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Post by HankRocks on Jun 16, 2019 10:27:02 GMT -5
Made a run up yesterday to do a bit of "collecting" The haul was about 250 lbs of rock, including 50 pounds Apache Tears, 12 - 3 and 4 inch spheres, about 12 unprocessed rock cubes, some nice Tigereye, Dark skin Brazilian, some Montana a couple of larger Needle Peak Red Moss vein pieces and a large thick slab of white Palm wood. Also picked up a Model B Thumlers, almost new and a Mini-Sonic 2 hopper vib. Really need to have a couple more 20 amp circuits pulled into the garage!! Also picked up 50 pounds of Tin Oxide, 25 pounds 800 Aluminum Oxide and 10 pounds 220 SiC. I think I am set for Tin Oxide for the rest of my life. Except for the Blow-out on the way home it was a good day.  DSC_0365 by Findrocks, on Flickr  DSC_0367 by Findrocks, on Flickr  DSC_0368 by Findrocks, on Flickr  DSC_0369 by Findrocks, on Flickr  DSC_0370 by Findrocks, on Flickr |
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Post by fernwood on Jun 16, 2019 10:44:38 GMT -5
But you did not need to walk very far on this trip.
Nice finds.
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Post by MsAli on Jun 16, 2019 10:46:22 GMT -5
That's a good days work!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 16, 2019 11:25:39 GMT -5
You know you are a lapidarist (at least a rock tumbler!) , when you hear the word "blowout" vehicle tires are not the first thing you think of. Sorry to post here, but I could not locate that thread  ETA - Nice haul, Henry. Sorry to hear about the tire. |
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Post by HankRocks on Jun 16, 2019 12:41:39 GMT -5
You know you are a lapidarist (at least a rock tumbler!) , when you hear the word "blowout" vehicle tires are not the first thing you think of. Sorry to post here, but I could not locate that thread ETA - Nice haul, Henry. Sorry to hear about the tire. I would much rather have a Lapidary blowout, A new set of 19" tires for the truck will definitely cost me. |
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 16, 2019 12:54:30 GMT -5
Nice haul, hope you got a terrific deal so the tires don't hurt too much.
Al
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Post by HankRocks on Jun 16, 2019 13:37:32 GMT -5
Nice haul, hope you got a terrific deal so the tires don't hurt too much. Al Out of respect for my friend I am buying them from I don't usually mention the cost. Besides if I included the number somebody would be contacting the local sheriff to run me in for stealing!! He and his wife are real good folks who are getting up in age and having health issues. I brought them a small tray of my garden tomatoes and a few containers of homemade soup. After loading the rocks, I trimming some tree limbs that were touching or almost touching his roof and then took them to lunch. He is a knowledgeable lapidary who has collected the Big Bend area and New Mexico, lots of good info and stories to share. And the drive is a nice tour through rural Texas, very enjoyable. I always consider my trips to see him a treat for myself. Henry |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jul 2, 2019 4:47:46 GMT -5
Jack pot and a great home.
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Post by HankRocks on Jul 2, 2019 7:15:49 GMT -5
Jack pot and a great home. It dawned on me yesterday that I have two extra Mini-Sonic 4lb hoppers, could use them in place of the single 10 lb hopper. That would let me tumble polish 3 large rocks at the same time isolated from each other. I have some big pieces of almost clear Ark Quartz that do not play well together at all. I have also decided that I can use my UV-18 and the "Beast"", the Rockette, for my 500 AO pre-polish stages. That frees up my Rotary Tumblers for the rough grind which is their strength. The 500 AO should put very little wear on the hoppers. The only decision is where to do th 80 AO stage, for now I will leave it in the Rotaries and avoid the wear on the Vib hoppers. Henry |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jul 3, 2019 8:16:09 GMT -5
Jack pot and a great home. It dawned on me yesterday that I have two extra Mini-Sonic 4lb hoppers, could use them in place of the single 10 lb hopper. That would let me tumble polish 3 large rocks at the same time isolated from each other. I have some big pieces of almost clear Ark Quartz that do not play well together at all. I have also decided that I can use my UV-18 and the "Beast"", the Rockette, for my 500 AO pre-polish stages. That frees up my Rotary Tumblers for the rough grind which is their strength. The 500 AO should put very little wear on the hoppers. The only decision is where to do th 80 AO stage, for now I will leave it in the Rotaries and avoid the wear on the Vib hoppers. Henry I did unload all abrasives not used. It seems best to not deviate from your 'system' by being tempted to use newly obtained abrasives just to use them. If you gave me 25 pounds of AO 800 or 50 pounds of tin oxide(wow) I would have no use for it. Just saying... Heck yes, use those rotaries to do some of the dirty work before you move to the vibes. I am down to 5 abrasives. The SiC coarse and SiC 500 rolls till very broken down. AO 80 for hard stuff, AO 220 for soft/glass in vibe. The very broken down SiC 500 has never failed to prepare material for the vibe. Rotary: SiC coarse(several grades, finer for soft, coarser for hard rocks)) SiC 500(vibe prep) Vibe: AO 80(hard rocks) AO 220(soft stuff) AO polish Those Mini-Sonic hoppers are perfect for single large rocks. Take note - the speed at which a single large rock attains polish in one of those Mini-Sonic hoppers. Because the single hard rock gets some heavy impingement and the abrasives break down so quick. Reduce run times and you will see. The only reason I welded up a larger hopper for the Vibrasonic was to increase the opening for yet larger big rocks. Have not done one yet though. The Mini-Sonic hoppers did great on biggies, biggest I could fit was 21 ounces and somewhat sawn in shape to fit opening. ETA AO 80 had little effect on wearing the vibe hoppers since it is so less aggressive than even SiC 500. Those Mini Sonic hoppers are about indestructibly thick. Wish Mini made maxi's. |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 3, 2019 9:34:14 GMT -5
SCORE!!!
