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Post by glennz01 on Nov 24, 2014 23:55:29 GMT -5
what is the best cheapest method for cushioning rocks in a tumbler for final polish?
I am a week out from starting final polish on all 40+ lbs or rock!
Thanks
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Post by captbob on Nov 25, 2014 0:06:01 GMT -5
Cheapest? More water. Watch the total tumbler weight.
Also free, how about newspaper? Keep an eye on it at first to see that it doesn't glob up.
My next polish batch I plan to experiment by cutting up an old pair of blue jeans into 2 inch squares just to see if it works. I'm betting it will work. Time will tell.
Find an old bean bag chair at a thrift shop and use the plastic beads inside.
Experiment!
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,339
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Post by quartz on Nov 25, 2014 0:07:14 GMT -5
I like pieces of leather of about 1/2-3/4 inch dimension to about 20-30% of the load. I tried air soft pellets [see captbob above] and found them to be too much like bearing balls, too much sliding.
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Post by glennz01 on Nov 25, 2014 0:29:14 GMT -5
I haven't thought about clothing / learther before but I guess it would work... I wonder of the yellow electrical wire shielding (that keeps the 3 wire pairs in) will work... I might try it and add more water. I don't think weight will be too much of an issue seeing how the prior owner used it as a ball mill for gold mining... It has a 1/3 hp motor which is plenty of power. I think I will try the electrical wire stuff since its rubbery kinda. It is free (I do as-builts and theres a few people that let me keep the scrap wire if we get there in time before its Burt / trashed.
Has anyone tried rubber bands before?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 25, 2014 6:15:53 GMT -5
A half full barrel will burn the motor out faster than a totally full barrel. A half full barrel of rocks will not roll down a hill with out being pushed - constantly. A full barrel of rocks will roll down a hill on it's own.
Simply because a full barrel is balanced, and a less than full barrel is not.
A half full barrel of water will roll down a hill as well as a full barrel of water. Because there is no friction from the water.
But a constant force has to be applied to a less than full barrel of rocks due to the off balance from friction of the rocks. Not sure what level of 'full' causes the most friction, probably about 5/8. That strains my 1/8 HP motor tumbler running a 35 pound barrel. Or lets say the motor gets hot and i can hear it buzzing like a transformer. When a bit over 3/4 full it runs cooler and the electrical buzzing goes away.
Analogies:
Cement mixer with 9 yards of concrete, add the paddle wheels inside and it takes tremendous force to rotate vs being empty. Reverse the arrangement and a water wheel will generate power by having an off balance load of water in it's buckets. Octagonal tumblers should run slower than round because the shape delivers more mixing(=friction) due to the shape causing more mixing. A 55 gallon drum 1/2 full of six inch rocks is has been used by athletic departments for their football players to roll across a flat field. A 55 gallon drum poured full of concrete is easy to roll on a hard flat surface.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 25, 2014 6:44:57 GMT -5
I have always had luck adding rough tumbled glass about 3/8 to 1/2 inch as filler in step 3 and polish for quartz type rocks, granites, felspars Until the barrel is between 3/4 and 7/8 full to give a gentler tumbling action. Also add about one gallon of sugar for 40 pounds of rock for step 3 and a gallon for polish. Guessing you have an octagonal barrel.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 25, 2014 6:54:21 GMT -5
If you use paper, peat moss, and about anything organic it can break down and change it's padding ability during the run. Leather will not breakdown, neither will plastics. Some slurry thickeners will last offering protection.
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Post by gingerkid on Nov 25, 2014 7:50:28 GMT -5
glennz01, is it a rotary or vibe? Have used plastic beads and square pieces of cork sheet in a rotary for cushioning. Tried using the cork in the vibe for cushioning and lessen the noise , but the cork floats...
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Nov 25, 2014 8:50:03 GMT -5
glennz01, is it a rotary or vibe? Have used plastic beads and square pieces of cork sheet in a rotary for cushioning. Tried using the cork in the vibe for cushioning and lessen the noise , but the cork floats... Never thought about flotation in the vibe Jan. Now we see why they say to use ceramic in the vibe, and not plastic. I was already using glass media in the rotary, works fine in the vibe too.
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Nov 25, 2014 13:18:57 GMT -5
I've been using tile spacers from Harbor Freight. 20% coupon!
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Post by glennz01 on Nov 25, 2014 14:09:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice, Its a rotary tumbler. I have been filling it always to 3/4 fill when starting a batch out. This is why I did 5 loads of rough.. narrows the pre polish down to about 2-3 loads.
In the rotary is it best to have media that floats or sinks, or will both types work? The yellow wire insulators do float, but the types of of wire insulators that are used on wells don't float (those insulators are hard to come by).
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Post by braders on Nov 25, 2014 19:31:05 GMT -5
I may be wrong but if your worrying about stuff floating in a vib you are using waaaay to much water .... Poly pellets from a craft store are about 3 bucks for 2-3 lbs. My post on the guess game for filler had tons of wild ideas ha ha ha Cheers folks
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Post by glennz01 on Nov 26, 2014 0:05:25 GMT -5
Its for a rotary tumbler.
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Post by glennz01 on Nov 26, 2014 3:46:02 GMT -5
I'll see how this stuff works since I have a lot of it... If it works good i'll know as in my 12 lb tumbler I have not used anything
I'm going to look at the internet shielding also bit I don't think it is the same material.
Do you guys want to see pics of pre polished material or only final polish?
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Post by connrock on Nov 26, 2014 6:49:56 GMT -5
The more photos you post the better we can help so bring them on!!! connrock
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Nov 26, 2014 13:05:20 GMT -5
In my small rotarys I've had best luck by filling to about 80 to 85% in later stages. Less room for falling but still room for tumbling. Actually had less chips and cracks than when I used plastic pellets. Don't know how well that translates to a 40 pounder.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Dec 1, 2014 16:59:04 GMT -5
I put about 2 hand fulls of some cut up denim jeans . The pieces were cut into 1" squares. I've noticed after tumbling in polish for three days the squares are breaking down considerably and many sticking to the walls of the barrel from what I can see through the frothy foam. I checked a couple rocks and they are getting a nice polish so far, mostly Jasper and quartz in my 4.5lb barrel. The barrel wasn't as full as I would have liked
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Post by glennz01 on Dec 2, 2014 0:15:47 GMT -5
I put about 2 hand fulls of some cut up denim jeans . The pieces were cut into 1" squares. I've noticed after tumbling in polish for three days the squares are breaking down considerably and many sticking to the walls of the barrel from what I can see through the frothy foam. I checked a couple rocks and they are getting a nice polish so far, mostly Jasper and quartz in my 4.5lb barrel. The barrel wasn't as full as I would have liked Yeah I think that will be a problem with fabrics and other flat things.. I think that these electric wire things will do good becausethey have space in between to help absorb impact energy... I just need more of them. I got my load of pre polish out and started another... I'll clean it some time and post pics as I get em.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Dec 2, 2014 1:01:58 GMT -5
Hmm I just had a revelation when you said "flat". It never crossed my mind .... What about cutting thin strips and then tie them into knots? I'm going to try that on my next batch. I bet it would even work with the wire coating.
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Post by glennz01 on Dec 2, 2014 1:43:44 GMT -5
It could work with the wire coating, but that would take away the cushioning effect. Also i'm presuming the serface area is not large enough to create enough suction to hold them to the side walls. I already prepped what I had, It looks like this as of now. I need more as you can tell.. hopefully I can aquire more by the end of the week (preferibly with wire )
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