andycf48
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2016
Posts: 3
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Post by andycf48 on Jul 23, 2016 8:49:52 GMT -5
hiya people's my names andy I'm from S.wales in the uk and a beginner to rock tumbling I've inherited a oldish wessex tumbler complete with various pots of grits inc course fine medium my question I need to ask is how much I need to put into each stage of each procedure ?hoping you can help andy ..
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 23, 2016 9:55:41 GMT -5
hiya people's my names andy I'm from S.wales in the uk and a beginner to rock tumbling I've inherited a oldish wessex tumbler complete with various pots of grits inc course fine medium my question I need to ask is how much I need to put into each stage of each procedure ?hoping you can help andy .. Welcome to the forum Andy. Without knowing the capacity of your tumbler it is really hard to tell you exact amounts of grit and polish but the general rule of the would be one tablespoon of grit per pound of rock added. Fill the barrel 75 percent full of rocks, add water to the bottom of the top layer of rocks, add your grit then seal it up and let it run for 7 days before inspecting for progress. Stage one can take anywhere from 2 weeks to many months with adding grit each week but each additional stage is only 7-10 days Chuck
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andycf48
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2016
Posts: 3
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Post by andycf48 on Jul 23, 2016 10:05:36 GMT -5
hiya people's my names andy I'm from S.wales in the uk and a beginner to rock tumbling I've inherited a oldish wessex tumbler complete with various pots of grits inc course fine medium my question I need to ask is how much I need to put into each stage of each procedure ?hoping you can help andy .. Welcome to the forum Andy. Without knowing the capacity of your tumbler it is really hard to tell you exact amounts of grit and polish but the general rule of the would be one tablespoon of grit per pound of rock added. Fill the barrel 75 percent full of rocks, add water to the bottom of the top layer of rocks, add your grit then seal it up and let it run for 7 days before inspecting for progress. Stage one can take anywhere from 2 weeks to many months with adding grit each week but each additional stage is only 7-10 days Chuck thanks for your reply my tumbler is not a large one we use it for cleaning up silver made from using metal clay but rock tumbling is new to me that info about one teaspoonful would it harm if I used to much ?
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jul 23, 2016 11:27:35 GMT -5
I'm also very new and have been trying to figure things out just like you. In my limited experience I found that when I put way too much grit in the rocks didn't tumble well and most of the grit still hadn't broken down even after a week of tumbling. Also there was minimal wear/shaping action on my rocks. This was putting a little more than two tablespoons or grit per pound of rocks so way over the typical rule of thumb. I keep wanting to rush the first stage and I believe this is why I have had such a difficult time getting the results I want. So far what I am seeing is that you really want to have the rocks in the final shape you want at the end of the first stage (no chips, cracks...). If there are imperfections going into stage two they will remain through the rest of the process and in your finished rocks.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 23, 2016 12:28:08 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Andy. Without knowing the capacity of your tumbler it is really hard to tell you exact amounts of grit and polish but the general rule of the would be one tablespoon of grit per pound of rock added. Fill the barrel 75 percent full of rocks, add water to the bottom of the top layer of rocks, add your grit then seal it up and let it run for 7 days before inspecting for progress. Stage one can take anywhere from 2 weeks to many months with adding grit each week but each additional stage is only 7-10 days Chuck thanks for your reply my tumbler is not a large one we use it for cleaning up silver made from using metal clay but rock tumbling is new to me that info about one teaspoonful would it harm if I used to much ? One tablespoon per pound not one teaspoon. put the rocks in till it is filled 70-75 percent full then dump them back out and weigh them. If they weigh three pounds put them back in and use three tablespoons of grit. Adding more grit then that does not mean faster grinding and usually just slows things down and causes other issues especially in smaller barrels. Chuck
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