jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 9:48:08 GMT -5
I do run a Lortone 12 pound barrel. Can't tell much difference Randy. Except big rocks make it leak by hitting the lid. Buy a real tumbler! Don't put two big rocks in that barrel Bob. I have a Lortone 12 pounder and big rocks hit the cover and make it leak. Will this one handle it ?
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 9:51:39 GMT -5
Prep at 24 hours, removing ridges from pre-grind operations. Final shaping. Feathering. Little surface defects. Tumbling shows defects. Get rid of them.
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Post by captbob on Sept 27, 2016 9:52:09 GMT -5
No concerns on the lid coming loose with this tumbler. Just wondered if two large rocks banging into each other would be a problem.
Gotta go garage digging for that huge Rio crate. Hope it's not too buried.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 9:54:33 GMT -5
No concerns on the lid coming loose with this tumbler. Just wondered if two large rocks banging into each other would be a problem. Gotta go garage digging for that huge Rio crate. Hope it's not too buried. Yep. Two big rocks will beat each other to death. Lest you turn barrel very slow and really thicken the slurry. Faster to do them one at a time. I am coursing at 55 RPM. Oh, crappie piece of snowflake. The flakes undercut. Bad rock. So so shine. My vibe seems to dislike obsidian. Do Mohs 7 rocks.
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Post by captbob on Sept 27, 2016 9:58:53 GMT -5
I don't recall RPM on Thumler's 15 (forgetting trivial stuff is becoming bothersome) WAY slower than 55 RPM tho.
Still thinking that your speed and PVC barrel is behind your fast grit break down. Will know in a few days.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 9:59:11 GMT -5
I would have already had it rolling captbob. Hurry it up. Speed and thick slurry. My opinion.
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Post by captbob on Sept 27, 2016 10:00:10 GMT -5
Obsidian needs babying. What were you using as filler at the end?
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 10:04:55 GMT -5
Obsidian needs babying. What were you using as filler at the end? The obsidian was just a polish test for the vibe. My vibe does Mohs 7 real shiny. Not obsidian or rhyolite. Best polish I ever got with obsidian was in the rotary. Mixed assortment of Mohs 7 pea size media. AO 80 3 days, AO 14,000 1 day. Not babied.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 13:02:21 GMT -5
Garage Rocker I tried a lot of slurry material. Tried red clay as a joke. Ended up floating grit very well. Did research and found out our Georgia clay is colloidal platelet clay. A product of weathered felspar. One of the best materials to assist suspension of heavy particles in liquids. I used to tumble with watery slurry and had no luck with SiC 8/16/30 and straight 46. Those heavy grits washed down for 3-4-5 days. Would not start grinding fast. I tried lime and had a big improvement. But it was rough on the hands. Went to the red clay and it was a game changer. It will float SiC 16 first few hours. I am all about slurry in the rotary when using coarse grits for rough grind. Lot of people say the milk shake slurry protects rocks from grinding. I think circulating the grit, cohesive suction and lubrication overrides any protective effects.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 27, 2016 13:16:33 GMT -5
Garage Rocker I tried a lot of slurry material. Tried red clay as a joke. Ended up floating grit very well. Did research and found out our Georgia clay is colloidal platelet clay. A product of weathered felspar. One of the best materials to assist suspension of heavy particles in liquids. I used to tumble with watery slurry and had no luck with SiC 8/16/30 and straight 46. Those heavy grits washed down for 3-4-5 days. Would not start grinding fast. I tried lime and had a big improvement. But it was rough on the hands. Went to the red clay and it was a game changer. It will float SiC 16 first few hours. I am all about slurry in the rotary when using coarse grits for rough grind. Lot of people say the milk shake slurry protects rocks from grinding. I think circulating the grit, cohesive suction and lubrication overrides any protective effects. I'm with you on that. Absent the Georgia clay, I have been using kitty litter in my barrels and feel it does make a difference. I've had more consistent slurries and what seems, to me at least, a more efficient grind. Worked really well with 46/70. 3-4 day cleanouts and smooth slurry, no grit in bottom. I'm confounded by the failure of the Sic 30 to break down like that in twice the amount of time. I have some still sizeable grit, not a lot, in the bottom of the barrel after 8 days.
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Post by captbob on Sept 27, 2016 14:13:35 GMT -5
I'm gonna call this a fail before the motor is even warmed up. Thinking the RPM just too low. 19RPM
We'll see in a few days.
If nothing else, it's nice to hear the house humming again with a tumbler rolling.
