Post by snetbonaut on Apr 25, 2022 13:13:43 GMT -5
Retired guy in SoCal (The OC) and have taken up rock licking within the last six months. I have slowly assembled some equipment and am at a stage where I need advice for next purchase. Here are the particulars of what I own and what I THINK I need, but would like help with priorities.
I own:
Nat Geo 4# Tumbler
Lortone 33B
Older 8" Hi-Tech Flat Lap, a
7" wet tile saw, a
Dremel with diamond bits and burrs
Wet/dry polishing pads for an angle grinder.
What can I do:
At this point, I have been primarily learning how to use what I have. I have run three sets of rocks through a traditional four stage process with some mixed results. The first two were basically grab a handful of rocks and tumble them. By the time I loaded the last drum, I had learnt to do some shaping before tumbling. There were mixed results with all of this, but each batch was a little better. I grown fond of the flat lap and have finally gotten to a place where I can do both flat and rounded shapes.
What I think I need:
At this point, I have about $500 to spend and I know I need to level up somewhere. My first impulse is to buy a slanted flat lap and stick with the rotary tumblers. I have also looked at a vibratory tumbler (Lot-O and Mini-Sonic) so that I can handle the polishing stages more quickly. I currently have a drum in stage one and another in stage two. I am started a pre-polish stage in a day or two and it would be nice to finish those by the time the next barrel is ready for polish. I have also found that polishing seems to work better if I am using about 60% media and 40% rock. My final thought is to buy a trim saw to do "smaller" cuts and shapes. I can really only do one of these things right now. Which would you do?
Questions I need to ask:
My first load of rocks came out of final polish all gooped up with polishing compound. It does not wish to come out. Should I put these back in stage two?
Should I go ahead and buy a separate barrel for each stage. Because the Nat Geo tumbler is multispeed and has a larger barrel, I use it for stage one. I almost always throw one or two back for another roll in the grit, so between rock erosion and retumbling, my smaller Lortone barrels easily handle the loads. It seems that having dedicated barrels will make contamination less likely.
Finally, is there anybody in the Orange County area that knows hounding sites that they are willing to disclose? I basically have no rock-licking friends, so nobody can help me with that.
Thanks...the board has already been a big help.
I own:
Nat Geo 4# Tumbler
Lortone 33B
Older 8" Hi-Tech Flat Lap, a
7" wet tile saw, a
Dremel with diamond bits and burrs
Wet/dry polishing pads for an angle grinder.
What can I do:
At this point, I have been primarily learning how to use what I have. I have run three sets of rocks through a traditional four stage process with some mixed results. The first two were basically grab a handful of rocks and tumble them. By the time I loaded the last drum, I had learnt to do some shaping before tumbling. There were mixed results with all of this, but each batch was a little better. I grown fond of the flat lap and have finally gotten to a place where I can do both flat and rounded shapes.
What I think I need:
At this point, I have about $500 to spend and I know I need to level up somewhere. My first impulse is to buy a slanted flat lap and stick with the rotary tumblers. I have also looked at a vibratory tumbler (Lot-O and Mini-Sonic) so that I can handle the polishing stages more quickly. I currently have a drum in stage one and another in stage two. I am started a pre-polish stage in a day or two and it would be nice to finish those by the time the next barrel is ready for polish. I have also found that polishing seems to work better if I am using about 60% media and 40% rock. My final thought is to buy a trim saw to do "smaller" cuts and shapes. I can really only do one of these things right now. Which would you do?
Questions I need to ask:
My first load of rocks came out of final polish all gooped up with polishing compound. It does not wish to come out. Should I put these back in stage two?
Should I go ahead and buy a separate barrel for each stage. Because the Nat Geo tumbler is multispeed and has a larger barrel, I use it for stage one. I almost always throw one or two back for another roll in the grit, so between rock erosion and retumbling, my smaller Lortone barrels easily handle the loads. It seems that having dedicated barrels will make contamination less likely.
Finally, is there anybody in the Orange County area that knows hounding sites that they are willing to disclose? I basically have no rock-licking friends, so nobody can help me with that.
Thanks...the board has already been a big help.