plankspanker
starting to shine!
Member since October 2021
Posts: 31
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Post by plankspanker on Jan 26, 2022 12:03:31 GMT -5
Hi everyone, i have the large ceramic pellets, and i'm remembering someone saying that i should tumble the pellets by themselves for a while to smooth them out some before using them with rough. I'm wondering how long to tumble them, and if i can just add 2.5 lbs per 3 lb drum in my new Lortone 33B tumbler. Also, how much water should i add to each drum please? I'm thinking this should be done before i start tumbling any rough which i realize can take quite a few weeks.
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mud
having dreams about rocks
Member since May 2018
Posts: 69
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Post by mud on Jan 26, 2022 12:26:10 GMT -5
Great username.
I'm new to tumbling myself, but here's what little I think I know on the subject:
You're probably good to use the pellets as-is if you're starting them in the coarse stage along with your rocks. A run or two through the coarse stage will round them off well enough to prevent them damaging rocks in the finer grit stages.
If you are tumbling expecially delicate or difficult rocks, that may be a game changer. I'll defer to the experts here.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jan 26, 2022 12:33:14 GMT -5
Great username. I'm new to tumbling myself, but here's what little I think I know on the subject: You're probably good to use the pellets as-is if you're starting them in the coarse stage along with your rocks. A run or two through the coarse stage will round them off well enough to prevent them damaging rocks in the finer grit stages. If you are tumbling expecially delicate or difficult rocks, that may be a game changer. I'll defer to the experts here. That is what I've done with good results. A couple runs in coarse and they are basically pill shaped. I think others have dedicated ceramic media for each stage of grit (80/120/600/polish) to prevent cross contamination between stages, but personally I haven't run into any issues. I just make sure to give the remaining media an extra wash after I pick out the rocks an extra wash when I do use it.
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plankspanker
starting to shine!
Member since October 2021
Posts: 31
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Post by plankspanker on Jan 26, 2022 12:34:52 GMT -5
I'd say Mud is a pretty neat username too! Thanks for your input, i'm still trying to figure out which grit stages are best to start using the ceramics with as well. I discovered the name plankspanker is a somewhat popular knickname for Fender Telecaster players, as the guitars body is pretty flat like a plank of wood.
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plankspanker
starting to shine!
Member since October 2021
Posts: 31
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Post by plankspanker on Jan 26, 2022 12:38:46 GMT -5
Thanks very much Lumberlegs!
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RedWingTumbler
having dreams about rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 65
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Post by RedWingTumbler on Jan 27, 2022 9:19:15 GMT -5
Hi everyone, i have the large ceramic pellets, and i'm remembering someone saying that i should tumble the pellets by themselves for a while to smooth them out some before using them with rough. I'm wondering how long to tumble them, and if i can just add 2.5 lbs per 3 lb drum in my new Lortone 33B tumbler. Also, how much water should i add to each drum please? I'm thinking this should be done before i start tumbling any rough which i realize can take quite a few weeks. I usually tumble new large ceramics with a batch of stage 1 rough rocks. The ceramic material doesn't wear down as fast as the rocks, and it has the added benefit of helping to carry the grit better to shape the rocks. The rough edges of the new ceramics pose no danger to rough rocks in stage 1, since everything will come out smoother in the end. If you put the rough ceramics in with softer stones (like sodalite), they also help to cushion the rocks.
I have also tried tumbling them separately, but it seemed a bit like wasting grit, since the ceramics didn't break down the grit the way rocks do. For what it's worth, when tumbling the ceramics alone, I put them in a 3 lb. barrel (loaded about 3/4 full), added water about halfway up the barrel, with about 2 Tablespoons of grit, tumbling for one to two days.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jan 27, 2022 9:42:49 GMT -5
Hi everyone, i have the large ceramic pellets, and i'm remembering someone saying that i should tumble the pellets by themselves for a while to smooth them out some before using them with rough. I'm wondering how long to tumble them, and if i can just add 2.5 lbs per 3 lb drum in my new Lortone 33B tumbler. Also, how much water should i add to each drum please? I'm thinking this should be done before i start tumbling any rough which i realize can take quite a few weeks. I usually tumble new large ceramics with a batch of stage 1 rough rocks. The ceramic material doesn't wear down as fast as the rocks, and it has the added benefit of helping to carry the grit better to shape the rocks. The rough edges of the new ceramics pose no danger to rough rocks in stage 1, since everything will come out smoother in the end. If you put the rough ceramics in with softer stones (like sodalite), they also help to cushion the rocks.
