Zeuglodon
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by Zeuglodon on Feb 26, 2021 12:18:07 GMT -5
So I'm new to the forum- I'm a rockhound from Georgia, nice to meet y'all! I'm here hoping to chat with other people who love rocks and gain wisdom and experience from those more flush with it than me lol. I recently was given an old Diamond Pacific MT-10ST Minisonic vibratory tumbler- came with lots of grits, but no instructions and no guidance. I found the online instructions, but I'm still learning how to work it and what techniques work for me, and I don't know anyone in person who could help me along the way. So if anyone with experience with vibratory tumblers could help me out or point me to some good resources, that would be awesome! Especially concerning media, different stone types, and troubleshooting, 'cause I'm flying pretty blind here lol. I was given a flat lap by the same person, but I've never used one of those and don't yet have anything I could use it on, and am kinda terrified to start. I also have an old Thumler tumbler (got off craigslist, bc it has a faulty motor and the old owner couldn't put in the time or effort to fix it) and as soon as I figure out how to get that one up and running, I'll be working with it, too! I'm always happy to learn, and advice would be well appreciated! Thank you!
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 26, 2021 12:32:14 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! In my limited experience, I'd say you should get that Thumler up and running first. A new motor should be a pretty easy replacement. Most people start their tumbles with a rotary and then move on to the vibratory for the later stages...that's why I suggested getting the rotary up and running. Don't be afraid of the flat-lap...just be aware it can give a crappy manicure in a matter of seconds! LOL You'll find tons of information on this forum...and you'll spend a ton of hours reading through everyone's past posts on the "how-to's" and "don't do's"!
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Feb 26, 2021 14:17:41 GMT -5
Welcome from Florida. Your my Nothern Neighbor ( lol ) I see. I agree to get that tumbler up and running. You can get a replacement motor pretty easily. Don't be scared just jump in with both feet. I was same as you but now have 3 tumblers running and looking to build/buy a 4th. I also just got a flat lap and have a trim saw and cabbing machine on order. It gets addictive fast. Good luck and be sure to post any questions and such here. Lots of great people willing to help the newbies like us start out on a solid foot. Steven
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 26, 2021 16:08:16 GMT -5
Welcome....
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 26, 2021 19:40:41 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
What type of flat lap do you have? Is it the type for cutting cabs or is one of the larger vibratory ones for polishing slabs?
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Post by manofglass on Feb 26, 2021 20:07:10 GMT -5
Welcome from Michigan
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Post by opalpyrexia on Feb 26, 2021 21:06:30 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Feb 26, 2021 23:45:54 GMT -5
So I'm new to the forum- I'm a rockhound from Georgia, nice to meet y'all! I'm here hoping to chat with other people who love rocks and gain wisdom and experience from those more flush with it than me lol. I recently was given an old Diamond Pacific MT-10ST Minisonic vibratory tumbler- came with lots of grits, but no instructions and no guidance. I found the online instructions, but I'm still learning how to work it and what techniques work for me, and I don't know anyone in person who could help me along the way. So if anyone with experience with vibratory tumblers could help me out or point me to some good resources, that would be awesome! Especially concerning media, different stone types, and troubleshooting, 'cause I'm flying pretty blind here lol. I was given a flat lap by the same person, but I've never used one of those and don't yet have anything I could use it on, and am kinda terrified to start. I also have an old Thumler tumbler (got off craigslist, bc it has a faulty motor and the old owner couldn't put in the time or effort to fix it) and as soon as I figure out how to get that one up and running, I'll be working with it, too! I'm always happy to learn, and advice would be well appreciated! Thank you! Welcome from St. Louis! Let me see if I can help you out a bit... First of all, for your learning - the vibratory tumblers tend to be the best to help polish rocks, but not shape them initially. Usually, rotary tumblers are better for this. Many of us here on the forums use rotary tumblers (get that Thumbler working!) to shape all our material - this is called stage 1 and is often done with 40/70 silicon carbide grit (SiC grit). This stage can take months and months - if you are after a certain shape and flawless rocks. If you are less concerned with the pre-shaping / roundness etc, then it can take less time, but your rocks will have more flaws / "character" etc If you REALLY don't care about shape - you can just start your rocks in the mini sonic vibratory tumbler, but nothing will really polish unless there is a flat surface. Most of us who throw rocks straight into a vibratory tumbler and SKIP rotary tumbling do so on rock saw cut pieces that then have a completely flat edge from the saw cut, and a rough outer original material that we don't care about as much. A vibratory tumbler will not do much in terms of shaping or "tumbling". Think of it as a polishing tool - a great one. Reply here what you might be interested or after in your goals going forward and I'll try and guide you after that. It really depends if you want a decent stage 1 result - you'll need a rotary stage first. That is the most time tedious aspect of tumbling - stage 1. If you don't want to rotary tumble, you'll need to have rocks with flat faces / smooth faces that can be polished by direct placement into a vibratory tumbler - but that is not likely based on your description above. Thanks! and welcome!
