boutoo
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by boutoo on Sept 3, 2015 16:16:51 GMT -5
When I'm not playing with my rocks, I'm editing a book for a friend & one of her characters is a jewellery maker who works with precious & semi precious stones....as the society in question is medieval I've been trying to help her come up with ways to polish stones that don't involve electrically driven machinery.
I've found a grinding wheel solution (think Singer sewing machine foot pedal with a diamond dust & oil grinding wheel table), but am not sure how to 'tumble' so I thought I'd run my idea past all of you & accept any & all better ideas
To tumble, I'm thinking he'll have bags full of stones & sand tied under the waterfall close to his workshop, but am not sure this is viable or how long it would take?
He has a small forge in his shop + a Blacksmith on site to smelt metals, so they're not an issue, it's only this small part of his operation.
I did look around for non mechanised methods, but couldn't find anything useful to substitute
Thanks in advance
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stonemaster499
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since July 2014
Posts: 97
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Post by stonemaster499 on Sept 3, 2015 17:17:12 GMT -5
For a sustainability project in Madagascar, I have designed a tumbling system that uses no electricity. We locate a river that is going downhill. We direct part of the river through the project. If down hill is not possible, we re-direct a tributary and send it down a small hill (we create)beside the river. The barrels have small paddles to harness the current for the rotation, and regulators to limit the RPM to control the speed. Many different ways can hold the barrels in place: rows of axles that can hold 3-4 barrels, to floating docks that have rows of barrels for easy maintenance.
You can do a variation on this, and put a few portable hydro generators into the same system and create electricity for other needs
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Sept 3, 2015 17:36:09 GMT -5
You could have the people use the turning of a grist mill to tumble stones. Such as have barrels attached to the inside of the water wheel that is turned by the water. Here is a link to some other ancient methods including a bag with grit and a teeter totter method. rocktumbler.com/tips/history-of-rock-tumbling/
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boutoo
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by boutoo on Sept 3, 2015 18:17:16 GMT -5
His home is next to a cliff with cascading waterfalls, so downhill is possible. However, he needs something simple to understand & execute with no electricity (they're not that evolved as yet; they don't even have clockwork!) I like the idea of attaching barrels/leather bags to a mill wheel & it would fit with the technology level - now I just have to persuade the author to add a mill to his home complex I knew you'd have the answers for me! Thank you very much gents Big smoochies
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boutoo
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by boutoo on Sept 4, 2015 6:44:50 GMT -5
Just a quick update to let you both know that the author loves the water wheel idea & will be using it! & I have a fun chore to keep a lot of children out of trouble (collecting the bags/barrels of stones for the jeweller)
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ol3m3
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2006
Posts: 85
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Post by ol3m3 on Sept 5, 2015 10:48:26 GMT -5
Diamond grit was not used in medieval or earlier times as a lapidary cutting and polishing compound, emery would have been the grit of choice. not so sure on the tumbling bit, thinking each stone polished and cut manually.
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boutoo
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by boutoo on Sept 17, 2015 16:50:16 GMT -5
It's on another planet ol3m3 so there's room for a little artistic license What we've come up with between us is leather bags filled with stones & varying grades of sand that are then put into barrels attached to the 'shelves' on the water wheel & wheels very similar to the hand ones used in India etc even today (those have either emery or diamond in them for different stones & finishes)
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