reynedrop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2020
Posts: 204 
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Post by reynedrop on Feb 23, 2020 19:45:56 GMT -5
Naturally, I ordered a new one from a different shop  Two weeks ago, I ordered my first batch of rocks and a 1 lb tumbler from Amazon (Dan and Darci brand). No idea what size grit they use, how fast the tumbler goes (it has three speeds), etc, and my first tumble went as well as you can imagine a tumble going when you throw rocks of differing hardness all together! A week ago (while my first tumble was still going), I bought a 33B from a vendor close to home (so it would ship to me in 1 day), and it's been out of stock/backordered since. Because I'm a naturally impatient person and 7-14 days for course grit makes me shiver, I've been looking into a vibe tumbler. I decided it had to be rubber barrel (1100 sq ft apartment in a quad... not set up for noise), but given the tax situation, multiple Lot-Os were not going to happen... plus I'm not in a position where I can easily superglue it to cement, nor can I easily clean out the barrels (currently have no way to use any running water to clean any of my tumblers). Having multiple barrels will be nice and I really don't need a 4.5# single barrel. $160 later and I have a SECOND 33B ordered from Lortone themselves. Rock Shed is out of stock... So now I'm really hoping the Lortone site itself isn't "backordered." Still not sure how well Husband will take to me owning two new tumblers. My defense is that this is actually a lot cheaper than my other hobby (makeup). For now, in my baby hobby tumbler, I'm tumbling pink opal, peach moonstone, and rainbow moonstone... and I may have put labradorite in there too. I was told pink opal is actually a specific variety of mookaite and is harder than actual opal? I did try to test hardness with all the rocks together before tumbling and tried to keep them all around 6-6.5. I'm really hoping I don't mess this one up. Timer set initially for 5 days. Should've taken photos of the rough. What do you all do when you're impatiently waiting? Or do you all have multiple tumblers (and access to lapidary equipment) and hardly have long stretches of boredom? |
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Post by catmandewe on Feb 23, 2020 20:01:03 GMT -5
I have 2 new 33-B's sitting on the shelf here if they are backordered.
Tony
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Feb 23, 2020 20:24:42 GMT -5
What do you all do when you're impatiently waiting? Heh. I've had to learn patience. It's tough. I browse these forums, look at past threads, look at rocks in online stores deciding if I should get it or wait for something else. Go hiking/hounding on the weekends if weather permits. Sort and prep new material in anticipation that the barrels this upcoming week will need new material added. |
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reynedrop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2020
Posts: 204
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Post by reynedrop on Feb 23, 2020 20:41:25 GMT -5
What do you all do when you're impatiently waiting? Heh. I've had to learn patience. It's tough. I browse these forums, look at past threads, look at rocks in online stores deciding if I should get it or wait for something else. Go hiking/hounding on the weekends if weather permits. Sort and prep new material in anticipation that the barrels this upcoming week will need new material added. I have most of my rocks already sorted out into cups. Been window-shopping online for new rocks but I can't justifying buy anything new until I have a plan for my rocks now. I'm still several months away from tumbling all my rocks to perfection. Maybe my next project will be getting containers and better polish  Why do all the good polishes come in plastic bags? I don't have room for that mess Montana is a weird state. Apparently we have great rockhounding, but if you're like me and get cold very easily, don't function in the snow, and hate anything resembling a tan, there aren't many good weekends for hounding |
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Feb 23, 2020 21:34:55 GMT -5
I just wait around, go to work, take care of kids and the dog, and think a lot about rocks.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller 
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432 
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Post by Wooferhound on Feb 24, 2020 1:08:45 GMT -5
Rock Tumbling is a Slow Motion hobby, it's all about Patience.
Having One QT66 dual 6 pound barrels would be very much better than Two 33B's having four 3 pound barrels.
