lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on Mar 5, 2013 13:58:10 GMT -5
Hello again, As I approach the final polish stage of my first batch of tumbled beach stones, i'm looking for advice on what kinds of polishing/cushioning media people seem to be having success with. I know it is at least partially dependant on the type of material you're trying to polish (for me it'll be assorted, beach-smoothed jaspers, along with other misc stones. I have spent a little more than i should have this month on rock tumbling supplies so am looking for a cost effective (yet still effective) method of polishing the stones. I read that cut up rubber bands could work, wondering also about cut up strips of denim? or perhaps marbles (which i've been using as filler during the fine and pre-polish stages). what about using some ivory soap in the polish stage to help keep increase the viscosity of the slurry? any tips anyone has would be greatly appreciated. If i absolutely have to buy the ceramic media cylinders or the plastic beads i will, but i thought i'd see if anyone had any cheaper improvised solutions to getting a good polish?
Thanks in advance!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 5, 2013 14:12:47 GMT -5
Are you using a rotary or vibe tumbler?
I can't help too much with the different types of cushioning media but when I first started with a rotary tumbler I used plastic pellets that were sold at a craft store as stuffed animal filling. They worked ok but I hated dealing with them at clean out time. I am using a vibe tumbler now and every load I do gets at least 20 percent filled with mixed size ceramics. stones that tend to have edge frosting I go all the way to 50/50 ceramic and rock.
As far as polish I do not think you will ever be disappointed with the A/O sold at rockshed. best bang for your buck in my opinion and seems to work great on 95 percent of the rocks out there.
chuck
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on Mar 5, 2013 15:00:35 GMT -5
sorry forgot to mention that i'm using the tumlers ar-2 (duel 3lbs barrels) rotary tumbler. thanks for the advice chuck. I had read elsewhere that the ceramic cylinders seem to work well for most people, however i wasn't able to find any on amazon (which is tend to use b/c i get fast shipping). I will probably end up buying some of that later on but for the time being i was wondering what i could use in lieu of the ceramic or plastic media. I read that things like shredded corn cobb, cornmeal, and cut up rubber bands have worked in the past for people but am looking for advice from people who have actually used some of these materials. it seems like during the final polish stage the most important thing is cushioning against hard impacts so this is where the questions about denim and or using ivory soap in the polish stage to help lessen the impacts. will the stones still polish if there is ivory soap in the polish stage? or is that only for burnishing?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 5, 2013 15:44:55 GMT -5
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Post by susand24224 on Mar 5, 2013 16:15:00 GMT -5
Since you're looking for ways to save money, let's start out with whether you need cushioning. If your beach rocks are Mohs 7 (unless quartz), you may not. When using only a rotary, I only used ceramics for soft and/or brittle stones. If you are only looking for filler, pick up a bag of tiny rocks from the dollar store for putting on top of flower pots. Most of these are quartz. Also, there are several ways to lessen the "shock" value--one is cushioning like ceramics and small rocks, one is slowing down the tumbler, and the final one that I know about) is adding some shavings of Ivory Soap or a bit of a mild laundry detergent.
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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 Mar 5, 2013 18:30:49 GMT -5
If you are only going to use the ceramic media in the 500 grit and polish stages, it will be re-usable for a very many loads, and is therefore not really as expensive as it might seem when you buy it.
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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 Mar 5, 2013 22:12:00 GMT -5
We have good cushioning result with pieces of leather cut into about 1" pieces, for a smaller tumbler maybe a little smaller would work better. A friend uses rubber bands, likes them. The mtl. is kept seperate for each stage of the process, not reused from stage to stage. We cushion from 220 thru soap burnish.
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riverbendlapidary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,058
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Post by riverbendlapidary on Mar 5, 2013 22:20:29 GMT -5
leather works great in rotary tumblers. check ebay or if you have a local saddle shop. get the thinner kind, it is easier to cut up.
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Post by Noosh9057 on Mar 6, 2013 6:29:52 GMT -5
I did not see that thay sell 60/90 grit. Roger
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,772
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Post by Mark K on Mar 6, 2013 11:52:32 GMT -5
I became disgusted with the price of ceramic, so I went to the spot on the river where they routed the river through the old dump and picked up all kinds of chunks of broken toilet and mugs. I cut them up on the saw and it worked quite well and was free. It cut very easy.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Mar 6, 2013 14:01:50 GMT -5
I became disgusted with the price of ceramic, so I went to the spot on the river where they routed the river through the old dump and picked up all kinds of chunks of broken toilet and mugs. I cut them up on the saw and it worked quite well and was free. It cut very easy. I had in mind to try that myself. Now that I know it works I'll do it. Always looking to save a dime
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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 Mar 6, 2013 22:42:47 GMT -5
We get our leather at garage sales, belts, purses, project scraps, any that is cheap. For us, getting ceramics, etc. is a 70 mile round trip or pay shipping, and the leather works great in our rotaries. A razor knife cuts well.
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 7, 2013 9:38:25 GMT -5
You won't find any mix grade grit on my site. My wholesale supplier only carries graded grit so that is what I stock. Priced pretty competitively though. So is the ceramics.
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on Mar 21, 2013 16:01:41 GMT -5
Thanks for all the great info and advice everyone! just wanted to post a couple mediocre pics of my very first tumble! They came out better than I could have hoped for and I can't wait to polish the next batch I have running (of larger stones). Check it out. Also if anyone can ID the stones for me that would be awesome. Attachments:
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on Mar 21, 2013 16:07:39 GMT -5
not sure how to post multiple photos in one post to sorry for the multiple posts Attachments:
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on Mar 21, 2013 16:09:42 GMT -5
Attachments:
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