southerneagle
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2017
Posts: 9
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Post by southerneagle on Jan 19, 2017 19:53:54 GMT -5
Hello everyone, I am an old man, 56, just starting to tumble rocks. I see ceramic tumbling media on various sites and how it can help with the tumbling process as a filler and a grit enhancer. I can't afford the going rate for ceramic tumbling media right now, so I am asking the group for suggestions. I am thinking of going to Lowes and buying a single ceramic tile or two, they run around a dollar, and busting it up with a hammer and adding it to my first batch, or even tumbling the pieces by themselves to round them off before using them with rocks. Will that work?
SE
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Post by manofglass on Jan 19, 2017 20:05:50 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum 56 your not old Yet
Walt
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southerneagle
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2017
Posts: 9
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Post by southerneagle on Jan 19, 2017 20:19:48 GMT -5
LOL thanks Walt. I do turn 57 next month. What is so bad is I have been working at the same place in the same job since I was 20 years old!! I remember the things I was able to do back then and in my mind I think I can still do them. Wrong!! I do hope to retire in 5 years, and this hobby seems like a good fit for me. Take Care.
SE
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Post by wigglinrocks on Jan 19, 2017 20:22:47 GMT -5
Welcome to the RTH . Hmmm , old at 56 , means in about 6 months I'll be old
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 19, 2017 20:43:29 GMT -5
I'll be 60 in April so I must be really old . . . I went to a rocky river bank to collect some rocks. Took a shovel and extra bucket along. Collected a bunch of gravel that was 1/2 inch and smaller all the way down to sand. Once I got home I screened out the mud and large pieces and ended up with a buncha small tumbling media that I use in my early stage tumbles.
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Post by tims on Jan 19, 2017 21:04:45 GMT -5
I'd be concerned with sharp broken points and corners that might damage the barrel, but some people tumble glass shards with no apparent ill effect. There's also the possibility of introducing lead contained in the glaze. Have you considered pea gravel? It's cheap and holds up well as filler.
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Post by spiceman on Jan 19, 2017 21:14:03 GMT -5
I agree on the river rocks. Free, is the key word. My tumble rocks are all granite or flint after a while hard rocks are the only thing left. Nice rounded edges I've used them lots. Problem....I'm 54 and been tumbling for about a year and I'm not old. My goal in life is to get old, if you stop getting old well. something happened.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 19, 2017 21:18:55 GMT -5
I also use pea gravel for filler in the first stage. In my vibe, I use commercial ceramic pellets that I buy at The Rock Shed. I do not use pea gravel in later stages because it has holes and cracks that can carry grit to the next stage. The nice thing about ceramic is that it lasts a long time if you don't run it in the coarse grit stage. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to your question.
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Post by captbob on Jan 19, 2017 22:12:59 GMT -5
I'm kinda thinking that ceramic tile is only ceramic on the "pretty" side and that ceramic is probably a thin layer. The base of the tile is moat likely something that wouldn't last a run in a tumbler.
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Post by parfive on Jan 19, 2017 22:18:22 GMT -5
Welcome, SE. You’ve got a rotary tumbler, right?
You don’t need ceramic filler. People have been tumbling without it for years/decades/over half a century and turning out beauties.
Save all your broken bits and pieces and smalls for re-use, scrounge up some gravel for filler, as mentioned—any old rocks outside will do.
You don’t gotta buy nuttin’ but grit.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on Jan 19, 2017 23:04:19 GMT -5
I just use small agates and some solid pea gravel quartz.
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ubermenehune
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 293
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Post by ubermenehune on Jan 20, 2017 0:16:15 GMT -5
I'm kinda thinking that ceramic tile is only ceramic on the "pretty" side and that ceramic is probably a thin layer. The base of the tile is moat likely something that wouldn't last a run in a tumbler. I've experimented with crushed ceramic tile and this was exactly what I experienced. It weathers away faster than ceramic media and creates a lot of mud.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on Jan 20, 2017 2:05:58 GMT -5
Hardness of Ceramic Tiles "Water absorption rate, glazes, compression and material all determine the hardness of ceramic tile The percentage of water absorption by the tile body determines whether the ceramic tile is Impervious, Vitreous, Semi-Vitreous, or Non-Vitreous. From Impervious, where absorption rates of 15% and higher, hardness factors change Most glazes fall in the 5 to 6 Mohs Scale range. However, certain types of floor and porcelain tiles can have compressive strengths of 10,000 PSI and a Mohs hardness factor of 8" www.mkdiamond.com/tile/tec_tile.htmlMaking a guess, the old 1"(often smaller) square bathroom tiles from the 50's to 60's that were solid with no glaze are the above mentioned Mohs 8 tiles. Those are some hard azz tiles. Find one and chunk it in a tumbler sometime. Me, I would saw Brazilian agate nodules 5/16" thick and break them up into pea sized pieces and keep putting them in the rotary coarse stage 2 pounds at a time with regular tumbles till rounded off. Then you would have 'pretty' media with few pits or cracks. That is some hard unfractured agate.
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inbtb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2016
Posts: 351
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Post by inbtb on Jan 20, 2017 10:10:25 GMT -5
I thought I read someplace about using tile spacers.
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southerneagle
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2017
Posts: 9
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Post by southerneagle on Jan 20, 2017 10:52:16 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. The small pea gravel sounds like a plan!
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Erich
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2015
Posts: 411
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Post by Erich on Jan 20, 2017 11:26:53 GMT -5
Welcome! A lot of good ideas for filler media here. If no creeks/rivers are around you can get pea gravel at most Home Depot type stores. BTW, I barely remember 56...
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Post by manofglass on Jan 20, 2017 11:34:15 GMT -5
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on Jan 20, 2017 11:37:34 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. The small pea gravel sounds like a plan! Aquarium stores often sell the finest quartz pea sized gravel. It is worth paying more. All you need is a few pounds(5-15). Look for good solid usually white quartz ovals and ball shaped pebbles with minimum of porous trash. At least, 3/8" average. You can buy landscape grade and pick the porous trash out. Takes time/worth effort.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 20, 2017 12:19:08 GMT -5
I tried to find some Beanbag/Stuffed Animal Fill at a SuperWalmart last month in North Alabama but could not find it anywhere.
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Post by orrum on Jan 20, 2017 17:15:17 GMT -5
I use saw scrap, wine corks, broken glass, knapping scrsps, Johnny stone driveway gravel etc. Johnny stone is toilet tanks l, I knapp them and use the flakes etc in the rotary, it's cerami right??? LOL
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