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Zeuglodon
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by Zeuglodon on Feb 27, 2021 10:11:23 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
What type of flat lap do you have? Is it the type for cutting cabs or is one of the larger vibratory ones for polishing slabs?
Hello, and thank you! It's a vibratory one- a highland park reciprocating flat lap. it's an old model that isn't on the site anymore even, but it looks most like the craftsman ones, with the stand and then the flat lap dish on top of that. I have no idea how to work a flat lap, honestly, and the fact that it's not even on the manufacturer's site isn't helping anything lol ;p any advice would be awesome!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 27, 2021 10:23:38 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
What type of flat lap do you have? Is it the type for cutting cabs or is one of the larger vibratory ones for polishing slabs?
Hello, and thank you! It's a vibratory one- a highland park reciprocating flat lap. it's an old model that isn't on the site anymore even, but it looks most like the craftsman ones, with the stand and then the flat lap dish on top of that. I have no idea how to work a flat lap, honestly, and the fact that it's not even on the manufacturer's site isn't helping anything lol ;p any advice would be awesome! There are a few people on the forum who have those vib laps for polishing slabs and flat faces. Put a post up on the Lapidary Equipment board and you'll probably get some responses from folks who know how to use them.
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Zeuglodon
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by Zeuglodon on Feb 27, 2021 10:28:40 GMT -5
So I'm new to the forum- I'm a rockhound from Georgia, nice to meet y'all! I'm here hoping to chat with other people who love rocks and gain wisdom and experience from those more flush with it than me lol. I recently was given an old Diamond Pacific MT-10ST Minisonic vibratory tumbler- came with lots of grits, but no instructions and no guidance. I found the online instructions, but I'm still learning how to work it and what techniques work for me, and I don't know anyone in person who could help me along the way. So if anyone with experience with vibratory tumblers could help me out or point me to some good resources, that would be awesome! Especially concerning media, different stone types, and troubleshooting, 'cause I'm flying pretty blind here lol. I was given a flat lap by the same person, but I've never used one of those and don't yet have anything I could use it on, and am kinda terrified to start. I also have an old Thumler tumbler (got off craigslist, bc it has a faulty motor and the old owner couldn't put in the time or effort to fix it) and as soon as I figure out how to get that one up and running, I'll be working with it, too! I'm always happy to learn, and advice would be well appreciated! Thank you! Welcome from St. Louis! Let me see if I can help you out a bit... First of all, for your learning - the vibratory tumblers tend to be the best to help polish rocks, but not shape them initially. Usually, rotary tumblers are better for this. Many of us here on the forums use rotary tumblers (get that Thumbler working!) to shape all our material - this is called stage 1 and is often done with 40/70 silicon carbide grit (SiC grit). This stage can take months and months - if you are after a certain shape and flawless rocks. If you are less concerned with the pre-shaping / roundness etc, then it can take less time, but your rocks will have more flaws / "character" etc If you REALLY don't care about shape - you can just start your rocks in the mini sonic vibratory tumbler, but nothing will really polish unless there is a flat surface. Most of us who throw rocks straight into a vibratory tumbler and SKIP rotary tumbling do so on rock saw cut pieces that then have a completely flat edge from the saw cut, and a rough outer original material that we don't care about as much. A vibratory tumbler will not do much in terms of shaping or "tumbling". Think of it as a polishing tool - a great one. Reply here what you might be interested or after in your goals going forward and I'll try and guide you after that. It really depends if you want a decent stage 1 result - you'll need a rotary stage first. That is the most time tedious aspect of tumbling - stage 1. If you don't want to rotary tumble, you'll need to have rocks with flat faces / smooth faces that can be polished by direct placement into a vibratory tumbler - but that is not likely based on your description above. Thanks! and welcome! Thank you, that's super helpful! I actually enjoy the less-shaped stones, bc i feel like i'm losing less of the original material, so I've been enjoying my results from the vibratory tumbler alone so far. But as soon as I get the thumler working (it's just the motor- it runs just fine with no weight, but doesn't have enough oomph to roll a full barrel, and i'm not exactly the most mechanical-minded person lol, so I'm still having issues with it), i'll run some tests! Thank you for the tip- I knew there were differences in the shaping, but I didn't realize it was that drastic! I don't have a lot of material to tumble so far- my area of GA, all you're gonna find is red clay and quartz, so I ran some interesting quartz i found and that turned out pretty well. Other than that, I have some kingston jasper from NE GA, and some sodalite, aventurine, and such from one of those seeded novelty mines I did a while back. But I don't know what material is really good for tumbling, and whether different material does better in vibratory vs rotary. But I really want to make this a constant thing, so I want to get more material to tumble, bc I love the process and I really love the end product! Do you have any recommendations for good sources- shops, etc. for good rough? And I don't have a rock saw yet- do you recommend getting one? I just smashed the jasper w my rock hammer to get it into small enough pieces to tumble I eventually want to get into cabbing as well, so I think a rock saw would be useful, but again, I'm really new to all this and just looking for advice and resources at this point. I really do want to build up my 'operation' here- I enjoy tumbling, and I love collecting the stones. I have a really large collection of stuff I just pick up, and I'd like to display them rather than hoarding them in boxes lol. For me, again- I don't think it matters as much if I get the perfect shape, as long as it's nicely polished and doesn't have visible cracks or chips. But I suppose as I get more experienced with it, I'll learn what's best. Thank you so much for all the help!
