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Post by victor1941 on Oct 5, 2020 12:18:39 GMT -5
Jasoninsd, I like others run the smaller media from beginning to end and top off with used media to control volume. In my UV-18 the media will come to the rim top and then reincoporate if the moisture is correct. Once the media gets very small it will coat the bottom of the lid and I scrape it into the trash. I precondition 10-15 lbs with abrasive and have it ready for later stages when needed. The material I polish is mostly preform cabs and I do use borax in all stages. The mix is equal volume media and cabs.
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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 Oct 5, 2020 13:33:14 GMT -5
Hi Jason -
From the looks of the slurry in your UV-18 it appears to me at first glance to need some water to thin it out. This may stop the media from adhering to the walls of the barrel. I have never had this issue with my UV-18 and check at least a couple of times a day to be sure I like the consistency of the slurry mix. I am usually tumbling agate, jaspers, and similar stones.
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Oct 5, 2020 17:54:40 GMT -5
Goodness you got a wealth of great advice from tbis thread. I use ceramics in my rotary only as filler because my rocks are often softer than the river gravel. In the vibe I use ceramics that have been through all the stages at least once but reserve the nicest as my polish media.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 5, 2020 19:04:08 GMT -5
To: lparsons knave amygdule pizzano EricD kyoti JBe victor1941 gatorflash1Most of us have very busy lives and finding a few minutes to do anything is sometimes very trying. I wanted to extend my deepest appreciation to each of you for choosing to take time out of your day to willingly extend your knowledge. It was pointed out there was a WEALTH of information already given in this thread...and that hasn't gone unnoticed by myself. Truly, thank you, each one of you, for being willing to help a newbie in this amazingly fun hobby! Now for the boring update! Nothing went right today! LOL (Gotta laugh or cry sometimes!) Around 1pm I stopped the vibe to cleanout and to take a look. So, this is where the learning curve comes into play. As this was my first attempt, I had no idea to what extent the 120/220 SiC would remove the slight pitting and/or fissures. Not as well as I was thinking it would! LOL I know it's been written on this forum a ton of times (as I've read it a ton of times) that "garbage in equals garbage out". I understood this, but didn't know what was going to be classified as "garbage" going in. So, after having run the 120/220 SiC for two days, cleaning out, reloading with the another round of 120/220 SiC, and running an additional two days, I became aware what was "too much" for the SiC to remove. So, rather than moving to the 500 stage, I thought I'd break out the brand new Dremel and try and remove the slight pitting and/or fissures on the rocks which were needing a little assistance. My plan was to rerun the 120/220 stage again once I corrected the "garbage". EXCEPT, my brand new Dremel has a "wobble" - the shaft isn't centered. So, that will now have to get returned and replaced. Meanwhile, I do have the rocks sitting in a bucket of water just waiting... I was just getting ready to break out the old Dremel, when my wife came home from work. I could tell by the way she said "hi" something was wrong. She advised me one of her coworkers was just notified 15 minutes before she was done for the day that she had been helping her mother move all day Saturday and her mom just tested positive for Covid today. So that means this girl unknowingly potentially exposed all the staff and all people at that facility today to Covid. And if my wife has been exposed to it, most likely me too! ARGHHHH! South Dakota has become one of the "hot spots" in the US here within the last couple weeks. We had been living in a "bubble" for quite some time...and I was happy to have been in that bubble. Now it would seem the bubble is bursting. So, I've decided if I come down with any symptoms, I'm going to go self-isolate down at Fairburn, camp out, and just look for agates for the next ten days! LOL |
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Post by knave on Oct 5, 2020 19:59:32 GMT -5
The last paragraph. Sorry to hear it sir. Wishing you Guys the best.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 5, 2020 20:07:48 GMT -5
The last paragraph. Sorry to hear it sir. Wishing you Guys the best. Thanks knave. Not going to lie. I'm a bit nervous...but trying to think positive...oh wait...in this case, negative I guess!  |
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Oct 5, 2020 20:24:04 GMT -5
Keep your chin up Jason! My thoughts are with you and your wife. Eat well, sleep well and stay positive. A self quarantine will even give you time to pamper all those cool rocks you guys find.  |
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JBe
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 103
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Post by JBe on Oct 6, 2020 9:59:03 GMT -5
Take care of each other! Spend the quarantine time doing something to keep your mind off it if you can. I hope you have a good outcome and have worried for nothing!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Oct 6, 2020 10:41:43 GMT -5
Best of luck. sending negative thoughts your way, lol. Only in 2020 could I say that.
My wife works in the medical field and has to be tested every Friday. Two fridays ago she got tested at noon and then later that night around 9:00 she got a call from a co-worker to tell her that the girl that administered the tests that day had just found out that she herself tested positive. How's that for irony. Two weeks and no symptoms so I think we are in the clear here.
