Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2014 17:33:10 GMT -5
The shaker table was (used in the past) to vibrate our gemstone mosaic slabs that are used in the architectural and design (granite and marble) industry. Shaking and heat assist in penetration. Vacuum? Of course this will cause deeper penetration.
If you are tumbling a porous stone (turquoise, to name one) you need to stabilize. A vacuum chamber is the best choice here.
If you are not doing this for a hobby, you cannot soak anything. Vacuum will take minutes vs. what will takes days of soaking and do a better job/ Soaking might not penetrate fully, but usually works fine. Epoxy (stronger) or polyester resins work. one is 10x more expensive, since it is 10x stronger. You can get a simple 1 gallon system for $180, PM me. If you are really cheap, you can get away with brake lines and a hand pump and easily make a chamber - youtube it.
Slabs roll through machines that treat surface grind, sand, treat, polish, wax/seal in 15 mins. 1 man would take 3 days to do this.
We do this with gemstones.
Different resins are for different purposes. For bonding stone, nothing beats epoxy. Correctly used, you can glue 2 pcs of stone together and the weakest part is...the stone. There is so many epoxy systems, but rather than re-invent the wheel, look into the stone industry for anything. INCLUDING TUMBLERS. What we are using here are toys like RC cars, compared to F1.
In the gem and mineral industry you find merely 3 or so over-priced adhesives (opticon, 333, Starbond). In granite alone, we have 1000's. So, in the US, i would recommend STONEWELD. Great quality.
liquid /flowing for bonding/penetrating. If you need to dilute it for penetration use a thinner (xylene best or acetone). For spot repairing, you get gel/knife grade. Then the colors. Stone are never "broken" now...
For flexible repairs where you are backing a large slab (>12") use polyester resin with a fiberglass mesh. Paint the resin to bond the backing mesh to the back of the stone. The flex of the polyester will give more strength.
resins can be used to cheat a polish, or take it to the next level. "burnishing in borox?" Ok for cleaning up the stones, but clearly is a TREATMENT I would call it an "old boys" method.
All commercial tumbling factories I have visited (brazil, south africa, madagascar, china) dunk the finished tumble into a cheap paraffin wax like a McDonald's french fryer. The more sophisticated ones use high-temp paraffin to resist melting in the sun, in the customers retail/wholesale store fronts. I use a polymer(resin) at the end for gap-filling, sealing, and most importantly that gloss look that makes people say, Wow!(really WTF).
I would recommend people here start with "liquid glass" available at any auto parts store. wax is $5, why is liquid glass $30?
RESIN. it is a permanent polish that lasts on a car surface for years.
They use this on a Ferrari to make it pop, not turtle wax. They use fancy words on the product like "nanotechnology and UV resistance".
I have opened a pandora's box. This isn't cheating. This is improving. I would say using saws and wheels on your tumble, during the process is cheating (grinding and sawing after you start a batch)
so if I read correctly, the tumble is for shape and pre-polish, then the finish is applied artificially thru resin? Makes sense from a commercial aspect. It also allows substandard quality rocks to aspire to greatness. I am making no judgement. Just riffing in text!
I guess for stores worldwide to have some stones a kid can buy cheap and have in her pocket, this is quick and dirty process ideal. For me, I want my tumbles to simply be the stone polished like wet glass. Different purpose yields different process.
Please keep us updated on your progress. Love to see it.