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Post by broseph82 on Nov 18, 2014 10:34:36 GMT -5
So I've started my first batch of jasper for tumbling in my Chicago Electric (2) 3lb barrels tumbler. (I know it's cheap, but it's what I started out with before I knew better and it's what I will have until I get a vibe and a better rotary). Side note: I had done a stage of tumbling before with some stuff from Diamond Hill, but it was without grit and just tumbling media. Came out smooth but nothing pretty. This time I'm using a 60/90 grit, 3Tbsp per barrel and only 4oz of water after reading some threads. I've also included some ceramic chips. We shall see after 10 days how it turns out. Here are some pics of the rough:
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Post by captbob on Nov 18, 2014 10:48:54 GMT -5
10 days may be a good time to check on 'em, and probably do a clean out or grit recharge, but count on closer to a month (or more) in the coarse grind before moving on. Trying to speed up the tumbling process when using such rough pieces just leads to disappointing results and is what probably turns so many away from tumbling. Patience is the key.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Nov 18, 2014 11:36:34 GMT -5
I check mine every 7 days but every 10 is also a good point to check. Like captbob said patience is the key. For me three weeks to three months is a normal coarse grind time depending on how rough the rocks are. That is of course with a cleanout or recharge every 7 days. I like mine very well rounded and nearly flaw free which takes a while. You using the ceramic for smalls? Hard to tell from the pics but the rough looks pretty big for a 3 pounder. Happy tumbling broseph82 and keep us posted.
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Post by broseph82 on Nov 18, 2014 11:54:02 GMT -5
I check mine every 7 days but every 10 is also a good point to check. Like captbob said patience is the key. For me three weeks to three months is a normal coarse grind time depending on how rough the rocks are. That is of course with a cleanout or recharge every 7 days. I like mine very well rounded and nearly flaw free which takes a while. You using the ceramic for smalls? Hard to tell from the pics but the rough looks pretty big for a 3 pounder. Happy tumbling broseph82 and keep us posted. Yes the ceramic triangles that HF sells for vibes. I didn't use all that rough. I just took pics of all of it as an example of the type of jasper I am using. I think a big one went into each barrel. I found all this by accident and most has some type of matrix on it. The other Jasper I have from Cartersville is much bigger and I'll have to slab those.
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Post by snowmom on Nov 19, 2014 5:11:39 GMT -5
watching with interest, keep us posted!
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Post by deb193redux on Nov 19, 2014 9:45:41 GMT -5
hard to judge sizes, but it may be short on smalls
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Post by broseph82 on Nov 20, 2014 8:08:51 GMT -5
hard to judge sizes, but it may be short on smalls There were smalls in there. It was just hard to see in the pictures. This is a bland jasper so I didn't care to get all detailed with pics with just the rough. Thanks for looking out though
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Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 20, 2014 8:41:28 GMT -5
I don't use ceramics in my rough stage at all. I find that it wears them down too much. Ceramics last a long time in 220 and finer stages in my vibe. I use really small beach gravel for smalls in my rotary. They don't have to be the same kind of rock as the stuff you're tumbling, just don't use something really soft or it will grind away too fast an make your slurry too thick.
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Post by pghram on Nov 21, 2014 10:57:53 GMT -5
When I'm low on smalls or don't want to smash up nice material, I use pea gravel. Works great & cheap, just like me...the cheap part, I mean.
Rich
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Post by broseph82 on Nov 21, 2014 11:51:26 GMT -5
When I'm low on smalls or don't want to smash up nice material, I use pea gravel. Works great & cheap, just like me...the cheap part, I mean. Rich So you're admitting that you're not working great these days Rich?
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Post by broseph82 on Nov 25, 2014 23:22:15 GMT -5
11/20/14 Added 1Tbs grit Added filler rocks
11/25/14 No pics yet. It's been a week and I took out the rocks and rinsed them off. I added 1Tbs of 60/90 grit and 1Tbs of Borax. One slurry was thick and the other was really foamy and thick. I put back as much as the grit as I could and I did lose a good bit of grit. On the plus side the jasper is smoothing out nicely. I had a larger chunk with rough matrix and the matrix now is really smooth and looks to be part of the rock.
Some of the smaller filler rocks ground down to slurry and some harder ones smoothed out and brightened up (not sure what they were exactly).
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 1, 2014 10:17:29 GMT -5
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Post by gingerkid on Dec 1, 2014 12:57:39 GMT -5
Lookin' pretty good, broseph82! The 3rd one posted reminds me of Morrisonite.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 1, 2014 17:12:29 GMT -5
Those have a long way to go yet. I just realized that you're tumbling those in a 3lb. tumbler. They're pretty big for a small tumbler. Normally it's recommended that rocks be no bigger than one inch in a 3 lb. tumbler. Of course I break that rule all the time, but I try not to have more than one or two rock bigger than an inch in a small tumbler at a time. Although hard rocks still take months in the first stage, having too many big rocks could slow you down.