I have also tried tumbling them separately, but it seemed a bit like wasting grit, since the ceramics didn't break down the grit the way rocks do. For what it's worth, when tumbling the ceramics alone, I put them in a 3 lb. barrel (loaded about 3/4 full), added water about halfway up the barrel, with about 2 Tablespoons of grit, tumbling for one to two days. So I just cracked open a batch after 7 days in my Lortone 3lb barrels. I used the same amount of grit, water, and rocks, the only difference is that I added ceramics to help cushion as this was material prone to producing cracks. However, when I took a peak last night the grit had hardly dissipated. Do you think it's an issue of not enough room in the tumbler, or possibly not enough water to help carry the extra ceramics? I was really confused on what did not happen in there... (I should add the rocks all had kind of a rough, gritty texture going on that I don't recall feeling before)
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Jan 27, 2022 12:01:47 GMT -5
I've never put my ceramics into stage 1. Seems like a waste to me. I just start them in medium grit and by the time they've finished that stage, they are rounded enough to not be a problem. I've not had a chance to do this in my Lot-o yet though, so maybe that will be different. But it's worked well in my 3lb rotary barrels.
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catskillrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,270
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Post by catskillrocks on Jan 27, 2022 21:00:53 GMT -5
So I just cracked open a batch after 7 days in my Lortone 3lb barrels. I used the same amount of grit, water, and rocks, the only difference is that I added ceramics to help cushion as this was material prone to producing cracks. However, when I took a peak last night the grit had hardly dissipated. Do you think it's an issue of not enough room in the tumbler, or possibly not enough water to help carry the extra ceramics? I was really confused on what did not happen in there... (I should add the rocks all had kind of a rough, gritty texture going on that I don't recall feeling before) Son Of Beach , I have had that happen to me too, there would be lots of unused grit and the rocks felt "rough" although shaped some. I think that I had the barrel too full, if I remember right.
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Post by greig on Jan 27, 2022 21:26:56 GMT -5
Now there are two questions, but both of them are good ones:
The reason to tumble your ceramic media is to remove any sharp edges that might scratch your rocks. It doesn't take long and overdoing it doesn't make it better. You could run them with stage 1 grit and that would be faster than using stage 2 or 3. My worry is always dirty media contamination, especially in stage 3 & 4. I almost never need media in stage 1, so don't shape it there. I keep media that I smoothed in stage 2 for stage 2 tumbles. I keep media that I smoothed in stage 3 for stage 3 rocks. I cannot do this for stage 4 (polish", so I use extra clean media smoothed in an earlier stage and then keep it only for stage 4.
If your rocks aren't rounding, the first thing to check is water level. Too much water and they will be swimming rather than rolling. The gritty texture on your rocks sounds like the grit is stuck to them. They feel gritty because the grit hasn't worn down. You are using silicone carbide for tumblers? If not, perhaps that is the problem.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jan 28, 2022 5:59:45 GMT -5
So I just cracked open a batch after 7 days in my Lortone 3lb barrels. I used the same amount of grit, water, and rocks, the only difference is that I added ceramics to help cushion as this was material prone to producing cracks. However, when I took a peak last night the grit had hardly dissipated. Do you think it's an issue of not enough room in the tumbler, or possibly not enough water to help carry the extra ceramics? I was really confused on what did not happen in there... (I should add the rocks all had kind of a rough, gritty texture going on that I don't recall feeling before) Son Of Beach , I have had that happen to me too, there would be lots of unused grit and the rocks felt "rough" although shaped some. I think that I had the barrel too full, if I remember right. After reflecting a little, I think that is exactly what happened. For this particular material I originally was filling my barrel say up to 80-85% to provide cushion and that wasn't cutting it. So I did the same with filler media. Just too much to allow for any real movement. Lesson learned 😣 I'm using the 3lb barrells for the final weeks in phase one. I'm noticing extra bruising, chipping, cracks, etc from my 12lb. So my thought was using the small ones with some cermaics to help "smooth" out those last imperfections without smashing to create new problems. I thought cermaics would help but I clearly dont have the ratios dialed in just yet. I'll keep plugging away.
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Post by greig on Jan 28, 2022 11:29:43 GMT -5
Better to target total fill of rock and media to be about 75% full. If you are at 85%, then rounding will be quite slow. They will eventually round but it won't be efficient.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jan 28, 2022 12:17:20 GMT -5
Better to target total fill of rock and media to be about 75% full. If you are at 85%, then rounding will be quite slow. They will eventually round but it won't be efficient. Thanks Greig. I've also read that going 50/50 ratio on ceramics to rocks is helpful, but still staying in that 70-75% barrel capacity range.
I think I will try that when I swap out next week.
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plankspanker
starting to shine!
Member since October 2021
Posts: 31
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Post by plankspanker on Feb 8, 2022 15:22:53 GMT -5
Thanks again very much everyone, this is a great help
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afterburnt
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2021
Posts: 152
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Post by afterburnt on Feb 8, 2022 16:51:48 GMT -5
I only use ceramics in stage two on. I run the ceramics in 220 with finished rocks from stage one with no ill effects.
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