panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Apr 11, 2015 7:53:10 GMT -5
I have read over and over that a separate barrel for finishing polish is essential for good vibe polishing. Given what I have seen lately from jamesp it seems this is not true. (I am assuming James does not have an extra barrel for his old vibe.?) I have been very carefully washing my barrel before final polish steps and it seems to work okay. But am I missing something here?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 11, 2015 8:19:07 GMT -5
No,not really.It's just that some do and like it.. I just make sure mine are clean after each use,with a fresh water and Dawn soap,than fresh water clean out........
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renie
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2009
Posts: 20
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Post by renie on Apr 11, 2015 8:23:43 GMT -5
I've tumbled for three years with one barrel with no problems. Just this week got extra barrels and do plan to make one of the new ones for polishing only. For me extra barrels= luxury.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Apr 11, 2015 8:48:56 GMT -5
I got a UV18 last April for my B-day. Have only ran it four , maybe five times. Bought the extra bowl for polish because that's what I have always heard is the thing to do. Last batch was my best to date. Had an awesome shine on my rocks when they came out of AO1000 pre-polish. So shiny they were that I contemplated not sending to polish but did so anyway. Still unsure that there was any improvement.
After that experience I began to re-think the separate bowl mandate. I'm positive that if I had run the polish in my "regular" bowl there would have been no harm. At this point I'm may to skip polish altogether if I get same results as last run.
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Post by gingerkid on Apr 11, 2015 9:27:52 GMT -5
panamark, the Raytech TV-5 came with an extra bowl, but I purchased another bowl and lid. Use one for pre-polish and use a separate bowl for a stage between pre-polish and polish (such as AO 1000 grit). The extra bowl and lid are used for final polish. Extra bowls/lids are not necessary if you give 'em a good scrubbing. I went a bit overboard with my tumbler "accessories" just getting started in the hobby.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
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Post by jamesp on Apr 12, 2015 2:09:21 GMT -5
I have read over and over that a separate barrel for finishing polish is essential for good vibe polishing. Given what I have seen lately from jamesp it seems this is not true. (I am assuming James does not have an extra barrel for his old vibe.?) I have been very carefully washing my barrel before final polish steps and it seems to work okay. But am I missing something here? No separate barrels for the old Viking Mark. The Viking instructions sure suggest separate bowls. I definitely contaminated one load by accidentally adding some filler at 1000 stage that had coarse grit in it though. It can't hurt to use a separate bowl. Keep getting a real high polish on agate and coral with one bowl though. The last two runs were done with sugar in pre polish stages like 500 or 1000, and then Borax for only the polish. I like the fact that sugar dissolves with a good long hot water soak. No white build up in the cracks/crannies of the rocks like I get w/Borax. Many are just running 500 or 1000 with borax to final polish with fine results. Should be no concern for that situation. I always cap off with a 14000 or 100,000. And most prior runs were with sugar to final polish. But the Borax seems to be the best final polish additive. Almost hard to tell the difference though. I certainly thought about the separate bowl idea. And looked for possible contamination. No such beast as of yet. PS-The bowl is a lot more cleanable than the rocks are. I would guess the surface area of the combined rocks is what-5 to10 times that of the bowl ? Focus cleaning the rocks for sure. They are the bulk of the surface area and are full of defects that can carry grit. The bowl is likely small beans when compared.
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Apr 12, 2015 4:58:23 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for you thoughts. Seems like a separate bowl is more of a "nice luxury", but with so many other things to spend money on .......
I totally agree with James, "The bowl is a lot more cleanable than the rocks are. They are the bulk of the surface area and are full of defects that can carry grit. The bowl is likely small beans when compared."
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Apr 12, 2015 8:07:34 GMT -5
I use a different barrel for EVERY stage so I do not even rinse any of my barrels. You heard that right four loto barrels plus the rotaries. I do it more for convenience. After 4 years of tumbling I am sure it has paid off in labor of cleaning the barrels. Yes it is a 100% luxury purchase but I have never had any regrets. It is piece of mind that I never have to wonder "did I clean that barrel good enough?".
Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
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Post by jamesp on Apr 12, 2015 8:20:30 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for you thoughts. Seems like a separate bowl is more of a "nice luxury", but with so many other things to spend money on ....... I totally agree with James, "The bowl is a lot more cleanable than the rocks are. They are the bulk of the surface area and are full of defects that can carry grit. The bowl is likely small beans when compared." Some of the extra bowl technology came from people that tumble finish cabs. They should be cautious, they may have many hours in their cabs. They may use 80% filler and finish only 20 cabs at a time and the cabs have little abrasive imbedded in them since they were cut on diamond wheels. They probably have a bowl for 500 or 1000, and a bowl for polish.
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moogie
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since December 2013
Posts: 77
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Post by moogie on Apr 14, 2015 17:17:43 GMT -5
I'm with DIR, I have a different bowl for each stage and don't clean them out. Totally because I would rather spend money than my time and energy, which is in even shorter supply than money. If you feel you have time to thoroughly clean your single bowl between stages, go for it. Because of time constraints I have to flip through stages as fast as possible, so to me it's worth getting the extra bowls.
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