NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,688
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Post by NRG on Mar 15, 2018 11:03:38 GMT -5
I HAVE had good results using kitty litter as a clay additive... I realize from reading some of these posts that there may be better substitutes (not necessarily cheaper or cleaner, but better..). For me a 10 lb. bag off the supermarket shelf goes a long way and is more convenient and less messy than recycling. I have come to realize the importance of a good slurry and want to improve my tumbles. Glenn And we don't have to store dirty yucky slurry snot in buckets or jugs. Couldn't imagine doing that here. All the best |
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Post by gmitch067 on Mar 15, 2018 21:04:45 GMT -5
I applaud the members like fossilman and jamesp who use different methods to acquire perfection in our hobby. I value their opinions. Recycling the slurry might be task involved and messy, but it is a viable solution that could.. no... WILL guide us toward our ultimate goal... SHINIES!!! YES!!!  |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,618
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Post by jamesp on Mar 16, 2018 5:09:35 GMT -5
I applaud the members like fossilman and jamesp who use different methods to acquire perfection in our hobby. I value their opinions. Recycling the slurry might be task involved and messy, but it is a viable solution that could.. no... WILL guide us toward our ultimate goal... SHINIES!!! YES!!! Well the state of Georgia as a whole has a substantial colloidal clay based economy and the subject of clay being used to suspend particles in many processes and products is fairly common talk. It is simply a part of our economy. And the abrasives (namely aluminum oxide) made from our high aluminum/felspar based clays. Funny gmitch067 and others have to buy clay when we live on top of a 50 foot deep layer and hate it for the most part. It stains our clothes, makes difficult gardening soil, impossible to drive on when wet, causes law suits when people disturb the clay and stain the creeks and rivers and roads. Silt and clay fencing and installation is big business in these parts. Clay running off on roads and into rivers is against the law and quickly punished with massive fines. Mothers of north Georgia whom have raised boys and tomboys hate it with a passion because it ruins clothes in one day of play lol. We once had rocky mountains like the west, only difference is weathering wore them down and converted them to clay. It does grow some of the sweetest tomatoes, melons, sweet potatoes, pasture grass in the world. Excellent soil in terms of rare micro-nutrients. |
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Post by grumpybill on Mar 16, 2018 7:11:54 GMT -5
...We once had rocky mountains like the west, only difference is weathering wore them down and converted them to clay... It's thought that the Appalachians once rivaled (and maybe even exceeded) the Himalayans in height. Although there is yellow clay in some areas around me (Eastern foothills of the Alleghenies), the predominate sedimentation is a 2 - 3 miles deep mix of sandstone, limestone and shale from the weathering of the mountains. Much courser (and deeper) than your clay. (Although, the shale may have been clay at one point.) |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,618
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Post by jamesp on Mar 16, 2018 7:38:35 GMT -5
...We once had rocky mountains like the west, only difference is weathering wore them down and converted them to clay... It's thought that the Appalachians once rivaled (and maybe even exceeded) the Himalayans in height. Although there is yellow clay in some areas around me (Eastern foothills of the Alleghenies), the predominate sedimentation is a 2 - 3 miles deep mix of sandstone, limestone and shale from the weathering of the mountains. Much courser (and deeper) than your clay. (Although, the shale may have been clay at one point.) Kaolin belt here in red Bill, the pure white stuff suitable for paper coatings and paint emulsifiers as it is white. Dead white.  North of this pure kaolin belt is kaolin rich clay but heavily stained with iron and often but not always laced with quartz sand particles. To my surprise the iron stained clay free of sand particles far exceeds the pure white kaolin as a tumbling slurry. I have a particular pit, small and on top of a hill back in the woods that is sand free red kaolin based clay that I dig my slurry clay. It is very sticky and pasty, typical of sand free clay. It exhibits extremes suction when wet sticking too boots and ATV tires. It is also consistent and repeatable for measured dosing. Unfortunately it does have some sand particles and that deems ti as a problem for use in 500 - 1000 - polish operations, great for course grind though. I could emulsify this clay in a large say 300 gallon tub. With say 50 gallons of clay in tub. And allow the sand particles to settle to the bottom and drain just above sand into another container and let settle for pure sand free red clay. Emulsify by running a strong flow of clean water and stirring the water and clay till the clay lets go of the sand so it can settle to the bottom. Basically a simple mechanical solids separator. Or go to a construction project and collect the cream off the top of the catchment pond where the sand has settled out of the clay and left the cream on top. Or easier, wait for catchment pond to dry and collect these highly pure clay content crackles free of sand.  |
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... to the New Guy from The ChatBox V.2 Crew