jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 5, 2015 12:26:29 GMT -5
Loving your thought process James, very nicely done. 39don Thanks Don. Hope the tumbling process gets nicely done
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 5, 2015 14:26:38 GMT -5
Looks good James! It sounds like the rocks are banging quite a bit and I'll be interested in hearing it when you add the smalls. connrock Pulled a few big rocks w/sharp edges, no can find edge chips. The grinding wheel chunks are reducing faster, no doubt. And some nasty water. coral ahead of schedule. I have run those limestone coated corals so many times. Usually for 2-3 days to clean them. Got an idea of how fast the lime is removed. Next step is to see if it will cut the agate part, and is the grit circulating well.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 7, 2015 10:44:54 GMT -5
connrock- hoping that big tumbler is spreading the grit well. Was concerned it was washing down the walls instead of mixing with the rocks. I added a bunch of thin chip smalls yesterday to see if cracking and chipping will occur. I found a couple of delicate chips after the first day or two. They were in tact. Hoping the grit is spreading well mostly.
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,687
|
Post by Fossilman on Jan 7, 2015 11:19:16 GMT -5
Holy smokers! That's a beauty...........NICE!!! Thumbs up James!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 7, 2015 11:25:10 GMT -5
Holy smokers! That's a beauty...........NICE!!! Thumbs up James! Thanks Michael. Not sure I needed it, curious to see what it will do.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 7, 2015 13:58:19 GMT -5
Big tumbler damaged test rock. Likely that it was not full enough. it will have to be kept 7/8 full, if not more. Still testing. Level dropped quicker than I thought, a good thing but can damage rock if not caught in time. This is what can happen if you run a barrel to low, especially bigger barrels. Big rocks do this too if you have 2 or more in the barrel. Test rock hard coral. Coarse tumbled prior. Weight is 1/4 pound. Half moons are crescent fractures, basically ruins rock: Several solutions 1) tumble smaller rock 2) keep it fuller if running a bunch of 3 ounce and bigger rocks, with lots of smalls 3) weld a 8-10 inch diameter pipe to the front of the bowl for large stuff and put the smalls in the tall bowl section. A dual barrel tumbler. 4) cut bowl off and then attach 8-10 inch diameter pipe tumbler barrel, either way. Or lean it back to a more slanted position, which was what it was designed to do in the first place, duh
|
|
|
Post by connrock on Jan 8, 2015 9:14:17 GMT -5
Hope you don't think I'm nuts but if you're concerned about the grit just washing the walls of the tumbler rather then carrying around with the rocks,,,,maybe you can put a strong magnet into the slurry and see if you pick up any steel particles???I would imagine that the steel would be like dust??? connrock
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2015 9:25:25 GMT -5
Hope you don't think I'm nuts but if you're concerned about the grit just washing the walls of the tumbler rather then carrying around with the rocks,,,,maybe you can put a strong magnet into the slurry and see if you pick up any steel particles???I would imagine that the steel would be like dust??? connrock To see if the magnet would would pick up steel particles worn off the barrel ? I forgot that I can lean that thing back to make a gentler tumble. It was designed that way in the first place. I'm the one that's nuts !!
|
|
|
Post by fantastic5 on Jan 8, 2015 9:30:10 GMT -5
Last walk I found stuff that had been exposed in the Thanksgiving storm ( 11 inches overnight which subsequently melted) ... a couple giant puddingstones... only hoping the rest of the winter doesn't cover them up again before I can yank them out of there in the spring! I would think that wind an waves would reap havoc, especially if ice is in the water. Do those lakes fluctuate, I would think the ice melt would raise the level ? Gotta pick on you for this one Jim! If you have a full glass of water with ice and the ice melts does the glass overflow?
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 8, 2015 9:36:17 GMT -5
snicker
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2015 11:14:42 GMT -5
I would think that wind an waves would reap havoc, especially if ice is in the water. Do those lakes fluctuate, I would think the ice melt would raise the level ? Gotta pick on you for this one Jim! If you have a full glass of water with ice and the ice melts does the glass overflow? I started to cheat and look up densities specific gravities etc. But common sense said to me that ice is lighter than water. So if it thawed out it would get smaller(less dense). I know water containers rise when they freeze, certainly they drop in level when they thaw ?? That is my answer with out cheating. Tell me I'm wrong. You can, I just sent your heat treated rocks back yesterday, so I can not retaliate. Ah, but I forgot to put that Kingston nodule in the box, I sawed it. photo of nodule, we thought it was going to be purple
|
|
megalotis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2009
Posts: 226
|
Post by megalotis on Jan 8, 2015 12:38:00 GMT -5
Jim,
Very nice project, it'll be interesting to see how the tumbles come out! I am jealous of your skills (but I do not covet them)!
On the ice question; I'm pretty sure that, if there is any effect at all, it would be minimal because only a tiny portion of a typical lake's water ever gets frozen - maybe 1-2 percent or less. So whether the ice is on or off the lake, the level will be pretty much the same (the deeper the lake, the more this would hold true).
