ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on May 12, 2021 8:17:37 GMT -5
I have a Thumler's Model B, so I can get some fairly large 3" rocks in it which is why I bought it. And I've read everywhere to mix sizes of rocks in the tumble. But some of my small rocks (1"-1.5") are getting destroyed, or just ground down to a tiny fragment. I have been using more ceramic lately, and that seems to help. But I'm still concerned about adding my best small rocks to the mix. Is there a way to prevent this, or is that another reason to buy another smaller tumbler for my special small rocks?
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on May 12, 2021 8:45:59 GMT -5
There's always a reason to buy new toys for your hobby... Sounds like the big rocks are bullying the small rocks a bit. It could be due to your slurry being too thin/thick and causing the rocks to smash rather than glide across each other. It could also be that the natural fractures are being exposed by the larger rocks as well. Maybe the ratio of small to big rocks is off and you need more smalls and less bigs per load. I would run a separate 3lb tumbler to roll my most prized small rocks, to make sure they have a more gentle ride and not get turned to dust/slurry. good luck!
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on May 12, 2021 8:53:40 GMT -5
Let me caveat this by saying I am pretty new to tumbling. I was having some of the same issues. As part of my current batch (mostly just mixed rough so a big variety of stuff) I have a decent amount of green aventurine and quartz. I was having issues with it being chipped and bruised in my Lortone QT6, probably for the same reasons you mention. So as part of my last Rock Shed order, I ordered this mini mixed rock. It's currently on sale for $1 per pound (if you order at least 5 lbs) and I ordered 15 pounds of it. I'm using it to help cushion rocks in stage 1. I've only completed 1 week with some in the barrel, and I think it helped, but it's hard to say after just 1 week. It also has the benefit of grinding down and thickening up the slurry, which I think also helps a lot to keep rocks from banging against each other to hard. What I did was add enough to cover the bottom, and then as I added my rocks back in, I'd just grab a small handful and sprinkle it over the top. I think there is a downside to this though; some of your grit will be used up smoothing out these filler rocks. I'm basically using these rocks as cheaper ceramic media and just using it until it disappears. I had wanted to get the next largest size, which Rock Shed classifies as extra small instead of mini, but they were sold out. I think the mini is just a little bit to small.
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on May 12, 2021 9:30:12 GMT -5
There's always a reason to buy new toys for your hobby... Sounds like the big rocks are bullying the small rocks a bit. It could be due to your slurry being too thin/thick and causing the rocks to smash rather than glide across each other. It could also be that the natural fractures are being exposed by the larger rocks as well. Maybe the ratio of small to big rocks is off and you need more smalls and less bigs per load. I would run a separate 3lb tumbler to roll my most prized small rocks, to make sure they have a more gentle ride and not get turned to dust/slurry. good luck! I will definitely try some of your suggestions - all of them make sense. I'll just have to do some experimenting....but that is part of the fun! And, YES, I'm going to have to get another tumbler!
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ericabelle
spending too much on rocks
Instagram acct: @erica_shoots_everything
Member since April 2021
Posts: 482
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Post by ericabelle on May 12, 2021 9:34:20 GMT -5
Let me caveat this by saying I am pretty new to tumbling. I was having some of the same issues. As part of my current batch (mostly just mixed rough so a big variety of stuff) I have a decent amount of green aventurine and quartz. I was having issues with it being chipped and bruised in my Lortone QT6, probably for the same reasons you mention. So as part of my last Rock Shed order, I ordered this mini mixed rock. It's currently on sale for $1 per pound (if you order at least 5 lbs) and I ordered 15 pounds of it. I'm using it to help cushion rocks in stage 1. I've only completed 1 week with some in the barrel, and I think it helped, but it's hard to say after just 1 week. It also has the benefit of grinding down and thickening up the slurry, which I think also helps a lot to keep rocks from banging against each other to hard. What I did was add enough to cover the bottom, and then as I added my rocks back in, I'd just grab a small handful and sprinkle it over the top. I think there is a downside to this though; some of your grit will be used up smoothing out these filler rocks. I'm basically using these rocks as cheaper ceramic media and just using it until it disappears. I had wanted to get the next largest size, which Rock Shed classifies as extra small instead of mini, but they were sold out. I think the mini is just a little bit to small. That's a great suggestion - I was actually thinking of looking at some of the smaller landscape rocks at HomeDepot or Lowe's to see if they have anything that would replace the ceramic in coarse grind, to save some $. Plus a friend of mine bought some "river rock" landscape rocks at Home Depot and a bunch of them had pretty good fossils in them! Those may be too soft for the tumbler, but, you know, fossils are cool.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on May 12, 2021 11:37:46 GMT -5
Buy/Find cheap small landscaping rocks to use with your large stones. One large stone in with smaller filler is guaranteed to grind the small rocks down fast.
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Post by manofglass on May 12, 2021 19:31:33 GMT -5
Stick some 35/70 grit in there then ignore your Tumbler barrel for a month
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Post by Bob on May 13, 2021 12:28:30 GMT -5
What is the RPM of your barrel? Not factory spec, or calculated, but actually observed by you at this time with loaded barrel?
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