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Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 4, 2013 17:15:40 GMT -5
What is your opinion about using borax, Dreft, or Ivory soap in your vibratory tumbler? I exchanged some messages with Connrock a while back and got some great advice from him. He suggested using 1/2 tsp. of Dreft laundry soap in each stage. TNTMom uses borax and says that she prefers it over Dreft. Connrock thought it might have something to do with the difference in their water. I've been using Dreft and having good luck with it, but I'm going to try borax on my current batch of unakite to see if I notice a difference.
Do you use any of these additives? If so, which one and how much?
I'm also curious about burnishing after polishing. I've tried running stuff in Dreft or borax after polish, but I've never noticed a difference. I've only run them for 4-5 hours, so maybe that's not long enough.
Do you burnish after polish? If so, for how long? Do you notice a difference?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2013 17:17:31 GMT -5
and I used dawn dishwashing liquid.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 4, 2013 17:32:45 GMT -5
In the loto I use borax as an additive. Have never tried anything else since borax is cheap and easy for me to get. 2 tablespoons 120/220 NO borax. before clean out it gets a squirt of dawn dish soap and one loto cap full of water and run that for 10-20 minutes before emptying. 1/2 teaspoon 500 one tablespoon of borax. before clean out it gets a squirt of dawn dish soap and one loto cap full of water and run that for 10-20 minutes before emptying. 1/2 teaspoon 1000 one tablespoon of borax. before clean out it gets a squirt of dawn dish soap and one loto cap full of water and run that for 10-20 minutes before emptying. 1/2 teaspoon A/O polish and one tablespoon of borax. before clean out it gets a squirt of dawn dish soap and one loto cap full of water and run that for 10-20 minutes before emptying. final burnish I put in two tablespoons of borax for 3-5 hours and run it a little wetter then the rest of the steps.
Looking forward to seeing the variety of methods used. Chuck
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Post by 150FromFundy on Nov 4, 2013 17:41:32 GMT -5
I don't use soap, or any additives with grit, or polish.
I burnish with borax between all stages to clean the barrel/bowl and remove any residue from the rocks and ceramic media. I usually let the burnish run overnight.
Technically, the borax should do nothing to improve the quality of the tumble. It's simply a "no suds" detergent to help remove residue.
Darryl.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2013 17:42:38 GMT -5
yeah, when I ran my machine (two fully polished loads) I put soap in every stage. It made washing in between grits a snap.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Nov 4, 2013 17:54:31 GMT -5
I rarely use any in my loads,borax when I do.
snuffy
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Nov 4, 2013 19:02:41 GMT -5
I use borax and powdered detergent as a cleanup step between each of the late stages, i.e. as a rinse&wash b/n each step. I don't do a burnish step any more. I noticed the rocks seemed to be coming out of the (short) burnish stage actually less shiny, so I ran tests and proved to myself that the final burnish step was actually hurting my polish. So now I do a very short wash step at the end with rocks in water, detergent and a bit of borax. I wonder if others have actually tested if the burnish helps make their rocks shinier? I had one old timer tell me he wasn't sure it did anything, but everyone does it so he does too Not too appealing. What about you all?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 4, 2013 19:13:35 GMT -5
Mark- I don't think the final burnish helps me much (if any) for shine but I think a couple hours of just borax and water at the end helps to remove all the polish from any nooks and crannies to avoid white polish spots when all done.
Chuck
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
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Post by grizman on Nov 4, 2013 20:14:41 GMT -5
It's funny how so many actually different recipes there are that ALL work for that individual. I use borax + water as a "pre-wash" vibe stage in my Loto. I run it for 30-45 minutes I do this with the 500, 1,000, tripoli and polish stages. I tried copying others by reducing my grit from two tablespoons to one teaspoon of grit. It works for the tripoli and polish stage IF...I run my 220 & 500 for 3-4 days. This is much longer than most folks run a Loto stage, but it seems to work for ME. I do not use ceramics in my Loto, but I do in my Lortones. It's kind of the old adage of sticking with what works for you. The catch is to find out what DOES work for you, and not worry about if it is what others do.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 4, 2013 20:42:40 GMT -5
I'm not worried about if I'm doing it like everyone else, but I'm always trying to improve my method. I'm switching from Dreft to borax on a load of unakite, which is the rock I tumble more than any other. I'm hoping that if there is an obvious difference, I'll notice it. While I'm waiting for my results, I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone else has tried both and if they'd noticed a difference.
By the way, grizman, I use 2 tablespoons of 220 and then only 1/2 teaspoon of everything after that. You might be able to reduce your grit usage even more.
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Tom
fully equipped rock polisher
My dad Tom suddenly passed away yesterday, Just wanted his "rock" family to know.
Member since January 2013
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Post by Tom on Nov 4, 2013 21:49:01 GMT -5
Are you guys talking the UV10 or the UV4 when you say you only use 2 TBS of 220 and 1/2 teaspoon of the others
Thanks
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Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 4, 2013 22:00:56 GMT -5
Grizman, DrummondIslandRocks, and I all use Lot-O tumblers. I think they're about 4.5 lbs.
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Post by Peruano on Nov 5, 2013 7:58:19 GMT -5
If you think about it Dreft and Dawn should perform differently from Borax. I suspect the bubbles from Dawn actually cushion the movement a bit and both Dawn and Dreft help carry the grit around in the tumbler. Borax being no suds might lack that cushioning effect and may not be as good of a wetting agent as the other two. On the other hand its real advantage should be in removing surface contamination and improving that final shine. But hey, what do I know? Interesting variety of responses. Tom
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Tom
fully equipped rock polisher
My dad Tom suddenly passed away yesterday, Just wanted his "rock" family to know.
Member since January 2013
Posts: 1,557
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Post by Tom on Nov 5, 2013 8:29:39 GMT -5
Ah ok Loto's did not read closely enough, so I should basicly be just doubling the amount you use in my UV10, I have been using to much grit, you may be saving me money, thanks
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