage until the rocks are the shape you're satisfied with. That might take several runs of the 60/90 stage. Many of us keep agates and jasper in a sequence of repeating 60/90 stages for as much as 3 months or more. They are that hard, it takes that long. You're biggest disappointment is going to be when you try moving your rock from one stage to the next before they are ready.
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