gregniel
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2020
Posts: 24
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Post by gregniel on May 4, 2022 9:29:32 GMT -5
I've been tumbling for 6 years now and love it. Recently, however, the price of coarse grit has gone through the ceiling. $100 for 40 lbs of grit is just too much. I've looked everywhere to try an buy in bulk. Living in Utah you would think there would be a company that would sell SIC in bulk. . . . nope. If anybody has a suggestion for finding bulk SIC I'd love to know. I'd even consider driving my truck out of state for a deal. Thank you!
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Post by Son Of Beach on May 4, 2022 9:58:58 GMT -5
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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 4, 2022 10:36:47 GMT -5
Check out your local Sand Blasting Supply business for Grit Selections
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on May 4, 2022 11:47:30 GMT -5
Have you tried working with www.therockshed.com Maybe Shawn would work with you, they are out of South Dakota..
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,071
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Post by dshanpnw on May 5, 2022 6:50:39 GMT -5
hello gregneil, I feel your pain. It's hard to ignore the costs these days. The price of coarse grit does want to take some of the fun out of tumbling, if you think about it while scooping in the cups or tablespoons, especially cups. It's like putting gas in your car to go to your favorite rock hounding location that is 3-4 hours away. But those beautiful stones after they're polished makes me feel it was worth it. I hope the prices stop rising and maybe they will go down a little in the near future. I hope you find a better deal.
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Chris Sikk
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 73
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Post by Chris Sikk on May 9, 2022 22:31:52 GMT -5
I cannot even find it locally at the moment. The shops here (Canada) have been out of it completely.
Twice, I have cruised the forum looking at alternatives to SIC. And of course, shipping in Canada is about 4x the cost of shipping when I lived in the States. Thanks to the forum I found some Canadian tumbling supply shops, but the cost of stage 1 (not bulk, more like a sour cream container full) was close to $20 CAD and the store had a $25 flat rate for shipping. For that price I considered the Rockshed, but then I am dealing with customs costs as well.
Today, I went to an auto parts store that had some carborundum in very small packets (for spark plug cleaning, I guess). I read here that one individual had some luck with carborundum. I found some brown aluminum oxide #46 for sandblasting and bought it too. I just want to tumble!!! So, now I am experimenting. *sigh*
They had carbon slag labeled #55 (grit) and some crushed glass label3d 20-30 grit. I didn't think either of those would do much.
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brybry
Cave Dweller
Enter your message here...
Member since October 2021
Posts: 1,220
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Post by brybry on May 10, 2022 10:20:32 GMT -5
Try Johnson Brothers, I got just shy of 40lbs of 35 SiC for $85 shipped. Customer service can be hit or miss but a bit of their SiC is flat rate priced in bulk weight.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on May 14, 2022 9:00:37 GMT -5
FYI Carborundum is SiC. It is a trade name from the founder E.G. Acheson. I never realized that is was discovered in 1893! I believe the first rock tumbler was invented like 2 days later lol.
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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 14, 2022 16:40:37 GMT -5
Yes, Grit is getting more expensive. But I think this is one of the cheapest hobbies there is. After the initial cost of the tumbler and 20 pounds of grit, around $300 for the good stuff. I think that it is really Low Cost, especially if you are able to self collect your own rocks like I do. Electricity is about $5 a month for a 12 pound 50 Watt tumbler.
Buy a Good tumbler to start with and collect your own rocks, it's not expensive at that point . . .
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