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Post by HankRocks on Apr 19, 2021 7:22:33 GMT -5
Pretty nice results you have there. Is your vibe anchored to the floor, and how much weight do you glue onto the rock? No, it's not anchored. Never had it "walk" on me. If a machine is walking then there's something not right, spring missing, a counterweight not tightened securely, etc. Have a decent set of lead weights, both round flat disks about 3 to 4 oz each and various sized fishing weights. The flat disks work great on slabs and flatter surfaces, the wishing weights are better on uneven surfaces. Need to be clear, running rocks on the Vibe Lap is not like tumbling, throw in the rocks, grit and water and walk away for a week. For the first 3 stages, 80, 220 and 600, the rocks and pan need to be cleaned out on a daily(or 12 to 14 hour runtime) basis. I tired running 80 and kept adding grit until the saw marks were removed but found that the slurry in the pan got too deep and the resulting splashing made a huge mess. So now I do one recharge of 80 and then cleanout when it's been reduced. The only time I can not cleanout on a daily basis is during the Polish run which is usually about 4 days. Sometimes it goes longer if there are a couple of problem children in the batch and need longer. The other problem with Vibe Lap or Lapping in general is grit contamination between stages. For tumbling I am on the other side of the street on this, grit carried over is not a evil in my book, any stray grits breakdown quickly and any marks removed. I change teams for Lapping and a stray 80 grit in Polish can mess up your day!! Since I am retired, daily cleanouts are no big issue. I have done them in cold(yes we do occasionally get cold in Houston), and for me it's a character builder. (It must be working as a few folks have said I am quite a character!!)
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,125
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Post by RWA3006 on Apr 19, 2021 9:25:22 GMT -5
Makes perfect sense. Grit contamination in tumbling versus lapping is consistent with my experience too.
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Post by HankRocks on Apr 21, 2021 18:04:41 GMT -5
I mentioned polishing slabs on a Vib Lap. These pieces just had weights glued, or in my case caulked, yesterday. They will be ready to go on the Lap in about 6 days or so which is good timing as the current batch will we through polish in about that time; IMG_2807 by Findrocks, on Flickr Here's the previously polished batch minus one piece all cleaned up and ready to put away. The top two are the "hole-in-the-wood" piece I cut up. Next two are a palm and a very colorful piece, origin unknown. Bottom row, another colorful one and a fractured but held together piece of Big Bend wood. These pieces are in the 5 to 6 inch range in size and about 3/8" to1/2" thick IMG_2808 by Findrocks, on Flickr
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Post by perkins17 on Nov 24, 2021 22:45:13 GMT -5
Pretty nice results you have there. Is your vibe anchored to the floor, and how much weight do you glue onto the rock? No, it's not anchored. Never had it "walk" on me. If a machine is walking then there's something not right, spring missing, a counterweight not tightened securely, etc. Have a decent set of lead weights, both round flat disks about 3 to 4 oz each and various sized fishing weights. The flat disks work great on slabs and flatter surfaces, the wishing weights are better on uneven surfaces. Need to be clear, running rocks on the Vibe Lap is not like tumbling, throw in the rocks, grit and water and walk away for a week. For the first 3 stages, 80, 220 and 600, the rocks and pan need to be cleaned out on a daily(or 12 to 14 hour runtime) basis. I tired running 80 and kept adding grit until the saw marks were removed but found that the slurry in the pan got too deep and the resulting splashing made a huge mess. So now I do one recharge of 80 and then cleanout when it's been reduced. The only time I can not cleanout on a daily basis is during the Polish run which is usually about 4 days. Sometimes it goes longer if there are a couple of problem children in the batch and need longer. The other problem with Vibe Lap or Lapping in general is grit contamination between stages. For tumbling I am on the other side of the street on this, grit carried over is not a evil in my book, any stray grits breakdown quickly and any marks removed. I change teams for Lapping and a stray 80 grit in Polish can mess up your day!! Since I am retired, daily cleanouts are no big issue. I have done them in cold(yes we do occasionally get cold in Houston), and for me it's a character builder. (It must be working as a few folks have said I am quite a character!!) Sorry to bring this old thread up, but I see that you talk about vibes "walking" because of it missing a spring. I bought a used Raytech 15 inch lap that is missing a spring and works but has an issue with "walking". Do you have any idea as to where I can get a new one?Sorry to dredge this old thread up and bother you. Thank you in advance.
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Post by HankRocks on Nov 25, 2021 4:53:00 GMT -5
Sorry to bring this old thread up, but I see that you talk about vibes "walking" because of it missing a spring. I bought a used Raytech 15 inch lap that is missing a spring and works but has an issue with "walking". Do you have any idea as to where I can get a new one?Sorry to dredge this old thread up and bother you. Thank you in advance. No problem I have bought springs at my local Ace Hardware, usually in the "Nut and Bolt" section where they have all the specialty pull-out trays of misc. hardware. Home Depot and Lowes have the same specialty trays. As I mentioned above, polishing rocks with the Vib Lap can be frustrating with all sorts of issues. It's a bit like tumbling I suppose and once you master the process it will be fun. There are still a couple of issues that bite me now and then and I am still working to resolve. For the next 2 or 3 days I may be away from the forum, but I will respond as I am able or by Sun for sure. Henry
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Post by Rockoonz on Nov 25, 2021 8:50:02 GMT -5
perkins17 take one of the remaining springs off and take it to a hardware place a good sized Ace or True Value will have a better assortment than Lowes or HD. Match your spring as close as possible, and buy a full set so thet are as balanced as possible. Pull test them to compare at the length they are at in use, the amount of tension at the working length is important to the tumbling action.
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Post by perkins17 on Nov 25, 2021 11:50:22 GMT -5
Rockoonz and HankRocks, thank you for the advice. I live within walking distance of an ace so that shouldn't be an issue. I will finish this batch and work on it when it is warmer. Thank you so much for your time and advice.
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Post by roy on Nov 28, 2021 14:42:03 GMT -5
I have a vibe lap for slabs. It is not perfect. If it has multiple rocks, it definitely needs to be monitored. It can break rocks as they touch each other but there are strategies to help avoid this (eg rubber bumpers on the rocks or PVC circles). It does a good polish, but isn't very effective removing wheel marks from the saw. If your rocks are small enough, I would suggest a flat lap instead ... but that is hands on. Roys lap above isn't hands on at all, and with the grit and water applied automatically it doesn't need any monitoring. Not sure what size Roys lap is, but I've seen 48 inch, and heard of larger. its a custom 36"
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