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Post by orrum on May 14, 2013 12:34:38 GMT -5
Ok so I am a retarded cowboy, I started with cabs and now have gotten around to a couple of small rotary tumblers from ebay. I know I am supposed to start cheap with tumblers and then go broke getting into cabbing and saws etc! LOL Anyway in reading here on the forum I see all kinds of references to not following the directions you get with the tumbler. I tried to download the tutorial on this but the pdf wont finish downloading, maybe it is and I cant find it on my tablet, sorta hope that aint the case, musta tried it a dozen times, lotta r Pete n repeat somewhere in my digital devise if thats so. So I have plastic beads, borax, lots of grits n polish n (what kinda soap?) and plenty of rocks, enen a SFRB of tumbles from Donnie that has been thru one round of coarse grind already. Plus a wheelbarrow full of rose quartz from tiny slivers to boulders from the Hogg Mine! I am gonna get somthing to star hopefully by tumbling them plumb round cause cabbing is to difficult. LOL Appreciate ur help n thanks in advance, Bill
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on May 14, 2013 13:38:31 GMT -5
What is the barrel size? I have some back-of-napkin-engineered recipes based on trial and error.
Sent from my phone.
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Post by Toad on May 14, 2013 14:08:08 GMT -5
The biggest thing not to follow in the instructions is how long to keep in the rough (60/90) phase. Keep recharging every week until smooth, then move on to subsequent phases.
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Post by orrum on May 14, 2013 14:19:07 GMT -5
Oh sorry one is a 4# barrel and the other is a 1.5 or 2# barrel (its a Sears). Sorta was thinkin to use the lil one to keep makin rocks to add to the 4# one. Also was gonna get a double barrel one from Harbor Freight to use as a prepolish dedicated barrel and a polish dedicated barrel. Is that a good plan or is there a better way?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 14, 2013 14:21:52 GMT -5
When I was using just rotary 3lb tumblers I always started by putting rough rocks in till 2/3 of the barrel is full then add 3 tablespoons of 60/90 and just enough water till you start to see it reach the bottom of the top layer of rocks then every 7 days I would rinse off those rocks and pull out any that I felt were ready for 120 and set those aside in my "ready for 120 tray". The remaining rocks that still had flaws go right back in the barrel and then add more rough rock to reach 2/3 full again. Repeat this every week till you have enough rocks in "your ready for 120 tray" to fill 2/3's of a barrel then at that point you get to move that batch along along. I never use any filler in my 60/90 and depending on the rocks I usually don't add ceramic filler till I get to 500. Now I would add 3 tablespoons of 120 and run for 7 days then clean everything. When you get to 500 you can add ceramics or plastics to get back to a 2/3 full level then add 3 tablespoons of 500 and run for 7 days and a full wash again. A week in 1000 is optional with 3 tablespoons for 7 days. The final 7 days is 3 tablespoons of aluminum oxide polish. My last step is a full washout then a 12 hr run with a couple of tablespoons of borax and water right to the top of the rocks to keep them from getting bashed at all during the burnish.
this is just the way I used to do it so take all your advice you get and come up with something that works for you.
Chuck
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 14, 2013 14:23:52 GMT -5
I did not realize you had different size barrels. I think one tablespoon of grit per pound of rock is a decent rule of thumb.
I would buy a used double barrel lortone on ebay before I would mess around with the harbor freight one.
Chuck
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 14, 2013 15:22:56 GMT -5
I should also add that if you want near perfect rocks with no pits or problem areas it takes a long time in the first stage. Our goal right now is to fill our lot-o vibe with a new batch of rocks every week so to do that we have a 12lb rotary and (6) 3lb rotary barrels all with 60/90 in them which means each week I clean 24 to 30 pounds of rock each week in hopes of getting 4 pounds ready for 120 grit in the lot-o.
Chuck
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Post by orrum on May 14, 2013 16:52:32 GMT -5
Wow thats a lotta rough to keep u goingChuck n family! Thanks for the recipe. I will start watching ebay for a used double lortone. Sounds like finishing from begginning to end with a rotary takes a long spell. Thats ok cause if they come out shiny and smooth like I have seen in the pics here it will be worth it!
