transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jun 10, 2014 23:22:22 GMT -5
Ok so I did the Google search trick and found a post on this but it was back from 2008 so decided to just make a new one... hope nobody minds. I have a batch of peach feldspar in my 3 lb rotary tumbler. Bought the thumblers kit think it's ao final polish ( not sure no label) white kindof sticky powder. Filled the barrel half way up with rocks and water, added recommended amount of polish (can't remember off the top of my head how much it was) and have been running for 30 + hours. Every 9 hours or so the solution in the barrel becomes so thick and frothy there is no movement inside and it makes the barrel wobble on the rollers because the weight distribution is off. Probably not good for the machine. I've been opening it up, scooping out the froth cleaning it up sealing and restarting. What a pain and a mess! I have a container of cerium oxide (read in the 2008 post cerium won't froth) I was using to hand polish I'm debating cleaning everything up and restarting with the different polish.
Question: will doing that mess up my polish and if no any tips for the switch? Also looking for advice on constancy, the recommended amount seems like a lot maybe that's partly why it frothed so much idk? If I add less and run longer will it have the same effect or is it supposed to be the consistency of a milky soup?
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1nickthegreek
spending too much on rocks
Member since February 2014
Posts: 383
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Post by 1nickthegreek on Jun 11, 2014 0:27:14 GMT -5
In my rotaries, the final polish always seems to thicken like that, and I believe that it is supposed to be almost a heavy paste to get a good polish. BUT that's just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Jun 11, 2014 11:46:58 GMT -5
I have been using the AO polish that the Rockshed sells. It is a good polish at a good price. To the point ... It produces a very healthy foam and I believe it is normal. It is also normal and desirable to have a thicker polish slurry, it provides a cushion so to speak. When I roll a polish batch it gets quieter the longer it goes.
You said the barrel is 1/2 full? If so, that may be the problem causing the wobble. The barrel should be 3/4 full. If you don't have that much rock you should top it off with ceramic media or plastic pellets. I think that even marbles could work in a pinch but have never tried them.
Here is my formula for polish in a three pound barrel. Rocks to 3/4 volume, I add ceramic media if needed to get correct volume. (If your going by weight this is usually in the neighborhood of 2 pounds and 4 ounces.) 6 tablespoons of AO polish and 5/8 cup water and run for 14 days.
Hope this helps.
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jun 11, 2014 13:30:24 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure something wasn't right. I turned it off last night because of the wobble and took a good look at it this morning. When I picked the barrel up off the machine and opened it up the rocks that had settled on the side didn't drop to the bottom when I tipped it upright, instead (especially the smaller pebbles) were suspended in the foam. The whole time I've been running it I've been able to hear some type of sloshing of the rocks until near that 9 hour mark then I only hear the hum of the motor. I'm assuming I should hear some type of movement.
Also in reading tutorials I thought ( please correct me if I'm wrong) that you start off 3/4 full and with the constant wearing down of the rocks the amount inside will decrease to about half full and that extra space was needed in the final polish as long as they aren't crashing on top of one another.
Either way I started over. A lot of these rocks were beach tumbled to a really good polish I just wanted to get a better shine without loosing their shape and had good results with a test by hand with Co on denim. But there was a bunch that needed to be tumbled with a fine grit before going to prepolish and polish due to deeper scratches ( was hoping to make it back to the beach whenever this rainy overcast crap lets up to get more for a second batch) and adding those plus a few random river stones i had around the house made the barrel 3/4 full. These are all feldspar and quartz which are I think 6 &7 on hardness scale and the couple river rocks were granites that were harder than steel and more quartz. .. so hoping they'll mix ok.
I cleaned everything up really well, filled the barrel to 3/4, added water to well below the top layer of stones, the fine grit and started it up again. Running good so far so the wobble wasn't the pully system.
Now I'm concerned I'm going to loose a lot of the shape, especially in the smaller stones if I let it run for too long. Anyone have experience tumbling feldspar? I read it's softer so doesn't take as long as the quartz.
This is Def going to be a learning experience lol
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azgnoinc
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 484
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Post by azgnoinc on Jun 11, 2014 19:15:23 GMT -5
Check out my post over in the tumbling photo section "Local beach finds batch" - I just got done with a batch of beach rocks - a lot of granite, feldspars & other mixed beach found variety - I got a pretty good shine on them using AO & picked up some tips for an even better shine from some other members in that post too.
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jun 11, 2014 21:08:54 GMT -5
What great results! Like the leather filler idea too. I'm not really too concerned about the granites I stuck in the barrel if they shine up it'll just be a nice addition back into my personal collection. But the fact the feldspar portions in your granite shined up nice is promising for my batch. Feldspar cleavage doesn't always take a polish. Attaching pics of what my target stones are. Those are some of the larger ones, a ton of little pebbles I'm hoping to be able to drill a hole thru the centers of and use as beads to accent these larger ones, if the break they can stay filler material. ... The large stones really aren't that large but in comparison they are. I'm hoping to do some wire wrapping with these too so perfect roundness isn't the ultimate goal, I'm hoping they retain their beach formed irregular shapes actually. All the edges are rounded out so felt pretty comfortable skipping the 80 grit. I just want a nice smooth surface so the light can catch the pearlescence
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Jun 12, 2014 0:43:47 GMT -5
Your barrel should always be 3/4 full no matter what stage you're rolling. It is most important in the polish stage. A 1/2 full barrel will get more chips, cracks and frosting.
Feldspars... I usually do them by themselves and start them with 220 grit skipping 60/90. If mixed with quartz or agate they will reduce faster than the quartz/agate.
I'm noticing that your target stones have quite a few cracks and pits. Reminds me a lot of my local finds. If you want to pass them from one stage to the next without grinding out those flaws, a perfectly acceptable matter of taste, be sure that they are well cleaned between stages. You don't want girt trapped in the rock to find its way into the polish.
I saw your gem trees in your introductory post. I can only imagine the patience needed to do those. Patience is a key attribute in a successful tumbler. If your not doing so keep a notebook on your tumbles. It will help you figure out what goes right or wrong and what works best for you and your rocks.
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transcendental
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 459
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Post by transcendental on Jun 12, 2014 7:39:29 GMT -5
Thanks for all the tips shows promise this will be a success. Yes lots of pits and divots, got a really strong jet spray on my garden hose was planning on blasting them then going thru a few borax and water tumbles and more blasting before moving on, with how much time is involved I don't want to screw it up because I'm rushing and cutting corners. This is my first attempt at polishing with a tumbler so I'm definitely taking notes
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Jun 18, 2014 15:22:09 GMT -5
I always get foam in my final polish too, but if the rocks are sticking to the side of the barrel then the slurry is too thick. add a very small amount of water, as small as a couple TBSP and seal up the container, shake it up and if the rocks break loose and start to bounce around stick it back on the tumbler, if they stay put, add a couple more TBSP and do it again, and you should be all set!
Good luck with it, and keep posting pics of your progress!!
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mego
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2018
Posts: 2
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Post by mego on Jun 11, 2018 16:10:47 GMT -5
I just opened my 3lb tumbler this morning because it sounded off. Its full to the brim with Super thick foam. Should I scoop some out or just let it run its course?
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