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Post by cookie3rocks on Jun 30, 2004 12:23:02 GMT -5
It was recommended to me with the vibe to wash out and start over every 12-24 hours and thats what I do. The course phase goes so fast that I have to keep cleaning the mud out ever day or everything gets stuck. Works well for me cookie
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 4, 2004 13:24:59 GMT -5
I have just started fine grind. I tried putting the barrel under water to clean it, that seemed to work pretty well. A few plastic pellets went down the drain, but that should be no problem as they float. They sure are dark now!
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jul 4, 2004 19:23:40 GMT -5
well i am totally befuzzled! didn't you just get them on the 25th of june?? i've never had any sodalite but have they already made it through 60/90 & 120/220 in 10 days? all of the rocks i've done are in 60/90 still 2 mos later ;D.
kim
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Post by cookie3rocks on Jul 4, 2004 21:58:03 GMT -5
I'm tellin ya'll, go to the car wash and pressure wash that barrel. Only takes $1.25 and 5 minutes and that dude is CLEAN ;D
cookie
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jul 4, 2004 23:23:31 GMT -5
Hey Kim, I read it a bit differently....I think he is just now finished coarse grind, after running it through twice, once for 5 days, next time for 4 days. I don't have experience tumbling sodalite yet, but I do have some laying around waiting its turn. It is only about 5.5 on Moh's I think, so maybe that really speeds things up. I hope mine goes as quickly, cause tumbling quartz materials is really trying my patience!
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 5, 2004 9:14:31 GMT -5
It is going fast, a LOT faster than my flint+agate load. After the first load especially, the bottom of the barrels had a thick layer of clay. I put a lot more pellets in the single barrel I am using now, and that seems to have slowed it a lot...if they had shrunk as much the second time around they would have been too small. I still had some grit left at the bottom this time. BTW, that might be another reason why you go slowly...do you recharge the grit after 5 or 6 days? If you are just trying to smoth a stone with clay it doesn't work too well! I will use less pellets on the polish so I polish faster.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jul 5, 2004 11:01:11 GMT -5
i recharge every 7 days. but i've never done a stone as soft as the sodalite. unless something was that soft in a gravel mix and then it either didn't survive the tumble or was the size of aquarium gravel at the end. i hope they turn out great and that you can share a pic with us! good luck!
kim
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 5, 2004 11:05:31 GMT -5
Right now I have no plans to get a camera...maybe someday.
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 9, 2004 13:09:38 GMT -5
Well, got the stones out of final polish (clay on the bottom and the stones are even smaller...gee, they are SOFT). Now on to polish. BTW, noticed my tumbler now has a "heartbeat". Maybe I just did not notice it before. Should I be concerned?
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Post by krazydiamond on Jul 9, 2004 15:24:15 GMT -5
if you are tumbling with a rotary unit, that is a sure sign of needing a new belt in the near future. or that your charge is not balanced or that your unit has somehow become un-level.........if it is convenient, next time you stop to check you contents, check your belt, i go through one on my Chicago units about every 1-2 months, sometimes sooner.
KD
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 11, 2004 5:38:51 GMT -5
The motor "twitches" with each "beat". Does this help? Dave is on vacation all July, maybe I'll have to wait to start my green aventurine? I also have one barrel empty, is this what you mean by "unbalanced"?
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Post by krazydiamond on Jul 11, 2004 8:38:00 GMT -5
having your barrel under charged or overcharged or having too many large rocks and not enough smalll ones can inhibit the right tumbling action and the rocks just slide but not tumble. the instructions on my tumbler gave a rule of thumb about % of small, medium and large rocks for a good charge.
KD
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 11, 2004 10:18:26 GMT -5
My stones shrunk considerably, maybe this is the problem?
