laria
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2020
Posts: 4
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Post by laria on Aug 5, 2020 9:05:39 GMT -5
Have first batch of rocks tumbling! A few questions for our first “check”: If you are simply checking progress midweek, do you just open the barrel and look at a few? Do you rinse them to see better? Is there any good visual guide as to when rocks are “finished” with each stage? I have watched a bunch of YouTube videos but don’t have a great sense of the subtle differences between ready to move on and not, especially at the early stages? What is the best set up for rinsing between stages? The ones I saw that looked “attractive” were a bucket with classifiers/sifters on top. if those are recommended, how many classifiers are recommended and what size(s)? I don’t really want to spend $100 on the 9 piece set just yet Finally, what can I do with the used slurry that might be useful? Anyone have any ideas—was wondering if I could treat it like concrete and mold it into shapes/bricks or something? If it’s pretty useless, how do people process and then dispose of it?
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 866
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Post by lordsorril on Aug 5, 2020 12:06:46 GMT -5
Heya, There is a lot to learn! Everyone has their own method. I don't check my barrels mid-week unless I'm tumbling something soft or something I can't ID (below mohs 6). Usually some of the slurry/grit gets splashed around and it is a mess. Rather than trying to reclaim any unused grit, you could observe your barrels and figure out a time when it is safe to say that all grit has been consumed and then do a full clean out and rinse all the grit/slurry off the rocks into a home depot bucket through a kitchen colander. If the question is: How do you know that the grit has been consumed? Then I would examine the the top lid of the barrel and see if you can spot or feel any grit particles remaining. This only works in the early stages, but, you get a good idea. Rocks are finished with each stage when you are happy with them. Stage 1 for me ends only after the rock is near perfect or I like the shape and there is no advantage to continuing to grind without getting undercutting or additional flaws exposed. Stage 2 for me is to wear down or remove any superficial scratches I can see in reflected light. The stone should be completely smooth coming out of Stage 2. Stage 3 for me is to remove scratches I can't see or feel before pre-post polish. Then prepolish/polish (self explanatory). The only thing I've done with used slurry is pour it down rat/woodchuck holes on my property. Otherwise I will dry it out in a bucket until its solid and then knock into a trash bag and discard it.
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Post by pauls on Aug 5, 2020 17:19:41 GMT -5
I tumble a big lot of rocks, I struggle to lift my full tumbler barrel. I check every day, I grab a couple of hands full of rocks out rinse them off and inspect, I am looking at the number of rocks that are getting close to moving on, I pick out any that are smooth rounded and don't have any holes or cracks, and put them aside, cracks are split or sawed along the crack, the sharp saw edge rounded and they are put back. I put in a bit of extra grit top up with extra rocks to keep the level right, some water if it needs it then set it going until next morning.
For me the rocks are right when they don't have any blemishes, no holes, cracks, pits, at all. People have different expectations about what they want, I want perfect, you might want a bit more rustic, that's fine. If you are going for rustic be careful of pits and cracks carrying grit to the polish stage, that will ruin your batch very quickly. Also be careful of cracks, a rock that splits and has sharp edges will also ruin your polish.
For washing a garden sieve is good, a kitchen colander is also good. Be aware that an aluminium colander will leave metal marks on your stones, don't worry about it, the next stage will remove it and after they are polished the metal wont mark them.
The sludge is best just left in a bucket until it dries and put in the trash. It really is just ground up rock so it can be just buried in your garden if you want, if you use additives like Borax don't put it on your garden though, that will poison your plants.
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Aug 6, 2020 13:24:06 GMT -5
rocktumbler.com/book.shtml I recommend you get this book. It will be of great help in successfully tumbling and answer ALL your rock tumbling questions. I'm sure you have grasped the fact that there are quite a number of variables in tumbling. No, I'm not related or friends with the author of the book. I just find it very useful in helping newbies at our rock club. The recommended time for checking the rocks in a rotary tumbler is weekly for most agates, jaspers, and similarly hard rocks. This works well for me. Using a vibratory tumbler is a much different game with much shorter testing periods. Have fun!
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Post by Bob on Sept 2, 2020 22:57:43 GMT -5
I have been tumbling 6 yrs and never needed a classifier. I do have a metal sieve or drain bought at Walmart for $11 and plastic ones dedicated to each grit size smaller than 80. Don't inspect batches, just let run full week. Dry rock mud dust is very dangerous. Unless you want lung silicosis, get rid of it very carefully and before completely dry and dusty. And don't let children play with it.
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