Wife will be so thrilled.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 14:26:30 GMT -5
Garage Rocker I tried a lot of slurry material. Tried red clay as a joke. Ended up floating grit very well. Did research and found out our Georgia clay is colloidal platelet clay. A product of weathered felspar. One of the best materials to assist suspension of heavy particles in liquids. I used to tumble with watery slurry and had no luck with SiC 8/16/30 and straight 46. Those heavy grits washed down for 3-4-5 days. Would not start grinding fast. I tried lime and had a big improvement. But it was rough on the hands. Went to the red clay and it was a game changer. It will float SiC 16 first few hours. I am all about slurry in the rotary when using coarse grits for rough grind. Lot of people say the milk shake slurry protects rocks from grinding. I think circulating the grit, cohesive suction and lubrication overrides any protective effects. I'm with you on that. Absent the Georgia clay, I have been using kitty litter in my barrels and feel it does make a difference. I've had more consistent slurries and what seems, to me at least, a more efficient grind. Worked really well with 46/70. 3-4 day cleanouts and smooth slurry, no grit in bottom. I'm confounded by the failure of the Sic 30 to break down like that in twice the amount of time. I have some still sizeable grit, not a lot, in the bottom of the barrel after 8 days. Check this out regarding Georgia red clay. Huber probably made more money than Dupont doing railroads and Rockerfellar doing oil mining lowly kaolin clay here in Georgia. Use- heavy ink suspension additive for the paper industry: Was thinking about the barrel. As the rocks are rolling/sliding against each other across the top is where I figure most of the action is. The rocks in contact with the barrel are not moving much. Except when they hit the end of the 'avalanche' with in. I have tumbled 8-12 ounce rocks together. At 10 ounces I used to get some frosting on the sharpest edges of the hardest rocks. Tried rocks over 12 ounces and had bad frosting when run together. This was all before thick clay slurry. And in a PVC rotary. At a gentle 25 RPM. In stage 3 and 4(AO 500 and AO 14,000) I had to run in a thick sugar slurry in the rotary to avoid frosting--could call it frosting, more like a poor polish. Moving to 24 to 32 ounce rocks is a horse of a different color. One fellow on here tumble a large Canyon agate in a rotary and used small garnets for his media. I am kinda copying his lead. I believe he did that one in a 3 pound barrel. Looked about 30 ounces or bigger. You mentioned SiC 30 is not breaking down. I hardly ever run smalls. Suspicious of them slowing grind. And Georgia red clay is one of the finest suspension materials to float particles like grit. My SiC 30 breaks down in two days at 30 RPM doing regular tumbles(1 to 2.5 inches). But since doing the big rocks it has been looking like 220 after 12 hours. And rolling 220 is a waste of time for shaping so I add fresh 30. I do not like PVC barrels. They are loud and take a while to build. However they are easy to get into with the rubber cap. That is their best quality. And rarely leak.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 14:29:01 GMT -5
I'm gonna call this a fail before the motor is even warmed up. Thinking the RPM just too low. 19RPM We'll see in a few days. If nothing else, it's nice to hear the house humming again with a tumbler rolling. Wife will be so thrilled. I get great SiC 30 grinds with 2 inch rocks at 28 RPM. Like 48 hour breakdown. I think the big rock has a lot of effect. How big a rock ? Bowling ball ? Beach ball ?
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Post by captbob on Sept 27, 2016 14:37:07 GMT -5
2 3/4 lbs. Flattened softball size. Pics when I get time.
Found a 5+ pounder that I really want to run. Lots of poppy looking areas showing. Wouldn't have a lot of room to tumble in barrel. Gotta think on what to use as smalls with it.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 27, 2016 14:39:12 GMT -5
Obsidian needs babying. What were you using as filler at the end? The obsidian was just a polish test for the vibe. My vibe does Mohs 7 real shiny. Not obsidian or rhyolite. Best polish I ever got with obsidian was in the rotary. Mixed assortment of Mohs 7 pea size media. AO 80 3 days, AO 14,000 1 day. Not babied. How did you get a good polish with a rotary,on Obsidian......Mine goes great through the cycles,till the polish stage! Than its just wasting my time,so I gave up on the polish stage and boxed them up...LOL
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ubermenehune
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 293
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Post by ubermenehune on Sept 27, 2016 14:40:15 GMT -5
That rock is gonna look dope. Bloodstone takes a beautiful shine fairly effortlessly.
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Post by orrum on Sept 27, 2016 14:41:55 GMT -5
They use some kind of ground up rock powder in b the coal fields. They Put It in n water and coal floats in the tiple.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 14:48:28 GMT -5
They use some kind of ground up rock powder in b the coal fields. They Put It in n water and coal floats in the tiple. Cool. Like salt water will make ya float. It's heavier than regular water. Mercury might float grit a bit to much. Anyway, you want the grit up high in the avalanche where all the rubbing is going on. The foreplay section.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 14:51:19 GMT -5
That rock is gonna look dope. Bloodstone takes a beautiful shine fairly effortlessly. Isn't it the truth. I can't mess up the polish on bloodstone. Gotta be the easiest to polish. It has exact same texture as coastal plain chert down here in the SE US. Grinds slow, polishes fast.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 27, 2016 14:54:06 GMT -5
fossilman. I don't want to tumble any more obsidian. Best left to the pros. Regular rotary tumble but 70% smalls. Took forever. And it still did not have a Lot O finish. not near.
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