saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 12, 2018 22:15:58 GMT -5
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Post by MsAli on Sept 12, 2018 22:26:50 GMT -5
Great job!
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Post by Pat on Sept 12, 2018 23:43:23 GMT -5
I don't tumble rocks, but I am sure glad others do. Eye candy! Thanks!
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Post by aDave on Sept 13, 2018 1:05:37 GMT -5
Nice, Grant. Looks like you're getting your recipe(s) dialed in.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 8:16:42 GMT -5
As always thanks Ali
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 8:16:54 GMT -5
I don't tumble rocks, but I am sure glad others do. Eye candy! Thanks! Thanks Pat
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 8:18:23 GMT -5
Nice, Grant. Looks like you're getting your recipe(s) dialed in. Thanks again Dave. Question for you - I need find a way to reduce chips during AO500 and polish runs in the lot-o. I have tried lots of ceramic etc but I am coming to the conclusion I need super small ceramic and like 50% if it to prevent these chips. So many of my rocks have chips/fractures and I don’t know if it’s something I can slowly reduce or not.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Sept 13, 2018 8:58:09 GMT -5
You really got the shine going on all of those. I had to put my shades on to look at them! Great job and thanks for sharing.
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Post by fantastic5 on Sept 13, 2018 9:07:08 GMT -5
Wow, they are all FANTASTIC!!! This is my favorite of the group:
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 9:23:42 GMT -5
Wow, they are all FANTASTIC!!! This is my favorite of the group: Thank you - I really like that one as well
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 13, 2018 9:41:30 GMT -5
Awesome rolls.... Liking the LSA..
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Post by aDave on Sept 13, 2018 12:10:13 GMT -5
Nice, Grant. Looks like you're getting your recipe(s) dialed in. Thanks again Dave. Question for you - I need find a way to reduce chips during AO500 and polish runs in the lot-o. I have tried lots of ceramic etc but I am coming to the conclusion I need super small ceramic and like 50% if it to prevent these chips. So many of my rocks have chips/fractures and I don’t know if it’s something I can slowly reduce or not. Sometimes chips/pits/fractures are just the nature of the beast for some material, no matter what precautions you take with loading and such. In fact, for me, I find tiger eye, some pet woods, lavic...heck, there are too many to mention...will most likely end up with a pit or two no matter what I do.
Since I'm only doing rotary, I can't help you with the loading to reduce chipping from impact. Maybe Drummond Island Rocks, Jugglerguy, or Garage Rocker can jump in with some pointers about the Loto and loading. Good luck.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 12:50:50 GMT -5
Awesome rolls.... Liking the LSA.. Thanks Fossilman !
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 13, 2018 13:01:05 GMT -5
Thanks again Dave. Question for you - I need find a way to reduce chips during AO500 and polish runs in the lot-o. I have tried lots of ceramic etc but I am coming to the conclusion I need super small ceramic and like 50% if it to prevent these chips. So many of my rocks have chips/fractures and I don’t know if it’s something I can slowly reduce or not. Sometimes chips/pits/fractures are just the nature of the beast for some material, no matter what precautions you take with loading and such. In fact, for me, I find tiger eye, some pet woods, lavic...heck, there are too many to mention...will most likely end up with a pit or two no matter what I do.
Since I'm only doing rotary, I can't help you with the loading to reduce chipping from impact. Maybe Drummond Island Rocks, Jugglerguy, or Garage Rocker can jump in with some pointers about the Loto and loading. Good luck. I am not going to be much help here. I do not use anywhere near 50% ceramics on my mixed rock loads. The only time I go that high is for obsidian or cabochon loads. I will be posting another finished mixed rock load this weekend and I will include a group shot with the ceramics used in a pile next to them. Could be more of a material issues then a tumbler issue. Maybe load size and water amount too. A lot-o not filled to the ideal level will be harsher on the rocks inside. Just throwing out some ideas. Not saying you are doing anything wrong. Another great batch. Are you using borax with 500, 1000 and polish stages? That seems to tame mine down to a pretty gentle roll. I use one tablespoon but I suppose more could be used to pad and slow things down if needed. Chuck
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Post by TheRock on Sept 13, 2018 13:17:06 GMT -5
Looking good Grant! Where did the agates come from? The big bathtub? They all look Beautyful
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Post by Jugglerguy on Sept 13, 2018 14:25:38 GMT -5
Sometimes chips/pits/fractures are just the nature of the beast for some material, no matter what precautions you take with loading and such. In fact, for me, I find tiger eye, some pet woods, lavic...heck, there are too many to mention...will most likely end up with a pit or two no matter what I do.
