Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,494
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 28, 2015 22:22:11 GMT -5
I have no doubt you can rough grind rocks in a UV-10 as the action is pretty good but I don't think it's anywhere as good as a rotary at creating rounded shapes. Just too gentle of action IMHO. I find I even have to be careful with fine grind in a UV-10 vibe though. The UV-10 barrels don't hold up well to SC grits and wear through fast. And they ain't cheap and are sometimes hard to find....Mel
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 28, 2015 23:01:44 GMT -5
Peruano, I don't think you're hijacking anything, you're giving me some great info.
If everyone else is going to show videos of their vibes, I guess I should too. It's just a quick video from my iPad done in poor lighting, but it gives you the idea of the action. These are rocks that were just placed in the tumbler before adding borax and grit.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Jan 28, 2015 23:18:24 GMT -5
I know you've heard it at least twice already, but I will agree with the first two folks, and be no. 3! It is the distance which also equals force, that the rocks in a tumbler have to "fall" in contrast to the "rubbing" of the rocks together in a vibe. I have found that it is almost impossible to get a rounded shape in a vibe, no matter how long it runs...120-200 grit. I know that even a tumbler will not turn the "square" rock into "river-washed" round, but the tumbler will come a lot closer than the vibe EVER will. Now...as we all know, you want a glass polish...the vibe will do it faster than any tumbler yet to be invented! That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!
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Post by snowmom on Jan 29, 2015 6:33:54 GMT -5
Jugglerguy, thanks so much for this experiment, watching with interest, since all I have is a vibe tumbler.
Captbob, it is my understanding too, that vibe tumblers are much more aggressive, Have read that in other posts on RTH,
seems like it should work... great thread, much info, good questions. Rob is about to prove it can be done, if I know him, he will work at it until it becomes fact. Those sequential photos are great! watching with interest (I'm taking notes!)Can't wait to see where this all goes.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,602
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Post by jamesp on Jan 29, 2015 8:31:48 GMT -5
To watch a vibe would make you think that it would shape better than a rotary.
In tumbling hard coral using 4 different speeds of 12,26,32 and 55 RPM in a rotary, I can say the faster the speed the faster it roughs.
With a big difference in rounding at 12 RPM verses 55 RPM. But 55 RPM will bruise softer stones. All makes sense.
Same with the vibe, running it slower slows wear too. Makes sense too.
However, putting coral in my fast moving metal vibe chips it.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 29, 2015 9:07:26 GMT -5
I was aware from the beginning that the vibe was not going to round my rocks as well as a rotary. The two crosses in this picture were done in just my Lot-O. The little cubes had their corners rounded on a grinder, then were rotary tumbled, followed by the Lot-O. I'm not concerned about shaping, but rather removing small holes, spalls, and other imperfections. I think shaping and removing imperfections are related though.
Snowmom said:
I've read the same thing, but I'm not sure that I agree with the word "aggressive". Vibe tumblers are aggressive at breaking down grit, and they polish rocks quickly. They are pretty gentle on the rocks though. If you look back at my pictures, on the second and third rock there are spalls that were there from the beginning, and some of them are still there after three weeks. I think those would have broken off by now in a rotary tumbler. The gentle rolling in a vibe just doesn't knock the loose parts off.
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Post by broseph82 on Jan 29, 2015 15:24:53 GMT -5
Jugglerguy what did you say you used to fill In the bottom "nipple" hole? Man I get tired of prying out small ceramic pieces and girt. Also, which site did you use to upload that video?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 29, 2015 16:49:46 GMT -5
broseph82, I filled the hole with epoxy. I mixed it up an twirled it on a small scrap of wood (kind of like one of those honey dipper things), lowered it in the barrel, and then waited for it to drip off into the hole. I've never had any sign of wear on it, nor have I had to dig ceramic out since. I used Vimeo for my video, just because it's easier from my iPad. It's a default place to upload from within the camera app.
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Post by Peruano on Jan 30, 2015 18:44:43 GMT -5
Ok here are the stones after 48 hours in the intial grit (90). They are back in and starting 2nd day on 200 as we speak.  We are sort of comparing apples and oranges as my rocks are largely slabettes, preformed, naturally polished pet wood, or otherwise advanced from more typical tumbling stones. They are also mostly very hard agate or similar stuff. Tom |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 30, 2015 19:19:11 GMT -5
I thought I'd posted the pictures below, but I guess I didn't. I've done a few cabs and crosses like these in the Lot-O  The little cubes had their corners ground off on my flat lap and were rotary tumbled before the vibe, but the crosses went straight into 220 after the saw. They'd be more like your slabettes, Tom. So I'd agree that we're sort of comparing apples to oranges, but it's all educational. Do you run those slabettes without ceramic, or was the ceramic removed for the picture. I always though that you needed a lot of ceramics to get the flats to polish well in a vibe. |
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Post by Peruano on Jan 31, 2015 12:33:43 GMT -5
I'm a strong believer in using a filler of the same material as you are tumbling. Hence I save every crumb I trim off of agates and especially petrified wood (and bummer tumbles from previous loads cut smaller) and these although never destined for use other than as filler in the tumbler get saved over and over again, until they wear to nothing. Using a proper mix of small and large stuff is key to getting into some of those small spaces, and flats and to keeping slabs from sticking together. I'm approaching 96 hours and will be going through a clean out and jump to next grit level this afternoon. Tom
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Post by Starguy on Jan 31, 2015 18:04:04 GMT -5
Peruano. Why not try a rotary? They're cheaper and they round the rocks much better, in rough grit. Then use your vibe for the fine through polish.
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Post by snowmom on Feb 8, 2015 14:52:17 GMT -5
(still watching!)
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 8, 2015 15:15:40 GMT -5
The rocks are shiny now. I did a full four weeks in 120/220, then let it run for three days on the last time in 120/220. Then two days in 500. That ended yesterday and they had a good shine. I'm going to do three days in 1000 and then three in polish, so Friday they'll be done. Although they're getting a good shine, I really don't like all the imperfections I left behind.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,548
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 8, 2015 15:26:14 GMT -5
That's 4 weeks with a daily grit change, pretty dedicated. Looking forward to pics of the finished rocks.
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Post by captbob on Feb 8, 2015 15:37:24 GMT -5
4 weeks in a vibe?  |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 8, 2015 17:58:57 GMT -5
Yes. Four weeks in just rough tumbling. This was an experiment since I've never rough tumbled in a vibe. I wanted to see if it would ever make them look good. I finally gave up. I'll post pictures when they're done next weekend.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 13, 2015 19:54:07 GMT -5
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Post by iant on Feb 14, 2015 2:58:19 GMT -5
Pretty spectacular results there Rob. Hard work has paid off - as usual.
Nice to see it can be done but I wouldn't fancy all those grit changes!
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Feb 14, 2015 6:48:17 GMT -5
No one has asked yet Rob, so I will.
Where did you get this Montana Agate rough? I mean, most Montana's are found in the Yellowstone River or nearby and are pretty smooth to start out with. Yours may be the roughest Montana rough I have seen. Do you know the history of it?
I agree that even in a rotary it may have not come out well.
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