terryjh
starting to shine!
Member since July 2021
Posts: 46
|
Post by terryjh on Jul 23, 2021 18:42:22 GMT -5
Hello RTH members. New guy here with a note of appreciation to you for sharing your experiences and helping me get started with this very cool hobby. I live next to the Indiana Dunes Nat’l Park on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Plenty of beach rocks to collect, tumble and keep me busy and out of trouble.
I have an initial question concerning stepping up higher with grit sizes. My new equipment and supplies are from The Rock Shed (awesome service ). Not knowing exactly what Thumler sends in their kit, I ordered Rock Shed’s grit pack of 60/90 SC, 120/220 SC, 500 AO and AO Polish. It seems like a huge step going from 500 AO to AO Polish. Would an extra step of 1000 AO or SC make sense? Is using 1000 common and productive? I’m going to be running a Thumler AR-1. Exact rock types I’ll be tumbling are unknown at this point. I know we have quartz, chert, granite, jasper, gneiss, and if I’m lucky, an agate here & there on the beaches nearby.
Thanks again for the great forum.
Terryjh
|
|
|
Post by perkins17 on Jul 23, 2021 19:34:33 GMT -5
The 500 to 1000 or 1200 is a normal step that works well. My polish was 500 silicon carbide to 1200 AO so I understand how you feel. Your rocks should turn out nice and shiny if you have all of the same hardness and ran each stage for long enough. Hope that helps!
|
|
terryjh
starting to shine!
Member since July 2021
Posts: 46
|
Post by terryjh on Jul 23, 2021 19:39:20 GMT -5
Thanks for the comment perkins17. Does seem like a sensible step to take regardless of the extra time for the additional tumble at 1000.
|
|
|
Post by parfive on Jul 23, 2021 20:30:14 GMT -5
60/90 SiC till you’re happy with ’em 500F SiC for a week AO polish for two weeks.
That’s it. Try it, you’ll like it. : )
|
|
|
Post by perkins17 on Jul 23, 2021 20:39:39 GMT -5
You don't need to use 1000 AO sorry. I always see how my writing creates confusion way too late. I do 60/90 silicon carbide then 120/220(?) Silicon carbide then 500 ao or silicon carbide and then 1200 AO. I should probably be using a finer final polish. People on here always recommend the rock shed and Kingsley north and I should/will try it the next time I run out. Again, sorry for the confusion. I need to review what I write.
|
|
terryjh
starting to shine!
Member since July 2021
Posts: 46
|
Post by terryjh on Jul 23, 2021 21:41:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the recipe parfive; simple & effective. No worries perkins17...all square now on the 1000. Thanks again.
|
|
|
Post by Rockindad on Jul 24, 2021 8:54:18 GMT -5
The longer I tumble the more convinced I am that grit manufacturers and sellers came up with these "recipes". They just keep getting repeated over and over because they are the "conventional wisdom". I know from reading old threads that parfive has been pounding the drum for fewer stages for many years now. While we started off using conventional methods, we have evolved to use fewer and fewer steps as well. While we still do all rotary at times most of our batches get roughed in rotary and finished in a vibe. It will probably be 3-4 weeks before we post the thread/pictures but we are in the middle of an experiment to see how far we can go with eliminating the steps. We roughed a large amount of Obsidian in rotary with 36SiC. The batch was then split and half was run in the vibe using a version of traditional steps (120/220SiC, 500AO, 1000AO) and half was run in 80AO. Each of these batches are now sitting in containers waiting to go into polish (our tumblers are backed up at the moment). We will take pictures before we put each into their polish runs. Honestly I think a lot of people would be more than happy with the polish on the batch that was only run in 80AO as they sit now, they are almost as good as the batch run with more steps. I expect that after a run in polish it will be difficult to tell the two batches apart. This is a very long-winded way of saying that I recommend you start off purchasing smaller amounts of grit. If you want to try the more conventional methods, by all means go for it. Then try the simplified way and compare the results. It may save you from having a stockpile of grits that you may never use..........like someone I know.
|
|
rrod
having dreams about rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 72
|
Post by rrod on Jul 24, 2021 10:28:03 GMT -5
It will probably be 3-4 weeks before we post the thread/pictures but we are in the middle of an experiment to see how far we can go with eliminating the steps. We roughed a large amount of Obsidian in rotary with 36SiC. The batch was then split and half was run in the vibe using a version of traditional steps (120/220SiC, 500AO, 1000AO) and half was run in 80AO. Each of these batches are now sitting in containers waiting to go into polish (our tumblers are backed up at the moment). We will take pictures before we put each into their polish runs. Honestly I think a lot of people would be more than happy with the polish on the batch that was only run in 80AO as they sit now, they are almost as good as the batch run with more steps. I expect that after a run in polish it will be difficult to tell the two batches apart. Been considering 80AO as it gets good press frequently. What are you supposed to buy? There seems to be a gamut of blasting media that range from ochre to sun-bleached-SpongeBob…
|
|
|
Post by Rockindad on Jul 24, 2021 10:34:36 GMT -5
It will probably be 3-4 weeks before we post the thread/pictures but we are in the middle of an experiment to see how far we can go with eliminating the steps. We roughed a large amount of Obsidian in rotary with 36SiC. The batch was then split and half was run in the vibe using a version of traditional steps (120/220SiC, 500AO, 1000AO) and half was run in 80AO. Each of these batches are now sitting in containers waiting to go into polish (our tumblers are backed up at the moment). We will take pictures before we put each into their polish runs. Honestly I think a lot of people would be more than happy with the polish on the batch that was only run in 80AO as they sit now, they are almost as good as the batch run with more steps. I expect that after a run in polish it will be difficult to tell the two batches apart. Been considering 80AO as it gets good press frequently. What are you supposed to buy? There seems to be a gamut of blasting media that range from ochre to sun-bleached-SpongeBob… The 80 I got is from www.ebay.com/usr/theabrasivearmory. It is pure white. Over the years I have used AO from different sources that have been brown, grey and white. All seems to react the same.
|
|
terryjh
starting to shine!
Member since July 2021
Posts: 46
|
Post by terryjh on Jul 24, 2021 18:55:16 GMT -5
Going only with 80AO after the 36SC sure is worthy of a trial. Conclusion will be quite interesting.
|
|
Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
|
Post by Wooferhound on Jul 24, 2021 19:50:43 GMT -5
Going only with 80AO after the 36SC sure is worthy of a trial. Conclusion will be quite interesting. Here you go . . .
Running Dual Polish Barrels using Normal 4 stage and AO 80
|
|