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reynedrop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2020
Posts: 204
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Post by reynedrop on Feb 24, 2020 2:16:50 GMT -5
Rock Tumbling is a Slow Motion hobby, it's all about Patience. Having One QT66 dual 6 pound barrels would be very much better than Two 33B's having four 3 pound barrels. I thought about it but decided I didn’t want a barrel that large yet. After I go through what I have now rock-wise I intend to be a lot “slower” with my rock purchasing. I don’t think I would want to tumble 6 pounds of similar hardness yet. For my purposes, I want to be able to either a) not have to worry about how well a barrel is cleaned out moving from each tumble (I don’t have access to running water to clean them out and attempting to clean out my current small tumbler was madness, which is part of why I didn’t move on to the medium grit step), and/or b) be able to tumble smaller amounts of mixed rocks of differing hardness at the same time. My “goals” for my collection are more to have a few polished stones of a wide variety rather than several pounds of a few varieties. 1 and 1.5 lbs barrels felt too small overall but even thinking about filling a 4.5# vibratory tumbler seemed like I would be using and wasting a lot of media just to fill the bowl. 3# seemed like the sweet spot (I’ve actually started to create “shopping lists” for the various stones I want to tumble together and they mostly turn out in 3lb quantities overall). I’m still not convinced I need the second 33B, but I was getting tired of waiting for the one I originally paid for to come back in stock, especially as I wasn’t given any ETA. I’m not opposed to owning two, but purchasing the second honestly was to just get one into my hands. I AM thinking though if I don’t get keep my order on the backstocked 33V, I should at least get additional barrels as I am absolutely terrified about my inability to get a really good clean on them, ar least to have one that is purely a polish barrel. I’m so scared of scratching up the softer stones. |
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on Feb 24, 2020 11:37:30 GMT -5
I have the opposite problem, I am a stagehand in a 2000 seat theater and we are working a Lot lately as the economy is doing good. We will start an event in the morning and won't be going home till midnight, for days in a row. I have two 6 pound barrels rolling in Stage 3 and am now 4 days past-due on a cleanout and advancement to the next stage. Like I don't have enough Stages in my life? Now I have time today, but my Cleanout area is outside and it's gonna rain all day. Diana Ross tomorrow, then through the weekend doing symphony. Maybe I can do it in the next few days.
Doesn't really matter to me ... they will eventually get done.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Feb 24, 2020 14:20:38 GMT -5
My understanding with the vibratory tumblers (don't own one, but read/watch a lot here) is that they're for finishing material. Essentially replacing steps 2,3,4 of the rotary process. I have not recalled anyone using them for coarse grinding, less it was to gently round off corners of cut glass. I started off with the 33B and was trying to speed through the process with 5 days per stage --> essentially 3 weeks from start to polish. Fun at first, disappointed with final quality within a few rounds of that. The 3 lb barrels will take some time to do stage 1, regardless of what you put in it. They don't lift and tumble the rocks as high as the bigger barrels, thus part of the reason for the higher rotation speed. Doable, for sure, but it's such few stones for so much time the itch to get more barrels gets stronger and stronger. In my biased opinion, hold off on the second 33B and save that money towards a different piece of equipment. The wonderful thing about the QT66 is the versatility in choosing whether to run either one or both of the barrels, or completely swap to a 12 lb barrel later. There are a multitude of people here that will vouch for the QT66. If you poke around some of the threads by jamesp , HankRocks , and a some of my recent threads about tumbling bigger stones you'll find discussion about the night and day difference in the coarse grinding step by adding a larger stone to the barrel. It's harder to pull off in a 33B, but I've done a couple larger stones and MsAli has a thread of one she finished a while back. I think what I'm more concerned about than anything is your running water situation That makes all of this extra hard. Cleanouts require a fair bit of water. |
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Post by RocksInNJ on Feb 24, 2020 14:27:49 GMT -5
I almost started off with a 33b, but so glad I decided to go with the QT-66. Love it and as mentioned above it’s very versatile.
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Feb 24, 2020 14:49:53 GMT -5
My understanding with the vibratory tumblers (don't own one, but read/watch a lot here) is that they're for finishing material. Essentially replacing steps 2,3,4 of the rotary process. I have not recalled anyone using them for coarse grinding, less it was to gently round off corners of cut glass. I started off with the 33B and was trying to speed through the process with 5 days per stage --> essentially 3 weeks from start to polish. Fun at first, disappointed with final quality within a few rounds of that. The 3 lb barrels will take some time to do stage 1, regardless of what you put in it. They don't lift and tumble the rocks as high as the bigger barrels, thus part of the reason for the higher rotation speed. Doable, for sure, but it's such few stones for so much time the itch to get more barrels gets stronger and stronger. In my biased opinion, hold off on the second 33B and save that money towards a different piece of equipment. The wonderful thing about the QT66 is the versatility in choosing whether to run either one or both of the barrels, or completely swap to a 12 lb barrel later. There are a multitude of people here that will vouch for the QT66. If you poke around some of the threads by jamesp , HankRocks , and a some of my recent threads about tumbling bigger stones you'll find discussion about the night and day difference in the coarse grinding step by adding a larger stone to the barrel. It's harder to pull off in a 33B, but I've done a couple larger stones and MsAli has a thread of one she finished a while back. I think what I'm more concerned about than anything is your running water situation That makes all of this extra hard. Cleanouts require a fair bit of water. I must be dumb. I just NOW reading this realized that since I'm running 2x12# Lortone barrels that I could run the 6# ones as well. |
