johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Jul 21, 2016 17:17:35 GMT -5
Like stated above, the epoxy fills in the dimple at the bottom of the barrel and eliminates the annoying process of cleaning it out. And the only reason I know it's annoying is because my epoxy "plug" came loose and fell out after months of nearly continuos use. To replace it, I simply put in a little more epoxy and pushed it back in.
The ONLY epoxy to use is "Epoxy 330" (Google it). Other types don't hold up and will fall out after 12hrs or so.
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Jun 4, 2016 20:04:03 GMT -5
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Jun 1, 2016 20:16:37 GMT -5
Update… I should have left it as is. The cutting went fine, but the tumbling took away almost ALL of the dendrites. Now I have a bunch of plain, white, shiny rocks. Very bummed. Live and learn.
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Jun 1, 2016 20:09:30 GMT -5
The best I have seen in a long time! AWESOME! Wow! That is a HUGE complement coming from you! Thank you!
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 31, 2016 20:48:11 GMT -5
Love them all, but that Turritella is stunning! Thank you! And welcome to the forum!
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 22, 2016 6:37:35 GMT -5
Thanks Rob!
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 21, 2016 20:00:05 GMT -5
A friend of mine recently visited Martha's Vineyard and collected some Quahog shells. She said she got "a bunch", but that turned out to be only 5 or so small pieces. She wants me to try to tumble them. The broken pieces are already pretty smooth from the ocean waves. The whole-half piece looks relatively "new" and has not been smoothed out at all. I have never tumbled sea shells before so I did a little research. It turns out that most sea shells contain calcite, which I'm guessing gives them a Mohs scale of around 3? Has anyone here ever tumbled sea shells? If so, how fragile are they in a rotary and/or vibe? Would they survive a week of Stage 1 in the rotary? Can I tumble them with softer rocks like quarts, etc? Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, John
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 17, 2016 19:51:26 GMT -5
i would love to wire wrap your alien head. lol they look great! Thanks! And I would love for you to wire wrap it for me! How much do you charge for your wire wrapping services?
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 17, 2016 13:59:37 GMT -5
When you tumble tigers eye, do you get a lot of black sludge? i've never tumbled more than a half dozen or so at a time (with other rocks), so I'm not sure.
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 16, 2016 19:03:26 GMT -5
Not sure where I got this rock and I have no idea what it is. It was in my latest tumble and I haven't been able to identify it… please help me out. Thanks!
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 15, 2016 20:47:13 GMT -5
Just a few of my favorites from the latest tumble... Tiger Eye Purple Quartz Desert Rock And my favorites! These have been tumbling for months and months!!! A few of them finally passed inspection to move on to the final stages… many more are still tumbling in 36/70. Turritella This one reminds me of the heads of the aliens in "Independence Day" Thanks for looking! - John
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 8, 2016 22:16:06 GMT -5
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on May 1, 2016 21:49:04 GMT -5
After about 6 months into our new hobby, my daughter and I finally made our first "true" rock hounding expedition. We visited a stream called "Sand Run" in Akron, OH (of all places). I grew up around this area and until today, I never knew why it was called Sand Run. Now I know… most of the rocks we found were sandstone. However, we also found a ton of beautiful granite stones, all rounded nicely by the stream. I forgot to take pictures of the rocks we found and I know the rules around here… they don't exist. But here are the pics of my girl having the time of her life! She's way up stream in this pic Also, my Coquina "composite" experiment is moving ahead slowly. I tried using store bought epoxy to hold them together in the vibe and that didn't end well. So I ordered Epoxy 330 and it recently arrived in my mailbox. The directions said to use Acetone to clean/prep all surfaces to be adhered. So I bought some Acetone and read the directions. I had never used Acetone before and almost ignored the "use protective gloves and eyewear" warning. Thank God I didn't!!! That sh*t ate through my "heavy duty corrosive proof gloves" in 10mins!!! My fingers felt like they were on fire and freezing at the same time. That's all for now, hope to have a picture or two of my Coquina experiment in a few days.
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 28, 2016 18:18:52 GMT -5
I tried it once or twice and it was never a good idea. I now do the same as you, a squirt or two of water and wait and see. And you're 100% correct… it is much easier to add than remove.
