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Post by Toad on Nov 17, 2006 6:47:29 GMT -5
How do you all tumble during the winter (in cold regions)? I'm not talking about running the tumbler itself - I assuming heated garages and basements for that. But how do you clean up after the grind? My 12 pound Lortone produces a lot of slurry, which I take to the backyard and hose off in a collander. I'm still rolling now, but the nights are starting to get toward freezing. When the days get like that it won't be a really good idea to have a hose out. So how do you all clean-up? Or do you shut down for the winter like I'm planning to do - maybe even this weekend. Sniff.
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Terry664
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2005
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Terry664 on Nov 17, 2006 7:15:26 GMT -5
Toad I usually run all year. I use a 5 gallon bucket with a plant pot tray that I drilled holes in dump my rock and slurry onto tray, rinse, slurry goes into bucket, I do this in the bathtub and use my shower head to rinse. Since you are using a 12 lb barrel, you may have to rinse part of them, then more, etc. AS you rinse set those in a bowl, go dump bucket, come back start again continue until you are done. Since I only run 2 3 lbers in the winter I just rinse one then the other, then dump outside. I know it sounds like a lot of work. Terry
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Nov 17, 2006 7:20:09 GMT -5
We use 5 gal. pails in basement. Rinse all rock in smaller parcels . Use one pail as a rougher to get most of the sludge off. Use the 2nd. pail as a pre rinse. Use a third pail as a final rinse. After standing overnight most of the water can safely be dumped down the drain as the sludge will be settled to the bottom. The first rinse pail will have the most gunk in bottom , after draining off most of the water its an easy matter of carring the almost empty pail upstairs and dumping out in your washing area of the past summer. We have a strainer / collender purchased from the Dollar store with a piece of wire through it for a handle and lift it up and down , in the pail. gets the gunk of well.
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 17, 2006 10:26:34 GMT -5
Toad, You live in the banana belt!! Winter came here on Oct. 27, we've got 8 inches of snow on the ground now, and we've only got above the freezing mark on two of the last 20 days. I do a backyard rinsing like you, and I used to shut down for the winter also. It's actually surprisingly easy to continue right through the winter. It can be a bit unpleasant when temps dip to 0 F and below, but it's still doable. The outside rinsing only takes about 10 minutes even in the dead of winter, so unless you're running a lot of barrels, it isn't really too bad. The only thing that might be a problem, is I'm not sure how the outside taps in your area are shut off during winter. Here they use a long valve that extends into the house, so that when the tap is shut off, the outside part of it can drain, and the valve part is inside the house where it is warm and won't freeze. That means I can use the outside tap whenever I want, and just turn it off and allow it to drain when I'm done, thus preventing burst pipes. I presume your set up is similar? Then all you need is a short length of garden hose. I use a cheap 25 foot hose, which gives me enough room to spread my slurry piles around. I wouldn't go any longer than 25 feet or it becomes a pain to drain and store. And I wouldn't go any shorter than 15 feet because then your movement is too restricted. Basically, all I do is load my barrel, colander, and a small bucket to hold the rocks into a larger bucket that I take out to the backyard. Attach the hose (I also use a sprayer attachment because I like the extra pressure for cleaning), then rinse just like in summer. You may have to go bare hands, but it's only for a few minutes so isn't bad. When you are done, shut off the hose, remove it and drain it completely. On a 25 foot hose it's pretty easy to use a combination of gravity plus you blowing in the top end of the hose to drain it completely. Also shake out all water from the sprayer attachement if you use one. Then just loosely coil the hose and store it outside near the tap for next time (preferably in a shed). If you have a batch with pellets, rinse the stones and pellets together, then bring them inside to separate them. I think trying to separate them outside would be too finicky. Well, I bring them inside to separate them even in summer. The hose loses flexibility in cold weather of course, but it's still not bad, particularly after the warm water has been flowing through it. I've used this method down to about -5 degrees F (-20 C) without problems. Here the ground usually stays frozen from early November through to the end of March, so by springtime there can be a mess of slurry on the ground. It's essentially mud piles on frozen ground. If you have kids, keep them away from the area when it melts in the spring, until you can give it a good hosing down to wash it into the grass. Otherwise, they will inevitably run through it and track it inside the house (said from experience . You could also use the bucket method many other folks seem to prefer. I just don't want to deal with the mess any more than I have to, so I prefer to just keep washing outside like in summer. -Don
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Post by deb193 on Nov 17, 2006 11:37:26 GMT -5
I strain in a colander in a tub in a utility sink. The tub catches the grit, and any cloudy gray water that overflows the tub is welcome to go down the drain. I occasionally do see some grit residue in the sink, so maybe the system is not perfect. But, I think good enough.
