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Post by Toad on Sept 28, 2020 13:41:31 GMT -5
I do all my tumbling in dual 12-lb barrels. For the rough grind would I be better off with 46/70 or 60/90? I can also get straight 46 or 60 grit.
I’ve been using 80 grit but it seems very slow. I'd like to move directly to 220 after the rough grind...
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 766
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Post by lordsorril on Sept 28, 2020 13:54:00 GMT -5
46/60 SiC is the default in my 12lb. barrels.
For larger chunks of material I've never worked with I will start it at 60 or 120 AO with cushioning for a week to see how it behaves.
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Post by Mel on Sept 29, 2020 16:40:24 GMT -5
Bigger rocks, or rougher stuff, 46/70. Full disclosure: I've only ever tumbled a handful of loads in it. Was very pleased. 60/90 is good for most stuff that I tumble (smaller 1-2" pieces) but sometimes you need to beef it up or want to save time grinding off the worst of it.
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Post by rmf on Sept 29, 2020 17:21:00 GMT -5
I use nothing but 46/70 for coarse.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 29, 2020 20:28:15 GMT -5
Yes 46/70 is the best choice for most agates and jaspers in the lortone 12 pound barrels.
Chuck
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Sept 30, 2020 20:25:56 GMT -5
Chuck -
I only use 46 SIC for the course stage 1. What is the advantage of adding 70 SIC to it? My 46 breaks down after a couple of weeks, forms a nice slurry. I'm running it in a TT Mod B, 15 lb.
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Post by Toad on Oct 2, 2020 4:23:28 GMT -5
Chuck - I only use 46 SIC for the course stage 1. What is the advantage of adding 70 SIC to it? My 46 breaks down after a couple of weeks, forms a nice slurry. I'm running it in a TT Mod B, 15 lb. 46/70 is probably cheaper as it is ungraded. Cheapest I can find so far for either straight 46 or mixed 46/70 is $85 for 44# of the 46 grit including shipping at Johnson Brothers. But I know some folks have had complaints about slow delivery and customer service. I usually clean barrels after a week. Should I wait 2 weeks with 46 grit?
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Oct 2, 2020 7:40:40 GMT -5
Toad I usually don't clean out after a week with 46/70. I'll open the barrel, do a visual inspection, see how the slurry feels, and add additional 46/70 grit if it doesn't feel gritty enough. This is also a good opportunity to make sure the consistency of your slurry is good. I feel like if you do a full clean out at this point, you are just wasting good grit/slurry. For agates and hard rocks you will definitely want to run them for several weeks in coarse grit. If you are running softer rocks, or just like how they have developed, it may be time to do a full cleanout and move them along to the next step.
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gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Oct 2, 2020 16:13:33 GMT -5
Toad - I can tumble for quite a long while with the 46 grit. Length often depends on what I'm tumbling and what shape it is in when I start. I can tell by the feel of the slurry how broken down it is.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Oct 2, 2020 19:08:49 GMT -5
Chuck - I only use 46 SIC for the course stage 1. What is the advantage of adding 70 SIC to it? My 46 breaks down after a couple of weeks, forms a nice slurry. I'm running it in a TT Mod B, 15 lb. I have just never tried graded 46. I only deal with the rock shed for my grits and polishes and he sells the 46/70 mix. I am creature of habit and have been using that for 10 years now for stage one. Chuck
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Oct 3, 2020 11:25:00 GMT -5
I initially started out with 60/90 SiC and then heard good things about 46/70 so purchased 25lbs of it. It may be my imagination, but I don't think it works as well... - in my tumbler, at the speed I turn it, with the fill level I like, and the amount of water that works best for me - . So my most recent grit order was graded 80 SiC. Seems like the more scratchy little grit particles there are, the more work gets done in a shorter amount of time. Up to a certain point/grit size.
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Oct 4, 2020 20:22:47 GMT -5
I initially started out with 60/90 SiC and then heard good things about 46/70 so purchased 25lbs of it. It may be my imagination, but I don't think it works as well... - in my tumbler, at the speed I turn it, with the fill level I like, and the amount of water that works best for me - . So my most recent grit order was graded 80 SiC. Seems like the more scratchy little grit particles there are, the more work gets done in a shorter amount of time. Up to a certain point/grit size. There’s been some good experimentation that supports this. What size barrel are you running?