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Zeuglodon
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by Zeuglodon on Feb 27, 2021 10:30:55 GMT -5
Hello, and thank you! It's a vibratory one- a highland park reciprocating flat lap. it's an old model that isn't on the site anymore even, but it looks most like the craftsman ones, with the stand and then the flat lap dish on top of that. I have no idea how to work a flat lap, honestly, and the fact that it's not even on the manufacturer's site isn't helping anything lol ;p any advice would be awesome! There are a few people on the forum who have those vib laps for polishing slabs and flat faces. Put a post up on the Lapidary Equipment board and you'll probably get some responses from folks who know how to use them. Thank you- I'll try that! It's probably the only place I'll find someone who knows- this machine is almost as old as I am, I guarantee it!
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Zeuglodon
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by Zeuglodon on Feb 27, 2021 10:37:23 GMT -5
Welcome from Florida. Your my Nothern Neighbor ( lol ) I see. I agree to get that tumbler up and running. You can get a replacement motor pretty easily. Don't be scared just jump in with both feet. I was same as you but now have 3 tumblers running and looking to build/buy a 4th. I also just got a flat lap and have a trim saw and cabbing machine on order. It gets addictive fast. Good luck and be sure to post any questions and such here. Lots of great people willing to help the newbies like us start out on a solid foot. Steven Thank you! I'm jealous of FL's weather- GA is still too cold for my liking now, and I want to get into gardening season already! That's a lot of tumblers- how do you get enough material to run them that much? I've been collecting for years, but my mini sonic holds a lot more stone than I originally thought it would. And it really does get addictive! I plan on learning cabbing as well, and have been collecting material for it for a while, but the machines are quite the investment, and I'm kinda broke right now lol. It's good to just be somewhere to get advice and resources, bc nothing I have came with any instructions lol! Thank you so much!
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Zeuglodon
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 6
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Post by Zeuglodon on Feb 27, 2021 10:39:33 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! In my limited experience, I'd say you should get that Thumler up and running first. A new motor should be a pretty easy replacement. Most people start their tumbles with a rotary and then move on to the vibratory for the later stages...that's why I suggested getting the rotary up and running. Don't be afraid of the flat-lap...just be aware it can give a crappy manicure in a matter of seconds! LOL You'll find tons of information on this forum...and you'll spend a ton of hours reading through everyone's past posts on the "how-to's" and "don't do's"! Thank you! I'm really looking forward to all the experience everyone has to share! And I'm hoping to get it running soon- I'm not all that mechanically-minded, but I've got friends who can help me out on that front at least lol. Thank you!
