Post by waterboysh on May 3, 2021 11:37:52 GMT -5
I understand putting limits on the length of the post title, but the current maximum is fairly short. I wanted my title to be "Some questions about the length and amount of grit for each stage."
Anyway, fairly new to this hobby, but I'm the type of person that researches stuff a lot before I jump into it, so on paper I feel like I have a solid grasp on what I'm doing, though obviously nothing can beat actual experience. I still have not completed my first batch. Currently have a 6 lb barrel running 60/90 and two 3 lb barrels running 500 AO. One thing I've noticed, is that a lot of Youtube videos and articles aimed at newcomers to tumbling spend a lot of time on the course stage and very little time on the stages after, except for maybe a little bit on the polishing stage. Honestly, for most people, this is probably fine so as to not give them information overload, but I like to know the why behind things. So I have some general questions. I know the exact answer will vary depending on factors, so let's just assume a 3lb rotary tumbler here and standard "hard" rocks like an agate.
1. Course stage - I don't really think we need to cover this. There is lots of info on the Internet, so I'm just mentioning it for completeness sake. This stage does the most grinding and is primarily for shaping the rock how you want it.
2. Medium stage - I have 120/220 SiC and that seems to be a really common grit for stage 2. I've seen recommendations for 1 TBSP per pound of rock and 2 TBSP per pound of rock. My Lortone instruction manual says 4 TBSP for stage 2 (which would be 1.33 TBSP per pound). I've run two barrels through 1 week of 120/220 now and used 4 TBSP like the manual says and there was still grit at the bottom after 1 week, so I think I'm going to reduce the grit to 3 TBSP next time. How are people using up double that in the same time period? Could I be filling my barrel to much, or packing to tightly?
Every suggestion says to just run this for 1 week and move on to stage 3. This seems to be the shortest stage. Is there a reason you'd want to run multiple weeks in medium grit?
3. Fine stage - I have 500 AO. This is probably the stage I found the most variation on the type of grit. Some still use SiC for this stage or they use 600 AO. I also see it referred to very often as "pre-polish", but as someone new looking at this, it seems more like fine grit to me. I'd say 1000 or more would be pre-polish. Just my two cents though. I typically see recommendations for 3 - 6 TBSP here. The Lortone manual says 6. I suppose this is because with less rock dust, it'll help make the slurry thicker. Just a guess though. I see a lot of variation on how long to run this stage. The most basic guides say stage 1 for however long is needed, then 1 week in each following stage and you're done. I see a lot of people running this stage for 10 days. I don't have time on the week days to mess with it; my almost 4 year old would be crushed if I did anything with the rocks without him, so I'm currently planning on running this stage for 2 weeks.
4. Polish stage - I have AO polish from The Rock Shed. Don't know the grit size because it doesn't say. I typically see recommendations for 3 - 6 TBSP here too. The Lortone manual says 6. Most beginner guides I've found say to run the polish stage for 1 week, but pretty much everything I've seen/read says to run for 2 weeks minimum. I think it was one of the Michigan Rocks videos I was watching where he's like "oh I got busy and forgot about these so they ran for 3 weeks" and everything seemed fine.
So, to be honest, after typing that all out I'm not 100% on what my questions are... lol. I guess I'm looking for the why behind the amount of grit and the time for each stage. Something other than, "well that's what everyone said to do."
Anyway, fairly new to this hobby, but I'm the type of person that researches stuff a lot before I jump into it, so on paper I feel like I have a solid grasp on what I'm doing, though obviously nothing can beat actual experience. I still have not completed my first batch. Currently have a 6 lb barrel running 60/90 and two 3 lb barrels running 500 AO. One thing I've noticed, is that a lot of Youtube videos and articles aimed at newcomers to tumbling spend a lot of time on the course stage and very little time on the stages after, except for maybe a little bit on the polishing stage. Honestly, for most people, this is probably fine so as to not give them information overload, but I like to know the why behind things. So I have some general questions. I know the exact answer will vary depending on factors, so let's just assume a 3lb rotary tumbler here and standard "hard" rocks like an agate.
1. Course stage - I don't really think we need to cover this. There is lots of info on the Internet, so I'm just mentioning it for completeness sake. This stage does the most grinding and is primarily for shaping the rock how you want it.
2. Medium stage - I have 120/220 SiC and that seems to be a really common grit for stage 2. I've seen recommendations for 1 TBSP per pound of rock and 2 TBSP per pound of rock. My Lortone instruction manual says 4 TBSP for stage 2 (which would be 1.33 TBSP per pound). I've run two barrels through 1 week of 120/220 now and used 4 TBSP like the manual says and there was still grit at the bottom after 1 week, so I think I'm going to reduce the grit to 3 TBSP next time. How are people using up double that in the same time period? Could I be filling my barrel to much, or packing to tightly?
Every suggestion says to just run this for 1 week and move on to stage 3. This seems to be the shortest stage. Is there a reason you'd want to run multiple weeks in medium grit?
3. Fine stage - I have 500 AO. This is probably the stage I found the most variation on the type of grit. Some still use SiC for this stage or they use 600 AO. I also see it referred to very often as "pre-polish", but as someone new looking at this, it seems more like fine grit to me. I'd say 1000 or more would be pre-polish. Just my two cents though. I typically see recommendations for 3 - 6 TBSP here. The Lortone manual says 6. I suppose this is because with less rock dust, it'll help make the slurry thicker. Just a guess though. I see a lot of variation on how long to run this stage. The most basic guides say stage 1 for however long is needed, then 1 week in each following stage and you're done. I see a lot of people running this stage for 10 days. I don't have time on the week days to mess with it; my almost 4 year old would be crushed if I did anything with the rocks without him, so I'm currently planning on running this stage for 2 weeks.
4. Polish stage - I have AO polish from The Rock Shed. Don't know the grit size because it doesn't say. I typically see recommendations for 3 - 6 TBSP here too. The Lortone manual says 6. Most beginner guides I've found say to run the polish stage for 1 week, but pretty much everything I've seen/read says to run for 2 weeks minimum. I think it was one of the Michigan Rocks videos I was watching where he's like "oh I got busy and forgot about these so they ran for 3 weeks" and everything seemed fine.
So, to be honest, after typing that all out I'm not 100% on what my questions are... lol. I guess I'm looking for the why behind the amount of grit and the time for each stage. Something other than, "well that's what everyone said to do."