I recently started adding grit while it's running and noticed the same thing about the fans blowing it towards me, and away from the motor.
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 28, 2016 17:55:19 GMT -5
I'm not sure what's causing your problem, but it's never happened to me. I can tell you what I do differently. I fill with water before adding rocks. I'm confused about how you could fill with water and then swish it around to make sure the rocks are wet. If the Lot-O is actually filled with water and the rocks are submerged, how could they not be wet? I dump out the water in a similar way, but I let it drip until not much at all is coming out. I wait after the gushing stops. I turn on the machine before adding grit. The machine is running, the rocks are rolling, and then I slowly pour two full tablespoons of grit over the rocks. So the grit is distributed right away. I think this and too much water may be your biggest problem. The only time I add Dawn is about 10 minutes before a clean out. I add Borax at the beginning of the stages after the 220 stage. Something that I'm doing different causes me to have no problem. Not sure what, but give my method a try and see how it goes. Thanks, Rob. I came up with my method by watching this video on RockTumbler.com Update… about 5mins after posting this thread, I began thinking that I was leaving too much water in the barrel and went out and drained it of almost all of the water. And guess what? It began distributing grit! My brain finally figured out that the excessive water was carrying the grit to the bottom and trapping it there. Duh. The reason that I plug it in after I add grit is because the instructions that came with it specifically say to NEVER add grit while it is running. I figured that was due to the chance of it getting into the motor. I read somewhere that a drop of Dawn helps distribute the grit, and it seems to work. And I have learned, through trial and error, that foaming hand soap does a better job (than Dawn) of cleaning the rocks of grit right before a rinse. Thanks again, John p.s. - and thanks again for the advice about filling in the bottom of the barrels with epoxy! I can imagine what a pain the a** that is to clean out. And thanks to you, I've never had to
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 28, 2016 17:51:05 GMT -5
Thanks, Rob!
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 28, 2016 16:57:06 GMT -5
9 out of 10 times, I have no issues. Everything goes perfectly. Then every once in awhile, I have this happen… ALL of the grit gets stuck on the bottom. When this happens, I add a little hot water, a drop of Dawn, leaving the lid off for 5-10mins, etc, etc, etc. Nothing has ever worked to "free" the grit besides a total empty and rinse. This only happens with 120/220.
Here is my method of filling the vibe: - fill with various sized rocks and ceramic media - fill with cold water - swish around to ensure all of the rocks are wet - put my hand over the top and turn upside down, letting the water pour out through my fingers (just until it stops "gushing" out) - place on machine and add grit - put on the lid and plug in - check on it after about 10mins to ensure grit is being distributed and rocks look wet - if all looks good, which it usually does, I add a drop of Dawn to help distribute the grit
Any advice/info would be appreciated!
Thanks, John
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 26, 2016 15:59:42 GMT -5
I did the same thing that you did, but I have the lids that came with my five gallon buckets, so the fit perfect. I also cut my hole larger so the colander sets down in the hole better. Yours looks like you'd have stuff oozing out onto the top of the lid. Surprisingly, very little water/slurry gets on the lid(s). And I like that it sits up higher because it allows more water to be used in the small bucket(s) before reaching the stainer and rocks. I don't use 5gal buckets because I break the "Golden Rule" of tumbling and rinse most of my rocks in the kitchen sink (the 5gal ones are too big to fit under the faucet). Before freaking out and telling me what a bad idea that is… I use extra precaution(s) to seal the drain before I rinse and then thoroughly clean up after I'm done. And lastly, one of my good friends is a plumber and he told me that he would repair any future issues for the cost of parts only
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 25, 2016 17:09:10 GMT -5
My small (and cheap) plastic strainers kept falling into my small buckets whenever too much stress (weight) was put on them during rinsing. So I came up with this... I cut a hole into 5gal bucket lids to act as a holder/support. I would love to see or hear other people's solutions for this problem! John
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johnnymac1969
starting to spend too much on rocks
I Like A Rolling Stone
Member since January 2016
Posts: 139
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Post by johnnymac1969 on Apr 24, 2016 21:51:30 GMT -5
As long as it takes to get them the way that you want them to look. Like Chuck said, 48hrs is a good starting point.
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