megan528
off to a rocking start
Married
Member since August 2020
Posts: 21
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Post by megan528 on Nov 10, 2020 21:35:05 GMT -5
I'm having issues with all the polish and ceramic media piling up at the bottom of the barrel in the polish stage.
Here's what I have been doing:
Rocks 3/4 of the way full, ceramic media (small) to almost full. 90% full maybe. Fill with water, tip upside down, let all the water out. 1/2 teaspoon of 1000 AO 2 tablespoons of borax
I do add water after a couple hours if it looks like it needs it. About a water bottle "cap" of water as needed when checking every 8hours or so.
Twice now the bottom of the barrel collects all the polish, borax and media and sits at the bottom like a sludge. Is this normal?
I never noticed this with the other grits.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Nov 10, 2020 23:02:41 GMT -5
This is my process,
Place rocks and ceramic media in a strainer and then under running water, let drain. Place in barrel to (3/4) full. Don't overfill ! Turn on ( watch this speed ) and then drizzle small amount of Dawn antibacterial dish soap on load and let run until rocks have light coating, 2 - 3 minutes. Rock will slow down ! The light coating will stick grit to the rocks . Add grit slowly until rock has been coated. ( Rock will slow down more ) Using spray bottle, spray rocks until speed has returned to same as starting speed before anything was adding to rocks. Check after several hours and add more water with spray bottle if needed to bring speed back up. Only add water with spray bottle to keep speed constant. Too much water slurry will not stay on rocks and not enough will make load run too slow to do you any good so add slowly ! It takes time to polish rocks and it can't be hurried !
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Nov 11, 2020 0:29:06 GMT -5
The sludge/slurry in my vibe usually sits on the bottom, the rocks/ceramics cycle from the top to the bottom and carry the slurry coated rocks back to the top again. I think what you describe is normal as long as the rocks are cycling down through the slurry. I agree with agatemaggot on using a spray bottle to add the moisture. Seems easier for me to keep adding sprays of water till the desired rock speed is reached. I usually use more ceramics in the polish stage. Probably closer to 50/50 or 60/40 rocks to ceramics and that's mostly out of fear. I also use more water and polish then you mention. I'm using a Raytech, so might be different than the Lot O...? The 1000 AO polish you are using is what I use for a pre polish. It's actually 1200, but pretty close either way. I believe the polish is closer to 14000 AO. How are your rocks turning out after polish? That's all that really counts.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Nov 11, 2020 19:37:15 GMT -5
I use a final polish from Minnesota Lapidary that does exceptionally well with Agate and hard stone !
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megan528
off to a rocking start
Married
Member since August 2020
Posts: 21
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Post by megan528 on Nov 19, 2020 21:07:03 GMT -5
The sludge/slurry in my vibe usually sits on the bottom, the rocks/ceramics cycle from the top to the bottom and carry the slurry coated rocks back to the top again. I think what you describe is normal as long as the rocks are cycling down through the slurry. I agree with agatemaggot on using a spray bottle to add the moisture. Seems easier for me to keep adding sprays of water till the desired rock speed is reached. I usually use more ceramics in the polish stage. Probably closer to 50/50 or 60/40 rocks to ceramics and that's mostly out of fear. I also use more water and polish then you mention. I'm using a Raytech, so might be different than the Lot O...? The 1000 AO polish you are using is what I use for a pre polish. It's actually 1200, but pretty close either way. I believe the polish is closer to 14000 AO. How are your rocks turning out after polish? That's all that really counts. I experinced chipping and fractures in the final stage... I guess they're clattering around and not rotating smoothly? I have another batch in now. Just started 500 for 3 days. Using more media and not filling it as full. Also using a spray bottle to add water. 1/2 teaspoon of AO and 1 tablespoon of borax. Hopefully these come out better.
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