steelheader
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 50
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Post by steelheader on Jul 14, 2022 20:09:15 GMT -5
Strange. I havent changed a thing since day one of using the vibe. Business as usual but as of the last three batches my polish stage has been acting strange. The rocks still do come out fine, for the record.
All rocks more or less same hardness. |I use half a tsp AO polish and 1 tblspoon borax. Rocks of varying sizes, no more than one large rock ( 1.5" max ) per batch. Cermaic pellets usually around 60/40 split with rocks.
Again, I haven't ( or so I think ) changed a thing since day one but what I am finding is that the material just stops rolling in polish after a few hours to a day. It 'vibes' in one place, ever slowly turning over, almost creating a chattering sound. So I did a test where I only put in half of the polish at the start, then once they stop I put the other half and its as if the polish adds traction to the stones and they start rolling again ( but only for a short period of time ). All other stages rolling fine, nothing has changed since I started.
Any insight, I must be missing something...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2022 22:06:51 GMT -5
steelheaderSounds like they could be a bit dry. Are you spraying them to add water to get a nice slurry? Could you upload a picture of what they look like?
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Elle
off to a rocking start
I keep repeating "What is it? What are you?" But the rocks aren't talking...🤔
Member since December 2021
Posts: 5
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Post by Elle on Jul 15, 2022 9:04:09 GMT -5
I find that outside temperature and humidity affects it, surprisingly. I agree with spraying with water, a bit at a time, to see if they move more. Either that or there's too much water! Wet rocks, drain completely, let sit and drain again. Then grit and start it, add water as needed. Just my thoughts... Keep us posted!
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 463
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Post by jimaz on Jul 15, 2022 9:30:50 GMT -5
I only use 1/4 tsp in polish, also 1 tbs of borax. Seems to work well. That little difference in the amount of polish shouldn’t matter. I agree with it likely being a bit dry. Also might try a few squirts of liquid hand soap.
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steelheader
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 50
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Post by steelheader on Jul 18, 2022 2:56:04 GMT -5
I tried the whole cloudinary thing and just seems like a lot of work. My most recent batch had a bunch of stuck together, gooey mess at the bottom of the barrel. I suspect this was slowing down the action. Its been hot recently but the humidity is pretty high. The tumbler is in a shed that has electricity but not a/c so gets pretty warm even with windows open. I will add more water to see if anything changes. Will report back in a weeks time with the new batch. Thank you all 🙂
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 18, 2022 9:38:53 GMT -5
I tried the whole cloudinary thing and just seems like a lot of work. My most recent batch had a bunch of stuck together, gooey mess at the bottom of the barrel. I suspect this was slowing down the action. Its been hot recently but the humidity is pretty high. The tumbler is in a shed that has electricity but not a/c so gets pretty warm even with windows open. I will add more water to see if anything changes. Will report back in a weeks time with the new batch. Thank you all 🙂 I'm not the most experienced tumbler...but this statement right here would indicate to me there's not enough water. When my action slows down like you're describing, I have a squirt bottle to "spritz" the rocks until they start moving better (or how they should be). Your process may not have changed since you started...but if the weather has changed (e.g. gotten hotter) than you may be experiencing evaporation of the water in the vibe - thus you would need to add more during the tumbling process.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Jul 18, 2022 13:11:32 GMT -5
I tried the whole cloudinary thing and just seems like a lot of work. I agree. I don't know why someone would go through all those steps when you can just go to imgur.com and upload your pictures in a matter of seconds. Then you can either post the link to the gallery in your post or get the URL of the individual pictures and embed them straight into your post.
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jul 18, 2022 14:00:54 GMT -5
Strange. I havent changed a thing since day one of using the vibe. Business as usual but as of the last three batches my polish stage has been acting strange. The rocks still do come out fine, for the record.
All rocks more or less same hardness. |I use half a tsp AO polish and 1 tblspoon borax. Rocks of varying sizes, no more than one large rock ( 1.5" max ) per batch. Cermaic pellets usually around 60/40 split with rocks.
Again, I haven't ( or so I think ) changed a thing since day one but what I am finding is that the material just stops rolling in polish after a few hours to a day. It 'vibes' in one place, ever slowly turning over, almost creating a chattering sound. So I did a test where I only put in half of the polish at the start, then once they stop I put the other half and its as if the polish adds traction to the stones and they start rolling again ( but only for a short period of time ). All other stages rolling fine, nothing has changed since I started.
Any insight, I must be missing something...
I've had some issues similar to yours. Mine seemed to be happening in my 220 stage, right after coarse grind. They would move fine for a 1/2 day to a day and just like you are describing they would really gum up. A couple things I've learned from observation at least. One soft rock seems to clog up the entire batch, so I'm more mindful of which rocks go in each batch and I'll remove a rock if it becomes too problematic. I'm putting slightly more water (like a cap full) than I used to. I've also started to use a small squirt of dish soap if I can see it gumming up. That extra bit of soap + tiny bit of water seems to help the 2 or 3 days it runs in 220. Sometimes you can play with the barrel placement slightly to get a better shake.
I haven't had any issues in the 600 or polish stages which is what makes me think it's a softer rock creating the problem. I don't think I've every tumbled the same material in once batch so I can't 100% say this is the case, but I'm imagining a batch of really hard rocks may not have the same issue.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2022 11:51:38 GMT -5
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steelheader
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 50
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Post by steelheader on Jul 24, 2022 11:43:16 GMT -5
Hey everyone, thank you kindly for your input. Reflecting upon what has been said I do feel there may be some weather influence. This is my first summer tumbling ( started during the cold winter months ) so I will be adding more water as needed. After some detective work I have noticed that the barrel itself is also part of the problem. I have two barrels, keeping one strictly for polish. When I threw in todays batch into the barrel, the stones weren’t rolling well ( just wet, no polish ). When I transferred them into the other barrel, they rolled very well. I kept note of the placement of both barrels to keep this variable as similar as possible to keep the experiment true. Could it be that the barrel has deformed a bit given our recent heat wave? I tumble and keep all my stuff in a shed that has no A/C but windows kept open. I haven’t noticed any deformities but it is safe to say the barrel is influencing the roll. I have readjusted the polish barrel placement in the vibe to get the most optimal roll and we shall see what the next two days brings.
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steelheader
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 50
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Post by steelheader on Jul 24, 2022 11:44:00 GMT -5
Also, I will add dish soap right now, thank you again!
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steelheader
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2021
Posts: 50
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Post by steelheader on Jul 24, 2022 19:16:25 GMT -5
It is my barrel. Just checked my batch in the polish barrel, no rolling like before, even after adding more water and liquid dish soap. As a test I transferred everything into my other barrel and its rolling no problem. Any input on this is appreciated.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2022 23:12:54 GMT -5
steelheaderThats interesting and strange. I dont know enough to be helpful other that saying try to return your barrel for a replacement saying the one you have is defective.?
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