I will periodically run water into the tub until it runs clear and there is washed grit on the bottom. Then I poor off the water and let it dry out. I have been keeping this reclaimed grit in a bowl near the sink. Now and then I add a spoon to my course grind to help jump start the slurry.
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polished
has rocks in the head
Member since February 2006
Posts: 567
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Post by polished on Nov 17, 2006 11:57:19 GMT -5
Wow, I like the idea of doing it in the tub and draining into a large catch-bucket. I might have to try that. Right now I'm carting hot water in empty 2-liter coke bottles out to the garage, where I rinse into buckets and dump the slurry out back, but it takes several trips back and forth (my garage isn't attached to the house) to get the rocks properly cleaned and then the barrels and lids too. I was thinking one of those camping shower bladder set ups would help, but I like the idea of doing it in the tub, into a larger bucket. I'm very paranoid about grit going down the drain - but I didn't think about a double-bucket setup. Thanks!
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181lizard
Cave Dweller
Still lurking :)
Member since December 2005
Posts: 2,171
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Post by 181lizard on Nov 17, 2006 12:16:13 GMT -5
I use colanders & buckets too. I'm too afraid to do anything in my house so I use buckets of warm water & cart them outside. Yeah, it's a bit of a pain, but the alternative would be not tumbling & we all know we'd go nuts if we couldn't!
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RockyBlue
fully equipped rock polisher
Go U.K.
Member since June 2006
Posts: 1,719
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Post by RockyBlue on Nov 17, 2006 14:11:28 GMT -5
HI Toad! I have a spare room that i put my tumbler in in the winter,i keep a 5 gal. bucket of water close by and i have a 3ft x 3ft piece of fiberglass window screen i spread over the bucket of water and dump my tumbler of rocks on it then take the four coners of my screen put them all together lift it up to get everything settled at the bottom and dip it into the bucket about 6 or 7 times that cleans the rocks pretty good and i lay that on the side on an old piece of carpet then rinse out my barrel real good then i take everything to the kitchen and fillup on side about half way with warm water then wash everything once again then i have clean rocks and barrel ready for the next stage........Rocky
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donsimpson
starting to spend too much on rocks
Duncan and Mari's Dad
Member since September 2006
Posts: 176
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Post by donsimpson on Nov 17, 2006 14:42:43 GMT -5
Whoa! To think I was complaining about going outside to empty a barrel and rinse the rocks when it was 47F outside.
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Nov 17, 2006 15:52:26 GMT -5
Quit in the winter? Ohhhhhh no. I run my three 12 pounders 24/7/365. Four buckets of slurry sitting in the basement right now waiting for me to dump them. The secret to happy tumbling is to have a nice unfinished bit of basement with a big worksink and a good sized workbench. A big fifty gallon drum to let the slurry settle out would be perfect, but it seems to take forever to settle. This might be the year I bring the rain barrel inside and use for this, then I'm home free!
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Post by krazydiamond on Nov 17, 2006 16:50:04 GMT -5
yep, i have several slurry buckets and colanders to rinse and dump outside, irrespective of the weather...stop tumbling for the winter??? NEVER!
KD
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Post by Toad on Nov 17, 2006 20:06:27 GMT -5
Yep, rollingstone - I pretty much do the same as you. But I put the collander in a throw away cardboard box to catch the bulk of the slurry. Much of the water leaks through along with some slurry, but then it dries out pretty quick as long as its not raining every day. Then every 6 weeks or so throw the box in the trash.
