TIGER
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 46
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Post by TIGER on Sept 14, 2014 17:53:02 GMT -5
Hi everyone, been tumbling away quietly, some polishing up nice and I promise to post pics soon. I have yet some more daft newbie questions and would be grateful for any help.
1/ Now I have the right grit for polishing thanks to ianT, I have been reading up on this and see the sugestion of using a small amount of wall paper paste to slightly thicken the mix as to prevent the rocks from crashing into each other. Is this OK? What other things could be used?
2/ further reading about 'burnishing' led me to purchase some Borax. I only have read one ref to the amount to use, being 2 tablespoons for a 3lb barrel, so that's half the amount for my little barrels. is this correct? and should it be used on it's owe to clean between grits? with grits? and again after polishing has been suggested but as above, would this not cause problems with rocks crashing together without some sort of thickener?
3/ lastly (thank goodness I hear you cry) I have been looking into getting some of those little plastic beads for adding to a mix to fill in the little gaps. how much should I use for a 1 1/5lb barrel? as I don't want to order too little.
Many thanks again in advance for your kindness
Tiger
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Post by 150FromFundy on Sept 14, 2014 18:12:03 GMT -5
1) You shouldn't need to thicken the slurry if you have the right amount of rock, liquid, and grit unless you are working with some very soft (specialized) material. Use pellets to ensure you always have the right amount of rock. Plastic for rotary. Ceramic for vibratory.
2) Use one or two tablespoons of borax in a 3 pound barrel. You can't use too much. Burnishing is used to clean all the residue of your rocks, pellets, barrel and lid between the pre-polish and the polish and after the polish. Clean everything as best you can by hand first, Burnishing removes what you missed.
3) Your rotary barrel should always be between a minimum of 2/3 full and a maximum of 3/4 full. Use as many pellets as required to ensure this. As the rocks wear down, you have to add pellets to make up for the missing mass.
Darryl.
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TIGER
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 46
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Post by TIGER on Sept 14, 2014 18:36:55 GMT -5
thanks very much darryl for such a speedy reply
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Post by pghram on Sept 15, 2014 9:51:51 GMT -5
The only thing I'll add is that I usually fill more that 3/4 full with plastic pellets in the polish stage to avoid chipping. I run the polish stage longer to compensate. Maybe I'm just being too finicky?
Rich
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TIGER
starting to shine!
Member since August 2014
Posts: 46
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Post by TIGER on Sept 15, 2014 11:52:02 GMT -5
Thank you pghram, any info is gratefully received
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