tjmax
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2004
Posts: 79
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Post by tjmax on Mar 22, 2004 18:39:00 GMT -5
www.facetrough.com/I decided to get a vibrating tumbler, a Raytech's Tumble-Vibe 5 Vibrating Rock Tumbler goes for 80 bucks, they also have a Deluxe Starter kit that contains 1- tv5 tumbler, 1-extra bowl and lid , 1 pound of each - 60/90grit, 100/120grit, 150/220grit, 700 fine grit, Iolox 50 fine grit, Raybrite TL polish for $110.00. The prices on the grit and polish seem to be pretty good too, 1lb of 60/90grit $2.75 1lb of 100/120grit $2.75 1lb of 150/220grit $3.00 1lb of 700 fine grit $3.50 1lb of Iolox 50 fine grit $3.50 1lb of Raybrite TL polish $6.25
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Apr 9, 2004 18:17:36 GMT -5
did you get the vibe 5 yet
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tjmax
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2004
Posts: 79
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Post by tjmax on Apr 10, 2004 10:19:21 GMT -5
Ohh yea, i had it the day i placed this post, I have been using it with my emeralds while i roller tumble my rubies. E I plan on mainly using it for matrix breaking precleaning, prepolish and wet and dry polishing, Using round tumblers for shaping and first grind.
The emeralds where not really ready for prepolish when i threw them in there so there are some very smooth jagid emeralds
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Apr 10, 2004 16:29:08 GMT -5
tj keep us up to date on how the bowl holds up. being hard plastic
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tjmax
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2004
Posts: 79
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Post by tjmax on Apr 10, 2004 17:25:45 GMT -5
Well i can give you a couple of first impressions now.
Ohh and please bear in mind that i am very much a noob that has not even finished my very first set of stones yet.
One thing thats a must is you need one bowl thats ONLY polish, The bowls take a good beating and grid does appear to me to get impressed into the plastic I have 3 bowls, i will take some images tomorrow while the house is filled with children, gives me a good excuse.
Operation:
It is fairly quite, but not tumbler quite.
I been running my emeralds and back yard filler stone in there with a 100/120 grit for first grind since I recieved the machine. Some of the stones are rounding out nicely while others are getting very flat surfaces.
Breaking up matrix on emeralds it worked extreemly well I will take some images of my emeralds tomorrow as well.
Goods and bads so far.
Goods
1) Breaks up matrix very well at least on emeralds
2) maintians basic rock sizes while making them polishable (fairly important for sorting gemstone i imagine.)
3) Its not too loud but loud enough not to stay in the same room with it.
4) large bowl is easy to clean out of smaller stones
Bads
1)plastic lid leaks slurry down the side of the bowl some times, leaving a plaster type substance around the base of the machine. Dried slurry. Makes it bad for in house operations as well.
2)you must put grease on the threaded bolt that hold the bowl and lid in place, the threads will rust solid in days if you do not, the bolt should have been stainless.
3) Plastic bowl visually appears to get grid impressed into it making it very important to mark what grid you use on each bowl.
4) clear plastic lid catches a lot of slurry splash making the fact its clear.. pointless.
All though i found by putting ivory in right away it keeps splash down alot and also helps prevent the spilage i was seeing.
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Post by cookie3rocks on Apr 10, 2004 19:52:41 GMT -5
I'm seeing the same good/bad wth mine It leaks and if I turn the screw down enough so it wont, I have to use pliers to get it off. And it is starting to rust a little. I'll oil it. Mine is in the basement so I don't see or hear it, which is nice. And the best thing is how well it gets the matrix off gemstones, which is primarily what I'm doing now. Let me know how your gem stones come out. I think mine should have stayed in phase one longer than 10 days, but that was the info I had at the time.
good luck
cookie
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bschultz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 234
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Post by bschultz on Apr 11, 2004 13:16:54 GMT -5
For a little better price on grit you might try alamorockshop.com.
Abrasives:
1 Lb 5 Lb
SCW46/70 Coarse tumbling/lapping grit 2.25 10.95
SCW60/90 Medium tumbling/lapping grit 2.25 10.95
SCW120/220 Fine tumbling/lapping grit 2.25 10.95
SCG220 Fine lapping grit 3.75 18.00
SCP400W Fine lapping grit 6.95 34.00
SCP500/F Pre-polish tumbling grit 4.50 20.00
SCP600 Extra fine lapping grit 9.95 42.50
Bob
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tjmax
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2004
Posts: 79
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Post by tjmax on Apr 12, 2004 12:13:07 GMT -5
Well the girls would not let me get into messing with my rocks yesterday.
The two youngest wanted to follow me around every where i want and something about two 5 year old girls, easter dresses and rock slurry set off alerts in my head saying that i best not.
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