swiper
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 64
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Post by swiper on May 18, 2015 21:05:31 GMT -5
I have a Thumler tumbler and have been using that since last year. I have been using 80 grit exclusively on beach rocks, getting out any imperfections I can. Now I have an ice cream pail full of rocks ready to move on. I also have a Lot-O I have started. I read through the vibratory sticky and will be following one of the recipes. I did an inventory of my grits and stuff and here is what I have:
Pesco Products Graded Silicon Carbide 80 grit 220 grit 400 grit 600 grit
Lortone Lapidary Pre-Polish Aluminum Oxide Lapidary Polish Aluminum Oxide
Clear Bags - I believe from the Rock Shed 1000 AO Tripoli
The grit is pretty self explanatory. Where I start to get confused is in the Pre-Polish, Polish, AO stuff. I'm guessing 1000 AO is 1000 grit Aluminum Oxide. Where does that rank in with the Pre-Polish AO and the Polish AO? Is it the same as Pre-Polish?
Thanks, Brad
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 18, 2015 21:54:24 GMT -5
I'm not sure what grit size "pre-polish" is. I'm guessing that the pre-polish is similar to 1000 AO. Tripoli is considered a pre-polish too. Here's what I use in my Lot-O:
2 tablespoons 220 Silicon Carbide (2-3 days) 1/2 teaspoon 500 AO (but 400 or 600 would work) (2-3 days) 1/2 teaspoon 1000 AO (2-3 days) 1/2 teaspoon AO polish (2-3 days)
I also use 1 tablespoon of borax in every stage. I get all the above supplies from The Rock Shed.
The biggest question is why you've saved up an ice cream bucket of rocks before starting them in the Lot-O.
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Post by captbob on May 18, 2015 23:46:01 GMT -5
Consider the pre-polish 500 grit
Tripoli = 800 grit (close enough)
AO polish - 14,000 grit
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 19, 2015 14:28:24 GMT -5
I'm not sure what grit size "pre-polish" is. I'm guessing that the pre-polish is similar to 1000 AO. Tripoli is considered a pre-polish too. Here's what I use in my Lot-O: I also use 1 tablespoon of borax in every stage. I get all the above supplies from The Rock Shed. My process is very close to what Jugglerguy uses for the loto steps and durations. I am not sure if he meant he is using borax in his 120 stage though when he said "every" stage. My 120 gets thick quickly so no borax for me in that stage. Chuck
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swiper
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 64
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Post by swiper on May 20, 2015 16:59:07 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. I believe I'm starting to understand the grit world a little better. Looking up the differences between Silicon Carbide and Aluminum Oxide helped too. I guess I just have to figure out what "recipe" I want to use and will work for me. I have started the recipe on the top of page 4 of the Instructions for Vibe Tumblers sticky (Tom's recipe) and will be cleaning after 48hrs in the 220 grit. I'm good until the end as I don't have TO or CO, so I either have to buy some of both or modify what I do. Maybe instead of adding TO and CO I just add the Lortone Polish I have.
Jugglerguy - I briefly tried a batch in the Lot-O last year and most of them got banged up. Believe I posted a thread on it last year. I run the rotary with 80 grit and clean weekly, pulling out the very few ready to move on. I'm very picky. I guess I just got scared off a bit. I like to research stuff before I dig into it (sometimes it ends up being too much research).
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Post by johnjsgems on May 20, 2015 17:25:52 GMT -5
You can try to see/feel the difference between the "pre polish AO" and 1000 AO. Most people consider pre polish as the step between the fine grit (500 or 600) and polish. To add confusion, some tumbler company grit kits call the fine grit 500 or 600 pre polish. Depending on the rocks, you can likely skip the pre polish. The fine grit breaks down to very fine and serves as pre polish by 2-3 days in a vibe tumbler or after a week or so in a rotary. Agates and jaspers and hard rocks that polish easily can go straight from fine grit to polish. Same as cabbing though, the more intermediate steps the less time in each individual step. The AO polish if sub micron will work very well in a vibe tumbler. I use a .3 micron and it works better than standard cerium for sure. On a wider range of rocks too.