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 4, 2020 20:48:00 GMT -5
Toad I usually don't clean out after a week with 46/70. I'll open the barrel, do a visual inspection, see how the slurry feels, and add additional 46/70 grit if it doesn't feel gritty enough. This is also a good opportunity to make sure the consistency of your slurry is good. I feel like if you do a full clean out at this point, you are just wasting good grit/slurry. For agates and hard rocks you will definitely want to run them for several weeks in coarse grit. If you are running softer rocks, or just like how they have developed, it may be time to do a full cleanout and move them along to the next step. Do you know if this same concept would work with a Vibe tumbler as well as a Rotary? I was planning on doing this next week in my Model B after my first week of running - but I've been wondering if it would be just as beneficial in the Vibe if I know I'd be running the 120/220 again...
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Oct 5, 2020 6:58:07 GMT -5
I initially started out with 60/90 SiC and then heard good things about 46/70 so purchased 25lbs of it. It may be my imagination, but I don't think it works as well... - in my tumbler, at the speed I turn it, with the fill level I like, and the amount of water that works best for me - . So my most recent grit order was graded 80 SiC. Seems like the more scratchy little grit particles there are, the more work gets done in a shorter amount of time. Up to a certain point/grit size. There’s been some good experimentation that supports this. What size barrel are you running? It's a 12lb Thumler barrel like this one:
I don't think I would have ever tried 46/70 in a barrel smaller than that
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Oct 5, 2020 8:02:01 GMT -5
Toad I usually don't clean out after a week with 46/70. I'll open the barrel, do a visual inspection, see how the slurry feels, and add additional 46/70 grit if it doesn't feel gritty enough. This is also a good opportunity to make sure the consistency of your slurry is good. I feel like if you do a full clean out at this point, you are just wasting good grit/slurry. For agates and hard rocks you will definitely want to run them for several weeks in coarse grit. If you are running softer rocks, or just like how they have developed, it may be time to do a full cleanout and move them along to the next step. Do you know if this same concept would work with a Vibe tumbler as well as a Rotary? I was planning on doing this next week in my Model B after my first week of running - but I've been wondering if it would be just as beneficial in the Vibe if I know I'd be running the 120/220 again... I do a visual on my vibe, and add water or grit as needed to get the consistency I'm looking for. I try to check it daily. Also, you probably know not to use anything larger than 120/220 in the vib already, as it will mess up your bowl.
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Oct 5, 2020 8:03:54 GMT -5
There’s been some good experimentation that supports this. What size barrel are you running? It's a 12lb Thumler barrel like this one:
I don't think I would have ever tried 46/70 in a barrel smaller than that
The consensus seems to be that 46/70 works well in the 12 lb tumblers, and doesn't work well in the ones less than 6 lbs. I can't say definitively if it cuts faster or slower than 60/90 for me in my 12's. I keep using it, though.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Oct 5, 2020 8:42:01 GMT -5
It's a 12lb Thumler barrel like this one:
I don't think I would have ever tried 46/70 in a barrel smaller than that
The consensus seems to be that 46/70 works well in the 12 lb tumblers, and doesn't work well in the ones less than 6 lbs. I can't say definitively if it cuts faster or slower than 60/90 for me in my 12's. I keep using it, though. I had some 500 SiC sitting around that I had no use for, so I used it up in my rotary. Seemed to work just as well as the 46/70 as far as material removal, and created a slurry faster (it seemed). I would never buy it for that purpose however. I also did not weigh anything to see how much it actually removed.
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Oct 5, 2020 9:49:45 GMT -5
Didn't someone track and graph the weight lost in each stage over time? I remember seeing it posted here a while back.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Oct 5, 2020 11:34:27 GMT -5
Didn't someone track and graph the weight lost in each stage over time? I remember seeing it posted here a while back. Benathema kept track of weight loss on all his large tumbles, not sure if he used equal amounts of every grit, filler, and water though.
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Tone
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2020
Posts: 4
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Post by Tone on Oct 5, 2020 12:08:18 GMT -5
I know silicon carbide is a 9.5 on the mosh scale, and aluminum oxide is a 9, my question is would the a.o. Make a good medium stage, I’ve got some 400 grit s.c. ordered for pre polish
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