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Feb 27, 2021 11:14:07 GMT -5
Welcome from St. Louis! Let me see if I can help you out a bit... First of all, for your learning - the vibratory tumblers tend to be the best to help polish rocks, but not shape them initially. Usually, rotary tumblers are better for this. Many of us here on the forums use rotary tumblers (get that Thumbler working!) to shape all our material - this is called stage 1 and is often done with 40/70 silicon carbide grit (SiC grit). This stage can take months and months - if you are after a certain shape and flawless rocks. If you are less concerned with the pre-shaping / roundness etc, then it can take less time, but your rocks will have more flaws / "character" etc If you REALLY don't care about shape - you can just start your rocks in the mini sonic vibratory tumbler, but nothing will really polish unless there is a flat surface. Most of us who throw rocks straight into a vibratory tumbler and SKIP rotary tumbling do so on rock saw cut pieces that then have a completely flat edge from the saw cut, and a rough outer original material that we don't care about as much. A vibratory tumbler will not do much in terms of shaping or "tumbling". Think of it as a polishing tool - a great one. Reply here what you might be interested or after in your goals going forward and I'll try and guide you after that. It really depends if you want a decent stage 1 result - you'll need a rotary stage first. That is the most time tedious aspect of tumbling - stage 1. If you don't want to rotary tumble, you'll need to have rocks with flat faces / smooth faces that can be polished by direct placement into a vibratory tumbler - but that is not likely based on your description above. Thanks! and welcome! Thank you, that's super helpful! I actually enjoy the less-shaped stones, bc i feel like i'm losing less of the original material, so I've been enjoying my results from the vibratory tumbler alone so far. But as soon as I get the thumler working (it's just the motor- it runs just fine with no weight, but doesn't have enough oomph to roll a full barrel, and i'm not exactly the most mechanical-minded person lol, so I'm still having issues with it), i'll run some tests! Thank you for the tip- I knew there were differences in the shaping, but I didn't realize it was that drastic! I don't have a lot of material to tumble so far- my area of GA, all you're gonna find is red clay and quartz, so I ran some interesting quartz i found and that turned out pretty well. Other than that, I have some kingston jasper from NE GA, and some sodalite, aventurine, and such from one of those seeded novelty mines I did a while back. But I don't know what material is really good for tumbling, and whether different material does better in vibratory vs rotary. But I really want to make this a constant thing, so I want to get more material to tumble, bc I love the process and I really love the end product! Do you have any recommendations for good sources- shops, etc. for good rough? And I don't have a rock saw yet- do you recommend getting one? I just smashed the jasper w my rock hammer to get it into small enough pieces to tumble I eventually want to get into cabbing as well, so I think a rock saw would be useful, but again, I'm really new to all this and just looking for advice and resources at this point. I really do want to build up my 'operation' here- I enjoy tumbling, and I love collecting the stones. I have a really large collection of stuff I just pick up, and I'd like to display them rather than hoarding them in boxes lol. For me, again- I don't think it matters as much if I get the perfect shape, as long as it's nicely polished and doesn't have visible cracks or chips. But I suppose as I get more experienced with it, I'll learn what's best. Thank you so much for all the help! Happy to help! My advice would be hold off on a saw for now. Perfect tumbling and polishing first. Breaking rocks works just fine, I've done it forever as well as using a saw! I also recommend buying some rough from therockshed.com Get only agates or jaspers. You sodalite, aventurine etc you already have will be VERY difficult to polish - they are not even medium level difficulty. Once you have agates perfected you can try those Regarding polish, the best way to get a good polish is to use the correct and good quality grits (therockshed.com or Kingsleynorth.com are good starts). Stage 1 will prep the rock the best to accept the next grit stage and so forth leading to a good polish. Regarding cracks and chips - that is up to you as the owner/operator! Stage 1 takes alll that process time, and that time is up to your final decision to move them on. Check out therockshed.com and see if you can't get a starter pack of grit (usually 4 kinds) as well as maybe 25lb of rock.. stick with agates or jaspers. Don't do quartz.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Feb 27, 2021 13:49:36 GMT -5
[/quote]Thank you! I'm jealous of FL's weather- GA is still too cold for my liking now, and I want to get into gardening season already! That's a lot of tumblers- how do you get enough material to run them that much? I've been collecting for years, but my mini sonic holds a lot more stone than I originally thought it would. And it really does get addictive! I plan on learning cabbing as well, and have been collecting material for it for a while, but the machines are quite the investment, and I'm kinda broke right now lol. It's good to just be somewhere to get advice and resources, bc nothing I have came with any instructions lol! Thank you so much! [/quote] Oh I collect some when traveling buy here lately with Covid and Weather I have been finding deals online. Usually a BOGO or FB Auction. Lately have found good deals at gemsbymail.com , roughstone.rocks and of course rockshed.com. Once the shows come back some good deals are there as well.
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Post by TheRock on Mar 1, 2021 13:44:05 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH Forum from S/W Michigan! ~Duke
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Mar 3, 2021 14:03:32 GMT -5
Welcome from the Desert Southwest!
You will find a vast amount of material here on the use of vibratory tumblers. Most folks here own at least one of them. I myself have a MT-4 (a smaller version of what you own). A good rule of thumb for vibe's is that they are fantastic at putting final polish on the rocks, but they are not quite ideal for shaping the rocks (making them round). A rotary would be better for that purpose. You have yourself quite a gift there though. And Diamond Pacific (out of Barstow, CA in the MOhave Desert) will still sell parts and rebuilds for your machine should you need it too.
Best of luck!
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