Questions to get me started on a couple projects
Aug 2, 2020 23:42:19 GMT -5
hummingbirdstones and EricD like this
Post by horseman1 on Aug 2, 2020 23:42:19 GMT -5
Hi there. My first post here on this site.
Please forgive me if I don't use proper terms for things that to you are well known.
I've been reading this forum for a while prior to posted anything. I'm a longtime ammunition reloader and built a prototype (fancy name for a redneck engineered quick made piece of junk) brass tumbler in about an hour out of old swamp cooler parts (motor, poor quality pillow blocks, a belt, 3/4 shafts and some heater hose). I had to buy a few pulleys and a belt and stole one of wife's pony tail ties to get both shafts to spin. It has worked great for years for brass, so I never made a nice version of it. For rocks, not so much I'll bet. OK, I did have to replace the pony tail thingy a couple times.....Keep that to yourself if you would.
I'm quite sure I'd need a better barrel if I need to tumble rocks (one of JamesP barrels - great stuff!) and I'm pretty sure the rough running bearings and the pony tail business are not quite up to the task of rock tumbling . Regardless of all that, I'm not really worried about building a rotary tumbler unless you folks think I need one. I can do that if you suggest that it is needed and I'll use proper pillow blocks, barrel and the like. Currently though, I'm in a situation where I need some help and advice from the people on this forum regarding my rocks. I've never done this before and I think I need your help with the following:
1. I want to make an artificial small "stream" on our ranch for my wife's "secret garden". I can build that no problem, other than my questions about the rocks. This is where you folks come in! A lot of the material I want to use for the stream bottom appear to be pieces that Native American's have knapped away from what you would probaby call on the forum as "red and brown boring jasper". The idea is to polish these small pieces for the bottom of her "stream". Reading for a while here, I am currently under the impression that the best approach might be to use a vibratory tumbler to polish these shards/pieces and not grind them away to nothing in a rotary tumbler with course grit. Please correct me here if I am wrong (really!). Remember, I've never done any of this. I was hoping to keep some of their natural shape (OK, maybe not natural, but roughly whatever shape I found them in). As you all know much better than I do, good vibratory tumblers are not cheap, but to make her "stream come true", I would be willing to buy one or two. This woman has put up with my shinnanigans for decades. I suspect there is a special place in heaven for people like her.
What do you think? Is a vibratory tumbler the right way to go for this application or maybe rotary tumble them for a bit first? Grind on them a bit with an angle grinder first to pre-shape things up? (bet I would need to slow it down, use diamonds and add some cooling). I can provide pictures of these pieces if needed. They are nothing special of course, not from any fancy mine or any fancy name. Just jasper from local petrified wood on my ranch that tends to be thin where it was knapped off of a larger piece, whether that happened from a natural occurance or from a deliberate attempt to make a tool I do not know. It looks deliberate to my very untrained eye as most have multiple chips, but again, it's not like I know anything about it.
2. I also want to make some Bolo (Bola) ties out of material from my ranch and give them to my music friends who have had a very hard go of it lately trying to make a living playing live music. I have other sources of income but many of them don't. I have found quite a few pieces of petrified wood that would work for this application. From reading the forum, I would speculate that after I butcher a bunch of pieces, I could eventually (maybe) learn how to get one shaped like a circle (drill press, dremel as seen by several artists that I admire here on the forum) and polish it a vibratory tumbler? Getting the dome right looks like the hardest part, but what do I know (exactly zip!)? I have no lapidary equipment other than a tile saw at the moment, but my wife does say I'm handy (or is that handsy?). I'd have to buy the mounts/bezels or whatever you call them, but was watching Alikat218's electroforming work with copper very closely and I am a fan of her work. I think that would be a cool use of that process for something like a bolo(a) tie. Regardless, this is way down the line. I need to get the stream going first
Could I roughly form a round cabochon with a dome with rather primitive tools (dremel, modified grinder) and polish it in the vibratory tumbler? I'm pretty sure I've seen some outstanding work here on the forum where people have done this. Am only limited by my talent for such things? If so, I could be in a lot of trouble.
Anyway, thanks for any advise on the above subjects and any input you would have for someone trying to accomplish the crazy ideas above would be most appreciated. I understand it might be difficult to recommend things to someone who has never done this before and doesn't know all the correct terms for things. Please don't let that stop you . I'm a quick study.
