jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
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Post by jamesp on Jul 25, 2022 16:33:15 GMT -5
About 8 cups of the large SiC was added to 12 pounds of hammer broken rock. I only poured off slurry and thinned it with water every 5 days. Total run time was 3 weeks at 60rpm with clay thickener. About 4 cups is still left.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2022 21:31:31 GMT -5
jamespThose are looking good! Is this from your recent trips collecting the pet wood?
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quartzilla
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Member since April 2020
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Post by quartzilla on Jul 25, 2022 21:43:10 GMT -5
Wow the sic is like a chainsaw and a planer rolled into 1. Way to cut down the course!
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jhill5tx
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2021
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Post by jhill5tx on Jul 26, 2022 7:37:44 GMT -5
Where do you find it?
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Jul 26, 2022 8:47:45 GMT -5
jamespThose are looking good! Is this from your recent trips collecting the pet wood? Yes ma'am, thanks, and ready to make some more visits ! I just sit down in the creek on a stool(enjoying nature) with a short 2" x 10" board with a sheet of thick rubber on my lap and small 'chipping' hammer and hammer tumbles out of an infinite supply of big pieces. That way I don't have any waste to hike out and can pick the best of the best for tumbling. As you know some hammered pieces just don't make nice finish tumbles due to pits and fractures. Flat chunks and slab shapes are much easier to break down with hammer into nice tumbles for instance, just get in a roll and (hammer) 'nibble' chunks off the edge in a machine gun fashion. My experience - the key to nice tumbles starts with select tumble rough. You don't have this option of selective weeding out method when you buy rough as it usually comes in awkward chunks that are tricky to hammer out into nice pre-tumble candidates. If I have a roundish chunk say 6-7 inches around I put it on the rock saw and saw it into big one inch+ thick slabs and then hammer tumbles from these thick slabs. Fortunately a lot of the Bama pet wood is found in large 1 to 1.5 slabs. Taking this a step further, striking a flat surface with a hammer gives much more control of the size and shape of the piece broken off.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
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Post by jamesp on Jul 26, 2022 9:07:52 GMT -5
Wow the sic is like a chainsaw and a planer rolled into 1. Way to cut down the course! Funny thing quartzilla, you would think those big sharp SiC chunks would cut deep scratches into the rocks. But that is not the case because there is not much grinding force in a barrel holding only 10 to 20 pounds of rocks to cut deep scratches. No matter, I often roll them in SiC 60(skipping 220) for the last step for 7-10 days(to break the 60 down) just to get the rocks ready to go straight to the vibe for the 500 grit step. At least the SiC 60 does shaping too(more so than 220 !). Those 3/8" chunks do either break down into BB sized chunks(or smaller) or stay 3/8" in size but get rounded cutting edges. Even with rounded edges the 3/8" chunks still wear the rocks down quickly. Some of the 3/8" and BB sized chunks have been reused 3 to 4 times. The drawback is that the large virgin chunks will eat the rubber protector on the lid of a Lortone 6 or 12 pound barrel quickly. But that is good, if it eats rubber fast the aggressive grit will eat rocks fast ! To fix the wear issue I made HPDE barrels. That stuff is tough. Bear in mind those 8" inside diameter barrels are turning at a fast 50rpm. But do have protective slurry. Point being is that the SiC is getting a fair beating at that speed yet about half of it is still reusable after 3 weeks.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
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Post by jamesp on Jul 26, 2022 9:17:22 GMT -5
I was thinking about you considering your massive tumblers. OK, it was not easy to get this product because it is metallurgical grade SiC. It is used for melting into alloys, not for abrasive use. Meaning foundries purchase the product in bulk 4000 pound bags or 60 - 50 pound bag pallet quantities. I arranged a partial purchase with a foundry the next state over. They had 15 - 50 pound bags they sold to me for like $500. They did me a favor...I can barely put a dent in it, 1500 pounds is a lot ! I do overdose since I have so much. So, to get this product contact Washington Mills and inquire about a way to purchase their Carbolon(Carbalon ?) SC. Spec sheet says it is 0 to 3/8" in size and only 90% pure SiC. Texas may have a foundry close by. Or you could get a pallet via LTL ? In your hands, good luck.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2022 10:01:21 GMT -5
jamespThat’s smart Jim! Less waste and your only hauling back the good stuff! Thanks for the tips for cutting rough, I didnt think of that. I just start busting stuff up and hope for the best.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,159
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Post by jamesp on Jul 26, 2022 10:14:44 GMT -5
jamespThat’s smart Jim! Less waste and your only hauling back the good stuff! Thanks for the tips for cutting rough, I didnt think of that. I just start busting stuff up and hope for the best. Yep. Good idea to focus on the hammering stage. Hope it helps.
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jhill5tx
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2021
Posts: 12
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Post by jhill5tx on Jul 26, 2022 19:52:33 GMT -5
I was thinking about you considering your massive tumblers. OK, it was not easy to get this product because it is metallurgical grade SiC. It is used for melting into alloys, not for abrasive use. Meaning foundries purchase the product in bulk 4000 pound bags or 60 - 50 pound bag pallet quantities. I arranged a partial purchase with a foundry the next state over. They had 15 - 50 pound bags they sold to me for like $500. They did me a favor...I can barely put a dent in it, 1500 pounds is a lot ! I do overdose since I have so much. So, to get this product contact Washington Mills and inquire about a way to purchase their Carbolon(Carbalon ?) SC. Spec sheet says it is 0 to 3/8" in size and only 90% pure SiC. Texas may have a foundry close by. Or you could get a pallet via LTL ? In your hands, good luck.
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jhill5tx
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2021
Posts: 12
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Post by jhill5tx on Jul 26, 2022 19:54:27 GMT -5
I was thinking about you considering your massive tumblers. OK, it was not easy to get this product because it is metallurgical grade SiC. It is used for melting into alloys, not for abrasive use. Meaning foundries purchase the product in bulk 4000 pound bags or 60 - 50 pound bag pallet quantities. I arranged a partial purchase with a foundry the next state over. They had 15 - 50 pound bags they sold to me for like $500. They did me a favor...I can barely put a dent in it, 1500 pounds is a lot ! I do overdose since I have so much. So, to get this product contact Washington Mills and inquire about a way to purchase their Carbolon(Carbalon ?) SC. Spec sheet says it is 0 to 3/8" in size and only 90% pure SiC. Texas may have a foundry close by. Or you could get a pallet via LTL ? In your hands, good luck. Thank you. I will start working on sourcing the stuff local.
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