Since I'm only doing rotary, I can't help you with the loading to reduce chipping from impact. Maybe Drummond Island Rocks, Jugglerguy, or Garage Rocker can jump in with some pointers about the Loto and loading. Good luck. I am not going to be much help here. I do not use anywhere near 50% ceramics on my mixed rock loads. The only time I go that high is for obsidian or cabochon loads. I will be posting another finished mixed rock load this weekend and I will include a group shot with the ceramics used in a pile next to them. Could be more of a material issues then a tumbler issue. Maybe load size and water amount too. A lot-o not filled to the ideal level will be harsher on the rocks inside. Just throwing out some ideas. Not saying you are doing anything wrong. Another great batch. Are you using borax with 500, 1000 and polish stages? That seems to tame mine down to a pretty gentle roll. I use one tablespoon but I suppose more could be used to pad and slow things down if needed. Chuck I don’t have much to add. I agree with everything Chuck said because we do things almost exactly the same. Are you using just large ceramics? I use a 50-50 mixture of small and large cylinders. I use about 30% ceramics to 70% rocks. I do not have problems with chipping. Other than the chips, the shine is excellent.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 13, 2018 14:27:36 GMT -5
I am not going to be much help here. I do not use anywhere near 50% ceramics on my mixed rock loads. The only time I go that high is for obsidian or cabochon loads. I will be posting another finished mixed rock load this weekend and I will include a group shot with the ceramics used in a pile next to them. Could be more of a material issues then a tumbler issue. Maybe load size and water amount too. A lot-o not filled to the ideal level will be harsher on the rocks inside. Just throwing out some ideas. Not saying you are doing anything wrong. Another great batch. Are you using borax with 500, 1000 and polish stages? That seems to tame mine down to a pretty gentle roll. I use one tablespoon but I suppose more could be used to pad and slow things down if needed. Chuck I don’t have much to add. I agree with everything Chuck said because we do things almost exactly the same. Are you using just large ceramics? I use a 50-50 mixture of small and large cylinders. I use about 30% ceramics to 70% rocks. I do not have problems with chipping. I think 30 percent of mixed size is a great rule of thumb. I find myself pushing that boundary sometimes as low as 10% and can usually see it in the results. Chuck
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 16:19:42 GMT -5
Sometimes chips/pits/fractures are just the nature of the beast for some material, no matter what precautions you take with loading and such. In fact, for me, I find tiger eye, some pet woods, lavic...heck, there are too many to mention...will most likely end up with a pit or two no matter what I do.
Since I'm only doing rotary, I can't help you with the loading to reduce chipping from impact. Maybe Drummond Island Rocks , Jugglerguy , or Garage Rocker can jump in with some pointers about the Loto and loading. Good luck. I am not going to be much help here. I do not use anywhere near 50% ceramics on my mixed rock loads. The only time I go that high is for obsidian or cabochon loads. I will be posting another finished mixed rock load this weekend and I will include a group shot with the ceramics used in a pile next to them. Could be more of a material issues then a tumbler issue. Maybe load size and water amount too. A lot-o not filled to the ideal level will be harsher on the rocks inside. Just throwing out some ideas. Not saying you are doing anything wrong. Another great batch. Are you using borax with 500, 1000 and polish stages? That seems to tame mine down to a pretty gentle roll. I use one tablespoon but I suppose more could be used to pad and slow things down if needed. Chuck Drummond Island Rocks Jugglerguy Garage RockerI generally fill my lot-o to the very top (or close to). Lately - I have been using LSA as filler (small round ones already polished) that I have made over time and that seems to have reduced my fracture/chip rate. However - I am usually VERY full on the lot-o. I usually do 1/3 filler to 2/3 rocks, or less filler. Then, add 1 TBL borax to AO500 and Polish stages. I do not use Borax for Sic 120/220. I usually do large ceramic and some small ceramics but mostly large. I usually do *NOT* use filler for my 120/200 Sic stage in the lot-o (usually approximately 36 hrs because it slows to a crawl by then). I *do* use filler for AO500 and polish. I haven't noticed as many issues after 120/220 but it is the AO500 stage that kills me. I try for 4 days in AO500 so I can go to polish (recommendation by fellow member here). I could do 48h in AO500 then 48h in AO1000 before polish stages but cleaning it out every 2 days stinks. I am getting ready to do my first obsidian batch and plan on using 50% or so 2mm round ceramic beads from TRS. I have tumbled my obsidian in my 6lb barrel with 50% filler (large ceramic from TRS) as well and am getting nice shapes without much issue I can tell. Hoping the AO500 stage goes well. Thoughts guys ? Thanks so much.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Sept 13, 2018 16:22:36 GMT -5