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Post by MsAli on Feb 24, 2020 14:57:29 GMT -5
My understanding with the vibratory tumblers (don't own one, but read/watch a lot here) is that they're for finishing material. Essentially replacing steps 2,3,4 of the rotary process. I have not recalled anyone using them for coarse grinding, less it was to gently round off corners of cut glass. I started off with the 33B and was trying to speed through the process with 5 days per stage --> essentially 3 weeks from start to polish. Fun at first, disappointed with final quality within a few rounds of that. The 3 lb barrels will take some time to do stage 1, regardless of what you put in it. They don't lift and tumble the rocks as high as the bigger barrels, thus part of the reason for the higher rotation speed. Doable, for sure, but it's such few stones for so much time the itch to get more barrels gets stronger and stronger. In my biased opinion, hold off on the second 33B and save that money towards a different piece of equipment. The wonderful thing about the QT66 is the versatility in choosing whether to run either one or both of the barrels, or completely swap to a 12 lb barrel later. There are a multitude of people here that will vouch for the QT66. If you poke around some of the threads by jamesp , HankRocks , and a some of my recent threads about tumbling bigger stones you'll find discussion about the night and day difference in the coarse grinding step by adding a larger stone to the barrel. It's harder to pull off in a 33B, but I've done a couple larger stones and MsAli has a thread of one she finished a while back. I think what I'm more concerned about than anything is your running water situation That makes all of this extra hard. Cleanouts require a fair bit of water. I must be dumb. I just NOW reading this realized that since I'm running 2x12# Lortone barrels that I could run the 6# ones as well.  |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Feb 24, 2020 15:53:18 GMT -5
Benathema, I believe the stone @alikat ran was almost a pound in a 33 barrel. She had some smaller rocks running with that if memory serves rounded fast too. And the big rock finished out fast too but it was pre-shaped. Just saying, even a small 33 barrel can become a mean little grinder with a 12 to 16 ounce rock added.
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reynedrop
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2020
Posts: 204
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Post by reynedrop on Feb 24, 2020 15:54:18 GMT -5
My understanding with the vibratory tumblers (don't own one, but read/watch a lot here) is that they're for finishing material. Essentially replacing steps 2,3,4 of the rotary process. I have not recalled anyone using them for coarse grinding, less it was to gently round off corners of cut glass. I started off with the 33B and was trying to speed through the process with 5 days per stage --> essentially 3 weeks from start to polish. Fun at first, disappointed with final quality within a few rounds of that. The 3 lb barrels will take some time to do stage 1, regardless of what you put in it. They don't lift and tumble the rocks as high as the bigger barrels, thus part of the reason for the higher rotation speed. Doable, for sure, but it's such few stones for so much time the itch to get more barrels gets stronger and stronger. In my biased opinion, hold off on the second 33B and save that money towards a different piece of equipment. The wonderful thing about the QT66 is the versatility in choosing whether to run either one or both of the barrels, or completely swap to a 12 lb barrel later. There are a multitude of people here that will vouch for the QT66. If you poke around some of the threads by jamesp , HankRocks , and a some of my recent threads about tumbling bigger stones you'll find discussion about the night and day difference in the coarse grinding step by adding a larger stone to the barrel. It's harder to pull off in a 33B, but I've done a couple larger stones and MsAli has a thread of one she finished a while back. I think what I'm more concerned about than anything is your running water situation That makes all of this extra hard. Cleanouts require a fair bit of water. The water situation drives me insane too. I did ONE clean out on a 1 lb barrel and had to cart out SO much water... I think the rocks are decently clean but the barrel I didn’t trust... so I’m tumbling another batch with coarse grit. I need to figure out where/if we have any water spigots on any of the units outdoors. I haven’t seen any, but I would assume there might be some somewhere. Otherwise I really don’t know what to do other than separate barrels. I think vibes are mostly for the polishing but 🤷🏻♀️ I’m so new to this. I like the idea of the faster polishing and I think some rocks probably don’t even need much shaping if I don’t want them shaped, maybe? But the vibes will wait!! Eventually I do want to “upgrade.” Husband likes the idea of having a wood shop (he watches a lot of videos making bowls and stuff out of wood and resin), so lapidary would fit into that area too, but we just aren’t at that stage of life. We’re saving up a bit to buy a house, but so much is contingent on my schooling, and if I’m going to be apartment living for med school (high likelihood), then that’s 1 year master’s, 4 years med school, 3-4 years residency, any fellowships... basically it’ll be 8-10 years or more before I can really “set up shop.” (Ideally we will buy a house while I am school as our main residence, and technically we can put a shop in there, but I would be full time living wherever I need for school and training- it’ll be complicated). I just can’t see myself using a 6 or 12 lb barrel yet. Or cleaning them out! Edited to add: Received email from customer support. I ordered a UV lamp through them which shipped, so I asked about the ETA for the 33B. They are due to come in-stock the first week of March (next week) but "this is not a solid date." Emailed back to ask about cancelling. |
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Why do all the good polishes come in plastic bags? I don't have room for that mess 
