markb
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Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 17, 2022 12:42:06 GMT -5
So I'm in the process of creating a slurry clean out station, utilizing a free double stainless steel sink I acquired from Craigslist. Luckily for me, many of you have done this before, so I'll just be able to copy your examples. It's pretty basic, build a table frame with legs and attached the sink to it. I currently collect my rotary barrel slurry into an empty yogurt container, let that settle in my garage for a couple days, then pour off the water into a 5 gallon bucket outside. What's left in the bottom of the container I let harden, then repeat the process over and over until there is too much hardened slurry and then throw the whole thing away. Easy peasy, no mess. After I get the slurry clean out station built, I'll just clean up everything in it letting all the slurry collect into a container below, then drain off the water into a 5 gallon bucket below it. Same pricipal but much quicker slurry collection technique. Anyway, in reading some of the threads here I see where some are "reclaiming" their slurry and using it again in their tumbles. So, my questions are just how effective is it to add reclaimed slurry to an 80 Grit rotary barrel tumble? And if you are currently using this process, are you omitting your regular grit, or just mixing the two? If you are mixing them, then how many times over will you use the dried slurry? Thanks!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2022 13:02:10 GMT -5
I have no answers, just hanging around to see what others say!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 17, 2022 13:34:51 GMT -5
I'll be curious to see what others have to say about the "value" in the used slurry is...
I don't have the tumbling experience that others have...so take what I say with a grain of salt...or a grain of SiC...you're choice! LOL
I will add some slurry cake (the used dried stuff) to my rotary in stage one. I feel it thickens the new slurry immediately. The thick slurry sticks to the rocks better...so, the thick slurry with the new grit will be attaching itself to the surface of the rocks better than water alone...thus it should be more effective in grinding the rocks. It's also why I don't always do a clean out when running stage one. Oftentimes, I'll just add more grit to the existing slurry and let it go again.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 467
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Post by hypodactylus on Jun 17, 2022 13:43:32 GMT -5
You can definitely reuse reclaimed grit; just keep in mind that the grit breaks down and becomes finer as you tumble. For example, a week of tumbling with 80 grit Silicon Carbide might result in a slurry containing 200 - 400 grit (I don't know the exact grit level). This is why you sometimes hear about people running an extra long stage 1 (say, a few weeks) in a rotary tumbler, then going straight to a polish or pre-polish.
To be more clear; you can't reclaim spent 80 grit from the coarse stage, reuse it in a new coarse stage, and expect to get the same results as the fresh 80 grit. The reclaimed grit will be finer and more suitable for the after coarse stages.
I don't reclaim grit myself, but people seem to do it most often with polish (since polish tends to be more expensive).
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Jun 17, 2022 14:05:24 GMT -5
I save my slurry. I do a clean out every Saturday .clean of the slurry into a five gallon bucket. Let it settle for a week, drain off the water and retain the slurry in another bucket. Tumblers work best when the grit is suspended in a slurry, sticks to the rocks and grinds better. I put in a bunch of slurry, it’s like clay at this point, back in with my stage one tumbler’s. I’m not saving it for the grit, just to thicken up my tumblers. Works like a charm, I have a slurry formed after one day. If there is any “unground” grit in it, it’s a bonus. When I clean out my tile saw, that goes in the slurry. Scraps from cutting go in too. jamesp uses local clay, I use my slurry. Everyone has there own methods, this is what I do!to add, I have 4 six pound tumblers going for 3+ years straight. They feed a lot-o and a ten pound thumler.
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markb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 17, 2022 14:27:48 GMT -5
I have no answers, just hanging around to see what others say!
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Post by perkins17 on Jun 17, 2022 15:10:16 GMT -5
I used to but don't any more. I think it's pretty worthless with the first several stages. This just my experience and opinion so I am interested to see what others say.
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Post by aDave on Jun 17, 2022 15:27:08 GMT -5
I never really had grit left over after my coarse runs and weekly cleanouts, so I never even gave it a thought. Personally, I wouldn't spend the time to specifically farm it, but to each their own. That said, I did save the slurry, dried it out, and used it as a "starter" to build slurry quickly after each coarse restart after cleanout, much like jimmie noted. This is similar to folks using kitty litter or clay which accomplishes the same thing.
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markb
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 17, 2022 16:08:24 GMT -5
Hmmm, interesting.