Chuck
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Post by amygdule on Oct 6, 2020 15:00:36 GMT -5
jasoninsd, F Covid, Go for a walk barefoot Sunshine & Fresh Air Lick some Rocks Then some more Ginger Tea
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 6, 2020 19:05:25 GMT -5
Keep your chin up Jason! My thoughts are with you and your wife. Eat well, sleep well and stay positive. A self quarantine will even give you time to pamper all those cool rocks you guys find. Will do and thank you! We had some amazingly tasteful grilled pork chops tonight! I could taste them, so no signs of problems yet! LOL Take care of each other! Spend the quarantine time doing something to keep your mind off it if you can. I hope you have a good outcome and have worried for nothing! Thank you. I'm thinking everything will be okay...and acting as though it isn't...if that makes sense. My elderly parents live directly behind us (neighbors and we share a fence!). I was supposed to be helping my father put a roof on their deck sometime this week...I told my them I wouldn't be over until we had an answer as to what was going on...arghhh. Best of luck. sending negative thoughts your way, lol. Only in 2020 could I say that. My wife works in the medical field and has to be tested every Friday. Two fridays ago she got tested at noon and then later that night around 9:00 she got a call from a co-worker to tell her that the girl that administered the tests that day had just found out that she herself tested positive. How's that for irony. Two weeks and no symptoms so I think we are in the clear here. Chuck Unbelievably ironic! I think it's the "not knowing" that's the most unnerving. It's one thing if I get it...it's another if I'm responsible for passing it along. jasoninsd , F Covid, Go for a walk barefoot Sunshine & Fresh Air Lick some Rocks Then some more Ginger Tea That's kinda what I'm thinking! I might go for a walk tomorrow... |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 7, 2020 9:39:05 GMT -5
Praying for no wu-flu! It's hard to wait to see if you've caught it -- been there, done that. Luckily, we were ok. It really depends on how close your wife was to her co-worker and for how long and whether or not her co-worker even gets it.
Don't stress about it. Go about living your life. Being positive is your friend.
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 7, 2020 10:41:24 GMT -5
Praying for no wu-flu! It's hard to wait to see if you've caught it -- been there, done that. Luckily, we were ok. It really depends on how close your wife was to her co-worker and for how long and whether or not her co-worker even gets it.
Don't stress about it. Go about living your life. Being positive is your friend.
Thanks. I probably shouldn't have posted anything...but nerves had my in a bind the other night. I am living life...and am out hounding at Fairburn at the moment. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 7, 2020 17:35:49 GMT -5
Excellent! May you find a large, honkin' Fairburn to bring home and show us.  |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 7, 2020 20:51:00 GMT -5
Bad news and good news... Bad news: Once again skunked at Fairburn! Arghhh Good news: My wife's boss just texted her the girl's test was negative! Whoot whoot! Thanks to everyone for letting me vent my nerves! |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 8, 2020 9:04:44 GMT -5
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Post by RocksInNJ on Oct 10, 2020 12:48:13 GMT -5
RocksInNJ , Bill, has the same issue in his UV10. His fix is to use less small ceramics I do believe. The action on my UV-10 is extremely fast. Like a cyclonic tornado, which was leading to a lot of bruising and chipping, so I add sugar to my vibe now until the rocks stick together and are moving slowly. Though you have to keep an eye on things once you add the sugar, because once it dissolves it gets even thicker and you may have to add a few squirts of water to get things moving again. This in turn causes the small ceramics to stick to the sides more so and even the lid bottom, but I don’t worry about it to much anymore. The majority of them will ride the sides and then hit the lid and eventually fall back down into the bowl for another ride. I do pretty much like EricD and only use ceramics in 120/220 to break them in. Otherwise I don’t even bother using any ceramics in that stage. As long as you have a good mix of sizes with quite a bit of smalls, everything works out fine for me. Moving on to AO500 and polish I use both sizes of ceramics at about a 50/50 ratio of rocks to ceramics along with lots of sugar, as the action on these stages are even faster than the 120/220. Though in these last two stages, once you get things moving the way you want you shouldn’t have to add much water if any at all due to there being less breaking down of the rocks. It’s the 120/220 stage that you really have to keep a constant eye on. Like mentioned above. Everyone has their own method. It takes a lot of practice, patience and experimenting, but you’ll eventually find what works for you and develop your own process. Heck, I’m still experimenting and learning myself, but that’s all part of the fun. For me anyway. I hope it all works out for you and that you have fun along the way and am looking forward to seeing your results. Best of luck my friend. |
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Post by RocksInNJ on Oct 10, 2020 12:56:05 GMT -5
Oh and I also never use ceramics in the rotaries.
Glad all turned out to be ok with you and the family. Stay safe and have fun.
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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 Oct 10, 2020 15:07:14 GMT -5
Take it easy Jason, and just drink the good stuff from now on. I keep my rocks in the 1st step until they look good wet. Only then do I take them to the next steps. I check them about every two weeks to see which have made the cut and can go to step 2. Some take many months in step 1 before they are ready for step 2. My step 1 is in a big rotary using #46 grit with ceramic media. All the best! rocktumbler.com/tips/rock-tumbler-instructions/rocktumbler.com/book.shtml |
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 10, 2020 22:33:14 GMT -5
Oh and I also never use ceramics in the rotaries. Glad all turned out to be ok with you and the family. Stay safe and have fun. Thank you for the well wishes and big thanks for the long previous post! So many variables in this hobby! What one finds works for them, another one doesn't. I've read about adding sugar. That'll be another one I'm going to have to experiment with... Seriously, thank you for taking the time to share all the info! |
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