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 20, 2015 17:30:20 GMT -5
You don't need CO or TO. I started with the same recipe and bought TO that I have yet to use. I use Ao from the Rock Shed for everything.
Do you have ceramic media? I always use it in the Lot-O. I have never had anything get banged up in there.
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swiper
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 64
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Post by swiper on May 20, 2015 18:24:47 GMT -5
I do have both sizes of ceramic media I had bought from the Rock Shed. I probably have half rocks, half ceramic media in the Lot-O. Of the ceramic media, probably half is the larger size and half is the smaller size. I'll definitely substitute the CO and TO for the regular AO Polish I have and see how it works out. No doubt you get an awesome shine on your stuff.
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swiper
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 64
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Post by swiper on May 20, 2015 20:55:27 GMT -5
Thanks John. Reading through the Vibe sticky, it appears grit/pre-polish/polish is a confusing subject for a lot of people for reasons you stated. Each manufacturer seems to throw terms around for different grits/pre-polish/polish.
I'm using beach rocks right now so we'll just have to see how my Lortone AO Polish works. Just started them in 400 grit tonight for 24hrs. I also bought some rocks from the Rock Shed last year but haven't done anything with them yet. Wanted to practice on the beach rocks first. I'm exited to see how this first batch turns out.
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Post by captbob on May 20, 2015 21:55:49 GMT -5
swiper, you said that your pre-polish is from Lortone. jamesp was working on one of his grit/polish projects and had to call the folks at Lortone to get the information straight from the source. Lortone pre-polish is 500 As to your CO & TO polish, they may have their place (like TO is good for obsidian), but your Lortone polish is AO 14,000 and should be more than fine on most all stones. The AO polish is going to be less expensive than the TO, so I'd use that on a regular basis.
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swiper
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 64
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Post by swiper on May 21, 2015 6:35:54 GMT -5
Thanks Captbob. That takes the guesswork out of exactly what my Lortone products are. I don't plan on any CO or TO right now. I'm sure the Lortone polish will be just fine as recommended. I looked up prices from the Rock Shed on CO and TO. Ouch.
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Post by johnjsgems on May 21, 2015 10:39:49 GMT -5
I think the really fine (like .3 or .5 micron) AO polish will replace CO and TO eventually. Less expensive to produce and works very well on a wide variety of stones.
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sschus87
starting to shine!
Member since November 2015
Posts: 49
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Post by sschus87 on Jun 18, 2016 17:06:18 GMT -5
I'm not sure what grit size "pre-polish" is. I'm guessing that the pre-polish is similar to 1000 AO. Tripoli is considered a pre-polish too. Here's what I use in my Lot-O: 2 tablespoons 220 Silicon Carbide (2-3 days) 1/2 teaspoon 500 AO (but 400 or 600 would work) (2-3 days) 1/2 teaspoon 1000 AO (2-3 days) 1/2 teaspoon AO polish (2-3 days) On the RockShed website they have their AO polish for $4.75 a pound. I have read on here some people have talked about a polish that is 14,000 AO. Do you have any idea if this is the same stuff? That seems cheap for such a fine polish. As always, I appreciate your help and input... Thanks---Steve
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jun 18, 2016 21:15:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure what grit the Rock Shed's polish is, but a lot of people here use it with great results. It doesn't need to be expensive to be good, I guess.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Jun 19, 2016 7:04:56 GMT -5
sschus87 I think that Rocksheds AO polish is 14,000. I know for sure it has never failed to give me a shine. It has worked for agate, jasper, obsidian, feldspar, and quartz in both rotary and vibe.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jun 20, 2016 16:46:17 GMT -5
14000 is about 1 micron. The sub micron would work faster but I think the AO breaks down if you run it long enough. I've heard of people running 600 AO for a lot of days to achieve polish.
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