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Post by HankRocks on Jul 4, 2019 7:44:56 GMT -5
It dawned on me yesterday that I have two extra Mini-Sonic 4lb hoppers, could use them in place of the single 10 lb hopper. That would let me tumble polish 3 large rocks at the same time isolated from each other. I have some big pieces of almost clear Ark Quartz that do not play well together at all. I have also decided that I can use my UV-18 and the "Beast"", the Rockette, for my 500 AO pre-polish stages. That frees up my Rotary Tumblers for the rough grind which is their strength. The 500 AO should put very little wear on the hoppers. The only decision is where to do th 80 AO stage, for now I will leave it in the Rotaries and avoid the wear on the Vib hoppers. Henry I did unload all abrasives not used. It seems best to not deviate from your 'system' by being tempted to use newly obtained abrasives just to use them. If you gave me 25 pounds of AO 800 or 50 pounds of tin oxide(wow) I would have no use for it. Just saying... Heck yes, use those rotaries to do some of the dirty work before you move to the vibes. I am down to 5 abrasives. The SiC coarse and SiC 500 rolls till very broken down. AO 80 for hard stuff, AO 220 for soft/glass in vibe. The very broken down SiC 500 has never failed to prepare material for the vibe. Rotary: SiC coarse(several grades, finer for soft, coarser for hard rocks)) SiC 500(vibe prep) Vibe: AO 80(hard rocks) AO 220(soft stuff) AO polish Those Mini-Sonic hoppers are perfect for single large rocks. Take note - the speed at which a single large rock attains polish in one of those Mini-Sonic hoppers. Because the single hard rock gets some heavy impingement and the abrasives break down so quick. Reduce run times and you will see. The only reason I welded up a larger hopper for the Vibrasonic was to increase the opening for yet larger big rocks. Have not done one yet though. The Mini-Sonic hoppers did great on biggies, biggest I could fit was 21 ounces and somewhat sawn in shape to fit opening. ETA AO 80 had little effect on wearing the vibe hoppers since it is so less aggressive than even SiC 500. Those Mini Sonic hoppers are about indestructibly thick. Wish Mini made maxi's. Don't have any plans to use the 800 AO. Was going to start using the Tin Oxide in place of AO polish as I was about to buy some more. Tried it in my Vib Lap on a new polish Pad and it works great. I don't have any 500 SiC, but use 600 SiC as pre-polish in the Vib Lap. That should be about the same as the 500. For now I will keep all of the SiC stages in the Rotaries and 500 A0 and Polish in the Vib's. I will juggle the 80 AO between the two depending on backlog and type of load. If it's all plain agate and wood will probably go rotary, if it's Quartz, Obsidian, or Pre-forms and slabs then it will go to a vib. With 3 - 4lb bowls for the mini-sonic and each having it's own control I will look to make a few test runs with Quartz and Obsidian. You're right about those hoppers, they look indestructible. Only complaint is when loading preforms, i can't get my hand in to ease the rocks in, have to turn it sideways and let them slide in. If they made that machine with 8-10 pound hoppers it would be something special. I also have a few Rio's that I have set aside and might have to run them now. Too many rocks! too little time!! |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jul 7, 2019 7:28:14 GMT -5
When us tumblers find a recipe that works it is quite a success. It took a long time to arrive at the best recipe for my given equipment. No need to argue what is best when your system works for you. Side note: You mentioned the similarity of SiC 500 and SiC 600. It is surprising to see the manufacturer's allowable size tolerance on their abrasives. Most have surprisingly large variations in particle size. Here is an AO supplier(Comco C) bragging that their AO has a tighter size bell curve for their 50 micron(AO 300). In either case notice the substantial range. Note that there are plenty of 100 micron particles(150 grit) mixed in with their 50 micron(300 grit). It is important to let your tumbler break down your grit each step. A cool effect of using abrasives in a tumbler. Many abrasive operations do not break down abrasives.  And another good reason to use slurry to scavenge all the abrasives. |
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