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Post by holajonathan on Oct 18, 2021 22:16:53 GMT -5
My wife picked up these two bags on a recent shopping trip, before I had a chance to share the advice on this thread with her. I'm thinking of just returning the 5 pound bag of small aquarium gravel, but I'm wondering about perhaps using the white stones (from Dollar Tree) in a test Stage 1 tumble. Thoughts?
The rough white aquarium gravel is probably best exchanged for the rounded kind I pictured above, if they have that. I'm guessing the dollar store stuff is a pretty soft stone, like maybe marble...? I've actually been curious to see what I could do with a bag of rocks like the larger ones in your photo. I've been able to get pretty shapes by tumbling marble chips (f that's what it is) but it's tricky to coax what I'd actually call a shine in a tumbler, as it's only a 3 mohs. If you just want it as filler at stage one, it might work, but if it is super soft, it could also just grind away and thicken up your slurry pretty fast. That's not always a bad thing, depending on what else you're working on. Soft stones like that in later stages, however, can dull the shine of the harder stones. Final thoughts: I'm all about experimenting. For the larger stuff from the dollar store, I say - For a buck, what the heck - give it a whirl and see what happens and report back. I might try it, depending on what you find out. Best wishes! I second Inga's advice. If it is quickly ground into slurry, a thick slurry will serve the same purpose as smalls / ceramics for the most part.
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Post by Starguy on Oct 19, 2021 20:43:49 GMT -5
Slurry is good. That’s how I measure my tumbling efficiency. If the slurry is thick on a stage 1 grind, I feel like I got the recipe right.
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Post by knave on Oct 22, 2021 17:32:08 GMT -5
ingawhi found this 5 lb bag of perfectly sized polished quartz on Amazon for $15 shipped.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 22, 2021 17:39:29 GMT -5
I use river gravel as filler, sometimes you get a bonus after its tumbled, some contain crystals and agates, plus a few jaspers... Great thumbnail specimens..
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ingawh
starting to spend too much on rocks
The rock wants to shine, I just help it get there
Member since February 2011
Posts: 194
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Post by ingawh on Oct 22, 2021 17:59:52 GMT -5
ingawhi found this 5 lb bag of perfectly sized polished quartz on Amazon for $15 shipped. Those look great! Depending on the tumbling stage you're in, I would still pick through and remove the couple I see with pits and rough edges, but it looks like most might usable in a polish stage right out of the bag - nice find!
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Post by Son Of Beach on Oct 22, 2021 18:16:46 GMT -5
I use ceramic filler in stage one instead of adding more rough. It seems to work better for me.I change out the ceramic filler in the polishing stage just to make sure of no contamination and also dedicate barrels just for polishing. What size barrel are you using for stage 1? I have not used any ceramic filler, mostly just small, penny sized stones for filler. However in my new 12lb barrel I feel like I'm seeing more chipping that I am used to seeing. I'm sure it has to do with bigger rocks and force when the smash together, but I didn't think I would need to use filler on the big (125g+) rocks. I am swapping the big stones to the 3lb barrel when the get smaller and maybe I'm being a little to picky but it's noticeable.
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Post by Mel on Nov 3, 2021 20:15:45 GMT -5
I only use ceramic media in stage 2 onward, but for stage 1 I've used brand new ceramic (to break it in), or other rocks. Lately I've been trying to pick up a good mix of sizes since I'd rather tumble rocks than media if I can help it.
Random gravel and ceramic media have their place too.
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Nov 4, 2021 9:47:24 GMT -5
Here is a great book that explains the use of media when tumbling. I always use the ceramic media in different sizes. It works with the grit to get to into all the surfaces of the rough being polished at each stage including polishing. It is worth the few dollars of cost and it lasts a long time. It is multiple times harder and better than just tossing some quartz into the mix in my humble opinion. rocktumbler.com/book.shtmlrocktumbler.com/media.shtmlThoughts?
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lapis60
having dreams about rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 65
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Post by lapis60 on Nov 8, 2021 18:39:39 GMT -5
I use ceramic filler in stage one instead of adding more rough. It seems to work better for me.I change out the ceramic filler in the polishing stage just to make sure of no contamination and also dedicate barrels just for polishing. What size barrel are you using for stage 1? I have not used any ceramic filler, mostly just small, penny sized stones for filler. However in my new 12lb barrel I feel like I'm seeing more chipping that I am used to seeing. I'm sure it has to do with bigger rocks and force when the smash together, but I didn't think I would need to use filler on the big (125g+) rocks. I am swapping the big stones to the 3lb barrel when the get smaller and maybe I'm being a little to picky but it's noticeable. I have a Loritone 12Lb and 3Lb. I use ceramic filler in all stages.I'm careful not to contaminate and use different ceramic for the polishing step. It seems to work well.
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