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Post by connrock on Jul 11, 2004 10:52:12 GMT -5
Hi all,, I have never done any sodalite so i'll stay away from that but I did notice a few things I "can" comment on. The softest material I have done is obsidian.I have found that I can skip the 60/90 and go right to 120/220 or graded 220. I have also found that I can't fill the barrel with the normal 1/2 or 1/3 full of material.Rather,I make the load up of 1/2 the amount of material and 1/2 pellets for a total of 1/2 or 1/3 the barrel height. In other words the load consits of 1/2 material and 1/2 pellets. You don't get as many polished stones as normal but that's the nature of the beast. Another thing I have noticed is that soap is not mentioned much at all.A powdered non-detergent soap soap is VERY hard to find if it still exists at all.Procter and Gamble stopped making Ivory Snow back in the 80's and the only powdered soap I can find is Dreft. If you add a little powdered soap to your load it helps in many ways. It helps the grit to move around better,keeps that "mud" some of you have mentioned from sticking to the sides and bottom of the barrel,it helps to keep grit and "mud" out of those tiny cracks and crevices and most of all it helps with clean up! For the people who are having the "mud" stick to the bottom of the barrel while inspecting the load,,,,that's normal.The "mud" sets up REAL fast.If you ever have a power failure while your tumbler is running ,,,,you're in for a real treat!!!!!! This nasty stuff WILL clog your drain in a BIG hurry!!!!!!!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- After a little thought and being a little short on time i've decided to "NOT" write what has already been written. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I know all of you have read a lot abpout tumbling but I have found that every so often I have to go back to basics just to refresh my tired old "memory bank"!! This is a link to one of the finest articles I have ever found on tumbling. It was written by Rick Stinson who is a Master Gem cutter and Lapadarist.If you follow Rick's instructions to a T,,,,,you won't go wrong,,,,,,NO SHORT CUTS!!!!!!! www.gemservice.com/lapidary.htmHere's a link to his Home Page www.gemservice.com/index.htmTake a look at both if you have the time,,,,You'll be amazed!! Remember,,,,,If you start out with junk (rough),,,,,,,, That's what you'll end up with!!!!!! Tom
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Jul 11, 2004 11:38:42 GMT -5
That is a good article. I read it when I first started tumbling, stored it in my favs for future reference and forgot all about it. Glad you posted the link again - never hurts to go back and review info from the experts!
llana
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Post by krazydiamond on Jul 11, 2004 14:23:54 GMT -5
that is a good article, sums it up rather nicely.
KD
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Jul 14, 2004 10:54:33 GMT -5
Well, I figured the polish+pellets would be about done. I was a pleased by the color, but was a little disappointed by the "finish". There were minute cracks, pores and scratches still. Maybe I had the barrel a bit too full to smooth them? But that is hard to believe, there was so much clay after the silicon carbide stages and those stones are dramatically smaller than they were. Maybe the stones were scratching each other, in spite of the pellets? But I had a lot of pellets. And I ran this about as long (5 or 6 days) as I did the flint+agate load, which came out quite good. I would grade myself about a C- (AH - below sea level!) as opposed to B+ on my first load (you guys do A level work, BTW).
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Post by krazydiamond on Jul 14, 2004 18:51:49 GMT -5
my limited experience with sodalite is that is has extreme variations, light blue to dark, and the striated kind as weel as the very nice type with a quartz(?) stripe. the very dark blue comes out smoother that the variegated, i'me running a mixed bach now that i'm pleased with, we'll see how good it shines in a few weeks,
KD
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Aug 10, 2004 0:11:45 GMT -5
How did it do, krzydiamond? BTW, a friend took a "before" and an "after" stone to show an aquaintence how tumbling and polishing changes them!
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Post by cookie3rocks on Aug 10, 2004 0:25:28 GMT -5
I'm running some sodiaite now and the darker the blue, the smoother the finish. I even pulled a couple pieces out of 220 to wait till 600. The grayish blue still needs more time. Sodalite is soft and requires TLC. You are going to get a lot of sludge in coarse, it breaks down fast. I've had one stone go to polish that pleased me.
cookie
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