rockrockrock
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2016
Posts: 91
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Post by rockrockrock on Aug 22, 2016 8:59:15 GMT -5
Rob, thanks so much for that specific information. That helps a lot.
Will try this out.
Scott
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Post by Jugglerguy on Aug 22, 2016 10:15:03 GMT -5
Let me know if you have any more questions.
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rockrockrock
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2016
Posts: 91
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Post by rockrockrock on Aug 26, 2016 10:38:39 GMT -5
Hi, Everyone. Thanks again for being so generous with your time and suggestions.
To recap and bring you up to date.... I am using just a basic Harbor Freight barrel rock tumbler and have begun to have some success. I have discovered that I can only tumble dry, since the picks, being flat, will adhere to the back wall of the barrel and stay stuck there.
I am using ceramic triangular "stars" as my main media. Yesterday I added about 1/2 cup sand to the mix, with no water, and this seemed to speed things up a bit.
Question: What might I add to this mix that might move it along a little faster? I am Los Angeles and even here I'm having trouble finding a rock tumbling supply place. It seems I need to add a small amount of an additional media in the next day or two (not enough time to order it online) to speed up the process. Someone mentioned kitty litter. Would that help?
Is there a media I could buy locally right away at Lowe's, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, or even a craft's place like Michaels, that I could add to this mix?
Thanks to all of you, I'm already having more success than I thought I would and just wanting to build on that.
rock
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rockrockrock
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2016
Posts: 91
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Post by rockrockrock on Aug 28, 2016 14:35:20 GMT -5
UPDATE: Okay, I've tried both rotary and vibratory, both with zero success. I tried running dry with ceramic stars, for about 12 hours, no visible deburring. I am currently using the following media: www.harborfreight.com/5-lbs-medium-ceramic-abrasive-polishing-tumbler-media-60547.htmlI am now running for about two hours the same media, this time wet in the vibratory unit, with several tablespoons of kitty litter added. I don't care how much the flat sides of the picks are scratched, as I can wet-n-dry sand those off. I want a VERY AGGRESSIVE media to get these edges rounded, the rest be damned. I have glass beads from Harbor Freight (rated 80 grit) that I haven't tried yet. I also notice that they sell an aluminum oxide 70 grit. Would that be worth trying, wet or dry? Any suggestions would be deeply and sincerely appreciated. Thanks So Much, RockRockRock
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Post by Jugglerguy on Aug 28, 2016 16:42:48 GMT -5
I have never used that type of media. I use non abrasive ceramic media from The Rock Shed. I add either silicon carbide grit or aluminum oxide grit. Silicon carbide is better at shaping, so you probably want that. If you're using the vibe, try 120/220 grit for the most aggressive tumbling. Coarser grits won't work in a vibe. The rotary will change the shape the most, so maybe that's what you need. If so, you can use 60/90 grits or 80 grit, which are basically the same. 46/70 would be more agressive.
Some pictures of your results might help us help you. If you want to post pictures, you'll have to host them on a site like flickr and then copy and paste the BBcode here.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on Aug 29, 2016 6:29:58 GMT -5
I used to tumble copper/brass and stainless. Same issue, it is much softer than the rocks we tumble. And I had the same motive, to round off the edges where they had been sheared. Ceramic media is a fine abrasive. Best for applying a finish. To round the edges off of my metal parts I used fresh granite pea gravel and like Jugglerguy mentioned silicon carbide 60/90-80-30-46. Any of those grades. Maybe 70 % pea gravel and 30 % metal. Used a rotary, 3/4 full, water below rock line. Apparently the fresh granite gravel did a lot of the cutting being abrasive in itself. It took a week. I would dump the pea gravel and use fresh gravel each run. * It was crushed gravel, not creek worn gravel. so it was abrasive. Maybe you can see the rounded edges in this photo. These are jewelry blanks ready to be hammered and/or partitioned. A pile of them. Final product. Tumbler saved me filing edges. Real time saver. Punk/Goth jewelry. Polished hammer face and anvil transferred fine finish, not a tumbler. And buffed with rouge. This is the pea gravel I used.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on Aug 29, 2016 6:46:50 GMT -5
Plastics and metals are soft and oddly for that reason they are resilient to abrasives. Rubber is real soft and really resilient to being tumbled. Harder plastic like PVC will tumble wear. Thinking guitar pics are hard plastic, the edges should round off. Bagged gravel is cheap. Or it can be stolen from a parking lot if no one is looking. I would avoid marble or dolomite, try to use granite or other quartz based gravel.
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