Thanks and regards,
Horseman1
Please forgive me if I don't use proper terms for things that to you are well known.
I've been reading this forum for a while prior to posted anything. I'm a longtime ammunition reloader and built a prototype (fancy name for a redneck engineered quick made piece of junk) brass tumbler in about an hour out of old swamp cooler parts (motor, poor quality pillow blocks, a belt, 3/4 shafts and some heater hose). I had to buy a few pulleys and a belt and stole one of wife's pony tail ties to get both shafts to spin. It has worked great for years for brass, so I never made a nice version of it. For rocks, not so much I'll bet. OK, I did have to replace the pony tail thingy a couple times.....Keep that to yourself if you would.
I'm quite sure I'd need a better barrel if I need to tumble rocks (one of JamesP barrels - great stuff!) and I'm pretty sure the rough running bearings and the pony tail business are not quite up to the task of rock tumbling . Regardless of all that, I'm not really worried about building a rotary tumbler unless you folks think I need one. I can do that if you suggest that it is needed and I'll use proper pillow blocks, barrel and the like. Currently though, I'm in a situation where I need some help and advice from the people on this forum regarding my rocks. I've never done this before and I think I need your help with the following:
1. I want to make an artificial small "stream" on our ranch for my wife's "secret garden". I can build that no problem, other than my questions about the rocks. This is where you folks come in! A lot of the material I want to use for the stream bottom appear to be pieces that Native American's have knapped away from what you would probaby call on the forum as "red and brown boring jasper". The idea is to polish these small pieces for the bottom of her "stream". Reading for a while here, I am currently under the impression that the best approach might be to use a vibratory tumbler to polish these shards/pieces and not grind them away to nothing in a rotary tumbler with course grit. Please correct me here if I am wrong (really!). Remember, I've never done any of this. I was hoping to keep some of their natural shape (OK, maybe not natural, but roughly whatever shape I found them in). As you all know much better than I do, good vibratory tumblers are not cheap, but to make her "stream come true", I would be willing to buy one or two. This woman has put up with my shinnanigans for decades. I suspect there is a special place in heaven for people like her.
What do you think? Is a vibratory tumbler the right way to go for this application or maybe rotary tumble them for a bit first? Grind on them a bit with an angle grinder first to pre-shape things up? (bet I would need to slow it down, use diamonds and add some cooling). I can provide pictures of these pieces if needed. They are nothing special of course, not from any fancy mine or any fancy name. Just jasper from local petrified wood on my ranch that tends to be thin where it was knapped off of a larger piece, whether that happened from a natural occurance or from a deliberate attempt to make a tool I do not know. It looks deliberate to my very untrained eye as most have multiple chips, but again, it's not like I know anything about it.
2. I also want to make some Bolo (Bola) ties out of material from my ranch and give them to my music friends who have had a very hard go of it lately trying to make a living playing live music. I have other sources of income but many of them don't. I have found quite a few pieces of petrified wood that would work for this application. From reading the forum, I would speculate that after I butcher a bunch of pieces, I could eventually (maybe) learn how to get one shaped like a circle (drill press, dremel as seen by several artists that I admire here on the forum) and polish it a vibratory tumbler? Getting the dome right looks like the hardest part, but what do I know (exactly zip!)? I have no lapidary equipment other than a tile saw at the moment, but my wife does say I'm handy (or is that handsy?). I'd have to buy the mounts/bezels or whatever you call them, but was watching Alikat218's electroforming work with copper very closely and I am a fan of her work. I think that would be a cool use of that process for something like a bolo(a) tie. Regardless, this is way down the line. I need to get the stream going first
Could I roughly form a round cabochon with a dome with rather primitive tools (dremel, modified grinder) and polish it in the vibratory tumbler? I'm pretty sure I've seen some outstanding work here on the forum where people have done this. Am only limited by my talent for such things? If so, I could be in a lot of trouble.
Anyway, thanks for any advise on the above subjects and any input you would have for someone trying to accomplish the crazy ideas above would be most appreciated. I understand it might be difficult to recommend things to someone who has never done this before and doesn't know all the correct terms for things. Please don't let that stop you . I'm a quick study.
Thanks and regards,
Horseman1