Saving slurry… why or why not?

all rotary or rotary stage one then vibe?

Some folks using all rotary will use additives or thickeners to protect the rocks from the rolling/falling action. Others use a little old slurry in stage one and say it helps carry the grit. I do not not use anything but fresh grit and fresh water in my stage one each week. After 7 days a slight slurry has formed and there is no unused grit left meaning it was all used up. I swear by this method and the guys using slurry and thickeners will swear by that method. This is one of those personal preference topics. My opinion is that saving slurry and adding it to stage one adds a step and adds another variable in things that can go wrong.

Others may chime in about adding thickeners to the other stages in a rotary tumble to protect the rocks. I use a vibe for those stages.

Chuck

Being new to this hobby, I only use/own a small rotary (Lortone 33B).

As always, thank you for your info Chuck.

John

I have about the same size tumbler. If you look around online you can find your supply cheap. I just bought a 1lb of the 4 steps cheaper then I could have went to the lhs and bought just enough for 1 batch. Also for steps 2,3,4 I run plastic beads. Helps cushion the stones

One thing you guys (and gals) new to tumbling may care to try is simply adding new grit to the coarse stage as what is in the barrel wears out. Saves on doing a couple/few clean outs.

As James said, if it gets too thick, just dump some out and add more water and fresh grit.
If you do this, make sure the lid and rim of the barrel are good and clean so you get a good seal on the lid.

If this is new to you, you may enjoy the clean outs. Once you've been doing this awhile you just might be happy to skip some steps along the way where possible.

I thought Chuck only did the coarse first stage in a rotary and then switched to his vibes. (?)

From another newbie...

Remember that the coarse stage is pretty much a different animal from later stages. Coarse stage is a "forming" stage where rocks are transformed from sharp-pointed, angular, blocky rocks into smoothed and curved ones. The important thing especially for the coarse grind is...patience. Rocks may need coarse grinding for weeks...even months, depending on the condition of the rocks when started tumbling (smooth river rounded, rough crushed rock, etc.,) and just how blemish-free you want your rocks to turn out. Stages after coarse grind will most likely *not* remove blemishes. So in regards to surface structure/topography/etc the rocks that you take out of coarse grind will be what you end up with...if it has a pit in it then you will end up with a shiny rock with a pit in it...if there's a chip in it after coarse grind, yep, you'll end up with a shiny rock with a chip in it. Patience in coarse grind sets the stage for the finished product.

After patience a couple of other very important things are getting the coarse grit to stick to the rocks and to replenish or replace the grit as it breaks down (wears out). Putting only water, rocks, and grit into a barrel will definitely do the job in getting the grit/rock grinding going. The fresh mix will carry the heavy coarse grit via the tumbling rotary motion, maybe not as well as it would if it had a bit of slurry in there, but it will move the grit enough to begin to create it's own slurry. After a while that slight slurry will create more and more slurry and grinding will increase dramatically. At a point, though, most (if not all) of the coarse grind will be broken down and the slurry will be much thicker. At this point grit needs to be replaced or replenished.

At this point, the slurry that has been created is thick which has both a negative and positive effect. The slurry now easily picks up and moves grit around the barrel and rocks. Remember, grinding happens when grit is crushed between rocks. But (in my feeble, newbie mind), the thick slurry also tends to create an excessive cushioning action that reduces the grinding of the coarse grit between rocks tumbling against each other. The slurry can get to a point where it approaches "gumminess" where rocks become covered in sticky mud and literally just ride around inside the barrel without experiencing much of a tumbling action. There has to be "fluid" action inside the barrel for proper tumbling and SFPM (surface feet per minute)comes into play. SFPM is basically the distance the rocks tumble per minute as they tumble down the surface of the "hill" inside the barrel. If the slurry gets too thick it affects the tumbling action and the SFPM. So, here are three options (there are more options, but these come to mind as being the most used ones):

1. You can do a complete clean-out and refill with clean water and fresh grit. Doing this you have a chance to closely inspect your rocks and see how they are progressing in the grind. For a newbie (and some oldies ) it's fun to see the rocks as they progress. This seems to be a more "sanitized" approach that adheres closely to a recipe...maybe more control by the user?

2. You can do a complete clean-out and refill with clean water and fresh grit *and* add a thickener. A thickener can be added at the very beginning, too. It can be old slurry, red clay, borax, metamucil, cat litter, lime,...a number of things. Care should be taken, though, if using organic matter due to gassing which cap pop lids off (a big mess). The thickener gives you a "quick start" to the slurry and gets the grit transporting quickly.

3. You can thin the slurry by pouring some of the slurry out, adding water, and replenishing the grit. You can begin with a thickener if you want to. This gives you the benefit of an established slurry that you are keeping fluid by replacing some of it with clean water. Grit replacement is simply adding the proper amount of grit to the existing slurry. Naturally you won't be inspecting your rocks as closely as you would in the previous two methods. For larger tumblers and lots of rocks this definitely cuts down on labor/time involved. BUT...there are lots of folks doing large tumblers and large amounts of rock that do complete clean-outs.

There are more methods than these and I probably goofed on explaining these. But, having said all of that, there are people on the forum that each use one of the above methods or ones similar and they all produce polished rocks that will blind you (and I don't mean by getting hit in the eye by one!)...they shine to a brilliant sparkle! These people have "found" their recipe for producing outstanding polished rocks...no one person's recipe is exactly like the next person's...some recipes are like polar opposites. As time goes by, you will find *your* way of doing things. In the meantime, listen to the pros here, look at their results. If what they tell you sounds like something you'd like to try...try it. If you want to go down a rabbit trail...go down it...you might find a gold nugget in the rabbit hole you find there! Just remember that someone else may have already gone down that rabbit trail.

As for saving slurry... I wouldn't save anything but coarse grit slurry...the dangers of contamination for later stages just wouldn't be worth it for *me*.

Best wishes and have fun!!!

Been rolling 3-4 barrels for over 3 years. Big barrels at 15-22 pounds each.
Clean outs are a lot of work. It is totally unnecessary. And so is the SiC 220 step if you let the last coarse charge run a couple of weeks.
Start with good rocks and forget the clean outs.
Just add grit weekly and pour off slurry/add water 3-4 times(or as needed) over the 6-12 weeks of coarse grind. Clean cap and seal, close it up.
Relax and enjoy the time and labor savings. Let your tumbler do the work.

I do finishing stage in a vibe with AO 500 and sometimes polish.

Saving slurry ? Personal preference. The mechanism of tumbling breaks down grit. Should be safe to reuse if it does not cause gas.
My reused slurry often creates gas. So I avoid it.

You have spent to much time in Panama Mark.

Curious to the potential hallucinogenic effects of slurry.

Not only does it often cause gas but also serious constipation.

Even clay based Kaopectate does not bring relief. It is one of the finest medicines for constipation.

T-shirts as mentioned a great logo for RTH T-shirts. Members would get it anyway.

So you can save grit and reuse?