jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Feb 5, 2014 19:21:19 GMT -5
Just curious if any one gets a higher polish.
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Post by Starguy on Feb 5, 2014 19:27:22 GMT -5
I've tumbled longer than 7 days, but the grit wears down, then you don't need to use the next finer grit. I don't think it helps with an improved polish though.
I almost always go longer than 7 days with coarse grit, but I change the grit every week
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 5, 2014 19:59:04 GMT -5
I always went 10 days for polish stage when I used the rotary and honestly if I still used rotary I would probably do 7 days in standard A/O polish then 10 days in a premium polish like rapid 61 or another sub micron polish in an agate/jasper load. Here's a picture I just took today to really burst your bubble. This is a brazilian agate cab that has not even gone in polish yet. I am just doing my clean out after 48 hours in 500 a/o in the loto. I really doubt its going to get much better after polish but I'll post pics after to see the difference. No polish just 500 A/O for 48 hrs Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 5, 2014 20:31:45 GMT -5
I'll take 1/2 that shine. Thanks for the tip. Never tried that super polish. If i ever start setting tumbles i will by a lotto and finish them off.
You have made a believer out of me in the lotto. thanks
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 5, 2014 20:42:47 GMT -5
I think I have finally finished re-running everything we ever did in the rotaries in the loto by now. They don't come up on ebay very often but I snagged another one today for the $29.00 buy it now option and it just needs a bowl and that works out since I have 3 bowls for the one loto I have now.
Chuck
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 5, 2014 20:50:41 GMT -5
Yes Chuck. I can understand your move. How log does it take to go from typical rotary polish to lotto grade polish? And what is the capacity of those lotto barrels ? One more, do you ever get chipping?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 5, 2014 20:59:29 GMT -5
James, I do only my rough 60/90 stage in rotaries and then go straight to the Lot-O. Rocks spend from one to two weeks in the Lot-O depending on how much time I want to spend on them. If they're something special, I go longer. The Lot-O barrel holds 4.5 lbs. I think the opening is 2.25 inches and can polish whatever you can jam through the hole. I've only very rarely had anything chip in the Lot-O. That may be because the rocks are very well rounded before they go in. With plenty of ceramics, I don't think it's rough on the rocks.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 5, 2014 21:04:51 GMT -5
James, I do only my rough 60/90 stage in rotaries and then go straight to the Lot-O. Rocks spend from one to two weeks in the Lot-O depending on how much time I want to spend on them. If they're something special, I go longer. The Lot-O barrel holds 4.5 lbs. I think the opening is 2.25 inches and can polish whatever you can jam through the hole. I've only very rarely had anything chip in the Lot-O. That may be because the rocks are very well rounded before they go in. With plenty of ceramics, I don't think it's rough on the rocks. Thanks Rob. I hear great things about that machine. Sounds fast. At 4.5 pounds it won't take long to do final polish. All you lotto guys have killer shoe outs. I bought a cheap vibratory for metal. Learned real quick not to do rocks in it. Never seen so many pits. The rocks are now road gravel. Thanks for the info Rob. Since my main rock (coral) takes a great polish i should do a lotto.
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 5, 2014 21:36:01 GMT -5
I rotary tumble agate 4-6 weeks in coarse with weekly grit changes. Then I move on to the UV-10 for the other stages....Mel
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 5, 2014 21:44:21 GMT -5
I pretty much would have given the same answers Rob did. Of course the question is when have they gotten as shiny as there ever going to get. That picture in this thread had only spent 2 days in 120/220 and 2 days in 500 and I dont think I ever got any rocks that shiny out of my rotaries even with 7 days in 120, 7 days in 500 and 10 days in polish. So if my math is right my rocks are as shiny or shinier after 4 days in the vibe then they were after 24 days in the rotary.
I really want to try leaving a load in the loto in 500 grit for like 7 days to see what happens. Tntmom has said the grit breaks down in half every 24 hours so the 2nd day you are running 1000 and so on and so on. I think Snuffy ran a load like that recently without ever going to polish stage. That would be a labor saver but I would always wonder if they could have been better ....
Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 5, 2014 22:36:08 GMT -5
Chuck, I've wondered the same things. After two or three days in 500, my rocks don't ever look significantly better. But, I'm always afraid I'm stopping too soon. I keep going back to TNTmom's pictures in her obsidian tumbling tutorial and seeing her rocks progressively getting better. She really captured the progression nicely.
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Post by catmandewe on Feb 5, 2014 23:28:26 GMT -5
I run my agates in a rotary with 60/90 for a month or two without grit changes, depends on when I get time to change them. I finish up anything good enough to go on in a UV-18 when I get enough to run a load in it.
Tony
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 6, 2014 7:52:15 GMT -5
So the only step i may need is 500 grit for 2-3 days in the lotto for already finished rotary polished rocks ? Or do you think i need to put them back through 220 also?
