jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2015 11:39:52 GMT -5
Got a polish on 2nd attempt using sugar as a thickener in the vibe. After 12 hours in AO 14,000, will clean out at 24 hours. Middle piece of glass bruised from last run. The middle piece of glass was bruised in the SiC 220 run the first time from running stones in straight water w/out thickener. AO 500, 1000, 5000 and 14,000 would not remove the bruises. So the whole batch was rerun starting at SiC 220 with sugar. Left w/bruises, right after using sugar from the start of 220. Recipe Run SiC 120/220 or SiC 220 in vibe till all bruises are removed from rotary if bruised. Then run SiC 120/220 or 220 for 48 hours to break grit down. AO 500 one day AO 1000 one day AO 14,000 one day One tablespoon of sugar per pound of rock for all grits. 1/4 cup of water at start per 12 pounds. Actual times were 16 hours for 500 and 20 hours for 1000. Same hopper used for all steps. Cleaned everything very well. Used 60% glass filler averaging 1/2 inch in size. Edit-Add closer to a 1/2 cup water instead of 1/4 cup per 12 pounds. After straight water caused issues I want to be accurate.
|
|
|
Post by iant on Feb 1, 2015 13:41:21 GMT -5
Nailed that Jim! Nice one. Sugar really has made a massive difference.
|
|
tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
|
Post by tkvancil on Feb 1, 2015 13:41:52 GMT -5
Bruised or not you got a very good shine on those James. As I have mentioned before I've always been resistant to the sugar as an additive. The results your getting are beginning to break down that resistance. Especially in regards to an additive in a vibe. Been using borax which does the trick but in my mind makes the slurry harder to clean. May have to give the sweet stuff a go.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2015 14:41:14 GMT -5
Nailed that Jim! Nice one. Sugar really has made a massive difference. Sugar did me well in the rotaries Ian. It was a hassle in the rotary due to the quantity needed. No problem w/the vibe. The sugar progressively gets a little thicker with time, a good insurance, until the point it may seize.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Feb 1, 2015 14:45:53 GMT -5
More obsidian pics!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2015 14:54:32 GMT -5
Bruised or not you got a very good shine on those James. As I have mentioned before I've always been resistant to the sugar as an additive. The results your getting are beginning to break down that resistance. Especially in regards to an additive in a vibe. Been using borax which does the trick but in my mind makes the slurry harder to clean. May have to give the sweet stuff a go. They were just checked which is 6 hours since the initial post. They are about no longer able to get more of a polish. Seems like 18 hours for 500, 1000 and 14,000 each is what is required. Sugar in the 220 step and forward solved the bruises. The clear glass filler helped most with bruise analysis. Warm water and a little Dawn and the sugar is history. Yep, it is pretty easy to clean. tk, the sugar was thick enough to slow the rolling action by up to half after a day.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2015 14:56:03 GMT -5
Coming soon at a theater very near you, captbob.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Feb 1, 2015 15:07:36 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by snowmom on Feb 1, 2015 15:19:36 GMT -5
I'll say you got a nice polish! those look great!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2015 15:33:24 GMT -5
I'll say you got a nice polish! those look great! Looks like an arrival Deb. Thank you ma'am.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2015 15:34:33 GMT -5
laughing, that's a good one
|
|
|
Post by broseph82 on Feb 1, 2015 20:46:02 GMT -5
Next job will be to get this kind of polish on the slag glass I'm sending you!
|
|
quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,339
|
Post by quartz on Feb 1, 2015 22:39:46 GMT -5
Looking good, it's been a long time coming, but sure looks like you have it figured out. "Sweetest" rocks in town, with that sugar cushion.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 2, 2015 6:20:34 GMT -5
I made some interesting observations during this run regarding thickness of slurry. Not 100% sure, but it sure seems tike the thicker the slurry to a point, the faster the given grit at that step reaches finish. Not just a finish, an excellent finish for that given grit. Noticed this 3 times.
1)Once in 500 grit, when I left the cap off the hopper the last 8 hours of the 16 hour run and the slurry was so thick from evaporation that the rolling action was very slow. Upon pulling those after the 8 hours in super thick slurry, they had a very shiny 500 finish. Actually, a shiny 1000 finish.