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Post by orrum on Jun 5, 2013 21:16:46 GMT -5
Hello Chuck, hope u r out there or somebody is to help. So I started the two tumblers today. Do u mean a tablespoon of 60/90 level full or rounded? I used it level full. Also at the end of a week do I dump the syones and clean the barrel and recharge with clean water and new grit or do I reuse the old grit and water and just add more 60/90 grit? Thanks, Bill
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 5, 2013 21:25:26 GMT -5
hey bill,
I use level tablesppons for measurment. The first couple weeks of 60/90 i just add grit and rock as needed without cleaning the rocks. around week 3 or 4 I start cleaning out the barrel so I can pull out the stuff thats ready to move to the next stage.
what size barrels do you have and how much grit do you end up using?
chuck
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Post by orrum on Jun 5, 2013 22:14:06 GMT -5
Thanks for responding Chuck. I have a 4# Lortone that I put 4 level tablespoons in. Also a 1 or 1.5# Sears that I put two level tablespoons in. sounds good I want mine nice and smooth like your pics.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jun 5, 2013 23:51:07 GMT -5
Everything Chuck said is good. I tend to let my 60/90 batches run 10-14 days instead of 7 before recharging and seem to have more stones ready to move on than when I used to only go 7, but adding grit midway would only grind them faster (although you would use more grit over time, but maybe the increase in speed is worth it?)
The main thing I've learned is be very judicious on how you select rocks to move past stage 1. All the other stages are basically just following the recipe, so much grit for so many days and then move on. However if you rush rock out of the first stage you jeopardize all the rock in all the subsequent stages. Patience and discernment yield results!
Good luck, can't wait to see pics of your first batch!
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Post by orrum on Jun 6, 2013 10:01:21 GMT -5
Hey Herchex (John?). This new forum doesna show u a persons name like the old one. I thank u for the I.fo, I intend to grind in the 60/90 until they r nice and smooth with no cracks or pits even if I grind them completely up. I put in some failed cab attempts and some slabbettes, hope they come out wrappable (is that a word?). Thanks again, Bill
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Post by johnjsgems on Jun 6, 2013 10:37:16 GMT -5
Since you already have a cabber, use your coarse wheel and grind away any big flaws before starting the tumbler. You will really speed up the process.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Jun 8, 2013 17:39:10 GMT -5
I started out on the cabbing side too. He's not kidding about how much rough you go through when you use a tumbler. One of the kind posters here also sent me some of that Hoggs rose quartz, and I have not gotten it through the final polish -- but the mid sized flat rate box stuffed with quartz is down to a fistful so it won't be nearly as much I thought it would be.
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Post by orrum on Jun 8, 2013 21:14:08 GMT -5
Please post a pic of the rose quartz from the Hogg. I got plenty of it, luv going there! It stars but my sc wheels get eat up trying to cab the preforms so havent got to c a star piece yet, u should have a lot that stars!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
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Post by jamesp on Jun 9, 2013 6:39:33 GMT -5
I tumbled a good bit of old stock Hogg quartz Bill.It did well mixing it with agate.It rounds quicker than agate.It has that sheen in about all of it.Some 1 inch pieces have no fractures at all.Some have bands of cloudiness.I gave my best stuff away a long time ago.It should not frost in those tumblers if you keep them 3/4 full. Not the best photos Bill.The old stuff that paved the roads and laying around 20 years ago was fine stuff.Ping pong ball size with out a single fracture would fill a paint can in minutes.Tennis ball size findable
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Post by orrum on Jun 9, 2013 6:54:36 GMT -5
Hey James thanks for the good info! I put some in one of the barrels, I hope to make it almost round and then find the star and saw it in half to make two cabochons. I like the cloudy best when I tried to grind it James because it had a darker pink color. U know Tony, u n I still need to make our rockhounding trip there!
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Post by orrum on Jun 19, 2013 19:05:29 GMT -5
Ok my friends after two weeks I opened up the two tumblers today and sorted them after a really good rinse. Amazing, just amazing!!!! Where did all these pretty colored and fancy rocks come from!!!! LOL What a change, it was all just saw scrap and broken bits and pieces from different rocks I had shipped here. I didnt sort for hardness just tumbled them. Really fractured rough got a lot smoother with nice roundness but not quite ready yet so back in they went for 60/90 again. Some big rocks got tiny, some dissappeared completely, some acquired very interedting new shapes, some are just as pitted and full of cracks as they started only they got smaller. The broken cabs and messed up preforms really got reduced a lot! Love this tumbling! So the 4# barrell held all the 1.5 # barrell plus some new saw scrap! Of course I did remove about a tablespoon of small rocks that are ready for the next stage! LOL Filled the little tumbler with new rough and away we go for another 60/90 round. I think I better check these sooner than two weeks dont yall?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 19, 2013 19:58:37 GMT -5
hook line and sinker. another tumbler hooked!
I empty my mixed batches every 7 days but if its all agates/jaspers 2 weeks wont hurt either.
Chuck
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