Post by susand24224 on Apr 26, 2012 0:30:07 GMT -5
I thought hematite would be a great tumble to share with children. I've had a piece or three that came in mixed batches of rocks, and although I know they are a bit softer, they did fairly well in my mixed Mohs 7 tumbles.
I finally tracked down some tumbling hematite, actually about ten pounds. The first problem is that the stuff is so darn heavy that I way exceeded the tolerance level of my 6 lb Lortone only filling it half way and half of that was pellets. Needless to say, half way into that I had to stop to replace the belt, the poor thing just gave up the ghost.
What a surprise when I opened the barrel! The rocks are rounding nicely--I discovered this after I dug them out of the sludge. The pellets, the barrel, the sink and me are now a strange color hovering between dried blood and ancient rust. And slurry is simply not the word for what this stuff creates. It is ooze.
So--having new respect for hematite, I tossed several new pieces into the next mixed Mohs 7 batch. This tumbler is "Big Huey" and holds about 18 lbs of rocks, so I figure two pieces won't cause too much harm. I may be wrong, but I've got another few days before I open it.
My next problem is what to do when I finish 60/90. With "normal" rocks they would go into the Lot-O, but the extreme weight may cause problems. I'm not sure what will happen if I fill the barrel 2/3rds full of ceramics; I don't really want to do that, since it took over a week of water and Dreft to get the sludge *mostly* out of the 6 lb barrel and off the ceramics that were in with the original batch, but I can if I have to. I really don't think any of the Lortones can handle the weight of a barrel filled properly.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I finally tracked down some tumbling hematite, actually about ten pounds. The first problem is that the stuff is so darn heavy that I way exceeded the tolerance level of my 6 lb Lortone only filling it half way and half of that was pellets. Needless to say, half way into that I had to stop to replace the belt, the poor thing just gave up the ghost.
What a surprise when I opened the barrel! The rocks are rounding nicely--I discovered this after I dug them out of the sludge. The pellets, the barrel, the sink and me are now a strange color hovering between dried blood and ancient rust. And slurry is simply not the word for what this stuff creates. It is ooze.
So--having new respect for hematite, I tossed several new pieces into the next mixed Mohs 7 batch. This tumbler is "Big Huey" and holds about 18 lbs of rocks, so I figure two pieces won't cause too much harm. I may be wrong, but I've got another few days before I open it.
My next problem is what to do when I finish 60/90. With "normal" rocks they would go into the Lot-O, but the extreme weight may cause problems. I'm not sure what will happen if I fill the barrel 2/3rds full of ceramics; I don't really want to do that, since it took over a week of water and Dreft to get the sludge *mostly* out of the 6 lb barrel and off the ceramics that were in with the original batch, but I can if I have to. I really don't think any of the Lortones can handle the weight of a barrel filled properly.
Does anyone have any suggestions?