richb
off to a rocking start
New to tumbling (3 wweks)
Member since July 2022
Posts: 2
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Post by richb on Jul 28, 2022 20:27:51 GMT -5
Bear with me for asking such a basic question but I'm new to tumbling (about 3 weeks). My question is can I reuse plastic pellets in different steps of tumbling? So far I'm in the pre-polish step and have used the same pellets in step 2. I washed the stones and pellets by tumbling with water and a dab of dawn for and hour to clean between step 2 and pre-polish. Is this an OK practice or should I use the pellets with the same grit number. The same question applies to ceramic pellets if I use them. Is there a preffered media plastic/ceramic?
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rockbrain
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Member since January 2022
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Post by rockbrain on Jul 29, 2022 8:54:16 GMT -5
Not everyone does it the same but it seems like the ceramic is often cleaned and moved from step to step. The plastic isn't and is typically used with one grit.
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quartzilla
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Member since April 2020
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Post by quartzilla on Jul 29, 2022 8:54:45 GMT -5
I reuse the ceramics. But usually that is just pushing them thru the stages. The plastic I don’t because I don’t trust it to not contaminate the next stage. The plastic seems to absorb the color of the polish so in my way of thinking it’s also absorbing the particles themselves. All the work put into polishing these stones I’m not gonna risk it trying to save some plastic pellets and ruin a load.
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richb
off to a rocking start
New to tumbling (3 wweks)
Member since July 2022
Posts: 2
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Post by richb on Jul 29, 2022 19:27:42 GMT -5
Thanks for your input, I thought I would be going to ceramic, it seems the more I look the more I'm finding that's what most people are using
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Post by rmf on Jul 30, 2022 9:40:20 GMT -5
richb I would not use plastic pellets in any grinding phase. If you need filler use recycled smalls or ceramics. Plastic pellets are soft and grit can get pushed into them. If you choose to use plastic pellets in the grind phase use them in the grit you started with or coarser. Never go smaller due to the problem listed above.
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stefan
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Member since January 2005
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Post by stefan on Jul 31, 2022 12:31:40 GMT -5
I use plastic pellets exclusivly and you do not want to mix stages The plastic being soft, will become embedded with grit. I only use the pellets for 500 grit on up. No need to use it for course or medium as anything that can't survive the first 2 stages, probably isn't going (or be worth) to polish anyway.
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