2) To make up for the thick slurry I started the 1000 wetter, covered the hopper, and at the end of the 20 hours the slurry was quite wet. Well, the 1000 finish was no where as smooth as the 500 finish in the shorter run with super thick slurry.
The third situation was at polish. The polish run was like 27 hours. I pulled 5 rocks and 5 pieces of glass at like 15 hours and took photos for this thread. Added water at the same time as the slurry was a bit on the thick side. Let them run from 15 hours to 27 hours and did a clean out. Polish had degraded a bit. I very carefully checked the polish at 15 hours. I have other test materials running like soft heated rhyolite and green banded rhyolite. Checked them too at 15 hours, and sure enough they had degraded in polish more so than the obsidian after running wetter from 15 hours to 27 hours.
The above 3 instances are leading me to believe that very fast quality results are gotten from a really thick slurry. It appears that the finish is degrading by micro spalling due to only having a thick slurry and not a super thick slurry. It does not take but a few hours to ruin the finish in a vibe with straight water-that's a fact.
The other sugar run(#1) did the same thing. I put the (albeit bruised) obsidian into polish from a poorly finished 5000 run and had a polish in 3 hours. That slurry was extremely thick. So I added water and let it run another 12 hours. The polish I had at 3 hours deteriorated after 12 hours in the lessor thick slurry.
'Super thick' defined as so thick that the rolling action of the rocks is reduced to rolling over one cycle in like 8-12 seconds. i.e. slow Compared to straight water where rolling cycle is 2-3 seconds. i.e. fast
With the slurry 'super thick', there is about zero chance of leaving grit at the bottom of the hopper, ain't going to happen. That thick of a slurry would have grabbed lead bird shot and sent it up thru the rocks.
|
|
|
Post by connrock on Feb 2, 2015 7:59:23 GMT -5
Well James,,,you finally got that "sweet" shine you were after and ya done well pard! Persistence and a whole lot of patience,,,,with a spoon or two of sugar,,,paid off for you! Seeins how captbob is bringin the popcorn to the theater,,,can you get me a seat right next to him? LOL connrock
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 2, 2015 9:26:17 GMT -5
Well James,,,you finally got that "sweet" shine you were after and ya done well pard! Persistence and a whole lot of patience,,,,with a spoon or two of sugar,,,paid off for you! Seeins how captbob is bringin the popcorn to the theater,,,can you get me a seat right next to him? LOL connrock ya think Bob eats popcorn ? With 60 grit... I wanted to ask you if your slurry is so thick it slows the motion on the rocks. Or if you pick up a rock will another about stick to it. Looked at some of your obsidian photos and it sure looked like a paste. Hard to tell from photos though.
|
|
|
Post by broseph82 on Feb 2, 2015 9:31:47 GMT -5
Say I run my AO500 for 4 days. I do a clean out and then a burnish with sugar. Think this will add do the shine having sugar in my burnish?
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
|
Post by jamesp on Feb 2, 2015 10:09:57 GMT -5
Say I run my AO500 for 4 days. I do a clean out and then a burnish with sugar. Think this will add do the shine having sugar in my burnish? All I can tell you Jimi is that I got a great finish using one tablespoon of sugar per pound and little water. Making a thick slurry and the 500 finish sure looked good. After only 16 hours... on glass and obsidian.
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Feb 2, 2015 10:25:35 GMT -5
connrock & captbob waiting for the picture show jamesp where are the connrock obsidian pictures you spoke of?
|
|
|
Post by broseph82 on Feb 2, 2015 11:10:01 GMT -5
Say I run my AO500 for 4 days. I do a clean out and then a burnish with sugar. Think this will add do the shine having sugar in my burnish? All I can tell you Jimi is that I got a great finish using one tablespoon of sugar per pound and little water. Making a thick slurry and the 500 finish sure looked good. After only 16 hours... on glass and obsidian. I understand about the 500 stage, but I'm having a "what-if" moment and wondering if I thickened my burnish stage with sugar if it would have the same effect.
|
|