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Post by HankRocks on Mar 14, 2017 12:45:54 GMT -5
I picked up a 5 1/2" well rounded rock from an old friend this past weekend. He says he believes he got it from an old rockhound's estate sale years ago. We could not determine what type of agate/jasper it is. It had a lot of grind marks on it like someone spent some time rounding it up. It weights just over 10 1/2 pounds.
Question for the Panel; Can I put this in my 15 pound Thumlers and not have it tear the tumbler apart? I can load the tumbler space with pea gravel to help cushion everything. Wanted to get opinions before I tried it and damaged the tumbler. There will not be too much space between the rock and the sides of the barrel so that will minimize some of the impact.
If I can't tumble it I may find someone who does large spheres and see if they want it.
H
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Post by captbob on Mar 14, 2017 16:45:41 GMT -5
I'm tumbling something pretty much the same size right now in the same tumbler. Been tumbling for almost two months and so far so good. I'm using ceramics as filler. My rock isn't round round, but river rounded. More oval - longer and wider than it is thick. Go for it!
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Mar 14, 2017 17:12:38 GMT -5
I'm trying to tumble a 3 pound rock in my 15 lb thumlers. It is quite slow. Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 the speed of tumbling a 1 pound rock. Let me know how your 10 lb rock works out!
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 14, 2017 17:44:23 GMT -5
I have a clean-out coming tomorrow in one of my tumblers, might try running it and monitor closely. Need to measure it in the barrel and make sure it does not jam itself. If it does work I am curious if it will move to being even more rounded as I anticipate it will be more of a rolling motion in the Tumbler.
Captbob, I do want to see that rock when you finish. The idea of large tumble rocks has intrigued me, especially looking at Jim's over-sized river rocks and the 1 pound red jasper I did. So many rocks, so little time and so few tumblers.
Did pick up an old Lortone double 12 pound barrel tumbler at a good price($100) this past weekend. Don't have time to set it up this week and also notice the aluminum caps for the barrels were not in the lot. Probably still in the shed they were pulled out of. Did get 4 barrels.
H
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napoleonrags
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2015
Posts: 474
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Post by napoleonrags on Mar 14, 2017 20:49:59 GMT -5
Awesome experiment. Do you have pix? Are you going to tumble finish or vibe finish?
Pix? Inquiry minds wants to knows.
Gather no moss, Colin.
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 15, 2017 17:48:23 GMT -5
The Boulder is rolling now for 2 hours, no tumbler parts have shaken loose yet. I added about 4 pounds of pea gravel along with 2 cups of my used tumbler slurry. I will check the progress in a couple of days to see how the 46/70 is breaking down. So it's 4 pounds of pea gravel, slurry and grit against the 10 1/2 pound boulder!
I will have to polish it in the rotary as it will not fit into my UV-18.
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Post by Toad on Mar 15, 2017 18:01:02 GMT -5
Awesome. I love tumbling larger rocks! Show us pics!!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2017 18:50:42 GMT -5
Great job!! Can't wait to see results.
Bigger means more material to remove while smoothing. More material needs more grit and more time.
Someone once said rock tumbling teaches patience. Get this one done and you will have the patience of a special ed teacher.
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 15, 2017 19:19:45 GMT -5
I debated letting it roll by itself but decided the grit would cut better if it was between pea gravel and the boulder, than the rubber tumbler wall and the boulder.The good news is that it is very smooth with no pits or depressions so the 46/70 stage should be shorter. There were some pretty decent grind marks in it so once all those are gone it should be ready for the 220 stage.
If it was another 3/4 inch in diameter it would not tumbled.
At least washout between stages should be very easy!
H
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
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Member is Online
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Post by quartz on Mar 15, 2017 22:07:08 GMT -5
That's near 3lb. bigger than the biggest I've run, watching with interest. Mine was fairly smooth to start with, still took a long time.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,175
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Post by jamesp on Mar 16, 2017 5:23:21 GMT -5
You giant rock tumblers need a Vibrasonic base with a home made barrel out of 8" or 10" PVC pipe for finishing the giants to a liquid. Would help to have a barrel diameter that is 1/3 and preferably 1/2 larger than the big rock(for efficient grinding/polishing action). For example a 6-7 inch rock in 12 inch barrel with 1/2" to 1" pea gravel/media/tumbles.
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 16, 2017 5:58:45 GMT -5
A larger barrel would be nice, maybe a future project. Of course there should not be much impact dings on the large rock as it should be rolling on the pea gravel rather than impacting from any free fall. I am hoping the weight of the boulder provides enough pressure on grit particles it meets between it and the pea gravel to cut decently.
Will check it at 24 hours to see how much of the grit is left which should be a good indication of how much the grit is cutting. In hindsight, I should have weighted the rock before starting. Will take a picture or two of the beast during inspection.
H
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,175
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Post by jamesp on Mar 16, 2017 6:01:44 GMT -5
A larger barrel would be nice, maybe a future project. Of course there should not be much impact dings on the large rock as it should be rolling on the pea gravel rather than impacting from any free fall. I am hoping the weight of the boulder provides enough pressure on grit particles it meets between it and the pea gravel to cut decently. Will check it at 24 hours to see how much of the grit is left which should be a good indication of how much the grit is cutting. In hindsight, I should have weighted the rock before starting. Will take a picture or two of the beast during inspection. H Ratio of rock to barrel important Henry.
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 16, 2017 6:23:40 GMT -5
The size of this rock throws the traditional rock fill/barrel ratio out the window. In this case the fill is about 60%, but the tumbling free fall zone gap is less than an inch. In theory the weight of the boulder is contacting grit and pea gravel continuously resulting in more cutting. Either that or I have just found a quick method for converting pea gravel to slurry!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,175
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Post by jamesp on Mar 16, 2017 6:57:28 GMT -5
I hear ya Henry. Interested in y'all 's outcome. Good luck.
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 16, 2017 18:13:05 GMT -5
Ok time for another Picture rant. I give up!Photobucket is hopeless!!, spent an hour trying to upload 2 pictures, no luck. Loaded them to Flickr, and lets see what happens; It is extremely frustrating to me that I have such trouble posting pictures, I see all the pictures posted but it always a struggle for me, arrrrggghhhhh!!!!
I open the tumbler after 24 hours, lots of slurry and grit was still present, I added more grit and some more smalls. Did not pull the rock out, just these pics if I did this correctly. Will let it run until Sat night, then I need to shut down for a while.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67823965@N02/33353357001/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_1272"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3678/33353357001_7d5e8a909a_k.jpg" width="2048" height="1151" alt="IMG_1272"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67823965@N02/32667469623/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_1274"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3729/32667469623_65018314e0_k.jpg" width="2048" height="1151" alt="IMG_1274"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 16, 2017 18:14:14 GMT -5
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 16, 2017 18:15:42 GMT -5
ok that was better, how do I insert the picture.
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Wooferhound
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Lortone QT66 and 3A
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Post by Wooferhound on Mar 16, 2017 20:25:30 GMT -5
It seems like a large barrel filling rock would just roll over the same surface and not tumble, resulting in an egg shaped rock ? To insert a picture in a reply, click the 7th box from the right that says "Insert Image" when you hover the mouse over it, then paste the link to your photo...
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 16, 2017 21:59:41 GMT -5
All of the pea gravel had shifted to the bottom below the level of the slurry. It seems that the boulder will move around and prevent it from only grinding on one narrow surface.
(I do not see an insert image button, I think it's there when you start a new Thread. Don't see it in "Quick Reply".
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