matt2432
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2014
Posts: 171
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Post by matt2432 on Jan 22, 2015 22:06:11 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
What does everyone do to pre-shape tumbles? Do you shape them or just tumble them in 60/90 for 6 months?
Most of the agates I find around here have pits and cracks and could use some shaping before trying to tumble the imperfections out. I purchased a tile saw and have been using that to make small slabs and try to grind out some of the pits, but there must be a better way.
-Matt
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 22, 2015 22:45:48 GMT -5
tile saw is one of the best ways. you can get diamond tooling for a Dremel or rotary if you don't want slabs. But, plenty of people run in course for 16 weeks.
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brent3369
starting to shine!
Member since December 2014
Posts: 29
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Post by brent3369 on Jan 22, 2015 22:54:47 GMT -5
I use my grinder. If I had to wait almost a year to get a batch tumbled, id throw my tumbler away...lol
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2015 23:21:38 GMT -5
Greetings [matt2432] I used to tumble until I am satisfied whether it was 1 cycle or 100 cycles in F80 (60/90) grit or it turns to mud, now a stone only gets 5 cycles in F80 (60/90) grit, before it is treated as media, sometimes I will take some of those problem media stones to the lapidary club to either cut or grind the bad bits out, before adding to the tumbler for another round in F80 (60/90) grit. Most tumbler loads needs filler rock regardless whether it is to add bulk or smalls, I do not care about weight as my 12lb Lortone barrel filled with rock can weigh anything from 9kg (19.84lb) to 20kg (44.09lb) running on a Lortone QT 12/66 base. Please check out my Sticky's below. -- Please click images to open larger images in a new Tab, same with everything that is Underlined! I currently have a 3lb Beach (UK), Lortone QT 12/66 (USA) rotaries & 2x Viking Vibrasonic (Diamond Pacific) (USA) virbrating tumblers, with Silicon Carbide grit F80, F220, F600, F1200, with Tin Oxide (1.0 micron) & Aluminum Oxide (1.0 micron & 0.3 micron) polishes. I hail from (The Barony of Seabegs) Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, U.K, where aliens (15mb) sometimes come for a visit & about 4 miles west from that monstrosity & 7 miles west of this new monstrosity! Sticky's: their contents are resource information 1#: Vendors worldwide (2mb), 2#: How to use the forum, 3#: How to identify rocks & minerals, 4#: Save money on expensive grits & polishes, 5#: Aussie Lapidary Forum: Rock Tumbling Guide!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2015 4:42:56 GMT -5
I pre-shape a lot. Not as much shape as remove only the parts that will take the tumbler months to grind. While waiting a month or two or three for coarse grind i spend an hour or two a week at the grinder preparing the next load to be tumbled. It may add up to 4-5 hours for a 15 pound load. If I do a thorough job on each rock they average 1-3 weeks in coarse grind. It is tedious work.
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matt2432
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2014
Posts: 171
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Post by matt2432 on Jan 23, 2015 8:34:16 GMT -5
I use my grinder. If I had to wait almost a year to get a batch tumbled, id throw my tumbler away...lol What kind of grinder? A hand grinder? Bench Grinder? what sort of wheel on it?
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matt2432
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2014
Posts: 171
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Post by matt2432 on Jan 23, 2015 8:37:08 GMT -5
I pre-shape a lot. Not as much shape as remove only the parts that will take the tumbler months to grind. While waiting a month or two or three for coarse grind i spend an hour or two a week at the grinder preparing the next load to be tumbled. It may add up to 4-5 hours for a 15 pound load. If I do a thorough job on each rock they average 1-3 weeks in coarse grind. It is tedious work. That's exactly what I've been doing. I figure if I can take out some of the pits before hand, then the whole surface of the stone won't have to come down to that level of the pit. What do you use for pre-shaping? The tile saw seems to work OK, but the blades only seem to last for about 6-8 hours of grinding agates. Maybe I need a different blade with more diamond in it?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2015 9:15:04 GMT -5
Tile saws work fine. The blades are a bit short lived. So I use diamond cup wheels.
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 23, 2015 10:13:59 GMT -5
blades are good for cutting slabs, cutting off protrusions, and doing a little rounding on square edges. they are not efficient as grinders.
a great blade is the MK-225, but that is a hefty amount of $$ to put into every batch or two of rough.
In the past I have also used inexpensive glass grinders with a 1" diamond drum.