I am not going to be much help here. I do not use anywhere near 50% ceramics on my mixed rock loads. The only time I go that high is for obsidian or cabochon loads. I will be posting another finished mixed rock load this weekend and I will include a group shot with the ceramics used in a pile next to them. Could be more of a material issues then a tumbler issue. Maybe load size and water amount too. A lot-o not filled to the ideal level will be harsher on the rocks inside. Just throwing out some ideas. Not saying you are doing anything wrong. Another great batch. Are you using borax with 500, 1000 and polish stages? That seems to tame mine down to a pretty gentle roll. I use one tablespoon but I suppose more could be used to pad and slow things down if needed. Chuck I don’t have much to add. I agree with everything Chuck said because we do things almost exactly the same. Are you using just large ceramics? I use a 50-50 mixture of small and large cylinders. I use about 30% ceramics to 70% rocks. I do not have problems with chipping. Other than the chips, the shine is excellent. Can I ask a favor? Can you take a picture sometime of your lot-o filled before starting it? I wonder if I am filling mine too full by chance. It is definitely not too empty Also - my stages are: 1. rough grind in rotary 2. Sic 120/220 in Lot-o (2 TBL) x 48 hrs. This usually only goes 36 hrs or so due to slowing or difficulty with motion. NO filler at this stage. 3. AO 500 in Lot-o (1/2 tsp plus 1 TBL borax) x 96 hrs. This usually only goes for 3 days, maybe 4 depending on motion. By day 3 the motion has slowed a lot and sometimes I add more borax. During all this I add water as needed. Filler ranges from LSA to large ceramic, usually 25%-40% or so. Most the time I'd guess at the 20-25% range. 4. Polish (1/2 tsp plus 1 TBL borax) x 48 hrs. Same filler used above, none added. 5. Burnish (2 TBL borax) x 4 hrs.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 13, 2018 17:32:11 GMT -5
I am not going to be much help here. I do not use anywhere near 50% ceramics on my mixed rock loads. The only time I go that high is for obsidian or cabochon loads. I will be posting another finished mixed rock load this weekend and I will include a group shot with the ceramics used in a pile next to them. Could be more of a material issues then a tumbler issue. Maybe load size and water amount too. A lot-o not filled to the ideal level will be harsher on the rocks inside. Just throwing out some ideas. Not saying you are doing anything wrong. Another great batch. Are you using borax with 500, 1000 and polish stages? That seems to tame mine down to a pretty gentle roll. I use one tablespoon but I suppose more could be used to pad and slow things down if needed. Chuck Drummond Island Rocks Jugglerguy Garage RockerI generally fill my lot-o to the very top (or close to). Lately - I have been using LSA as filler (small round ones already polished) that I have made over time and that seems to have reduced my fracture/chip rate. However - I am usually VERY full on the lot-o. I usually do 1/3 filler to 2/3 rocks, or less filler. Then, add 1 TBL borax to AO500 and Polish stages. I do not use Borax for Sic 120/220. I usually do large ceramic and some small ceramics but mostly large. I usually do *NOT* use filler for my 120/200 Sic stage in the lot-o (usually approximately 36 hrs because it slows to a crawl by then). I *do* use filler for AO500 and polish. I haven't noticed as many issues after 120/220 but it is the AO500 stage that kills me. I try for 4 days in AO500 so I can go to polish (recommendation by fellow member here). I could do 48h in AO500 then 48h in AO1000 before polish stages but cleaning it out every 2 days stinks. I am getting ready to do my first obsidian batch and plan on using 50% or so 2mm round ceramic beads from TRS. I have tumbled my obsidian in my 6lb barrel with 50% filler (large ceramic from TRS) as well and am getting nice shapes without much issue I can tell. Hoping the AO500 stage goes well. Thoughts guys ? Thanks so much. I just read this post and your next reply to Jugglerguy. You are pretty much doing everything exactly like I do. Same stages same amount of grit, polish borax. Sometimes I will do the long 500 run and sometimes I break that up with a shorter 500 and add a 1000 stage. The only thing I do different is using the small/large ceramic mix. I do not use small rocks or pea gravel as filler. My logic behind that is that it introduces another variable. Ceramics are very consistent. My lot-o runs very full. At times large rocks actually get stuck for a little bit up top before passing. With your obsidian batch I highly recommend adding the 1000 stage and also highly recommend using tntmom's instructions to a "T" for instant success. If you need them I have a copy. You can experiment with those ceramic beads but I have never had any problems getting perfect finish on apache tears and obsidian using the small/large mix. Chuck
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