Interesting that you stop at 500 and do not use polish. That is no surprise since grit breaks down to polish size grit eventually i guess. But stopping at 500 grit in the rotary has never given me as good of a polish as going to AO polish. If the lotto can break down 500 and give that level of shine it is doing something very well. In a 2-3 days...wow.
It sounds like a killer finishing rig. Chuck, you had suggested i get a lotto in the past. So what it only does 4.5 pounds at a time. At those finishing speeds(and quality) it is a money and time saver. Faster than the rotary pound for pound.
And i know the coarse grind is best done in the rotary for shaping.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 6, 2014 8:11:47 GMT -5
This is the best shine i ever got from the rotary. I do use sugar to thicken the slurry in polish. But not all loads are that shiny, but close. But 21 days is a minimum after coarse grind. Same as Chuck's 24 days. a week each,220 500 polish(or 2 weeks in 220 and skip the 500).
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by panamark on Feb 6, 2014 8:43:36 GMT -5
I bought a cheap vibratory for metal. Learned real quick not to do rocks in it. Never seen so many pits. The rocks are now road gravel. Thanks for the info Rob. As I recall James, the metal polishing vibes run at about twice the rpm or vpm as the rock polishing vibes. That and possibly the lack of enough ceramics probably caused the pits.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 6, 2014 9:00:05 GMT -5
I bought a cheap vibratory for metal. Learned real quick not to do rocks in it. Never seen so many pits. The rocks are now road gravel. Thanks for the info Rob. As I recall James, the metal polishing vibes run at about twice the rpm or vpm as the rock polishing vibes. That and possibly the lack of enough ceramics probably caused the pits. I should have known better Mark. Good to know that it runs faster. Was curious why the damage occurred. And what you said makes perfect sense.
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Misplaced Aussie
starting to shine!
Shoulda left it there
Member since February 2012
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Post by Misplaced Aussie on Feb 6, 2014 11:59:26 GMT -5
For what its worth, most of my material is agates, jaspers and pertified/agatised wood. I put them all together. I rotary tumble 60/90 till I am satisfied with the result then using a cheapie metal polishing vibe with a Thumler bowl do the obligatory 120/220 but do it twice for 24 hrs each then 24 hrs 500 on a UV10 vibe followed by 3-4 days of polish in the UV10.
What I have found is that using a lot of small stones at the 120/220 reduces the pitting. The cheapie metal polishing vibe is rough which can be reduced by reducing the length of the counterweight. Also, they are not made for constant use and I have gone through a couple recently so I wonder if it is worth getting the cheapie. Again, at the 500 stage I use lots of small stones, and ceramic and use the same cushioning material in the same bowl to do the polish (naturally after cleaning etc).
The latest trick I have learned from comments on the RTH board is to burnish for a long time, 3-4 days. I have no agenda time to meet and use the burnish to not only clean the stones but finish off the polish. And it seems to work although I havent yet done any comparison studies. Oh, I almost forgot, when I do the 500 the length of time does not seem to make a difference, about 24 hrs is enough. From comments, it seems that some machines do better than others with running 500 a long time.
I have seen the results from Connrocks lotto and am very impressed, when the need arises I will consider purchasing one.
Tim
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 6, 2014 13:01:23 GMT -5
James, I only do rotary. A vibe is on my someday wish list. 60/90 runs as long as it takes to get the shape I want. Clean out and charge fresh every 7 days. For the next steps I use 240 grit then 600 grit. Each of those steps run 10 days. I feel like the longer run breaks the grit down further. I can't tell how far it's broken down, but I can tell that after 10 days the 240 is way finer. Harder to tell with the 600 as it's so fine to begin with.
My first few tumbles were done differently. 240 and 600 for 14 days with a clean out and a fresh charge at 7 days. I think that's what the tumblers instructions recommended. I do believe, however, that the two 10 day cycles produce a better finish than the four 7 day cycles. That's been my experience for what it's worth.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 6, 2014 13:13:43 GMT -5
Thanks Tim and tk. I meant to ask how long to run the polish and forgive me. But like to hear others methods and is good for all.
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tkvancil
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 6, 2014 13:53:11 GMT -5
Thanks Tim and tk. I meant to ask how long to run the polish and forgive me. But like to hear others methods and is good for all. I run my polish for 14 days and use rockshed's AO. Very good polish at a good price IMHO. My earliest tumbles were done for 7 days in polish. I then experimented with 10 days per suggestions from this board. Better shine per my experiences. I then did a comparison by pulling a few at 10 and letting the rest run for 14. Again I thought I saw an improvement. I've done a couple feldspars. Moonstone and Labradorite. I ran them for 21 days in polish based again on what I've read here. I don't think that I got as good a shine as I do on agates but that's probably an issue with the material. P.S. I do a 24 hour burnish after the polish run. I use ivory soap shavings for that. Not sure if it improves the shine but it does get rid of any polish residue. I used to use borax with my ivory but I had a rutilated quartz tumble I did using borax and I swear it took a step backwards in regards to shine. Soap by itself never did any harm.
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