Sounds like the cleaning part is doable all winter. I guess my real problem is no basement and the garage isn't heated. I'm afraid of what the tempatures will do to my equipment when winter really gets here. Not to mention frozen slurry. Maybe I'll talk my father-in-law into helping me install a gas heater.
Thanks for all the tips everyone.
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granny
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2006
Posts: 22
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Post by granny on Nov 17, 2006 21:22:05 GMT -5
Toad Thanks for asking that question, I was going to ask that myself. We have had a strange fall in Maine. I want to work this morning in a tee shirt, 63 degrees is about 20 degrees above normal, we'll pay real soon. This old farm house has no garage or basement. I have get alot of ideas from this post. Thanks again for asking the question.
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KG1960
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2008
Posts: 512
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Post by KG1960 on Nov 18, 2006 12:50:56 GMT -5
To somewhat repeat, I use a colander over a 5-gallon plastic bucket. I find that 5 gallons is enough to rinse properly. I probably get 99% of the grit off this way, and for the final tiny bit, I just take the colander off the bucket and rinse without the bucket. After a few days of sitting, all of the grit has settled in the bucket. Just siphon off the clear water and your ready for another rinse. When after a few rinsings the layer of grit builds up, start using a second bucket and let the first one dry out. Then you have a cake of dry grit which can be thrown out in your regular garbage.
Cold won't hurt the equipment, it just may freeze the water/slurry. Build a large box to run the tumbler in. The heat from the motor will keep all from freezing.
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Post by Toad on Nov 18, 2006 16:29:23 GMT -5
There's an interesting idea, kg. I'll have to look into building a box.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
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Post by stefan on Nov 18, 2006 17:59:32 GMT -5
I use pails to dump the slurry in- pull out the rock and wash in clean water- then I let the slurry pails set for a few hours- dump off the water (into my waste water pail- which gets emptyed outside when it is full) then set the sludge in front of my Pellet Stove- after a day or 2 the sludge is all dried out- I just dump it into a container (to use to "JUmp Start" the next load)- then give the pail a good scrub-
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Post by sbreed on Nov 18, 2006 23:47:08 GMT -5
I feel so bad for you northern guys! Down here in Texas, I tumble, cut and grind all year round! I even hunt in the winter. Good luck!
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 28, 2006 16:13:05 GMT -5
Okay, I think I've hit my limit. We're having an early-winter cold snap that is already much worse than anything we had during all of last winter. Right now, in early afternoon, it is -15F (-26C) and the windchill is -40. Tomorrow morning I have a barrel cleaning due, and the morning forecast is for -26F (-32C), with a windchill of -50F (-45C). That's just stupid. I think the hose would probably snap if I tried to uncoil it anyway. Last week I snapped the sprayer nozzle when it froze up during a barrel cleaning at 5F (-15C). Maybe I'll have to try the inside-bucket routine this year. I thought it was supposed to be a mild winter due to El Nino? This is by far the coldest November I can recall. As an aside, it amazes me that tiny chickadees and sparrows don't freeze solid in weather like this. It sure does make them hungry though, I'm filling up the feeders twice a day now. Gone through 40 lbs of black oil sunflower seed already, and looking on track to dwarf last winter's 170 lbs. -Don
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Post by parfive on Nov 29, 2006 16:54:42 GMT -5
It's all in your mind, Don . . . didn't you hear about global warming.
After a dump and a quick rinse over a five gallon pail, you can do all the washing and pellet floating in the sink with . . . . . now don't go crazy now . . . . . HOT water! There's nothing left at that point that's gonna hurt your drain pipe.
Just remember - a warm rock is a happy rock, and happy rocks shine better.
Rich
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 30, 2006 3:40:04 GMT -5
Rich, I ended up doing the indoor routine for the first time, using an old 10-gallon pail from my wine-making equipment as the slurry bucket. It went pretty smoothly, and without any numb fingers. I used a cold-water wash though, so as not to spoil myself too much on the first effort. ;D -Don
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