A couple of things I should have mentioned before is that I'm tumbling rocks at a Moh's 7 hardness, including jaspers, agates and pet wood. We have a LOT of these in Oregon. Some of my jaspers have been water tumbled in nature and are pretty smooth to begin with. For these I don't always put them into Stage 1, unless they have rough areas or scratches. I was under the impression that Stage 1 was primarily to "shape" the rocks to how you want them and get out small pits, scratches, etc.
I should also mention that I run my rocks in a Stage 1 80-grit tumble in 2, 3 lb rotary barrels, then when ready move them to a Thumlers 10 lb vibe for stages 220, 500 and polish. Or, that's my plan anyway when I can figure out just what I'm doing and find a way to reduce the noise of the vibe in my garage, since we are in a duplex.
Previous to this question I had started a thread that talked about what seemed to me to be an over abundance of left over slurry on the bottom of my 3 lb barrels, after a 5-7 day tumble. The consensus was I needed to include more small rocks to help increase the action, not overfill the barrel with rocks, and maybe lower the water level. I now do all three. HOWEVER, at that time I also decided to reduce the 3 TBS of 80 grit I was told to add to each barrel, until I found no remaining grit at the end of a tumble. That probably was a bad move, but I was getting frustrated with seeing my nicely sized rocks being tumbled down to puny rocks! So, because of that I also reduced the amount of time before I stopped the tumble down to 3 days. Conclusion, less grit, less tumble time, mixed effectiveness and total misunderstanding (on my part) of how grit works and why a slurry is important. I understood it in my vibe, but somehow thought the rotary was different.
Recently I read a post that said even slight differences in tumbling location can make differences in the results obtained in tumbled rocks. So with that in mind, I guess I'll just ask ya'll how much grit are you putting into a new tumble and how long are you tumbling them, preferably when doing jaspers, agates and pet wood?
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 467
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Post by hypodactylus on Jun 17, 2022 17:56:58 GMT -5
I generally use 3-4 tablespoons of coarse grit in my 3A barrel and 2-3 cups in my QT12 barrel. Bigger rocks break down the grit a lot faster. You know you used to much if there is still 'gritty' grit left over at cleanout time. I run the coarse stage one week at a time, but many weeks or months overall for some rocks (new grit each week).
I am not convinced that slurry thickness matters much (if at all) in a rotary tumbler, as long as it is not so thick that it impedes the tumbling action. I have had watery thin slurry, foamy slurry, and thick slurry; I can't say I ever noticed a difference in how well the grit abraded my rocks.
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Post by aDave on Jun 17, 2022 17:58:37 GMT -5
The biggest thing that you have working against you in the coarse stage is lack of weight to help break down your grit which helps to shape your rocks. That might explain why you have grit left over at the end of one week. For barrels as small as yours, I have no idea what the sweet spot may be in terms of time and how much grit you might use. I seem to recall others mentioning to keep the same amount of grit (1 tbsp per lb), but just run a bit longer. Don't take that as gospel, though. Oh yeah, are you using 80 SiC or AO? In comparison, my coarse runs were in two, 6-lb barrels (QT66) using about 1.3 tbsp/lb (barrel size) of 46/70 which easily gets used up in a properly loaded barrel. I was even able to "get away" with using 46/70 in a 4-lb barrel, but sometimes there was grit left over. All of my tumbles have pretty much been mohs 7. Not sure this quite helps you at all, other than perhaps getting you to think about trying to get a larger tumbler for your coarse runs.
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markb
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Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 17, 2022 21:06:49 GMT -5
I generally use 3-4 tablespoons of coarse grit in my 3A barrel and 2-3 cups in my QT12 barrel. Bigger rocks break down the grit a lot faster. You know you used to much if there is still 'gritty' grit left over at cleanout time. I run the coarse stage one week at a time, but many weeks or months overall for some rocks (new grit each week). I am not convinced that slurry thickness matters much (if at all) in a rotary tumbler, as long as it is not so thick that it impedes the tumbling action. I have had watery thin slurry, foamy slurry, and thick slurry; I can't say I ever noticed a difference in how well the grit abraded my rocks. Yeah, I started loading my 33B barrels with 3 TBS 80-Sic, but thought the left over slurry was a sign of the grit not being used up completely. In retrospect, everything was probably just fine and that was the normal slurry that was left after the grind. Thus my journey to reduce the grit until I didn't have the gooey mud left on the bottom. Based on how much you are putting into your 3A barrel, I'll up mine back up to 3 TBS and just leave the slurry in for a second run to help keep the slurry thicker. I don't remember ever seeing any gritty grit left over, but will watch for it and adjust accordingly. Thanks for your input!
