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Post by Noosh9057 on Apr 24, 2018 17:15:47 GMT -5
Good afternoon everyone
I have been tumbling rock since the mid-70s often on. I am probably stuck in my old ways. For filler And for cushioning in the polish stage I have always used plastic pallets. I would like to step away from using entirely plastic pellets and try ceramic media. My question is on the non-abrasive ceramic media that the Rock Shed Has for sale. Can you use this ceramic media right out of the bag in all stages including polish. Or do you need to tumble it in the fine grind then into polish. I also would like to know can you tumble this with the course stage then go directly into polish without the ceramic media scratching the rocks. Obviously cleaning the ceramic media very good coming out of the first stage.
I guess the main question is can this ceramic media be used in all the stages as long it is cleaned very well just like you would your rocks.
Thanks Roger
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Post by gmitch067 on Apr 24, 2018 19:46:34 GMT -5
You can use the ceramic media throughout all stages of polishing... just make sure they are well cleaned between stages.
If you are using the ceramics for the first time it is advisable to lightly round off the pieces in 80 grit before continuing to use them in finer grit stages... this is not a concern if you are starting at 80 grit itself. For cleaning between stages, I separate the rocks from the ceramics... the rocks go into a tub of water to be cleaned by hand with a toothbrush... The ceramics go into a closed container of water with a little clear unscented dish soap. I then do a shake-rattle-n-roll dance using the container like a pair of maracas ... shaking it madly (music singing helps... the neighbors enjoy the show). I then drain and hose them down before transferring the ceramics to the tumbler or vibe. (Note: do to arthritis, my dancing movements are severely limited... and my singing sucks... but the neighbors still seem to love it all.)
I now find myself using pea sized POLISHED quartz gravel (aquarium gravel run through all stages by themselves and then sifted through to remove stones that didn't polish well or were jagged). These seem to work best in the vibes, but will also work in a rotary tumbler. Their cost and amount of wear is similar to the ceramics.
I hope this helps you Roger.
Glenn
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Post by Noosh9057 on Apr 24, 2018 20:15:46 GMT -5
You can use the ceramic media throughout all stages of polishing... just make sure they are well cleaned between stages. If you are using the ceramics for the first time it is advisable to lightly round off the pieces in 80 grit before continuing to use them in finer grit stages... this is not a concern if you are starting at 80 grit itself. For cleaning between stages, I separate the rocks from the ceramics... the rocks go into a tub of water to be cleaned by hand with a toothbrush... The ceramics go into a closed container of water with a little clear unscented dish soap. I then do a shake-rattle-n-roll dance using the container like a pair of maracas ... shaking it madly (music singing helps... the neighbors enjoy the show). I then drain and hose them down before transferring the ceramics to the tumbler or vibe. (Note: do to arthritis, my dancing movements are severely limited... and my singing sucks... but the neighbors still seem to love it all.) I now find myself using pea sized POLISHED quartz gravel (aquarium gravel run through all stages by themselves and then sifted through to remove stones that didn't polish well or were jagged). These seem to work best in the vibes, but will also work in a rotary tumbler. Their cost and amount of wear is similar to the ceramics. I hope this helps you Roger. Glenn Thank you so much for all of this great information. I totally understand what you are saying about rounding off the new ceramic media. Would one alternative be to put all of the ceramic media in a tumbling barrel with fine grit. Then tumble for a day or so. Then obviously clean and use in any stage. Roger
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goatgrinder
spending too much on rocks
Make mine a man cave
Member since January 2017
Posts: 368
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Post by goatgrinder on Apr 24, 2018 20:17:03 GMT -5
You can use the ceramic media throughout all stages of polishing... just make sure they are well cleaned between stages. If you are using the ceramics for the first time it is advisable to lightly round off the pieces in 80 grit before continuing to use them in finer grit stages... this is not a concern if you are starting at 80 grit itself. For cleaning between stages, I separate the rocks from the ceramics... the rocks go into a tub of water to be cleaned by hand with a toothbrush... The ceramics go into a closed container of water with a little clear unscented dish soap. I then do a shake-rattle-n-roll dance using the container like a pair of maracas ... shaking it madly (music singing helps... the neighbors enjoy the show). I then drain and hose them down before transferring the ceramics to the tumbler or vibe. (Note: do to arthritis, my dancing movements are severely limited... and my singing sucks... but the neighbors still seem to love it all.) I now find myself using pea sized POLISHED quartz gravel (aquarium gravel run through all stages by themselves and then sifted through to remove stones that didn't polish well or were jagged). These seem to work best in the vibes, but will also work in a rotary tumbler. Their cost and amount of wear is similar to the ceramics. I hope this helps you Roger. Glenn I do the shake, rattle, and roll too for clean media but when I put my pants back on the neighbors boo and hiss. What am I doing wrong?