Keep in mind too that surface and subterranean water continues to flow into and out of a lake, even when frozen. A more profound effect on lake water levels would be spring runoff from melting ice and snow that then flows into the lake, especially in area that receive significant snowfall.
|
|
|
Post by fantastic5 on Jan 8, 2015 13:42:55 GMT -5
Gotta pick on you for this one Jim! If you have a full glass of water with ice and the ice melts does the glass overflow? I started to cheat and look up densities specific gravities etc. But common sense said to me that ice is lighter than water. So if it thawed out it would get smaller(less dense). I know water containers rise when they freeze, certainly they drop in level when they thaw ?? That is my answer with out cheating. Tell me I'm wrong. You can, I just sent your heat treated rocks back yesterday, so I can not retaliate. Ah, but I forgot to put that Kingston nodule in the box, I sawed it. photo of nodule, we thought it was going to be purple Beyond knowing that the lake ice freeze and thaw cycles have no appreciable change on the lake levels due to displacement. I've never really given the idea much thought. I would however think that as ice melts it becomes MORE dense. Ice floating = less dense than liquid water. Size is not necessarily proportional to density. That Kingston nodule is not at all what I would have expected. Thanks again for cutting it for me. Kinda cool as it becomes more clear and plumy in the center, but I would have hoped for more color beyond the rind. Our Southern agates are just not as nice, coral not withstanding, but it sure beats not having anything to hound.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2015 14:29:11 GMT -5
It was easy picking out it Texas. That's as far east as western agates get, so a good destination for east coasters. Lots of the material washed form the north west and delivered to south east Texas. Left a lot of sand and debris left behind thru wear, and fractures were an issue on some of it. But some solid material, not much pulp of soft stuff in those pebbles. Never can judge a Kingston nodule by it's cover. They suffer from fractures too. You know it is like mohs 6 soft too. Best tumbled with other Kingston material, harder agate will steal the polish from it when mixed in a rotary. Does your club ever go garnet hunting ? Have you ever seen creek sand like this Georgia creek has: Probably Lumpkin county. Location not known, said to be in N. Georgia. sure is pretty sand. As far as ice, it was 5F this morning, and nursery pots full of water froze solid and rose up. Water obviously expands when it freezes, hopefully it will return back to the same level. If it does not, there is an issue Coooold, this week.
|
|
|
Post by fantastic5 on Jan 8, 2015 20:05:28 GMT -5
jamesp I've been to Little Pine Garnet Mine in NC with my club, a large open adit and you can mine directly from the walls. I've seen garnet sand once before in that quantity. It was in only one or two of the bends of Buck Creek NC. Super gemmy, but nothing of any size. I couldn't help myself and picked up a small handful. Here is a picture of some hounding I did the week of New Years in NC. I knew this beach was full of garnets and had picked up quite a bit last year. We went back and got two more gallon ziplock bags, I've found that they make great tumbler filler both in the rotary and the vibe. Can even find some nice shiny rutiles at this beach too.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2015 20:24:49 GMT -5
fantastic5- they do make great filler. Heavy rascals too. thanks for sharing that. the beach is loaded, why did you leave that arrowhead ? Just kidding. Looks like sling shot ammo. Dirt roads in Tallapoosa Nat Forest and large surrounding area are covered w/them eroding out of chlorite schist. mostly full of iron.
|
|
|
Post by connrock on Jan 9, 2015 8:41:19 GMT -5
Yes,,,I thought that maybe a magnet would pick up any steel that eroded off of the steel barrel? Kind of a funky idea but being in the house all the time up here makes one think that way! LOL Brrrrrr! Cold and snowing right now. The ice on a lake/pond is the frozen water from the lake/pond so when the ice melts it just goes back to being water in the lake/pond. Fill an ice cube tray,,,,let it freeze and then let it thaw! Better let it thaw in a sink cuz when the ice melts you'll have a flood! snicker # 2!!! connrock
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 9, 2015 9:08:37 GMT -5
tough crowd
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,178
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 9, 2015 10:16:36 GMT -5
Yes,,,I thought that maybe a magnet would pick up any steel that eroded off of the steel barrel? Kind of a funky idea but being in the house all the time up here makes one think that way! LOL Brrrrrr! Cold and snowing right now. The ice on a lake/pond is the frozen water from the lake/pond so when the ice melts it just goes back to being water in the lake/pond. Fill an ice cube tray,,,,let it freeze and then let it thaw! Better let it thaw in a sink cuz when the ice melts you'll have a flood! snicker # 2!!! connrock you may want to define 'ice' for captbob, he don't get much down his way cept in a ice tray. Hey, were southerners, don't know nuthin bout ice, cut some slack That big tumbler froze solid, was 5F yesterday. ha It won't break, I've made containers like that before and had them freeze. When I dump it I will put a magnet in the slurry and see if it loads up with metal.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 9, 2015 10:48:03 GMT -5
5° in ATLANTA area?! that's funnyHave family up in Ponte Vedra (Jacksonville) and saw they had snowflakes fall yesterday. #^@*% Global Warming!
|
|