The most efficient setup would be something like a RockRascal with the ability to cut and the ability to grind at 100g on a plated 6"x1.5" diamond wheel.
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riverrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2010
Posts: 1,395
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Post by riverrock on Jan 23, 2015 17:56:38 GMT -5
I am with James , better to spend a day with the tile saw . Then wait weeks in the 60/90 . It might even work out cheaper to use the tile saw even with the cost of the blade .
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Post by pauls on Jan 23, 2015 22:51:42 GMT -5
Any rocks with deep pits or hollows I saw right through the pit so its only half a pit and its on the edge where it grinds quickest. Bits and pieces from the saw I always grind off the little bit thats always left sticking out, it never seems to grind away in the tumbler and looks awful if it gets all the way through. I rough tumble for a week or so just to take away edges before going through the lot and grinding out the worst of the pits and cracks, I cull fairly hard at this stage too, anything that looks like it might go all the way with cracks and pits or is just not interesting becomes pot hole filler sooner rather than later. What do I use to grind? Coarse diamond wheel and tile saw. I have considered the cup wheels just never got around to making something to drive one, I had a play with very coarse rock drill heads that the exploration geologists use but couldn't get it to run true enough to be comfortable with it, I think that it would work really good with a bit more playing around though.
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Post by captbob on Jan 23, 2015 22:57:08 GMT -5
Hey jamesp - any way to mount one of your diamond wheel / cup thingies to something like this?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jan 23, 2015 23:22:16 GMT -5
Hey jamesp - any way to mount one of your diamond wheel / cup thingies to something like this? What are the threads on the shaft and shaft size ? Does 5/8 UNC sound right?
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matt2432
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2014
Posts: 171
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Post by matt2432 on Jan 23, 2015 23:33:43 GMT -5
I wonder if you could get a 5/8-11 thread adapter for a tile saw. A little modification to the table and you could fit it with a diamond cup wheel. Would make a cheap (<$75) arbor, granted you only have one side instead of two.
Do diamond cups need to be run wet, or can you run them dry?
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Post by pauls on Jan 24, 2015 15:21:30 GMT -5
Wet, you are grinding a lot of rock which creates a lot of fine silicon dust which is really bad for your lungs. Look up Silicosis.
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Post by captbob on Jan 24, 2015 15:39:40 GMT -5
Wet, you are grinding a lot of rock which creates a lot of fine silicon dust which is really bad for your lungs. Look up Silicosis. How does grinding rocks wet create more dust than grinding them dry?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jan 24, 2015 15:51:40 GMT -5
Wet, you are grinding a lot of rock which creates a lot of fine silicon dust which is really bad for your lungs. Look up Silicosis. How does grinding rocks wet create more dust than grinding them dry? Wet about captures all the dust, no air born particles. i remember you asking about mounting a diamond cup vertical. Lortone machine you have there has water set-up. That may be perfect for wet grinding captbob. It would be quicker to cut with water and quieter. If you can screw a 5/8-11 UNC nut on that shaft you will probably be in business and able to screw a diamond cup wheel on it. may have to move the drip over the wheel.
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Post by captbob on Jan 24, 2015 15:55:07 GMT -5
Wet about captures all the dust, no air born particles. That's pretty much what I was thinking... I need to drag that Lortone out of the shed next time I'm in there and see if this idea has merit.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,155
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Post by jamesp on Jan 24, 2015 17:01:56 GMT -5
Wet about captures all the dust, no air born particles. That's pretty much what I was thinking... I need to drag that Lortone out of the shed next time I'm in there and see if this idea has merit. That grinder has made tumbling better for me by a long stretch. So many fine rocks can have a few defects removed and end up real nice. Yes it speeds things way up, but the tumbles are much better. Saves on grit time wear electricity. Cool making shapes too. Hope you proceed.
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matt2432
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2014
Posts: 171
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Post by matt2432 on Jan 24, 2015 22:59:52 GMT -5
That's pretty much what I was thinking... I need to drag that Lortone out of the shed next time I'm in there and see if this idea has merit. That grinder has made tumbling better for me by a long stretch. So many fine rocks can have a few defects removed and end up real nice. Yes it speeds things way up, but the tumbles are much better. Saves on grit time wear electricity. Cool making shapes too. Hope you proceed. And if you decide you don't want to grind tumbles, captbob, you can always send it to me! Just kidding
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