FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 25, 2015 22:14:23 GMT -5
Which polish is more fine? Tripoli or 1000 Aluminum Oxide? I can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for. I will be tumbling some labradorite some day an would like to figure out which grit an polish I should use an in what order.
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Post by captbob on Jun 25, 2015 22:21:47 GMT -5
Those are not polishes. Consider Tripoli 700 to 800 grit.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 25, 2015 22:30:07 GMT -5
Thank you captbob . I wasn't going to use them as polish, I just wanted to get the order in which I would use them before I went to the polish stage. So far it's 60/90 220 500 tripoli 1000 then to an undetermined polish.
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Post by captbob on Jun 25, 2015 23:06:43 GMT -5
Wasn't it you that just got 5 lbs of tin oxide? Haven't tumbled any labradorite, but I like that tin oxide for softer stones.
I'm kinda unusual when it comes to tumbling so I try lots of different things. I do 500 grit for X amount of time, then add the Tripoli to that as a recharge and let that run for awhile before doing a clean out to move to 1000. Saves a clean out and seems to do just as well as using Tripoli as a separate step.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 25, 2015 23:21:32 GMT -5
You're close, I only have 2lbs of tin oxide an a pound of cerium for softer trouble to poish stones.
I would have done a clean out after 500 but not cleaning out makes sense considering breakdown. If I'm not happy after no clean out I have no problem running the tripoli again after a clean out.
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Post by broseph82 on Jun 25, 2015 23:44:21 GMT -5
Cerium will polish lab up just fine
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 26, 2015 0:12:16 GMT -5
Thanks broseph82 that's good to know if I do try the cerium. Now I have another question, vibe or rotary for final polish? I still have plenty of time before I even start.
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Post by orrum on Jun 26, 2015 8:00:47 GMT -5
Hey rockhound folks have trouble with the final polish tumbling labroditite. Better research that. Check on The Rock Sheds website, they were experimenting to find a method last time I was there.
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Post by broseph82 on Jun 26, 2015 8:29:41 GMT -5
Is say vibe for final, but I've never rotary tumbled anything for final. Remember labradorite is pretty soft. FLrockhound
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 26, 2015 10:02:53 GMT -5
That is what I have learned through the research I have done orrum . I was expecting the lab to be trouble when polishing. I will check that out on the Rockshed site to see if I can get some tips. I thought the vibe might be a better choice with this stuff broseph82 . it would be a lot less violent as far as the banging around goes, even with proper amounts of media.
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Post by captbob on Jun 26, 2015 10:41:43 GMT -5
I thought the vibe might be a better choice with this stuff broseph82 . it would be a lot less violent as far as the banging around goes, even with proper amounts of media. I have to disagree, or at the very best call it a draw. With excessive amounts of plastic pellets and water to eliminate (lessen) the void space in a rotary tumbler barrel I could easily tumble a raw egg, along with a load of rocks, with no concern of the shell breaking. What's more delicate than that...? But I could probably tumble whatever that is too. Sure, the cycle would probably need to run longer as the tumbling action is so overly cushioned; but if the goal is perfectly tumbled rocks, time isn't (shouldn't be) a factor. Maybe, with use of whatever the cushioning agent of the month is, the action in a vibe can also be deadened to such gentle levels, but I'm skeptical that a vibe can be made "less violent" than a rotary barrel. MY view is that a vibe speeds things up. They excel in that roll. Not at all convinced that they can do a better job of tumbling/polishing rocks than a rotary barrel - if time is not a concern.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 26, 2015 12:19:50 GMT -5
You make a very valid point captbob . Time is not an issue in this case, this is a great platform for experimenting until I get my desired results. I think I will need more information on polishing labradorite from those who've had success whether it was polished in a rotary or vibratory, before I make any decisions. I'm more torn now on which direction to go than I previously was.
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Post by broseph82 on Jun 26, 2015 14:56:06 GMT -5
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 26, 2015 15:14:44 GMT -5
That looks to be what is in store for this. I might have to tumble polish first an if that don't work, to the loto they go.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 26, 2015 23:16:35 GMT -5
I believe I'm getting closer to the perfect recipe. Start with pellets, lots of pellets for every stage in the rotary. Cerium for my first try at polish if that won't work I'll move to TO then possibly AO. I dug up an old thread rollingstone posted many years ago and he did an absolutely amazing job tumbling labs.
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Post by captbob on Jun 26, 2015 23:24:44 GMT -5
Ceramic media to start plastic pellets to finish.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 27, 2015 0:13:23 GMT -5
Is there any specific reasoning behind using ceramic over plastic, other than the pellets getting ground to almost nothing?
I want to be as gentle as possible to avoid any trouble in the end. I can just see ceramics bruising the lab in my mind judging by the pictures I've seen of previous attempts. Like you said earlier you could polish an egg in a rotary. That's exactly how I want to approach this.
They start to round in a few days even without grit, except I wouldn't do that. I will just use less per lb.
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Post by captbob on Jun 27, 2015 0:43:31 GMT -5
Just a suggestion. May save you some time using ceramic over plastic pellets. Unless you don't want to remove much material. Using plastic if you don't have ceramic on hand will work fine, just take longer.
I've done obsidian, sodalite, charoite, and a few others that are also "softer" than your labradorite using ceramic media on the coarse and 220 steps, switching to plastic pellets for 320 if I use it and definitely for 500 and finer. You go with the polish an egg method in the coarse stages this is going to take you a year!
You aren't going to get "bruising" unless you have lots of empty space in the barrel for the rocks to really tumble and bang into each other. I read all the bruising threads, but have never had "bruised" rocks myself.
With softer stones I run barrels over 3/4 full, maybe 7/8ths depending on the load. The further along I get, the fuller the barrel. My polish barrel usually has almost no empty space. Makes for a very gentle tumble. Takes longer, but I don't care.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jun 27, 2015 1:09:10 GMT -5
Thank you for the explanation. What you explained makes a lot of sense. Sometimes I tend to over think things that are overly simple, when commonsense is applied. If I were to use ceramics are the cylindrical types I should be looking for? Harbor Freight-ening sells ceramic but I believe it's all that triangular stuff.
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Post by captbob on Jun 27, 2015 1:24:51 GMT -5
I use both or whatever I can find for a steal on eBay. Just make sure the ceramics don't have abrasive in them. Also only use ceramics in a rotary for specific batches. Like have dedicated ceramics for each grit stage, same with plastic pellets. Just save them and reuse on the next load.
I was thinkin' that I ought to mention that going rough(er) on your coarse grind is usually a good thing. If a stone is going to break or fracture, you want it to happen as early on as possible. You baby a load too much from the start and a hidden fracture makes it to a latter stage before breaking off and you are going to be hating life.
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