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 1, 2014 19:13:25 GMT -5
Those have a long way to go yet. I just realized that you're tumbling those in a 3lb. tumbler. They're pretty big for a small tumbler. Normally it's recommended that rocks be no bigger than one inch in a 3 lb. tumbler. Of course I break that rule all the time, but I try not to have more than one or two rock bigger than an inch in a small tumbler at a time. Although hard rocks still take months in the first stage, having too many big rocks could slow you down. Hey it's all trial and error my friend. One barrel has smaller rocks and the other has bigger. This is really my first go with something decent so I'm just experimenting. I've already said to myself that I need smaller rocks next go around and maybe trim the ugly off them ahead of time. The picture barrel actually has smoothed out the rocks faster than the smaller ones in the other barrel. I don't even have 3lbs in each barrel. When I first started each barrel weighed about 1.5lbs each with grit and the little amount of water. This barrel with bigger rocks also "ate" the grit faster. It was much smoother than the other barrel. Thanks for chiming in. I do realize they have a long way to go, but with how rough these rocks are it will give me a good timeline for rocks in the future. Next tumble will be my slag glass. @gingerbread kid thanks
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 8, 2014 13:48:56 GMT -5
I had it on the calendar to open the barrels up tomorrow, but today is actually the 7th day since the 1st so yay for me!!! Was actually thinking I was being naughty by opening a day early. Dec 8 observations: Barrel 2 (the one that always has the pics) was foamy again. Been like this from the start. It's had the jasper and more fillers, but the main rocks being tumbled have been smaller compared to the other barrel. The filler rocks def broke down into smaller pieces, but the cracks of the jasper and filled with grit. They are smoother and seem to be breaking down more. Here are some pics: These are the rocks I found locally that I thought was citrine. We will refer to it as yellow quartz. This rock looks like it has a window to see inside This is the jasper and 1/2 of the original filler rocks after seeing what the rocks looked like rinsed. Barrel 1 is the barrel I overfilled last time with the jasper, filler rocks, moss agate, and jasper slabs from when I went to Carterville, GA, and more filler rocks. It was so full I barely could get the lid back on and was embarrassed to say so here. Today I will be embarrassed no more! Upon opening it I saw the slurry everyone else usually sees who tumbles correctly. Not foamy like the other one and the grit was much smoother to the touch. The bullseye is coming out in this one And here is what was all in the 3lb barrel For reloading, on both barrels, I left out the "foreign" rocks. Like the picture above, it's the smalls pile to the left mixed with white, black, green, purple, etc. It was a mixture found at Hiddenite and they were my mystery smalls at the time being I didn't know what they were(and still don't ha ha). I did add more of the yellow and grapefruit color quartz to both barrels (the yellow quartz I found locally) so I know exactly what's in both barrels. I also added 2 Tbsp of 60/90 grit, 2Tbsp of Borax, 2 Tbsp water, and I Tbsp of dried 60/90 grit from the last clean out. I didn't add any of the wet used grit back into the barrels nor any of the ceramic triangles.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 8, 2014 15:20:59 GMT -5
I'd say your slurry looks a little too thick. I'd use a little more water.
The recipe in your last paragraph looks way too complicated and off a bit. In a three pound barrel, I fill it about 3/4 with rocks, add 4 oz. (8 TBSP) of water, and 3 TBSP of 60/90 grit. I never add old grit and I never add borax.
Sometimes I use less water than 4 oz, but never less than 3 oz. When I first start tumbling really rough rock, the first week really breaks down the very sharp edges. This causes a thicker slurry, so I use a full 4 oz. After that, I use a little less (around 3 oz.) because the rocks wear down a little slower and this gives me a thicker slurry.
I use borax in all of my vibratory tumbler stages. So starting with 220, everything gets a tablespoon of borax. I never use borax in the 60/90 stage though.
That's what I do, but it will be interesting to see what others say.
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 8, 2014 17:33:44 GMT -5
I'd say your slurry looks a little too thick. I'd use a little more water. The recipe in your last paragraph looks way too complicated and off a bit. In a three pound barrel, I fill it about 3/4 with rocks, add 4 oz. (8 TBSP) of water, and 3 TBSP of 60/90 grit. I never add old grit and I never add borax. Sometimes I use less water than 4 oz, but never less than 3 oz. When I first start tumbling really rough rock, the first week really breaks down the very sharp edges. This causes a thicker slurry, so I use a full 4 oz. After that, I use a little less (around 3 oz.) because the rocks wear down a little slower and this gives me a thicker slurry. I use borax in all of my vibratory tumbler stages. So starting with 220, everything gets a tablespoon of borax. I never use borax in the 60/90 stage though. That's what I do, but it will be interesting to see what others say. Here's what you have to remember: 1) I'm new to this and 2) I'm reading tons of threads on tumbling here and trying an newbie approach from what I've read. Up until late last week I only had a pound of 60/90. Now I have quite a bit more and can add more Tbsp when necessary. One of the threads I read and the person had immaculate tumbles he said he didn't clean his rocks off just added more grit each time. It also seems like so many people add borax to their tumbles so I thought I would too. So with that approach if I leave a little old grit... Well who knows. We will just have to see how it all comes out. Thanks for your advice Jugglerguy I do have a question for you though: should I clean out the grit in the cracks next recharge?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 8, 2014 21:15:01 GMT -5
I was in your shoes as a newbie a few years ago. This has been a great place to learn.
I'm don't think I've ever had grit stuck in the cracks during a rough grind. Maybe it's because you used so little water. I wouldn't worry about trying to get it out. The insides of those cracks aren't going to be getting smooth anyway. You also don't have to worry about it when it falls out as long as you're still in the 60/90 stage.
What you don't want is grit falling out of cracks in later stages. That would be very bad. My solution is to make sure that there are not holes or cracks left before moving on to later stages so I don't have to worry about that. In case I miss a crevice that can hold grit, I always do a thorough wash between stages. With my vibe, I rinse the rocks after each stage in a colander, then put them back in the vibe with either borax or Dreft soap for about 1/2 hour, then I rinse again. I do this one more time, or until the rinse water runs clear.
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 8, 2014 21:26:23 GMT -5
I'm going to take your advice when I open it up again. I won't rinse anything off, but add more grit and probably add more water. I plan on burnishing after every stage as I've read up on the matter. Jugglerguy
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