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markb
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Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 17, 2022 21:36:54 GMT -5
The biggest thing that you have working against you in the coarse stage is lack of weight to help break down your grit which helps to shape your rocks. That might explain why you have grit left over at the end of one week. For barrels as small as yours, I have no idea what the sweet spot may be in terms of time and how much grit you might use. I seem to recall others mentioning to keep the same amount of grit (1 tbsp per lb), but just run a bit longer. Don't take that as gospel, though. Oh yeah, are you using 80 SiC or AO? In comparison, my coarse runs were in two, 6-lb barrels (QT66) using about 1.3 tbsp/lb (barrel size) of 46/70 which easily gets used up in a properly loaded barrel. I was even able to "get away" with using 46/70 in a 4-lb barrel, but sometimes there was grit left over. All of my tumbles have pretty much been mohs 7. Not sure this quite helps you at all, other than perhaps getting you to think about trying to get a larger tumbler for your coarse runs. To overcome the problem of my barrels being only 3 lbs small, I've lowered my water level to 1-1.5" below the tops of the rocks, which gives me more grinding action in the tumble. As for grit, I'm using Sic for Stages 1 and 2, and AO for my pre polish and polish stages, which I've never tried before but seems like in a vibe it would be a better prep and polish. I had to LOL at your suggestion for me to buy a larger tumbler, which I agree, but when shopping for any size tumbler this year there was hardly anything available as most were "out of stock". I would go to just making something on my own, but have to worry about too much noise, living in a duplex. But, thanks for your feedback!
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markb
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Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 17, 2022 21:40:24 GMT -5
I'll be curious to see what others have to say about the "value" in the used slurry is... I don't have the tumbling experience that others have...so take what I say with a grain of salt...or a grain of SiC...you're choice! LOL I will add some slurry cake (the used dried stuff) to my rotary in stage one. I feel it thickens the new slurry immediately. The thick slurry sticks to the rocks better...so, the thick slurry with the new grit will be attaching itself to the surface of the rocks better than water alone...thus it should be more effective in grinding the rocks. It's also why I don't always do a clean out when running stage one. Oftentimes, I'll just add more grit to the existing slurry and let it go again. Well I certainly like the idea of not cleaning out my barrels after every single tumbling, so I'll adopt your method and reclaim any slurry left over from there. Thanks! How long do you typically let your Stage 1 tumble run?
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 17, 2022 23:18:32 GMT -5
I'll be curious to see what others have to say about the "value" in the used slurry is... I don't have the tumbling experience that others have...so take what I say with a grain of salt...or a grain of SiC...you're choice! LOL I will add some slurry cake (the used dried stuff) to my rotary in stage one. I feel it thickens the new slurry immediately. The thick slurry sticks to the rocks better...so, the thick slurry with the new grit will be attaching itself to the surface of the rocks better than water alone...thus it should be more effective in grinding the rocks. It's also why I don't always do a clean out when running stage one. Oftentimes, I'll just add more grit to the existing slurry and let it go again. Well I certainly like the idea of not cleaning out my barrels after every single tumbling, so I'll adopt your method and reclaim any slurry left over from there. Thanks! How long do you typically let your Stage 1 tumble run? WHEN my rotary has been running over the last two years, it's been rolling Prairie Agates or Crazy Lazy...both of which have taken longer than a month in coarse grit. It's been sitting idle for a spell. The next time it gets going though, I'm going to be pre-shaping the rough on my saws before it goes in...that way it should expedite the process tremendously.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2022 23:21:43 GMT -5
jasoninsdYou better blow the dust off that bad boy! That’s about all you can do waiting for your finger to heal! 😆
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 17, 2022 23:33:31 GMT -5
jasoninsd You better blow the dust off that bad boy! That’s about all you can do waiting for your finger to heal! 😆 Well...that'll take 20 minutes to load the dang thing...then I could sit there and watch it spin! LOL
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2022 23:35:35 GMT -5
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markb
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Member since May 2022
Posts: 472
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Post by markb on Jun 18, 2022 1:02:42 GMT -5
He could twiddle his thumbs while he watches it roll, that would have to count for something, right?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2022 1:12:09 GMT -5
&markb Indeed Mark, it would lol! (Why am I up this late?🧐)
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