kaldorlon
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2013
Posts: 413
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Post by kaldorlon on Jan 23, 2014 16:18:33 GMT -5
Since I finally rec'd the Loritone Qt6 tumbler, ran a batch for a week at 60/90 charging a few times then did 2 days in vibe for next stage...was mostly misc rock that came from the guy who had the tumbler...
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jan 23, 2014 17:17:08 GMT -5
Hi John
If you ran it a week and charged it a few times I think you may have misunderstood something.
My coarse tumble (the first stage) usually runs 7-14 days - I shoot for 10 unless I need to leave town or something else is going to affect my schedule. During that time I don't touch the barrel unless it is glass or obsidian as they can be gassy and then I just crack open the lid to "burp" the barrel - but otherwise I leave it alone. If you are adding grit during this 7-14 days you are probably just wasting it when you clean everything at the end as it won't have a chance to break all the way down.
After the 10 days, I rinse everything completely and if any rock looks completely smoothed off (no pits, no cracks, just one nice smooth surface) I put it right back in the barrel for another coarse grind.
Any rocks that are completely smooth I set aside for my vibe, and when I have enough accumulated I start the vibe up again. I can't see all the detail of all those rocks in your pic, but it looks like they all need one or 2 (or more) full cycles in coarse before moving to a finer grit.
I hope this helps, don't be discouraged as it took me a few tries to get it right. This just takes time and fiddling to get your mixes right for your setup.
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kaldorlon
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2013
Posts: 413
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Post by kaldorlon on Jan 23, 2014 17:22:25 GMT -5
Only a couple of these are nicer rocks...this was more experimental with this batch, started another in the Lortone and will let it run a week before I check it (and this one has some better material in it too).
Some of the shape of these rocks will never get "rounded" and leave much of anything to see...so this was more of a "keep the shape" kind of experiment.
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Post by pghram on Jan 24, 2014 9:43:16 GMT -5
By experimenting you will find a process that works for you. Once you do, you can always re-run some of theses if you think they can be improved.
Rich
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blessed
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 329
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Post by blessed on Jan 24, 2014 12:29:55 GMT -5
Howdy John, I agree with John from Co. Those are better rocks than I find here in Ok. Good luck. Oh, Rich is right too, re-run. I do.
James
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kaldorlon
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2013
Posts: 413
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Post by kaldorlon on Jan 24, 2014 13:06:51 GMT -5
Howdy John, I agree with John from Co. Those are better rocks than I find here in Ok. Good luck. Oh, Rich is right too, re-run. I do. James
I wish those were local rocks..lol. East TN doesn't have much...
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jan 24, 2014 14:24:21 GMT -5
I bet you can get your hands on some quartz chunks around there, they will tumble. you might be surprised at what you'd find in creeks and on hillsides. I grew up in GA and spent a fair amount of time in North GA and TN (although admittedly I was not in the Eastern part much) - I recall the red clay and an abundance of quart, some of it a nice rose quartz, being around..
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kaldorlon
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2013
Posts: 413
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Post by kaldorlon on Jan 24, 2014 16:45:37 GMT -5
Am in Chattanooga and JamesP and Kap help point me in the right direction for some mats...
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