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Post by aDave on Apr 24, 2018 20:29:33 GMT -5
I would like to step away from using entirely plastic pellets and try ceramic media. Hi Roger, I exclusively use plastic. I'm just kind of curious why you're considering changing to ceramic. I'm not set on trying to talk you out of the move...just want to see what it is that's making you change your ways.
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Post by gmitch067 on Apr 24, 2018 21:49:58 GMT -5
Thank you so much for all of this great information. I totally understand what you are saying about rounding off the new ceramic media. Would one alternative be to put all of the ceramic media in a tumbling barrel with fine grit. Then tumble for a day or so. Then obviously clean and use in any stage. Roger I would go for a full week in the rotary tumbler if doing it in 220 or above Roger. If you are using a vibe, you start at 220 grit anyway.
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Post by Noosh9057 on Apr 25, 2018 9:03:26 GMT -5
I would like to step away from using entirely plastic pellets and try ceramic media. Hi Roger, I exclusively use plastic. I'm just kind of curious why you're considering changing to ceramic. I'm not set on trying to talk you out of the move...just want to see what it is that's making you change your ways. I am considering changing to ceramic for only a couple reasons. One of them is the fact that I have never done it and want to check out the results. The other reason is I like the fact that you can use the ceramic in a particular stage and still use it again in a Finer stage. You can store all of your ceramic media in one container. Obviously using plastic you need to store them labeled for that particular grind. Roger
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 25, 2018 11:02:37 GMT -5
Ceramic media comes in many different sizes and shapes.........depends on what your application needs are.
It also depends on the type of tumbling one does, rotary, vibe (bowl), vibe (Lot O), and batch sizes (container qty.).
Used as filler, shape and size of the media commonly is dictated by the size of the material being processed and stage application......as an example, 1st stage rough 1" to 2" in size, would benefit from larger ceramic media sizes that are shaped like pyramids or cubes.......the other end of the spectrum (polishing) would benefit from smaller media sizes shaped like balls or elongated ovals.....
Personally, I've used both plastics and ceramics in various sizes and shapes, in rotary barrel and bowl vibe applications.........for agate/jasper + 7Mohs type material, in all stages I have had the best results with ceramics (non-abrasive). They last longer, decrease run times and if cleaned properly, can be carried over into every grind cycle. Polishing cycles should have their own dedicated media for each application. Softer stones, sticking with plastic cubes and beads is advised.
This article helped me.......:
rocktumbler.com/tips/using-the-right-tumbling-media/
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Post by Noosh9057 on Apr 25, 2018 11:39:54 GMT -5
Ceramic media comes in many different sizes and shapes.........depends on what your application needs are.
It also depends on the type of tumbling one does, rotary, vibe (bowl), vibe (Lot O), and batch sizes (container qty.).
Used as filler, shape and size of the media commonly is dictated by the size of the material being processed and stage application......as an example, 1st stage rough 1" to 2" in size, would benefit from larger ceramic media sizes that are shaped like pyramids or cubes.......the other end of the spectrum (polishing) would benefit from smaller media sizes shaped like balls or elongated ovals.....
Personally, I've used both plastics and ceramics in various sizes and shapes, in rotary barrel and bowl vibe applications.........for agate/jasper + 7Mohs type material, in all stages I have had the best results with ceramics (non-abrasive). They last longer, decrease run times and if cleaned properly, can be carried over into every grind cycle. Polishing cycles should have their own dedicated media for each application. Softer stones, sticking with plastic cubes and beads is advised.
This article helped me.......:
rocktumbler.com/tips/using-the-right-tumbling-media/
Thank you very much for this useful information. I will also check out the link.
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